Backup

You need to configure backup tasks to define the details of virtual machine backups. A single backup task can include one or more virtual machines. After you configure a task, you can start the backup right away or just have it run automatically according to the schedule.

Before You Start

Make sure of the following before adding a hypervisor or virtual machine to Active Backup for Business:

To add a hypervisor:

  1. Click Manage Hypervisor > Add.
  2. Fill in the server address and account information.

Note:

Apart from adding VMware vSphere, you can also edit or delete the vCenter Server or vSphere Hypervisor (ESX/ESXi) in Manage Hypervisor:

Launch the Backup Wizard

You can do any of the following to launch the backup wizard:

Backup Wizard

Specify task name and select virtual machines to back up

In the backup wizard, specify the task name and select the virtual machines you want to back up. Then, select a shared folder as the backup destination.

You can switch between views by changing the view mode. Keep in mind that switching between views will clear Auto Discovery settings. You need to decide the scope of Auto Discovery again after the switch.

To configure Auto Discovery:

Auto Discovery can automatically add new virtual machines to the backup task. If you add new virtual machines to a host, folder, or datacenter in the future, they will be included in backups afterwards.

  1. Click Configure Auto Discovery.
  2. Select the folders, hosts, or datacenters where you want to enable Auto Discovery.
  3. Click OK to finish.

Configure backup destination settings

  1. Select a shared folder to be the backup destination. You can check if destination compression and encryption functions are enabled for the shared folder. The free space of each shared folder is also shown here.
  2. If you select a shared folder that has not been used as the backup destination, you can choose whether to enable data compression and encryption at the destination. The settings cannot be changed later. If you want different compression and encryption settings in the future, you need to select or create another shared folder.

Note:

Specify task settings

Note:

Check for necessary services on virtual machines

The system needs to check if the necessary services on the virtual machines are configured correctly. This makes sure that backups can be performed successfully in the future. You can also enable the required services before you start creating a backup task.

Define backup schedule

Configure backup retention

Setting a retention policy helps you manage your storage space more efficiently by keeping the versions you want. There are three options of retention policies to choose from:

Specify user privileges

Check the user/group to whom you wish to grant the privilege for performing Guest Files (Windows / Linux) Restore for the task and browsing the backup versions of the task. To ensure that only eligible users can have access to restore backed-up files and versions of the backup task, privilege settings can be configured during or after the creation of the backup task.

Note:

Finish up wizard

At the Summary step of the wizard, complete the task configuration procedure.

  1. Review details of the backup task. Click Done to close the wizard.
  2. You will be asked if you want to back up the virtual machines right after you finish the configuration. If you do not want to start a backup immediately, the task will run according to the schedule your set.