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VMware Backup Module for CloudBacko Pro

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Requirements

Below are the requirements that you need to consider for properly backing up your VMware's virtual machines with CloudBacko Pro backup software.

Antivirus Exclusion

To optimize performance of CloudBacko Pro on Windows, and to avoid conflict with your antivirus software, refer to the following article the list of processes and directory paths that should be added to all antivirus software white-list / exclusion list.


VMware vCenter / ESXi Server

For backup of virtual machines on vCenter / ESXi servers, make sure the following requirements are met.

ESXi / vCenter Patch Release

Make sure that the latest supported patch release is installed on the vCenter / ESXi hosts to prevent critical issue, such as corruption to change tracking data in certain situation (https://kb.vmware.com/kb/2090639)

ESXi Shell Access

  • ESXi Shell access must be enabled on the ESXi servers. Refer to the following VMware KB article for instruction: https://kb.vmware.com/kb/2004746
  • Consult with VMware support representatives if you are unsure on the process.

SSH

SSH must be enabled on the hypervisor (ESXi Server). To enable root SSH login on an ESXi host, please follow the below instructions from VMware. http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=8375637

Root Account

CloudBacko Pro requires root account access to the ESXi server to perform backup and restore.

Port Requirement

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.

Disk Space Available on Datastore

Sufficient disk space must be allocated on the datastore (e.g. 1.2 x size of the largest virtual machine selected for backup), where the virtual machine(s) for backup are located.

Maximum Virtual Disk Size

  • For VMware ESXi version 5.1 and earlier, the maximum size of a virtual disk to be backup cannot exceed 1.98 TB (or less, depending the block size setting of the datastore).
  • Details: http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003565

VMware Tools

VMware Tools are used to quiesce VMs prior to backing them up. To create consistent backup for your VMs on Windows platforms, ensure that VMware Tools are installed, and up-to-date on all VMs to be backup.

Quiescing is a process that ensures that the disk data is in a state suitable for backups to reduce the possibility of data corruption upon restore. This is especially important for transactional-based applications running on VMs like MS SQL Server.

There are different types of quiescing mechanisms, according to the guest operating systems (e.g. Crash-consistent, File-system-consistent and Application-consist quiescing).

ESXi/ESX Hosts and Virtual Machine Hardware Versions Compatibility

Refer to this link for information on the supported and compatible virtual machine hardware versions in VMware vSphere: ESXi/ESX hosts and compatible virtual machine hardware versions list (2007240)


Backup Client Computer

For backup of virtual machines on ESXi server (with no vCenter setup), a separate Backup Client Computer must be prepared for CloudBacko Pro to install on.

CloudBacko Pro cannot be installed on an ESXi server directly.

For environment with vCenter setup, CloudBacko Pro is installed on the vCenter computer for best performance.

Ensure that the following requirements are met by the Backup Client Computer or the vCenter computer:

Hardware and Software Requirement

Ensure that the hardware and software requirements are met by the Backup Client Computer or the vCenter computer.

Add-on Module Requirement

Make sure that the VMware VM backup add-on module is enabled for your CloudBacko Pro user account, and that sufficient number of guest / socket is assigned. Contact your backup service provider for more details.

Port Requirement

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.

Backup Client Computer on Linux

For Backup Client Computer running on Linux operating system platform, Graphical User Interface (GUI) environment (e.g. GOME or KDE) must be installed.

Run Direct restore, VDDK backup mode and Granular Restore is not supported for Backup Client Computer on Linux / Mac OS X platforms.

Disk Space Available on Backup Client Computer (or the vCenter computer)

Sufficient disk space must be allocated on the Backup Client Computer (or the vCenter computer) for the temporary directory configured for the backup set, and the formula for calculation of disk space is like the following: 

(Total File Size * Delta Ratio) * number of backup destinations = Maximum Free Space Required

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 a regular basis to avoid potential backup problems.

Windows OS Requirement for VDDK and Non-VDDK Modes Backup

Make sure CloudBacko Pro is installed on:

  • 64-bit Windows OS if you will back up VM data from VMware vCenter/ESXi 6.5 or above in VDDK mode.
  • Either 32-bit or 64-bit Windows OS if you will back up VM data from VMware vCenter/ESXi 6.5 or above in Non-VDDK mode (Free VMware version).


Run Direct

Run Direct is a feature that helps reduce disruption and downtime of your production VMs. To utilize the Run Direct feature, ensure that the following requirements are met:

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.

VDDK Backup Mode Requirements

CloudBacko Pro supports VDDK backup mode (Virtual Disk Development Kit) for ESX/ESXi and vCenter setup. The backup speed is enhanced because the generation of the delta file of the VM are performed directly by the ESX/ESXi or vCenter itself. With VDDK backup mode, the following are supported:

  • Backup / restore of the resource pool and 'roles' settings, and support of restoration to another name or alternate location on the ESX/ESXi platform.
  • VM hardware version upgrade, change tracking option and change tracking data option when a new backup set is created.
  • Add or remove VM hard disk without uploading the existing hard disk again on the vCenter backup.

For VDDK backup mode, CloudBacko Pro must be installed on a supported Windows operating system platform.

License Requirement
  • The VMware vSphere Storage APIs, which are essential for VDDK backup mode, are included with the VMware vSphere Enterprise Standard, Enterprise and Enterprise Plus Edition.
  • Ensure that the license requirement is met.

For VM on free version of ESXi without a Run Direct backup destination, backup will be performed in non-VDDK mode.
For VM on free version of ESXi with a Run Direct backup destination, the following error message would be returned during a backup:
”Skip backing up Virtual Machine “name“. Reason = “Run Direct is only support to VDDK backup mode””.

Changed Block Tracking (CBT) on VMs

CBT must be enabled for the VM to be backed up in VDDK mode. Make sure that the following requirements are met:

  • The VM must be hardware version 7 or later.
  • The VM must have zero (0) snapshots when CBT is enabled.
  • The virtual disk must be located on a VMFS volume backed by SAN, iSCSI, local disk, or a NFS volume.

For virtual disk on VMFS, the initial backup (e.g. full file backup) will be of size similar to used size; while for virtual disk on NFS, the initial backup will be of the provisioned size.

  • RDM (Raw Device Mapping) in physical compatibility mode is not supported.
  • The virtual disk must not be in Independent Mode (Persistent or Nonpersistent).

Once the backup job executed on a VM with change block tracking option enabled by the VDDK, please do not turn off this option in the VM for consequent backup jobs. If you need to disable this option, you are suggested to create a new backup set with this option disabled.

VMware Snapshot

VDDK backup mode does not support backup of virtual machine snapshot. See: https://kb.vmware.com/kb/1015180

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 CloudBacko Pro.

Virtual Machine State

VDDK backup mode does not support backup of virtual machine state (e.g. power on state / suspend state).

File Name Requirement

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

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

This is due to the percent-encoding specified in the URL standard is not supported for 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

Backup Destination

  • When a Run Direct restore is performed, the backup destination containing the guest VM files is mounted on the VMware host as NFS datastore.
  • Ensure that the following requirements are met by the backup destination of the VMware VM backup set:
    • Destination must be accessible to the VMware host.
    • Destination must have sufficient disk space available for the Run Direct restore. There should be 1.5 x total provisioned size of all VMs selected for backup.
    • For Run Direct restore of 1 VM with provisioned size of 100GB, there should be 150GB (e.g. 1.5 x 100GB) of free space available in the Destination.
  • 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 form the backup files in the backup destination.
  • Operation System of the Backup Client Computer
    • Run Direct restore is only supported by CloudBacko Pro installation on Windows.
    • To utilize the Run Direct feature, make sure that CloudBacko Pro is installed on a supported Windows platform.
  • Restore to Alternate Location
    • When performing a Run Direct restore to Alternate Location, only one VM can be selected per restore session.
      cloudbacko_module_vmware_005a
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    • Consider to create separate VMware VM backup set for each VM that you intend to perform Run Direct restore (e.g. VMs that you may restore to alternate location).
  • Dedicated NFS Service - A dedicated CloudBacko Pro NFS Windows service is introduced to allow Run Direct session to continue even if the CloudBacko Pro user interface is closed.

    By default, the CloudBacko Pro NFS service is started as Local System, which does not have sufficient permission to access any network resources (e.g. the CloudBacko Pro 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 CloudBacko Pro NFS Service is configured with an account with sufficient permission to access the network backup destination where the backed up VM data are stored.
  1. Under Control Panel, open Administrative Tools then Services.
  2. Right click on CloudBacko Pro NFS Service, select the Log on tab.
  3. Select the This Account option.
  4. Enter the login credentials of an account with sufficient permission.
  5. Restart the service afterward.


Non-VDDK Backup Mode

No longer supported in CloudBacko v5


Granular Restore

Supported Backup Modules

Granular Restore is supported on VMware backup sets created and backed up using CloudBacko Pro installed on a Windows platform with the Granular Restore feature enabled on the backup set.

Backup Quota Storage

As compression is not enabled for Granular backup sets, to optimize restore performance, the storage quota required will be higher than non-Granular backup sets.

Operating System

CloudBacko Pro must be installed on a 64 bit Windows machine as libraries for Granular only supports 64 bit Windows operating system for VMware ESXi/vCenter. CloudBacko Pro must be installed on the following Windows Operating Systems:

Windows 7 SP1 or higher OS
Windows 2008 R2 SP1 or higher Windows Server OS

Temporary Directory Requirement

Temporary Directory Folder should have at least the same available size as the guest VM to be restored and should be located on a local drive to ensure optimal performance.

Available Spare Drive Letter

One spare drive letter must be available on the Windows machine for the Granular Restore process, as the VDDK virtual disk is mounted on Windows as a logical drive. CloudBacko Pro will automatically take the next available drive letter in alphabetical order for the mounted virtual disk.

The Windows drive letters A, B, and C are not used by Granular Restore.

The Granular Restore assigned drive letter(s) will be released once you exit from CloudBacko Pro UI.

Network Requirements

Recommended minimum network speed is at least 100Mbps download speed.

The network bandwidth requirements will increase in proportion to the size of the guest VM and the incremental delta chain length to ensure optimal performance. Working with limited network bandwidth may severely affect the Granular Restore performance.

You can use an online network speed test website (e.g. http://www.speedtest.net) to get an idea of the actual bandwidth of the machine.

Other Dependencies

The following dependencies are restore related and therefore they will be checked by CloudBacko Pro only when Granular Restore is performed. Absence of these elements will not affect the backup job but would cause the restore to fail.

Permissions

  • The Windows login account used for installation and operation of the CloudBacko Pro client machine requires Administrator privileges.
  • For Granular Restore, Windows User Account Control (UAC) must be disabled.
public/module/vmware/requirements.txt · Last modified: 2022/05/12 13:33 by klim

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