Backing Up Virtual Machines

You can back up virtual machines from a subclient or from a backup set (to include all subclients for the backup set). For each subclient, you must add the virtual machines to be backed up in the subclient content.

Note

For virtual machines using the latest version of indexing, you can perform backups from both the VM client and the virtualization client. The backupset of the VM client only has the default subclient.

Before You Begin

  • Decide which type of backup is appropriate. Typically, you can choose either an incremental or full backup type when you install the agent.

  • To use discovery rules rules based on guest OS or guest DNS hostname, ensure that following prerequisites are satisfied:

    • The virtual machine must be powered on at the time of the backup.

    • To back up the virtual machines on a Hyper-V server or cluster, Hyper-V integration services must be installed and updated on the virtual machine.

Procedure

  1. From the CommCell Browser, expand Client Computers > virtualization_client > Virtual Server> instance > backup_set.

  2. Start the backup from the subclient or backup set:

    • From the subclient,right-click the subclient and then click Backup.

    • From the backup set, right-click the backup set and click Backup All Subclients; then click Yes to confirm.

  3. In the Backup Options dialog box, choose the backup type.

    For more information on backup types, see Backup Options.

  4. Optional: To schedule the backup, click Schedule.

    For more information on scheduling, see Scheduling.

  5. Optional: To further customize the backup operation, click Advanced.

    For more information about advanced options, see Advanced Backup Options.

  6. Optional: To save the current backup options as a script file, click Save as Script.

    For more information, see Save as Script Overview.

  7. Click OK to start the backup job.

You can track the progress of the job from the Job Controller. When the backup is complete, the Job Controller displays Completed.

After your backup job is complete, you can view the backup job history. For more information, see Job History.

What To Do Next

Note: Windows Server 2008 R2 does not support online merging of virtual machine snapshots. If crash-consistent backups are used for backups performed by a Virtual Server Agent installed on a Windows Server 2008 R2 host, residual .avhd files remain after the backup completes, and a power cycle of the virtual machine is required to force the merger of .avhd files with the parent .vhd file.

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