Configuring Backups for Alibaba Cloud Instances

You can configure backups for Alibaba Cloud instances. The configuration wizard guides you through the configuration process, which includes creating any new entities that are needed, such as a backup plan, a hypervisor, and a VM group.

Start the Configuration Wizard

From the Command Center navigation pane, go to Protect > Virtualization.

The Overview page appears.
In the upper-right area of the page, click Add hypervisor.

The Configure Hypervisor page appears.
Click Alibaba Cloud.
Click Next.

The Add Hypervisor page of the configuration wizard appears.

Add Hypervisor

In Hypervisor name, enter a descriptive name for the hypervisor.
In Access key, enter the access key for your Alibaba Cloud account.
In Secret key, enter the secret key for your Alibaba Cloud account.
From the Access node list, select the access node to use.
Click Next.

The Add VM Group page of the configuration wizard appears.

Add VM Group

A VM group is a set of VMs that you want to back up with the same settings. By default, the VM group includes all unprotected instances. You can modify the VM group content by using rules that auto-discover content and by selecting instances.

In Name, enter a descriptive name for the VM group.
To create rules that auto-discover and select instances to back up, do the following:
1. Click Add, and then select Rules.
  
  The Add rule dialog box appears.
2. From the list, select the type of rule to create, and then specify the rule:
  - Browse: Select specific instances. (Selecting this option changes the Add rule dialog box to the Add content dialog box.)
  - Instance name or pattern: Select instances based on their names. For example, to select instances that have a name that includes "east", enter Instance name or pattern | Contains | east.
  - Region: Select instances based on the region that they reside in.
  - Zone: Select instances based on the zone that they reside in. For example, to select instances that reside in any eastern US zone, enter Zone | Contains | us-east. You can enter the zone value by typing or browsing to select.
3. Click Save.
To select instances in other ways, do the following:
1. Click Add, and then select Content.
  
  The Add content dialog box appears.
2. From the Browse and select VMs list, select one of the following:
  - By region: Select instances based on the region that they reside in.
  - By zone: Select instances based on the zone that they reside in.
3. Select the instances to add to the VM group.
4. Click Save.
To see the instances that are selected for the VM group, click the Preview button.
From the Plan list, select the backup plan for the VM group.
Steps to create a backup plan
1. Click the add button .
  
  The Create backup plan dialog box appears.
2. In the Plan name box, enter a descriptive name for the backup plan.
3. For Storage, select the storage pool where you want to store backups.
4. For the backup plan settings, select pre-defined settings or create custom settings:
  - To select pre-defined settings, under Retention rules, select one of the following:
    - Select Standard retention to retain the incremental backups for 1 month.
    - Select Extended retention for optimized storage where the incremental backups of primary and secondary copies are retained for 1 month, and extended retention for monthly and yearly full backups.
      
      Note
      
      The Extended retention option is available only when the secondary copy backup is selected.
  - To create custom settings, select Custom plan, and then specify the following:
    - For Retention, specify the amount of time to retain the backup jobs.
    - For Retention monthly full (Secondary copy), specify the amount of time to retain the monthly full backup on secondary copy.
    - For Retention yearly full (Secondary copy), specify the amount of time to retain the yearly full backup on secondary copy.
    - For Backups run every, specify how often to run backups.
5. Click Done.
Click Next.

The Summary page of the configuration wizard appears.

Summary

Review the summary.
Click Finish.