VMWare Full Backups are not grabbing Server 08 System State or SQL Databases OR Exchange?

[RyanW]

I just checked my first VMWare backup for completeness. I noticed that I cannot restore system state to my servers.  I have GPT turned on for Active Directory, SQL and exchange.

It's also not backing my my Exchange Store's, my SQL Databases.

What gives? These are full backups of my VMs?
 

[ZeRoC00L]

Have you installed the remote agents in your virtual machines ?

[RyanW]

Yes. The servers have the windows agents loaded.

[RyanW]

Anyone? If this is the way the Agent for VMWare is, I need to find a way to get a refund and remove my license. I'll pick up VEEAM V5 which does all of this without an agent on the servers and has granular restore capabilities without buying additional agents (such as the SQL and Active Directory agent).  That's just ridiculous!

[teiva-boy]

Do you own the respective application agents along with the Vmware agent?

To protect Exchange, AD, SQL, you need to be licensed for it.  It's not just the AVVI piece that is needed.

The Agent inside the guest is going to do a number of things that VEEAM can't do.  It will not only use a better VSS provider to quiesce the filesystems and applications, commit transaction logs, and backup a database hot.  But also index items like Exch data, or AD data, so that when you actually go to do a restore from a VMDK backup, you'll be able to dive right into the VMDK to pull out the granular data like a mailbox or message, or AD user/object.

This is a USER contributed forum, not pay for techsupport.  Have you even tried opening a case with Symantec, providing you're under maintenance?  

Obviously we want to help you, we will probably need more info on your particular environment.  But crying wolf, is not going to help if you're not willing to put the effort into troubleshooting this.

[RyanW]

Yes, I have SQL and Exchange agents, but not AD.  However, a normal RAWS backup gets everything, system state, exchange, SQL etc. 

I'm using the SBS license, which comes with a good bit of that stuff. Though I do understand that the SQL and AD agents are required for granular FILE LEVEL restore of AD/SQL rather than total restores of SQL/AD.

The latest version of VEEAM does all of that stuff, you can do single OU restores, single email restores etc, the same as you are pitching about BE 2010 *WITHOUT* having to buy additional agents.  From MY perspective as a small business the BE License itself was $1000ish, the VMWare agent was another $1200 and if I wanted to be able to really restore AD on a granular level that's another $1200.  Versus VEEAMS $600 per socket (in my case 2)... $1200 does all that.

Granted VEEAM doesn't back up to my tape lib, just to deal with VMWare on a 'file level' Veeam seems to come out cheaper. (Knowing this now I probably would have NOT bought the AVVI license).

What more would you like to know?  I'll try to provide it.

As far as actual support, yes I tried to lodge a ticket but every time I go to "submit" the page just sits there.

[RyanW]

Just to help:
 

FRY is my Server 2008/SQL 2008 server.

LEELA is my SBS 08 Exchange/Sharepoint server.

Neither are getting system state backups, Leea isn't getting sharepoint/Exchange backups and FRY isn't getting SQL Backups.

http://imgur.com/4tb6a.png (link if you can't see the whole image)

[Colin_Weaver]

The System State and in fact any databases are backed up as part of the VM and you can restore the complete VM for DR purposes. 

With regards the Agent Licenses these are only needed for Application GRT capability, not for recovery of the server itself and not for file system GRT recovery.

[RyanW]

I realize it's all in the VM but the way the FAQ is written I should be able to restore exchange/SQL via GRT methods with the agents I have. Yet when I view the data by resource in a restore process neither was backed up on the date of my vmware job to do a GRT restore. That's the problem. Same with system state. Even though I can't restore it via GRT because I have no licensed agent, entire system state should be restorable but again the system state does not have a backup for the day/time the AVVVI agent backup was run.

[Hemant_Jain]

Your issue is explained in following document:

http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH135633&locale=en_us

This limitation in current release of product, expects Active Directory license to be installed. Although a fix is available with Tech Support. Please contact Tech Support to obtain the fix.

Please mark it a solution, if this is useful.

Thanks

[RyanW]

Thanks. I'll forward that along to the engineer I'm working with. Though it's been 4 days and I've heard from precisely once via email.

[RyanW]

My support rep just told me "Yes you have to have all the agents licensed" in spite of that KB article I gave to them.

*ARGH*

[RyanW]

Can anyone here help me get this patch? My support rep seems to be under the dilusion that I am REQUIRED to have all 3 agents licensed to get it to even do full state backups (nevermind GRT backups)

http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH135633&locale=en_us

Case:  412-984-483

[deepiceman]

Are you backing up the VM's using VCenter or directly from ESX? I used to get the same problem with VCenter, so I switched to ESX and it works like a charm.

[RyanW]

I'm backing up directly from the ESXi host.  You can see a couple posts above that it's a known bug and you either work around it by selecting all the system state/exchange/sql data in another job or get a patch from suppport.

But my support guy says that I need all 3 agents licensed, that no patch exists.

[Hemant_Jain]

Please open a support case for the issue.

Thanks

[RyanW]

I have, and the guy that's emailed me (twice in over a week) is telling me different than you are:
 

Case:  412-984-483

[Colin_Weaver · Accepted solution]

OK this issue is a defect (as previously mentioned in this thread) documented in

http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH135633

As of beginning of October it appears we have an Orphan/Beta update that should address this  - so customers with a case should pass the above link to the support technician and ask them to escalate to a level that can issue an orphan. If the technician queries it with you, the document contains etrack number 2070206 - ask the technician to review the etrack on our internal systems.

A hotfix for 21010 R2 should eventually be released to address this.

However for RyanW I have taken a quick look at your support case - I am not sure you have the same problem - the documented defect covers an issue with not having an ADRA license causing no GRT of Exchange even when you do have the Exchange Agent License. If you are expecting to see the System State however you do need the ADRA license as otherwise you will only see the file system of the drives.

I have sent a private message to you about this.

[RyanW]

Agent for Vmware and Microsoft Hyper-V Application GRT does not work unless all of the applications (Exchange, SQL, Active Directory) installed on the Virtual Machine are licensed in Backup Exec for Windows 2010.

From that article, this leads me to believe that it is a bug. If I have SQL and MSAD Agent licenses, I should get GRT recovery whilst using the AVVI Agent to back up my VMWare guests.

A Hyper-V or Vmware host server is hosting a Windows 2008 Small Business Server Guest Virtual Machine.   Typically Windows 2008 Small Business Servers have Active Directory, Exchange 2007, and SQL 2008 installed or Sharepoint 3.0 services that run on a SQL instance.  When a Agent for Hyper-V (AMHV) or Agent for Vmware Virtual Infrastructure (AVVI) is perform on the guest with Application GRT enabled to protect (Exchange. SQL , Active Directory inside the guest) the Exchange Application GRT is not performed if the Backup Exec media server is not licensed for one of the Agent options (Exchange, SQL, Active Directory).   In this example if the Media Server is licensed for Hyper-V agent, Exchange, and SQL Agent but NOT the Active Directory agent all Application GRT backups are skipped

The last line of this next snip is the important part: In this example if the Media server is licensed for Hyper-V agent, Exchange and SQL Agent but NOT the Active directory agent *ALL* (my emphisis) Application GRT backups are skipped.

This is precisely what is happening to me. I get no SQL/Exchange GRT backups and I'm also not getting a full system state snapshot (which I believe I should be getting even without the ADRA license.. I get it with my RAWS license?)

[Colin_Weaver]

You impotant sentence that you state:

he last line of this next snip is the important part: In this example if the Media server is licensed for Hyper-V agent, Exchange and SQL Agent but NOT the Active directory agent *ALL* (my emphisis) Application GRT backups are skipped.

if I add one implied word to this hopefully it will make more sense

In this example if the Media server is licensed for Hyper-V agent, Exchange and SQL Agent but NOT the Active directory agent all licensed Application GRT backups are skipped.

The above 'licensed' word is impleid as who would actually exopect somethign you are not licensed for to return anything but a failure anyway.