Backup Exec 21 Administrator's Guide
- Introducing Backup Exec
- Installation
- Methods for installing the Agent for Windows
- Using a command prompt to install the Agent for Windows on a remote computer
- Using a command script to install the Agent for Windows
- Installing the Remote Administrator
- Installing Backup Exec using the command line (silent mode)
- Updating Backup Exec with Veritas Update
- Backup Exec license contract information
- About upgrading to Backup Exec
- Getting Started
- Backups
- Backing up data
- Restores
- How Backup Exec catalogs work
- Job management and monitoring
- About the Job Monitor
- About the Job History
- Viewing the job log
- Error-handling rules for failed or canceled jobs
- Alerts and notifications
- Enabling active alerts and alert history to display on the Home tab
- Adding a recipient group for alert notifications
- Sending a notification when a job completes
- SNMP traps for Backup Exec alerts
- Disk-based and network-based storage
- Configuring disk storage
- Configuring disk cartridge storage
- Backup sets
- Cloud-based storage devices
- Amazon S3 cloud-based storage
- Google cloud-based storage
- Microsoft Azure cloud-based storage
- Private cloud-based storage
- About S3-Compatible Cloud Storage
- About the Backup Exec™ CloudConnect Optimizer
- Legacy backup-to-disk folders
- Legacy backup-to-disk folders
- Legacy backup-to-disk folders
- Tape storage
- Robotic libraries in Backup Exec
- Creating robotic library partitions
- Managing tapes
- Creating media sets for tapes
- Labeling tape media
- Default media vaults
- Storage device pools
- Storage operations
- Conversion to virtual machines
- Configuration and settings
- Changing network and security options for Backup Exec
- Using Backup Exec with firewalls
- Deleting DBA-initiated job templates
- Backup Exec logon accounts
- Reports
- Creating a custom report
- List of Backup Exec standard reports
- Instant Cloud Recovery
- Preconfigurations to be completed in the Azure portal
- GDPR Guard
- Troubleshooting Backup Exec
- Troubleshooting failed components in the SAN
- Generating a diagnostic file for troubleshooting Backup Exec
- Using Backup Exec in cluster environments
- Configurations for Backup Exec and Microsoft Cluster Servers
- Disaster recovery of a cluster
- Simplified Disaster Recovery
- Setting or changing the alternate location for the disaster recovery information file
- Creating a Simplified Disaster Recovery disk image
- Preparing to recover from a disaster by using Simplified Disaster Recovery
- Recovering a computer with Simplified Disaster Recovery
- Performing manual disaster recovery
- Integration with Veritas™ Information Map
- Integration with Veritas SaaS Backup
- Forever Incremental Backup
- Appendix A. Backup Exec Agent for Windows
- About the Backup Exec Agent Utility for Windows
- Appendix B. Backup Exec Deduplication Feature
- Creating or importing deduplication disk storage
- Selecting storage devices for direct access sharing
- Appendix C. Backup Exec Agent for VMware
- About establishing trust for a vCenter/ESX(i) server
- Backing up VMware virtual machines
- About instant recovery of a VMware virtual machine
- About Recovery Ready for VMware virtual machines
- Appendix D. Backup Exec Agent for Microsoft Hyper-V
- Backing up Microsoft Hyper-V virtual machines
- About instant recovery of a Hyper-V virtual machine
- About Recovery Ready for Hyper-V virtual machines
- Appendix E. Backup Exec Agent for Microsoft SQL Server
- Backing up SQL databases and transaction logs
- Restoring SQL databases and transaction logs
- Disaster recovery of a SQL Server
- Appendix F. Backup Exec Agent for Microsoft Exchange Server
- Backing up Exchange data
- Appendix G. Backup Exec Agent for Microsoft SharePoint
- Backing up Microsoft SharePoint data
- Appendix H. Backup Exec Agent for Oracle on Windows or Linux Servers
- Configuring the Oracle Agent on Windows computers and Linux servers
- Configuring an Oracle instance on Windows computers
- Viewing an Oracle instance on Windows computers
- About authentication credentials on the Backup Exec server
- About backing up Oracle databases
- About restoring Oracle resources
- Appendix I. Backup Exec Agent for Enterprise Vault
- About backup methods for Enterprise Vault backup jobs
- Restoring Enterprise Vault
- About the Backup Exec Migrator for Enterprise Vault
- Configuring the Backup Exec Migrator
- About retrieving migrated Enterprise Vault data
- About the Partition Recovery Utility
- Appendix J. Backup Exec Agent for Microsoft Active Directory
- Appendix K. Backup Exec Central Admin Server Feature
- About installing the Central Admin Server feature
- What happens when CAS communication thresholds are reached
- About job delegation in CAS
- How to use Backup Exec server pools in CAS
- How centralized restore works in CAS
- Appendix L. Backup Exec Advanced Disk-based Backup Feature
- Appendix M. Backup Exec NDMP Feature
- About restoring and redirecting restore data for NDMP servers
- Viewing the properties of an NDMP server
- Viewing storage properties for an NDMP server
- Appendix N. Backup Exec Agent for Linux
- About installing the Agent for Linux
- About establishing trust for a remote Linux computer in the Backup Exec list of servers
- Editing configuration options for Linux computers
- About backing up a Linux computer by using the Agent for Linux
- About restoring data to Linux computers
- Editing the default backup job options for Linux computers
- Uninstalling the Agent for Linux
- Appendix O. Backup Exec Remote Media Agent for Linux
- About installing the Remote Media Agent for Linux
- About establishing trust for a Remote Media Agent for Linux computer in the Backup Exec list of servers
- About the Backup Exec operators (beoper) group for the Remote Media Agent for Linux
- About adding a Linux server as a Remote Media Agent for Linux
- Editing properties for the Remote Media Agent for Linux
- Creating a simulated tape library
- Viewing simulated tape libraries properties
- Appendix P. Accessibility and Backup Exec
- About keyboard shortcuts in Backup Exec
- Backup and Restore tab keyboard shortcuts
- Storage tab keyboard shortcuts
Backing up VMware virtual machines
When you create a backup job, you can select an entire vCenter server or ESX/ESXi host, datacenters, folders, or individual virtual machines. Additionally, Backup Exec's dynamic inclusion feature can automatically back up new virtual machines and folders that are found when a backup job runs. If you select the vCenter server or the ESX/ESXi host for a backup job, all virtual machines on that host are selected for backup automatically. However, you can edit the selections to include only selected virtual machines in the backup job. A backup of a vCenter server or ESX/ESXi host does not include independent disks or configuration files for the vCenter server or ESX/ESXi host.
You should review the following notes before you create backup jobs for VMware virtual machines:
If you attempt to back up a virtual machine with the NetBIOS name "LocalHost", the backup will fail with the error "e000976f - Cannot backup the virtual machine to the deduplication device that is hosted by the same virtual machine."
Backup jobs fail for virtual machines that have Physical Raw Disk Mapping (RDM) devices.
Virtual compatibility mode RDM disks are automatically included in the backup of a guest virtual machine. However, Backup Exec can only restore the virtual compatibility mode RDM disks or file data on an RDM disk through redirected restore.
If you want to back up an Exchange database availability group (DAG) on a virtual machine, use the Backup Exec Agent for Exchange. The Agent for VMware does not support backups of Exchange DAG.
You cannot back up databases to devices that are attached to a computer on which the Remote Media Agent for Linux Servers is installed.
If you back up a virtual machine that runs any supported version of Microsoft SharePoint, you may experience a processing time of more than 30 minutes.
To back up VMware virtual machines
- On the Backup and Restore tab, select a virtual machine, an ESXi host, or a vCenter server from the list of servers.
- Do one of the following:
If you selected an ESXi host or a vCenter server in step 1
In the Backups group at the top of the screen, click Backup, and then select the type of backup you want to perform.
Alternatively, in the Details pane at the bottom of the screen, click Backup, and then select the type of backup you want to perform.
If you selected a virtual machine in step 1
Do the following:
In the Backups group at the top of the screen, click Backup, and then select the type of backup you want to perform.
On the Back Up Virtual Machine panel, select the backup method that you want to use for this virtual machine, either Virtual-based backup or Agent-based backup, and then click Next.
For information about which backup method to use, see the following topic:
See Recommendations for when to use virtual-based backup and agent-based backup.
Note:
If you selected virtual-based backup and the Agent for VMware and Hyper-V is not installed, you will be prompted to either install it or to create an agent-based backup instead.
If you selected Virtual-based backup, select the virtual machine's host, and then click Next.
If the virtual machine's host is not in the list of servers, click Add, and then complete the steps in the wizard to add the host.
- On the Backup Definition Properties dialog box, in the Selections box, click Edit to add or remove resources from the backup selection list.
- On the Backup Selections dialog box, check the check boxes for the resources that you want to back up and uncheck the check boxes for the resources that you do not want to back up.
- Select the disks for a virtual machine that you want to back up.
You can select the entire virtual machine (select all disks) or select disks individually. You can also exclude disks selectively.
- Click OK.
If you make partial selections, the Virtual machines have partially selected disks pop-up is displayed.
The job selections consist of one or more virtual machines where only some of its virtual disks are selected. For a virtual machine to function at the operating system level and application level, ensure that all the required disks are selected.
To perform File/Folder GRT and application GRT restore, ensure that the system disk is selected. For application GRT, select all virtual disks with application data.
- Click OK.
- On the Backup Definition Properties dialog box, in the Backup box, click Edit.
- On the Backup Options dialog box, in the left pane, select Schedule, and then select the schedule for this job.
- On the Backup Options dialog box, in the left pane, select Virtual Machines.
- Set any of the following options for this job:
Item
Description
Use the full backup method for virtual machines that do not support incremental or differential backups
Select this option if you want Backup Exec to perform a full backup if an incremental backup or a differential backup cannot be performed. If you do not select this option and Backup Exec cannot perform an incremental backup or a differential backup, then the job fails. In addition, if Backup Exec detects a configuration change, then a full backup must be performed. If a configuration change is detected and Backup Exec cannot perform a full backup, then the job fails if this option is not selected. This scenario applies only if a full backup and some incremental backups or differential backups have already been performed and the next scheduled job is for an incremental backup or a differential backup.
Back up virtual machines that are powered off
Select this option if you want Backup Exec to back up any virtual machines that are turned off.
Enable Instant Recovery for all virtual machines, even those not eligible for GRT
Select this option to enable Instant Recovery of all virtual machines, even those that run operating systems which are not eligible for Granular Restore Technology.
Use Backup Exec Granular Recovery Technology (GRT) to enable the restore of individual files and folders from virtual machines
Select this option to enable individual files and folders to be restored from the backup. This option is for the virtual machines that use a Windows operating system only.
The vmdk file is not backed up if the virtual hard disk is configured as an Independent disk.
Note:
GRT is not meant for system recovery but only for the restore of individual files and folders on Windows computers.
See Using Granular Recovery Technology (GRT) with the Agent for VMware.
Enable GRT for Microsoft Active Directory objects on virtual machines
Select this option to enable Backup Exec to collect the information that is required to restore individual Active Directory objects on the virtual machine. Backup Exec uses the logon credentials that were used for the virtual machine on which Microsoft Active Directory is installed.
Enable GRT for Microsoft Exchange databases and mailbox items on virtual machines
Select this option to enable Backup Exec to collect the information that is required to restore individual Exchange databases and mailbox items on the virtual machine. Backup Exec uses the logon credentials that were used for the virtual machine on which Microsoft Exchange is installed.
Enable GRT for Microsoft SQL (database-level only) on virtual machines
Select this option to enable Backup Exec to collect the information that is required to restore individual SQL database items on the virtual machine. Backup Exec uses the logon credentials that were used for the virtual machine on which Microsoft SQL is installed.
Run a SQL Log backup after backing up the virtual machine
Select this option to enable Backup Exec to back up the SQL logs for the databases that use logging. After the logs are backed up, the data from the logs is committed to the database and the log is emptied so that it can receive new data.
If this option is not selected, the SQL logs continue to grow until the disk is full or until you perform a manual backup job to back up the logs.
Enable GRT for Microsoft SharePoint on virtual machines
Select this option to enable Backup Exec to collect the information that is required to restore individual SharePoint items on the virtual machine. Backup Exec uses the logon credentials that were used for the virtual machine on which Microsoft SharePoint is installed.
Back up using Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) snapshot provider
Select this option to enable Backup Exec to create a quiesced snapshot for the virtual machine. If the quiesced snapshot cannot be created, then Backup Exec creates a crash-consistent snapshot instead.
Note:
Backup Exec automatically selects this option if you select any of the options for enabling GRT for Microsoft applications.
Use VSS Copy backup
Select this option to enable Backup Exec to perform a VSS copy backup instead of a full backup. By default the VSS Provider initiates snapshots using the Full backup type setting. Each application responds differently to this request. In the case of Microsoft Exchange, the database logs are truncated. If you do not select this option, Backup Exec performs a full VSS backup
Select the method to transport the Virtual Machine Disk Format (vmdk) file from the ESX/ESXi host. You must select at least one of these options. If you select more than one option, the method is determined by the priority and the resources that are available. You can move the options up or down in the list to change the priority.
The following methods are available:
SAN - Use the SAN to move virtual disk data
If you select this option, the virtual machine must reside on a SAN that the Backup Exec server can access. With this transport mode, the data is offloaded to the Backup Exec server so that the ESX/ESXi host is not affected.
NBD - Do not encrypt the virtual disk data for over-the-network transfers
Use this option if you do not use SSL for security and one of the following conditions exist:
The virtual machine is not located on the SAN.
The Backup Exec server does not have access to the SAN.
NBDSSL - Encrypt virtual disk data for over-the-network transfers
Use this option if you use SSL for security and one of the following conditions exist:
The virtual machine is not located on the SAN.
The Backup Exec server does not have access to the SAN.
Hotadd - Use virtual disk files from the Backup Exec server on the virtual machine
Use this option if you want to use the hotadd feature for ESX/ESXi.
See your VMware documentation for more information about hotadd.
The vmdk file is not backed up if the virtual hard disk is configured as an Independent disk.
Backup method
Select the backup method that you want to use for the backup jobs that are listed. You can change the names of the backup jobs or add more jobs from the Schedule properties.
See Configuring backup methods for backup jobs.
Note:
Backup method is not applicable for Forever Incremental backup jobs.
- On the Backup Options dialog box, click any of the optional settings in the left pane that you want to set for this job.
- Click OK.
- On the Backup Definition Properties dialog box, click OK.
If you selected the virtual-based backup method, the backup job appears in the jobs list under the virtual host's name or IP address