NovaBACKUP CMon 19 Installation Guide (Recommended method using Microsoft SQL and IIS Web Server)

DOWNLOAD CMON: https://www.novabackup.com/products/central-monitoring-console

This video covers installation of NovaBACKUP CMon 19 using our recommended method of installation, with Microsoft SQL Server (Note: SQL Express editions are limited to 10GB max database size) and IIS Web Server.

• Note: NovaBACKUP CMon provides a built in SQLite database and a built in web server component; however, if there are more than 5 backup agents (client installations) that will connect to the CMon then we strongly recommend the use of Microsoft SQL Server and IIS Web Server as there will be increased performance over the built in database and web server components.
• Using MS SQL will result in a more stable environment and smoother-more reliable updates.

The recommended method that we detail in this guide installs CMon with Microsoft SQL Server (any edition) and Microsoft IIS Web Server.

• In this example we install CMon 19.3 on a Windows Server 2016 operating system and the steps include installing Microsoft IIS Web Server (w/IIS 6 Management Compatibility Role), for the web server component, and Microsoft SQL Server Express 2017 for the database component.
• After that we install NovaBACKUP CMon 19.3.
• Finally we configure a NovaBACKUP backup software client to connect to the CMon server as an agent. All installations are performed on a single Windows Server 2016 virtual machine.

We recommend the video be watched in full screen / HD.

Note: For best results and clarity, please view this video in 720p. YouTube sometimes does not auto-detect the resolution properly.

Timeline:

1. Details on the recommended CMon installation method (Microsoft SQL + IIS) - 0:00
2. Install Web Server (IIS) w/IIS 6 Management Compatibility role - 1:09
3. Install Microsoft SQL Server Express (2017 version) - 1:53
4. Install Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) for SQL Server - 2:48
5. Configure Microsoft SQL Server for Mixed Mode Authentication (SQL Server and Windows Authentication mode) and enable the "sa" user (both required by CMon) - 4:29
6. Verify that you can login to SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) using the "sa" user configured in the prior step - 7:38
7. Install CMon and specify Microsoft SQL Server for the database and IIS for the web server component - 8:00
8. Configure NovaBACKUP client to connect to CMon - 11:40
9. Start a CMon HTML5 based web session and login for the first time - 13:22
10. Complete a backup in NovaBACKUP to show that it can report the status to CMon - 15:17

The recommended versions of Microsoft SQL Server (all editions) include:
SQL Server 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2019. In this example we use SQL Server Express 2017 (the free Express edition version). 

Please note that SQL Server Express edition is limited to 10GB database size, per database (log files excluded). 
We have seen customers with a CMon database of 120GB in size, so at that point Express edition will absolutely not work and the edition of SQL would have to be upgraded to support that database size.

For more info on the limitations of SQL Server Express edition read here and here.

The recommended Operating Systems include:
Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2016 (shown in the video), Windows Server 2019.

Notes:

For a further explanation regarding video timeline Steps 5, 6 and 7, please read the notes below. This helps to provide a further understanding of what the two SQL Authentication related installer screens / prompts are asking for and expecting.

For the recommended method of CMon installation using SQL Server for the CMon database, you will need to confirm that the SQL 'sa' user has access to SQL and to the DB.  By default the SQL 'sa' user will be disabled for login capability, and the CMon installer prompts for authentication to SQL on two separate screens, the first one is for authentication to the SQL Database,  in this case the SQL 'sa' user, and the second one is just to be able to login to SQL Server in general using a Windows user that has the SQL 'sysadmin' role enabled for that user, as configured and seen inside SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS).

From the video timeline pay close attention to Steps 5, 6 and 7:

5. Configure Microsoft SQL Server for Mixed Mode Authentication (SQL Server and Windows Authentication mode) and enable the "sa" user (both required by CMon) - 4:29
6. Verify that you can login to SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) using the "sa" user configured in the prior step - 7:38
7. Install CMon and specify Microsoft SQL Server for the database and IIS for the web server component - 8:00\

For Step 7, note that during the CMon installation, when you get to the 'SQL Database Server Instance' screen, it will first ask you to authenticate with a user, after choosing SQL Server for Authentication type, then for the Username you will enter 'sa' and the password for that 'sa' user.  After that you will proceed to the next screen and that screen will be titled 'SQL Database Server Windows Authentication' screen, it will prompt for Domain, Username, and Password.  On that screen is where you will enter in a Windows local or domain user to authenticate to SQL, and that user needs to have the 'sysadmin' role that is configured inside SSMS, which was covered in the earlier Step 4 where we installed SQL Server Management Studio, to configure one Windows user with sysadmin privileges.  Many times that is the local administrator as that user nearly always has sysadmin role added as a standard in most SQL Server installations.  If you are attempting to utilize a Domain User to authenticate with on the 'SQL Database Server Windows Authentication' screen, where you are entering a Windows user to authenticate to SQL with for the CMon installation, make sure the Domain User you are utilizing has the 'sysadmin' role added inside SSMS, otherwise the CMon installer will fail as it does not have the ability to verify that the user you are attempting to specify here actually has the necessary 'sysadmin' role in place in SQL Server.

Other CMon Videos:

NovaBACKUP CMon 19 Overview: https://youtu.be/OPkFyUQBTAI

Setting up NovaBACKUP for use with CMon - How To: https://youtu.be/-NSpX_mi65s

Documentation:

Current User Manuals and Release Notes can be found at https://www.novabackup.com/resources/manuals-guides