Configuring Azure VM backups on the hosted infrastructure

When you configure backups for your Azure VMs, the configuration wizard guides you through the process, which includes creating a hypervisor to represent your Azure subscription and a VM group that specifies the VMs to back up.

Start the Configuration Wizard

1. From the Command Center navigation pane, go to Protect > Virtual machines.

   The Overview page appears.

2. In the upper-right area of the page, click Add hypervisor.

   The Configure Hypervisor page appears.

3. Select Microsoft Azure.

4. Click Next.

   The configuration wizard appears.

Configure Permissions

Create an Azure application that gives the Commvault Cloud software access to the Azure VMs that you want to back up. You can use an existing Azure application or create a new application manually. If you already have an existing application, select an existing credential or add a new credential. If you prefer to create a new Azure application, the Add credential dialog box provides an option to deploy a new application in the Azure portal.

1. From the Credential list, select an existing credential or create a new credential.

   • If you have an existing Azure app, add a new credential.

     Steps to add a new credential

     1. Beside Credential, click the add button .

        The Add credential dialog box appears.

     2. From the Account type list, verify that Cloud Account is selected.

     3. From the Vendor type list, verify that Microsoft Azure is selected.

     4. In Credential name, enter a descriptive name for the credentials.

     5. In Tenant ID, enter the tenant ID for the Azure account.

     6. In Application ID, enter application ID for the tenant.

     7. In Application secret, enter the secret key value that is generated for the application.

     8. From the Environment list, verify that AzureCloud is selected.

     9. To view and modify Azure endpoint URLs that Commvault will use to connect to Azure during VM onboarding, enable the Show endpoints toggle key. If your environment requires custom endpoints (for example, Azure Government or other sovereign cloud environments), you can modify the following endpoints:

        • Authentication endpoint: Used to verify identity and obtain access tokens from Azure.

        • Storage endpoint: Used to access Azure storage resources.

        • Management endpoint: Used to communicate with Azure Resource Manager (ARM) for managing VM resources.

     10. In Description, enter a description of the credentials.

     11. Click Save.

   • If you want to add a new Azure application and a credential, follow the steps below.

     Steps to add a new Azure application

     1. Beside Credential, click the add button .

        The Add credential dialog box appears.

     2. From the Account type list, verify that Cloud Account is selected.

     3. From the Vendor type list, verify that Microsoft Azure is selected.

     4. In Credential name, enter a descriptive name for the credentials.

     5. Beside Application ID, click Deploy New Application.

     6. In the Deploy new application dialog box, do the following:

        1. In the information box shown at the top, click Open Azure Cloud Shell.

        2. Follow the instructions that appear and select Bash or PowerShell.

        3. Return to the Command Center window, in the Application name box, enter a name for the Azure application.

        4. In the Subscription ID box, enter your Azure subscription ID. Click Get Subscription ID if you need to get the ID using the command.

        5. Copy the PowerShell or Bash commands to deploy the application in the selected subscription and get the application details.

           If you have the application ID, tenant ID, and secret key, enter them. Otherwise, run the commands to get these details.

        6. At the Azure Cloud Shell command prompt, paste the commands.

           The commands run to create a new Azure application, and then the Tenant ID, Application ID, and Application secret for the application are displayed.

        7. Copy Tenant ID, Application ID, and Application Secret from the shell.

     7. Switch to Add credentials dialog box, and then paste the Tenant ID, Application ID, and Application secret to create the credential.

     8. From the Environment list, verify that AzureCloud is selected.

     9. To view and modify Azure endpoint URLs that Commvault will use to connect to Azure during VM onboarding, enable the Show endpoints toggle key. If your environment requires custom endpoints (for example, Azure Government or other sovereign cloud environments), you can modify the following endpoints:

        • Authentication endpoint: Used to verify identity and obtain access tokens from Azure.

        • Storage endpoint: Used to access Azure storage resources.

        • Management endpoint: Used to communicate with Azure Resource Manager (ARM) for managing VM resources.

     10. In Description, enter a description of the credentials.

     11. Click Save.

2. If you want to assign required roles to your Azure application, do the following:

   For information about how Commvault uses Azure resource providers and what roles and permissions are required, see Azure Resource Provider Usage for VM Protection Operations.

   1. Click Assign role.

   2. In the Assign role dialog box, do the following:

      1. Copy the PowerShell or Bash commands into a text editor.

      2. Replace ROLE_NAME with the name of your role.

      3. In the information box shown at the top, click Open Azure Cloud Shell.

   3. Follow the instructions that appear and select Bash or PowerShell.

   4. At the Azure Cloud Shell command prompt, paste the commands.

      The commands runs to assign the required role.

   5. Switch to Assign role dialog box, and then click Close.

3. Click Next.

   The Access Nodes page of the configuration wizard appears

Access Nodes

1. From the Region list, select the region to store backups. Infrastructure in the same region will be used.

Add Subscription

1. In Name, enter a descriptive name for the hypervisor.

2. In Subscription ID, enter the subscription ID for your Azure account.

3. 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.

You can add content to the VM group by using rules that auto-discover content, by selecting specific VMs, and by other ways.

1. In Name, enter a descriptive name for the VM group.

2. To create rules that auto-discover VMs 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 VMs. (Selecting this option changes the Add rule dialog box to the Add content dialog box.)

      • Power state: Select VMs based on whether they are powered on or off.

      • Region: Select VMs based on the region that they reside in.

      • Resource group: Select VMs based on the Azure resource group they are in.

      • Storage account: Select VMs based on the Azure storage account they are in.

      • Tag name: Select VMs based on the names of tags that are assigned to them. For example, to select VMs that have a tag name of "Department", enter Tag name | Equals | Department.

      • Tag value: Select VMs based on the values of tags that are assigned to them. For example, to select VMs that have a tag value of "Finance", enter Tag value | Equals | Finance.

      • Virtual machine name or pattern: Select VMs based on their names. For example, to select VMs that have a name that includes "east", enter Virtual machine name or pattern | Contains | east.

   3. Click Save.

3. To select specific VMs, 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:

      • VMs: Select specific VMs.

      • Resource groups: Backs up the VMs that are in the resource groups you select.

      • Regions: Backs up the VMs that are in the regions you select.

      • Storage account: Backs up the VMs that are in the storage accounts you select.

      • Tags: Backs up the VMs that contain the tags you select.

   3. Click Save.

4. To see the VMs that are selected for the VM group, click the Preview button.

5. Click Next.

   The Plan page of the configuration wizard appears.

Plan

A backup plan specifies the storage to back up the data to and other settings such as recovery point objective (RPO) settings.

1. Select an existing backup plan or create a new backup plan.

   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. From the Storage list, select the storage.

   4. To configure storage for your backups, beside Storage, click the add button , and then select any of the following storage types that you want to add:

      • Air Gap Protect

      • Cloud

   5. To configure backups, select the Configure backups check box.

      1. Under Frequency, specify the frequency of the backup.

      2. Under Retention period, specify the duration for which the backup must be retained.

      3. To specify the additional retention, such as weekly full backups, select the Add extended retention check box, and then add rules.

   6. To add an additional storage copy, select Add second copy check box.

      1. From the Storage list, select or add the storage to use for the backups.

      2. Under Backups to copy, select the backup type.

      3. Under Retention period, enter the amount of time to retain the backups.

         To specify additional retention period, such as weekly full backups, select the Add extended retention check box, and then add rules.

   7. To add a third optional storage copy for maximum redundancy, select Add third copy check box, and configure the storage, backup type and retention settings.

   8. Click Done.

2. Click Next.

   The Summary page of the configuration wizard appears.

Summary

1. Review the summary.

2. Click Close.