Getting Started with the Virtual Server Agent for Amazon EC2

Step 1: Before You Begin

• This page assumes you have already installed CommServe software. If not, refer to the CommCell Quick Start Guide.

• Review possible deployment scenarios.

• Refer to the following information to learn more about the requirements and capabilities of the Virtual Server Agent for Amazon:

  • System Requirements

  • License Requirements

  • Supported Features

• In environments where the CommServe system communicates with the Amazon cloud through an HTTP proxy, perform the steps in Configuring an HTTP Proxy Server. This configuration is required to support software installations to cloud instances, backups, restores, and virtual machine conversion.

Step 2: Install the Virtual Server Agent

For your computer's operating system, review each of the following topics to get started with the installation.

On Windows

• Prepare the Installation on Windows Computers

  Review general guidelines to prepare for the installation, which include configurations that your computer might need before the installation.

• Preinstallation Checklist for the Virtual Server Agent

  Review agent specific guidelines to prepare for the installation, such as gathering the information that you must provide during the installation.

• Installation Methods

  Select the installation method that is most appropriate for your environment.

On UNIX

• Prepare the Installation on UNIX, Linux, and Macintosh Computers

  Review general guidelines to prepare for the installation, which include configurations that your computer might need before the installation.

• Preinstallation Checklist for the Virtual Server Agent on Linux

  Review agent specific guidelines to prepare for the installation, such as gathering the information that you must provide during the installation.

• Installation Methods

  Select the installation method that is most appropriate for your environment.

Additional Requirements

• On VSA proxies that are used to perform IntelliSnap backup copy operations, install the MediaAgent package in addition to the Virtual Server Agent. The MediaAgent is required to perform mount operations on the VSA proxy.

• The CommServe host, MediaAgent, and VSA proxy must all be able to communicate with each other using one of the following connections:

  • AWS Direct Connect - On premises components and the AWS instance are within the same network. No firewall configuration is required.

  • AWS VPN - Only available if the AWS instance is accessible through VPC. On premises components and the AWS instance are within the same network. No firewall configuration is required.

  • If you are not using AWS Direct Connect or AWS VPN for communication between on premises components and the AWS proxy instance, you can configure a Commvault firewall connection between the on premises components and the AWS proxy instance.

• The access node must have access to the regional and global STS endpoints. For more information about AWS service endpoints, see AWS service endpoints on the AWS documentation site.

  • Global STS endpoints: The service endpoint is https://sts.amazonaws.com.

  • Regional STS endpoints: For example, https://sts.us-east-1.amazonaws.com, to back up instances on us-east-1.

  For more information about STS endpoints and quotas, see AWS Security Token Service endpoints and quotas on the AWS documentation site.

Step 3: Prepare for Your First Backup and Restore

1. Open the CommCell Console.

2. Configure a storage device.

   Amazon provides Elastic Block Store (EBS) volumes for instances in the same zone. Older EC2 accounts provided instance store volumes, which are not supported for Commvault backups.

   You can define Commvault storage libraries as on-premises media or cloud storage libraries.

   For information about cloud storage libraries, see Creating a Cloud Storage Library.

3. Optional: Configure a Storage Policy. See Storage Policy - Getting Started.

4. Create a virtualization client for the AWS user account.

5. Modify the default subclient or create a user-defined subclient.

6. Optional: Decide whether to add the following functionality:

   • To be notified of events that require attention, see Alerts and Notifications - Overview.

   • To report and analyze critical data about your CommCell operations, see Reports Overview.

   • To manage security, see User Account and Password Management - Getting Started.

Step 4: Run Your First Backup and Restore

• Back up instances.

• Restore instance data.

Step 5: Where to Go from Here

• For additional configuration options, see Configuration for Amazon.

• To configure data retention and data aging for this agent, see Data Aging - Getting Started.