vmguardian 3.0 Practical Operation Seminar First Edition

vmguardian 3.0 Practical Operation Seminar First Edition

1. Feature Overview ESX(i) Virtual Machine Backup vmguardian is a software appliance designed to backup virtual machines developed on ESX(i). Backup Engine Backup engine equivalent to that of ActiveImage Protector is integrated. Fast and reliable backups as in ActiveImage can be accomplished. ActiveImage Protector 3.5 Virtual Machine without Agent Installation of agent on virtual machine is not required. Backups can be conducted without installing anything. (VMware Tools needs to be setup) Console on Web Browsers vmguardian is operated through console via web browser. Installation of software on managing machine is not necessary either as operations can be done through web browsers. 2 IE / Chrome / FireFox

2. System Requirements Hypervisor Browser OS Destination Storage for Images VMware ESX/ESXi version 4.1 or later (includes ESX/ESXi 5.5) (Support for vstorage API is required) Internet Explorer 9 or later, Google Chrome v25 or later, FireFox v19 or later (1024 x 640 resolution is recommended for any browsers) Windows Server 2012 2012 R2Windows Server 2008 2008 R2,Windows Server 2003 2003 R2,Windows 2000 Server SP4 Windows 8 Windows 8.1,Windows 7,Windows Vista,Windows XP SP3 (The NTFS file system is supported in operating systems listed above) Linux(Ext3/Ext4/Swap/LVM) *Please make sure the latest version of VMware Tools corresponding to the host is set up on virtual machines (mandatory). As for Linux virtual machines, please make sure vmsync kernel module is set up before you set up VMware Tools. Direct attachment to the appliance machine (USB2.0, IDE, SCSI)NFS,CIFS (samba),iscsi 3

3. Configuration Diagram Pattern 1: Standard Configuration Virtual Machine Backup Image Backup Image Virtual Appliance Backup Backup Image One vmguardian virtual appliance on one ESX(i) Standard configuration in which virtual machine to be backed up and vmguardian appliance exist on a single ESX(i) host. Freely select an accessible storage as image destination from virtual appliance. 4

3. Configuration Diagram Pattern 2: Configuration with Multiple ESX(i) Hosts One vmguardian virtual appliance backs up virtual machines on multiple ESX(i) hosts Virtual Machine Virtual Machine Virtual Appliance Virtual Machine Virtual Machine vmguardian appliance can back up virtual machines on other ESX(i) hosts via network. There is no need to create virtual appliance for every ESX(i) host. Backup Restore Backup Image 5

4. Setup (1) Template Deployment Deploy virtual appliance provided in OVA format as a virtual machine on ESX(i) using vsphere Client. OVA file is included in vmguardian product media. Provisioning can be either "thick" or "thin". 40MB free space is required for thick provisioning, and approx. 3.2GB for thin provisioning. 6

4. Setup (2) Access Virtual Appliance via Web Browser Check the IP address when virtual appliance has been launched. Access the URL written in [Access URL:] by web browser. Supported web browsers are: Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. 7

4. Setup (3) License Installation First, install a license of vmguardian. License needs to be applied for every host. (each host with target virtual machine running) License is required when making backups for virtual machines. License is not required if only restoration is done. 8

4. Setup (4) Storage Settings (Setting Storage Destination for Images) Create a mount point at image destination from [Settings] > [Mount point]. The following three protocols are supported for mount point. - NFS - CIFS (shared Samba / Windows) - Direct-Attached Storage (DAS) 9

4. Setup (5) Connection Management (adding ESX(i) Hosts) Add a target ESX(i) host or vcenter Server from [Settings] > [Connection]. When a host is successfully added, a list of virtual machines appear at left side of console screen. 10

4. Setup (6) License (License Allocation to Hosts) Apply installed license to ESX(i) host by selecting [Settings] > [License]. If license is not applied in this screen, virtual machines cannot be backed up. 11

5. Backup 1. Backup of Virtual Machines Launch Backup Wizard and choose a target virtual machine. Installation of vmguardian components on virtual machine is not required. Backups can be conducted without installing anything. (VMware Tools needs to be setup) Backups can be conducted when virtual machine is either powered on or off. Appliance itself cannot be backed up. 12

5. Backup (2) Backup Options Specify image storage destination in backup target setting. Compression ratio and image option can be specified in this screen. Compression Ratio Patterns Regular Compression - Fast Regular Compression - High Compression Deduplication - Level 1 Deduplication - Level 2 (default) Deduplication - Level 3 13

5. Backup (3) Deduplication The software comes with the same In Line Deduplication Compression technology as in ActiveImage Protector. Deduplication is done automatically by vmguardian while backup is being conducted. There is no need to purchase an expensive storage for saving the images. Shared folders under Windows or NAS can be used as storage destination. Image Size Differences According to Compression Settings Compression Settings Original Size Image Size Compre ssion Fast 18.3GB 9.07GB 49.5% High Compression 18.3GB 7.39GB 40.3% Deduplication - Level 2 18.3GB 5.46GB 29.8% Time 8 min 44 sec 9 min 36 sec 9 min 5 sec VMware ESXi 5.1 Hypervisor Two virtual machines (Windows Server 2003 + Windows Server 2012) 14

5. Backup (4) Created Backup Image(Point by Point Archive) Single Backup Image vmguardian uses two types of files with the file extensions,.aib and.anx that are created as a result of a backup task execution..aib file is created as the main image file and.anx file is created as the index file. Scheduled Backup Image Backup image files are created every time when scheduled backup tasks are executed. When a baseline backup file is newly created, the image file is named with a sequential number. When incremental backup task is executed, an incremental backup image file is created in association with a base image file 15 Point by Point Archive is intended for Image File Replication environment.

5. Backup (5) Created Backup Image (Integrated Archive) Single Backup Image When a baseline backup file is newly created as a result of scheduled backup task execution, the image file is named with a sequential number. Scheduled Backup Image Execution of an incremental backup task does not create any additional image file, but the changes are integrated into the existing image file. (Baseline image file is updated.) Integrated Archive is intended for reducing backup storage needs. 16

5. Backup (6) Schedule Settings Schedules can be either for "Baseline (Full) Backup" or "Incremental Backup". Backups can be executed at any of the following timings. - One Time Backup is run only once. - Weekly Backup is conducted by day of the week. - Monthly Backup is conducted on a specific date of the month. 17

5. Backup (7) About vstorage API Backup Using vstorage API Since vmguardian uses vstorage API for Data Protection (VADP), backups cannot be conducted in environment in which VADP does not operate. VMware vsphere STANDARD Edition or Above includes vstorage API, but free ESXi license does not. In order to use vmguardian, a paid edition above STANDARD is required. CBT Used for Incremental Backups CBT (Change Block Tracking) can be activated when using virtual hardware type configuration of version 7 or later in ESX4.0 or above. This configuration is necessary in order to perform Incremental Backups in vmguardian. 18 ESX License

5. Backup (8) ESX(i) Host Backup In order to back up entire ESX(i) host, use the boot-up DVD for "ActiveImage Protector Boot Environment for vmguardian" (AIPBE) included with vmguardian. By using AIPBE, cold backup can be performed on ESX(i) host and as precaution for possible faults. 19

6. Restoration (1) Restoration using Recovery Point When performing Incremental Backup, vmguardian creates recovery point for base image and does not create new image files. By performing recovery by choosing a recovery point from the image file, image from Incremental Backup can be restored. 20

6. Restoration (2) Overwrite Restoration and New Restoration of Virtual Machines Performing [Restore to original location] overwrites virtual machine in restored. Performing [Restore as new location] creates a new virtual machine in restored. Image can be restored on a new ESX(i) host which is not the one backup was made from. In this case, vmguardian license is not required if only restoration is performed. 21

6. Restoration (3) Restoration of Individual Files Individual files can be restored by mounting an image. When multiple files need to be restored in one go, they are downloaded in zip format. Image is mounted as Webdav. In order to restore a whole folder, using Webdav client software makes it easy. 22

7. Generating Support Information Click on [Support] in Web Console Menu. You can select the displayed menu button to generate support information. Support information is used to conduct analysis when error occurs in backup or restoration operations. Acquire and send this information when Technical Support team asks for it. 23

8. Frequently Asked Questions Q1: What is the difference between vmguardian and ActiveImage Protector? A1: ActiveImage Protector is an agent-type backup software product. As in other agent installation products, it allows detailed settings for backups. When using some software products that do not work along with VSS, service interruption and start can be automatized to be coupled with backups by using batch file call. Q2: Can backups be conducted without installing anything? A2: Yes. However, VMware Tools needs to be setup. In Linux environment, "vmsync" needs to be activated after which "VMware Tools" is to be installed. Q3: How many virtual machines can each appliance backup? A3: There is no specified limitation in number of virtual machines. However, each appliance can perform one backup task at a time. Therefore, in order to perform multiple schedules simultaneously, multiple appliances are required. 24

9. Exercises Exercise 1: Deploy virtual appliance of vmguardian. Deploy a virtual appliance on ESX(i) host, and perform initial setup. Exercise 2: Backup of the virtual machine. Create image by running a backup on virtual machine. Exercise 3: Restore the virtual machine. Restore the virtual machine from the image created. Exercise 4: Recover of individual files Mount the image file created, and restore of individual files. 25