NovaBACKUP BE 18.x and newer (2019-08-22)
1. Preliminary Note
You can back up Hyper-V and/or VMware VMs virtual machines (VMs) using two methods:
- Per NovaBACKUP Plugin => Backup Tab
- Per NovaBACKUP Virtual Dashboard (VD)
These backup methods differ as follows:
You can use the "Backup" tab to back up VMs to any target, e.g.:
- local drives
- shares
- removable media such as LTO, RDX drives and USB hard drives in general
Plug-in VM backups are compact. Unlike VD backups, you cannot restore individual files directly from these backups. For example, you would first have to restore to an alternative location, then you can mount the virtual hard disks and copy files using Windows Explorer.
Backups created via VD can be mounted directly under a Windows drive letter. Using Windows Explorer, you can then copy individual files directly from this backup. Due to this possibility there is also the next difference to the plugin:
VD backups require more space on the storage target.
This restricts the selection of possible backup destinations:
- local drives
- shares
- only limited removable media
Restricted here means that a target drive must always provide space for a new backup. Only after a successful backup will the VD deletes an old backup. If there is no more space available on the backup target for a new backup, the backup terminates. An old backup (generation) is NOT deleted! No new backups are performed.
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This article describes how to set up a Hyper-V VM backup using VD.
is given:
- Hyper-V host under Windows Server 2016; hostname "HyperV1".
- A VM "Win10de"
- Backup target is share "\\192.168.10.9\Data02"
2. Network Device Setup
If you want to use a share as backup target, first set up a NovaBACKUP network device under the "Device" tab. How to create/configure a network device is described in another article. You can find this article by searching for "Network" (without ") on the NovaStor support website:
https://support.novastor.com/hc/de/categories/360000516334-NovaBACKUP
In this example a network device "NASHyperV1" is created and a user "Backup" is used. This user exists locally on the Hyper-V host and also locally on the share giving system (can be a NAS or another Windows system). This user must be a member of the local "Administrators" and "Backup Operators" groups. If a domain exists, and if the share-giving system (e.g. NAS) is also a member of the domain, a domain admin can also be created (additional membership in the "Domain Admins" group). But using a domain user may interrupt a long running backup (session timeout!).
As backup target you specify a subdirectory in a share, NOT the root directory of a share!
In this example the root directory is the share:
\\192.168.10.9\Data02
Subdirectory for all VMs to be backed up:
\\192.168.10.9\Data02\HyperV1
Set up a separate subdirectory for each VM, here
\\192.168.10.9\Data02\HyperV1\Win10de
3. Set Up Backup in the VD
Open the start screen of NovaBACKUP and click on the entry "Virtual Dashboard" (only available in the edition NovaBACKUP BE!):
Image 1: NovaBACKUP "Home" screen
Click on "Virtual Dashboard" opens:
Image 2: Add Hyper-V host
Image 3: Add Hyper-V host access configuration
The VD uses the login credentials of the logged in user automatically to connect to the Hyper-V role. Please make sure that you are logged in as administrator od user with full access rights to the Hyper-V role. If you save the settings you will see a screen like this:
Image 4: Hyper-V host connected to VD
Expand the view by clicking on the arrow in front of the host name (here "HyperV1"). The VMs of both Hyper-V hosts are listed. Select the VM you want to back up. For each VM to be backed up, a bar is displayed in the right pane of the window. If this bar is white, this VM has been newly selected for backup and no backups have been running yet:
Image 5: Select VM for backup
Click on the bar of the VM you want to edit, here Win10de. In the following window you will see two buttons, "Backup" and "Replication" in the upper right corner. To set up a backup, click on "Backup". Enter the name and the backup destination in the fields of the newly opened window. Copy the backup target (UNC path to share) from a Windows Explorer window into the field in the VD:
Image 6: Configure VD backup job
The VD takes the login data for the share from the network device that was previously created. For each VM to be backed up, always create a separate directory below the path entered in the network device, in this case
"\\\192.168.10.9\Data02\HyperV1\Win10de"
and select this as the backup target.
Set the retention to use "Generations" and set the number of backups to be preserved. Make sure that there is always space for an additional backup on the backup target available. You will need a capacity of N+1 backups. If there is no space for a new backup, the VD backup will terminate with an error and the VM bar is highlighted in red. No old backup is deleted. Further backups are then no longer possible.
Note:
Set up the retention rules for the VD jobs at this point.
The retention created under "Plan" tab => button "Retention" have NO effect on VD jobs!
Click on "Next".
Image 7: "Run job as specified user"
ALWAYS select the option "Run job as specified user"! Enter a user with full access rights to source AND destination, here the user "Backup". Use the "Test" button to check whether the login data is correct. This checks the Windows login, NOT the NAS authentication! The login for the share was configured in the previous screen "Settings".
Click on "Next".
Under "Notifications" set up the email notification for VD jobs. Select the desired settings. You can use the NovaStor mail service (= "NovaBACKUP Alerts"). In this case you only need to enter an addressee. Alternatively, you can use your own mail server. Then you have to configure the mail server yourself. The NovaStor Support cannot assist you in setting up your own mail server.
Click "Next".
In the schedule of the VD you can set the start times of a VD backup:
Image 8: Setup VD Schedule
With click on button "Finish" you save the settings. Close the VD and open the "Schedule" tab. The VD job is shown with the configured name. For a better overview you may use a leading "VD_" in the VD job names as shown. VD jobs are only managable by the VD.
Image 9: "Schedule" tab
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