Configuring a Subclient for Application-Aware Backups

A subclient can contain VMs running any applications that are supported for application-aware backups. For ease of management, use a different subclient for each application.

Create a different subclient for each set of VMs in the same domain.

Ensure that all VMs and applications in a subclient can be accessed using the same domain credentials.

Before You Begin

• The virtual machines that you identify for application-aware backups vary depending on the application you are protecting:

  • You can include virtual machines running Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft SQL Server, My SQL, or Oracle applications.

  • For Active Directory, include virtual machines that act as Active Directory domain controllers.

  • For application-aware backups of Microsoft SharePoint, the content must be a virtual machine running a SQL Server configuration database that supports SharePoint operations.

    In the subclient content, do not include the web servers that serve SharePoint data to users.

    Application-aware backups set up a maximum of two SharePoint web servers that provide front ends for SharePoint operations. Any additional SharePoint web servers that point to the same configuration database are ignored.

• If a specific VM requires unique credentials, select that VM directly as part of the subclient content.

• Do not filter virtual machine disks. If a virtual machine disk is filtered, the VSA backup job completes with errors and the application backup job fails. You will not be able to restore application data.

• The storage policy for the subclient must have a Snap copy defined.

Procedure

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

2. Right-click a backup set, and then click All Tasks > New Subclient.

3. On the General tab, enter the Subclient name.

4. Identify virtual machines to back up:

   1. Click the Content tab.

   2. Click Browse.

   3. Navigate to one or more virtual machines and select them.

   4. Click OK.

      The selected virtual machines are displayed in the Contents of subclient list.

      You can also define rules to select or exclude virtual machines based on various criteria.

5. Click the Storage Device tab.

6. Select a Storage Policy.

7. For IntelliSnap, ensure that IntelliSnap is enabled for the virtualization client.

8. For IntelliSnap, configure the subclient for IntelliSnap backups:

   1. Click the IntelliSnap Operations tab.

   2. Select IntelliSnap.

   3. From the Available Snap Engines list, select the engine for the storage array where the virtual machine running the application resides.

      This step does not apply to Microsoft Azure subclients because they use the Virtual Server Agent snap engine.

9. Click the Advanced Options tab.

10. To identify specific proxies to be used with this subclient, add one or more proxies that meet the requirements for application-aware backups.

11. Click the Backup Options tab.

12. Select Application Aware.

13. Click Guest Credentials.

    The Set Credentials dialog box displays entries for any virtual machines or automatic discovery rules defined in the Content tab for the subclient.

14. Specify credentials:

    • To specify credentials for all VMs in the subclient, click Change and enter credentials that can be used to back up all VMs.

    • To specify credentials for a specific VM or automatic discovery rule, select the entry, click Edit Credentials, and enter the new credentials.

15. Click OK.