> Documentation > Backup and Restore Agents > Virtualization > Virtual Server Agent > Supported Hypervisors and Common Information for Virtual Server Agent > Replication for Virtual Machines

Configuring Replication for Any Supported Hypervisor

Configure replication on the subclient for virtual machines to be replicated.

If a virtual machine in a replication schedule is protected by multiple subclients, the VM will be replicated from the subclient with the latest backup.

The best method for scheduling backups of source VMs is to use the “Incremental Forever” approach:

  • Perform an initial full or synthetic full backup to create destination VMs using replication.

  • After the destination VM is created, run regular incremental backups to keep the destination VM current.

Note

If you perform a full backup, the replication operation performs a full replication from the source VM to the destination VM. After the initial creation of destination VMs, synthetic full backups do not affect replication at all.

Before You Begin

General Requirements

  • Configure a virtualization client for the destination hypervisor.

  • To add virtual machines to the replication schedule, the virtual machines must have been backed up at least once.

  • To enable multiple jobs to run for each replication schedule, create the maxJobsPerSyncSchedule additional setting for CommServeDB.GxGlobalParam to specify the maximum number of jobs that can be run for each replication schedule. When the value for this setting is greater than 1, multiple replication jobs execute simultaneously for each schedule, with each job using a separate stream. This setting enables schedules with large numbers of virtual machines to complete more quickly.

  • You can only modify destination network settings for Windows VMs as part of replication operations. Linux VMs are restored without network connections.

  • To include RDMs and independent disks for VMware VMs, you must use IntelliSnap backups as source for replication operations. For more information, see Include RDMs and Independent Disks in IntelliSnap Backup Operations.

  • For VMware Linux VMs that have static IP addresses, you can assign static destination IP addresses as part of a restore or Live Sync operation. This feature requires that you use a File Recovery Enabler for Linux (FREL) for the operation. IP address mapping is supported for the following Linux guest operating systems: RHEL 6 and 7, CentOS 6 and 7, or SUSE (SLES) 11 and 12.

Hypervisor-Specific Requirements

Requirements and options for replication operations depend on the destination hypervisor. For hypervisor-specific requirements (including requirements for source VMs), and for information about the options that you can specify on each page of the Live Sync Options for Subclient wizard, see the following topics:

Procedure

  1. From the CommCell Console, navigate to Client Computers > virtualization_client > Virtual Server > instance > backup_set.

  2. Right-click the subclient that contains the virtual machine data and select Live Sync > Configuration.

    The Select Live Sync Destination dialog box appears.

  3. Select one of the following destination hypervisors:

    • Amazon

    • Azure Resource Manager

    • Azure Stack

    • Microsoft Hyper-V

    • VMware

  4. Click OK.

    The Live Sync Options for Subclient wizard opens.

  5. On the Destination page, Virtual Machines or Instances page, and Restore Options page, provide the information for the destination hypervisor and press Next.

  6. To replicate changes from an auxiliary copy or backup copy:

    1. Click Advanced.

      The Advanced Live Sync Options dialog box appears.

    2. On the Copy Precedence tab, select Restore from copy precedence, and then enter the number of the storage copy properties for the auxiliary copy or backup copy.

    3. Click OK.

    When replication is configured to use an auxiliary copy or backup copy, the replication operation uses the copy as the source rather than the primary backup. If the After Backup Job Completes option is selected in the schedule, the replication operation automatically waits until the data is ready on the secondary copy before running the replication job.

  7. Click Next.

    The Job Options page appears.

  8. To create a schedule for replication, select Schedule and then click Configure.

    The Schedule Details dialog box appears.

  9. Enter a schedule name, and then select one of the following options:

    • After Backup Job Completes: Automatically copy changes to the destination VM after each backup job.

      If the schedule is configured to sync from a secondary copy, the replication operation automatically waits until the data is ready on the secondary copy before running the replication job.

    • To replicate changes on a periodic basis, select Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or Yearly; then set up the replication schedule to control how often changes are replicated to the destination VM. If no new backups have been run since the last replication, the scheduled replication does not run.

  10. Click Next.

    The Summary page appears.

  11. Click Finish.

Loading...