Create Backup Set

Backup Requirements for

Backup Requirements for VMware vCenter/ESXi

Backup Requirements for Hypervisor

Please ensure that the following requirements are met by the Hypervisor:

  1. License Specification
  2. ESXi Shell Access: ESXi Shell access must be enabled on the ESXi servers. Please refer to the following article for details: https://kb.vmware.com/kb/2004746
  3. SSH must be enabled on the Hypervisor. To enable root SSH login on an VMware vCenter/ESXi host, please follow the below instructions from VMware:http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=8375637
  4. The root account must be enabled as %edition_name% ESXi backup set requires the root account for backup and restore.
  5. The following TCP ports must be opened on the hypervisor: Port 22, 80, 111, 443, 902. Please refer to the following articles for details: https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2012773
    https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2106283
    https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2039095
    https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2131180
    !

    Please kindly note that:

    • Ports 443 and 902 are default ports for VMware.
    • If these have been changed from the default in your VMware environment, the firewall requirements will change accordingly.
  6. It is recommended that the datastore have disk space of the largest sized virtual machine to be backed up.

Backup Requirements for Backup Account and Backup Client Computer:

%edition_name% cannot be installed on the hypervisor (ESXi server). For best performance, %edition_name% should be installed on a separate dedicated physical machine - Backup Client Machine - for backup of your virtual machines.

Please ensure that the following requirements are met by the backup client computer:

  1. Port Requirement:

  2. For better performance, %edition_name% is recommended to be installed on a 64 bit computer, with multiple CPUs and cores.
  3. Consider to increase the JVM (Java Virtual Machine) memory allocation to improve performance of the backup operation.
  4. Sufficient disk space must be allocated for the temporary directory, and the formula of calculation of disk space is as following:
    (Total File Size * Delta Ratio) * number of backup destinations = Maximum Free Space Required
  5. !

    The calculation is based on the current guest VM size, and it does not take into account guest VM growth over time. It is recommended for fast growing guest VM the maximum free space required should be reviewed on regular basis to avoid potential backup problems.

  6. It is recommended that the temporary directory be configured on a local drive.
  7. It is recommended that the temporary directory is not configured on the same partition where the operating system is installed on.
  8. For backup of virtual machine with snapshot, backup of the whole VM instead of individual disk is highly recommended.
  9. Consider to perform routine recovery test to ensure your backup is setup and performed properly.
  10. Consider to disable the memory snapshot or quiesce guest options when taking snapshot for VMware VM backup, to shorten the time required for the process.


Backup with VDDK mode

%edition_name% supports VDDK backup mode (Virtual Disk Development Kit) for VMware vCenter/ESXi setup. The backup speed is enhanced because the generation of the delta file of the VM are performed directly by the VMware vCenter/ESXi itself. With VDDK backup mode, it supports:


Backup Requirements of VMs on vSAN

%edition_name% supports backup of VMs stored on vSAN using the VMware vCenter option on the VMware backup set. Make sure that the following requirements are met:


Limitations

The following are limitations of the VMware VM backup module:

  1. VMware ESXi Server with Raw Device Mapping (RDM) is not supported.

    Snapshots are not available when the Raw Device Mapping (RDM) is used in physical compatibility mode.

  2. For backup of individual virtual disk, the restored virtual machine does not support the reversion of previous snapshots, if the snapshot contains disks which are not previously backed up by %edition_name%.
  3. For virtual machines with Independent Disks:

    %edition_name% will skip the snapshot creation of any Independent Disk on the virtual machine.

  4. If the file name of the virtual machine contains the following special characters, https access to the files will fail:

    ` ^ ~ = ; ! / ( [ ] { } @ $ \ & # % +

    This is due to the percent-encoding specified in the URL standard is not supported for VMware vCenter/ESXi based HTTP(S) file access. To resolve the issue, please rename the corresponding file to avoid special characters. For instructions on renaming a virtual machine, please refer to the following knowledge base article from VMware:

    https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2031763

  5. For the VDDK mode, no VM's snapshot, memory or the suspend status will be able to backup and restore. If the backup and restore of the snapshot, memory or the suspend status is required, do not turn on the 'Change Block Tracking' option when you create the VMware vCenter/ESXi backup set, select [No] to create the backup set in non-VDDK mode which allows the backup and restore of the snapshot, memory or the suspend status.
  6. VDDK mode will not be enabled if the independent disk or raw disk is configured in the VM.
  7. VDDK backup mode does not support VMware vCenter/ESXi server with free license.
  8. Backup and restore of guest VMs on a Stretched vSAN Cluster will be slower. Since it will be dependent on the internet for connection between the %edition_name% staging machine and the VMware vCenter server compared with a non-Stretched vSAN Cluster backup and restore which is using a LAN connection.
  9. Run Direct restore may not be possible for Stretched vSAN Cluster since %edition_name% is located on another site. The VMware vCenter server will have to power on and manage the VM, which is stored on a backup destination on the %edition_name% staging machine through an internet connection.
  10. Once the backup job executed on a VM where change block tracking option was enabled by the VDDK, please do not turn off this option in the VM for subsequent backup jobs. If you need to disable this option, you are suggested to create a new backup set which requires to disable this option.
  11. For Non-VDDK Backup Mode:

Backup Requirements for VMware Server/Player/Workstation

As the backup and restore procedures for VM running on VMware Player and Workstation are very similar to that of VM running on VMware Server, the description in this section is mainly based on the VMware Server.

Backup Requirements for VMware Server

Please ensure that the following requirements are met by the VMware Server:

  1. %edition_name% must be installed on the hypervisor.

    !

    Resource allocation for both VM hosting and backup operation must be taken into consideration.

  2. The following TCP ports must be opened on the hypervisor: Please refer to the following articles for details: https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2012773
    https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2106283
    https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2039095
    https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2131180
  3. Consider to increase the JVM (Java Virtual Machine) memory allocation to improve performance of the backup operation.
  4. It is recommended that the datastore have disk space of the largest sized virtual machine to be backed up.
  5. Sufficient disk space must be allocated for the temporary directory, and the formula of calculation of disk space is as following:
    (Total File Size * Delta Ratio) * number of backup destinations = Maximum Free Space Required
  6. !

    The calculation is based on the current guest VM size, and it does not take into account guest VM growth over time. It is recommended for fast growing guest VM the maximum free space required should be reviewed on regular basis to avoid potential backup problems.

  7. It is recommended that the temporary directory be configured on a local drive.
  8. It is recommended that the temporary directory is not configured on the same partition which the operating system is installed on.
  9. Consider to perform routine recovery test to ensure your backup is setup and performed properly.

Run Direct Requirements

Run Direct is a feature introduced since %edition_name% version 3.1.0.0, that helps reduce disruption and downtime of your production VMs.

To utilize the Run Direct feature, ensure that the following requirements are met:

  1. VDDK Backup Mode: Run Direct restore is only supported for virtual machine that is backed up in VDDK mode. Make sure that the VDDK backup mode requirements are met.
  2. Backup Destination Requirement
  3. No Compression and Encryption: Data backed up to a Run Direct enabled destination is not compressed or encrypted to optimize restore performance as Run Direct will make the VM restored by running the data directly from the backup files in the backup destination.
  4. Restore to Alternate Location:
  5. Dedicated NFS Service
  6. Starting from %edition_name% version 3.1.0.0, a dedicated %edition_name% NFS Windows service is introduced to allow Run Direct session to continue even if the %edition_name% user interface is closed.

    By default, the %edition_name% NFS service is started as Local System, which does not have sufficient permission to access any network resources (e.g. the %edition_name% NFS service does not have sufficient permission to access the VM backup files on network drive).

    Make sure that the Log on setting of the according NFS Service is configured with an account with sufficient permission to access the network backup destination where the backed up VM data are stored.


VDDK Backup Mode Requirements

  1. VMware CBT Known Issues
  2. For VMware vCenter/ESXi v5.0, v5.1, v5.5 and v6.0 there is a known Changed Block Tracking (CBT) bug which can sometimes return incorrect changed sectors on a guest VM. As the CBT is used by the %edition_name% for VDDK backup modes, if affects the integrity of both incremental and differential backups.

    Please refer to the following articles:

    If a VMware backup is performed on any of the affected versions (i.e. v5.0, v5.1, v5.5 and v6.0), even if it was upgraded to a later version, it will be impossible for the %edition_name% to restore the guest VMs due to the CBT bug, even though all backup jobs are recorded as successful by the %edition_name%.

    As part of the backup job, %edition_name% will automatically check if the VMware version is affected by the VMware CBT bug. If the problematic VMware version detected is related to the affected version (i.e. v5.0, v5.1, v5.5 and v6.0), then the %edition_name% will show a warning in the backup report indicating that the VMware host is affected by the CBT bug.

    To resolve this problem, it is strongly recommended to perform the following steps:

    1. Apply the VMware patch or upgrade the VMware vCenter/ESXi.
    2. Perform a full backup of the affected guest VMs

Granular Restore Requirements

Please ensure that the following requirements are met for Granular Restore to use:

  1. Granular restore is only supported on VMware backup sets created and backed up using %edition_name% v3.1.0.0 or above on Windows platforms with Granular Restore feature enabled.
  2. %edition_name% must be installed on a 64 bit Windows machine as libraries for VMware Granular restore only supports 64bit Windows.
  3. Temporary Directory Folder should have at least the same available size as the backup image to be restored.
  4. One spare drive letter must be available for the granular restore process as the VMDK or VDDK image is mounted on Windows as a logical drive by %edition_name% and it will automatically take the next available drive letter in alphabetical order for the mounted volume. (Drive letters A, B, and C will not be used.)
  5. Recommended minimum network speed is at least 100Mbits download speed per second. Network bandwidth should be increased in proportion to the delta chain to ensure optimal performance. Working with limited network bandwidth may severely affect the granular restore performance. You can use an online speed connection testing site (e.g. http://www.speedtest.net) to test your connection speed.
  6. The following dependencies are restore related and therefore they will be checked by %edition_name% only when an granular restore is performed. Absence of these elements will not affect the backup job but would cause the restore to fail.
  7. The Windows login account used for installation and operation of the %edition_name% client machine requires Administrator privileges.

Key:

Name The name of the backup set.
Backup set type The backup set type, e.g. VMware Backup
Version The version of the VMware product.
  • VMware ESXi 5.5. / 6 / 6.5 / 6.7 / 7
  • VMware Workstation 10 / 11 / VMware Workstation Pro 12 / 14 / 15 / 16
  • VMware Player 6 / 7 / VMware Workstation Player 12 / 14 / 15 / 16
  • VMware vCenter 5.5 / 6 / 6.5 / 6.7 / 7
Username The username with system or sufficient privilege to access the VMware product.
Password The password for the user login.
Host The host of the VMware product.
Port The listening port of the VMware product.
SSH Port The SSH port of the VMware product.

To create a backup set name:

  1. Type in a meaningful backup set name.
  2. Select the backup set type.
  3. Select the version of the VMware product.
  4. Enter the username.
  5. Enter the password.
  6. Enter the host.
  7. Enter the port.
  8. Enter the SSH port.
  9. Click [Next] button to continue.
  10. Note: Click [Next] button will start the verifying process.