# 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

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. Click Alibaba Cloud.

4. Click Next.

   The Add Hypervisor page appears.

## Add Hypervisor

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

2. For Credentials, select existing credentials or create new credentials.

   Steps to create credentials

   1. Click the add button .

      The Add credential dialog box appears.

   2. For Account Type list, verify that Cloud Account is selected.

   3. For Alibaba Cloud Object Storage Service list, verify that Cloud Account is selected.

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

   5. In Access key ID, enter the access key ID.

   6. In Secret access key, enter the secret access key.

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

   8. Click Save.

3. For Access node, select one or more existing access nodes for the hypervisor, or create a new one. Alternatively, you can manually download Windows or Linux 64-bit Access Node Package and set up authentication yourself.

   1. Click the add button .

      The Add a new Access node dialog box appears.

   2. Click the package to download for the platform: Linux (64-bit) or Windows (64-bit).

4. Click Next.

   The Add VM Group page appears.

## Add VM Group

A VM group is a collection of virtual machines that you want to back up using the same settings. You can define the group's content by applying auto-discovery rules or by manually selecting specific VMs, hosts, clusters, or datacenters.

1. Create a VM group using the following steps:

   Steps to create a VM group

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

   2. To create rules that auto-discover and select 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 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.

   3. To select VMs 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 the VMs based on the region or zone that they reside in.

      3. Select the VMs to add to the VM group.

      4. Click Save.

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

3. Click Next.

   The Plan page appears.

## Add a Plan

1. 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.

2. Click Next.

   The Summary page appears.

## Summary

1. Review the summary.

2. Click Finish.

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