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Can I backup a VMWare cluster or Resource Pool

wcs
Level 3
I am running vSphere 4
Netbackup 6.5.3
Consolidated Backup 1.5.0.4948
VMWare vCenter Converter 4.1.0.5213
vCenter Server 4.0.0.7797
and vSphere Client 4.0
vCenter Server and Netbackup are all on Windows 2003

I currently have Consolidate backups working just fine but I want to be able to add VM's to a Cluster or Resource Pool and have them automatically backed up rather than having to add new servers to the Netbackup policy.

Is this possible?.
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Mouse
Moderator
Moderator
Partner    VIP    Accredited Certified
But NOM in version 6.5.4 has cool report "VM Coverage", so it can report you about new VMs not covered by current backup configuration.

For this you'll need to upgrade to 6.5.4.

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Mouse
Moderator
Moderator
Partner    VIP    Accredited Certified
But NOM in version 6.5.4 has cool report "VM Coverage", so it can report you about new VMs not covered by current backup configuration.

For this you'll need to upgrade to 6.5.4.

wcs
Level 3
Not the answer I wanted to hear, but thanks.

Anonymous
Not applicable
Within 'NetBackup for VMware' you can only backup VM objects. There is no facility or ability to select a object like a Cluster or Resource Pool. NetBackup hooks into the VCB Framework that VMware provide and displays Virtual Machines only.

No other facility in Netbackup AFAIK will automatically add clients or objects into a policy to be backed up.
Thats what Backup Administrators are paid for I presume, to manage this coverage. Mouse provided a tool to assist in finding the coverage of backups against VM's in your Virtual Infrastructure, which is helpful in that respect.

To answer your question directly is it possible (NetBackup 6.x and your environment) - No.


You are on vSphere, I see. Have you considered the new evolution of VCB - VMware Data Recovery.
Unlike VCB, which requires customers to deploy the VCB component on a proxy, VADP will be integrated natively as a part of backup product. VADP will enable backup applications to restore across both LAN and SAN. Existing VCB partners are planning integrations using VADP.

http://blogs.vmware.com/vmtn/2009/04/vsphere-and-vmware-consolidated-backup.html

I would recommend thinking about updating to the latest NetBackup 6.5.4 update or the imminent 6.5.5 update which is due by end of year, they have been adding enhancements to supportability of VCB and VMware throughout NetBackup 6.5 life. There are release notes detailing them on Symantec.

sdo
Moderator
Moderator
Partner    VIP    Certified
With NetBackup v7.0 (and hopefully (not confirmed) it will be rolled back into later v6.5.x versions too) you will have the option to use "vStorage" APIs natively from NetBackup media servers, and no longer require a separate VCB proxy server or the installation of the VCB kits on a media server - although there will be a separate install of the vStorage integration modules.  Requirements are NetBackup v7.0.x, vSphere 4.0 and VMs themselves at vmx-07.

But this still won't automatically add new VMs to NetBackup policies for you.
Time to write some PowerShell scripts?

sdo
Moderator
Moderator
Partner    VIP    Certified
We detect new VMs, as follows:
- When VMware Admins create a new VM they assign a "yes" or a "no" to a user defined field which we called "Backup Required".
- We have power-shell scripts that run on the VCB server every morning to list all the VMs and their "Backup Required" flag.
- Then on a Windows media server, we have a script that lists all VM backup policies and compare the list of clients in NetBackup with the list of VMs from the VCB.
- Any discrepencies are flagged to the NetBackup admins.

This way we know when to add (flag changed to Y) and when to remove (flag changed to N) VMs to/from NetBackup.

Peter_E
Level 4
Employee
I've been told that the NBU 7 implementation of the vStorage API will allow you to backup ESX 3.5 servers without a proxy server (and without vSphere)  You will not get all of the features available through the API (BLIB), but you will be able to perform the backup without a proxy server and I suspect get restore over the SAN.  Expect more concrete details as the NBU 7 release gets closer to our annouce date.

Related link on vStorage API and why VMware is not allowing just anybody to write scripts/call to it.

Or attend one of our bi-weekly webcasts and talk to our in-house VMware expert yourself - he might just tell you what's in the pipe. Go to www.netbackupdemo.com to sign-up for the live webcasts.

Peter E