In order to create a proper Veeam backup job, a few requirements must be in place and they include:
- A VM and\or server with Veeam 9
- Virtual machines to backup
- A location to store backups
Before we move forward, please keep in mind the following is being configured in my TEST environment. Please use precaution when creating your backup jobs as each environment is unique.
Launch the Veeam console and ensure you’re in the Backup & Replication section (see below):
As you can see from the image above, no backup jobs have been created.
The purpose of creating a Veeam backup job is to back up the current state of a virtual machine in a compressed form. To begin, please select ‘Backup Job’ and then ‘New Backup Job’ from the toolbar (see below):
Provide a name for the Backup Job (for the purpose of this demo, I provided a relatively generic name, but it’s recommended that you provide a meaningful name). A meaningful description is also recommended. Please click Next when you’re ready to proceed.
At this point, you will be required to add any virtual machines. Click Add and the Add Objects window will open shortly thereafter.
Please select the Host and then the Virtual Machine you’d like to backup.
The virtual machine has been included to the backup job with its size. You can also add\remove, exclude virtual machines if you choose to do so. The Up \Down buttons also allow you to sort the VM’s in the order in which you’d like to have them processed as part of the backup job. Click Next when you’re ready to proceed.
On the Storage screen, this is where the location of the backup job(s) will be saved by selecting the desired Backup Repository. Additional options to consider are the Backup Proxy, the Retention Policy (how many restore points to keep, defaults to 14) and the option to configure secondary destinations.
Additional settings can be selected by clicking Advanced. These settings include the backup, maintenance, storage, notifications, vSphere, Integration and Script options. More details about each is listed below.
Backup Tab – you can specify what type of backup it is
Maintenance Tab – this can be used to enable Corruption Guard to scan the backup files and correct any issues. It can also be used to remove old virtual machine data after a specified amount of days
Storage Tab – allows you to set the various storage options (in-line data deduplication, file blocks, compression level and storage optimization). Enabling Encryption is also option that will require a password)
Notifications Tab – allows you to specify who receives notifications
vSphere Tab – can be used to enable vSphere options
Integration Tab – used for storage systems
Scripts Tab – used to create scripts for before or after a job
The Guest Processing window allows you (for example) to setup multiple SQL or Exchange instances w\ Veeam to truncate the logs correctly. You can also specify which applications on which server are going to be affected with the subsequent result.
The Scheduling window allows to specify ‘When’ and ‘How’ jobs run. Options include daily backup jobs with time and day, monthly backup jobs that includes a certain time, day and month or a periodic job with a specific duration. The ‘After This Job’ option can be used to connect jobs together so they will start up one job after the other when the previous job is complete. The Automatic Retry option allows you set how often a retry should occur and how much time should be used in between these attempts. The Backup window option terminates a job if it exceeds the allowed backup window.
The Summary window provides a detailed breakdown of the options that were previously selected while configuring this backup job. Click Finish to proceed.
For this demo, the specified start time was not provided on the previous screen, so we’ll have to manually start the job by clicking the Start button.
If I have missed anything or if you have any suggestions, please let me know.
Also – I’d like to thank Melissa Palmer (@vmiss33) for providing the guidance and most importantly, the support needed to encourage me to put this together. She’s a wonderful mentor and huge supporter of the vCommunity. Please give her a follow, check out her website and IT Architect Series: The Journey .
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