VMware Backup

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I have virtual machines running on VMware ESXi and vCenter. Can I backup these VMs to the BMR device?

Yes, you can backup virtual machines running on VMware ESXi host and vCenter server to the BMR device. All you need to do is, add the ESXi host and vCenter server to the BMR device and schedule the backup. The initial backup is full image backup and subsequent backups are full or incremental as per the schedule.

How do I backup VMs running on VMware ESXi host and vCenter server to the BMR device?

You need to add VMware ESXi host and vCenter server to the BMR device for backup.

To add ESXi host,

1. Sign in to IDrive BMR's device web interface.
2. Go to the 'VMware' tab and click 'Add ESXi Host'.

3. Provide details such as ESXi name, IP address, username, password and click 'Next'.

4. Select the required virtual machines and click 'Next'.

   Note: IDrive BMR follows VMware's naming conventions and restrictions for virtual machines. Hence names with the special characters colon, quotation marks, and slash (:, ", \, and /) are not supported.

5. Set full or incremental backup schedule parameters in the respective tabs and click 'Next'.

6. Verify the details and click 'Confirm' to add.

Once an ESXi host is added to the BMR device, backups will occur for the running VMs as per schedule.

To add vCenter server,

1. Sign in to IDrive BMR's device web interface.
2. Go to 'VMware' -> 'vCenter'.
3. Click 'Add vCenter Server'.
4. Provide details such as vCenter name, IP address, username, password and click 'Next'.
5. Select the virtual machines to be added and click 'Next'.

   Note: IDrive BMR follows VMware's naming conventions and restrictions for virtual machines. Hence names with the special characters colon, quotation marks, and slash (:, ", \, and /) are not supported.

6. Set full or incremental backup schedule parameters in the respective tabs and click 'Next'.
7. Verify the details and click 'Confirm' to add.

I have added new VMs to my VMware ESXi/vCenter. How do I add them for backup?

To add VMs to the VMware ESXi/vCenter,

1. Sign in to IDrive BMR's device web interface.
2. Go to 'VMware'->'ESXi'/'vCenter'.
3. Click 'Add VMs' on the respective ESXi/vCenter tabs.

4. Select the VMs to be added and click 'Next'.

   Note: IDrive BMR follows VMware's naming conventions and restrictions for virtual machines. Hence names with the special characters colon, quotation marks, and slash (:, ", \, and /) are not supported.

5. Verify the details and click 'Confirm'.

Can I perform immediate backup of the virtual machines running on VMware ESXi / vCenter?

Yes, you can perform immediate backup of the virtual machines running on VMware ESXi / vCenter.

To perform immediate backup,

1. Sign in to IDrive BMR's device web interface.
2. Go to 'VMware'->'ESXi'/'vCenter'.
3. Click the 'Backup Now' button on the respective ESXi / vCenter tab to perform an immediate backup.

Once data backup starts, you can see the progress of the backup in the 'Activities' section.

What is the maximum hard disk size of a VM that I can backup?

You can perform VMware backup of hard disks up to 2TB in size. We recommend users to install the backup agent inside the VM for devices more than 2TB in size. These backups will be displayed under the 'Physical Machines' tab.

Can I change the backup schedule of VMware ESXi host and vCenter server?

Yes, you can change the backup schedule of the virtual machines.

To reschedule data backup,

1. Sign in to IDrive BMR's device web interface.
2. Go to 'VMware'->'ESXi'/'vCenter'.
3. Click on the required ESXi/vCenter.
4. In the 'Schedule Backup' screen, change the required parameters. You can select 'Disable Schedule' to disable the schedule.

Note: You can select 'Force a full image backup' if you want to perform a full image backup over a time period specified by you.

5. Click 'Confirm' to save the changes.

How do I delete the VMware ESXi host or vCenter server, added for backup, from the BMR device?

To delete ESXi host or vCenter server from the BMR device,

1. Sign in to IDrive BMR's device web interface.
2. Go to 'VMware'->'ESXi'/'vCenter'.
3. Click on the required ESXi/vCenter.
4. Click 'Yes' in the confirmation window.

Note: The list of deleted ESXi hosts and vCenter servers will be displayed at the bottom-half of the page and will be removed from the device during cleanup. You can click 'Do not remove' to retain the required ESXi host and vCenter server.

How do I restore the VMs to my ESXi host or vCenter server?

To restore a VM running on ESXi host,

1. Sign in to IDrive BMR's device web interface and go to the 'Restore' tab.
2. Go to 'VMware Restore'->'ESXi'/vCenter.
3. Select 'VM Restore'.

4. Select the required ESXi host you want to restore.
5. Select a VM and the required recovery point.
6. Select 'Same VM' if you wish to restore data to the same VM.
7. To restore data to another VM, select 'New VM'.

8. Select an ESXi host for the new VM.
9. Enter a name for the VM and select a data store.

   Note: IDrive BMR follows VMware's naming conventions and restrictions for virtual machines. Hence names with the special characters colon, quotation marks, and slash (:, ", \, and /) are not supported.

10. Click 'Restore' to initiate the restore process.

To restore a VM running on vCenter server,

1. Sign in to IDrive BMR's device web interface and go to the 'Restore' tab.
2. Go to 'VMware Restore'->'vCenter'.
3. Select 'VM restore'.

4. Select the required vCenter server you want to restore.
5. Select an ESXi host.
6. Select a VM and the required recovery point.
7. Select 'Same VM' if you wish to restore data to the same VM.
8. To restore data to another VM, select 'New VM'.

9. Select a vCenter and the required ESXi host for the new VM.
10. Enter a name for the VM and select a data store.

    Note: IDrive BMR follows VMware's naming conventions and restrictions for virtual machines. Hence names with the special characters colon, quotation marks, and slash (:, ", \, and /) are not supported.

11. Click 'Restore' to initiate the restore process.

You can view detailed restore progress in the 'Activities' section.

Which versions of VMware ESXi host are supported by IDrive BMR?

IDrive BMR supports ESXi server versions 5.5, 6.0, 6.5, 6.7, 7.0, and 8.0. We do not support free ESXi.

Does IDrive BMR support agentless backup for Hyper-V machines?

Since Hyper-V is a Windows machine, using IDrive BMR for backup allows you to protect all the VMs too. For a successful bare-metal restore of the Hyper-V machines, ensure VMs are present locally on the same Hyper-V server machine during backup.

For which operating systems (OS) and file systems, can I enable VMware file-level restore?

You can enable VMware file-level restore for the following operating systems (OS):

Which operating systems (OS) are supported by BMR VMware backup?

IDrive BMR is compatible with all operating systems and therefore supports VM backups running on the VMware machine, irrespective of the OS.

I am receiving an error message during VM backup, which says, “An error occurred while taking a snapshot: Failed to quiesce the virtual machine.” What should I do?

You are receiving this error message due to an issue with the configuration of the virtual machine.

The possible causes of this issue include:

• As per VMware KB 2069952, the Virtual Disk service does not start in the Windows guest operating system on the affected virtual machine.

  If you face this issue,

  1. Sign in to the Windows operating system as an administrator.
  2. Click 'Start', type services.msc, and then click 'Enter'.
  3. Right-click the Virtual Disk service and click 'Start'.
• As per VMware KB 1018194, this issue occurs when the I/O in the virtual machine is high and the quiescing operation is unable to move all the data to the disk, while further I/O is created.

  Follow the resolutions mentioned in this VMware article to successfully complete the VM backup:
  http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1018194

• When the virtual machine does not have any free space, you may receive this error message. Free up some space on the virtual machine to address this concern.
• Other VMware KBs related to creating snapshot failure:
  • 2068653 - Quiesced snapshots fail on a Windows Server 2012 virtual machine with Microsoft Exchange 2013
  • 2015181 - Creating a quiesced snapshot of a Windows 2008 virtual machine fails with the error: "Snapshot 0 failed: Failed to quiesce the virtual machine"
  • 1031298 - Cannot take a quiesced snapshot of Windows 2008 R2 virtual machine.

Follow the resolutions mentioned in the respective VMware articles to address these issues and successfully complete the VM backup.

How can I avoid adding multiple ESXi hosts?

You don't have to add every single ESXi host to initiate backups. You can add the relevant vCenter servers and all the associated ESXi hosts will be automatically added too for backup.

When will cleanup for VMware machines take place?

The cleanup for VMware machines will follow the same cleanup schedule specified for your physical machines.

Can I manually delete recovery points of my VMware machines?

Yes, you can manually delete recovery points of your VMware machines.

To view and manage recovery points of a VMware machine,

1. Sign in to the IDrive BMR's device web interface and navigate to 'Dashboard' > 'VMware'.
2. Navigate to the required ESXi or vCenter server tile under the respective tab and click . This will open a page that displays the recovery points of VMs of the selected ESXi / vCenter server.

3. Select the ESXi server from the 'Choose ESXi' dropdown (This step is not relevant if you navigated here from the ESXi tab).
4. Choose a VM from the 'Choose VM' dropdown.
5. Select the recovery points you wish to delete and click 'Delete Recovery Points'.

6. Click 'Yes' to confirm. These recovery points will be queued for deletion and removed from the BMR device in the same order. Click ‘Refresh’ to view the latest status of the recovery points.

Alternatively, click on the ESXI / vCenter server tile-header and navigate to the required VM. Click and select 'Manage Recovery Points' to view and manage the recovery points.

Uptil the recovery point is deleted, you can revert the operation by clicking 'Undo Delete'.