Backup Job Wizard for VMware: Options

On the Options page of the wizard, you can set up job options. Proceed as described in the sections below:

• Job Options
• Full Backup Settings
• Pre and Post Job Actions
• Data Transfer
• Completing the New Backup Job Wizard for VMware

Job Options

In this section, you can specify a name and a priority level for the backup job and enable/disable app-aware mode, change tracking, network acceleration, encryption, VM Verification, and other options. Proceed as described below.

Job Name

Enter a name for the backup job in the appropriate box.

Job Priority

Select a job priority level between 1 and 5, with 1 being the highest priority. Jobs with higher priority levels are prioritized by Transporters during job processing.

Note
This option is only available in the Enterprise, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Plus, MSP Enterprise, and MSP Enterprise Plus editions.

Use Installed VM Agents

Enable this option if you wish to use installed VM agents for this job. Proceed as follows:

1. With the option enabled, click settings to open the Manage VM Agents pop-up menu.

2. Click Scan All to scan each VM in the job for installed VM agents.

3. Once the scan is complete, select the master password you wish to use for the discovered VM agents from the Select credentials drop-down list.

4. In the Certificate column, click Verify to verify the validity of a VM agent’s certificate.

For more information on setting up VM agents, see Using a VM Agent. For more information on setting up master passwords, see Managing Credentials.

App-Aware Mode

When the app-aware mode option is enabled, VM backup is performed using VMware Guest OS quiescing, which relies on Microsoft VSS to ensure that application data is consistent. 

Change Tracking

Select one of the options from the Change tracking drop-down list:

• Use VMware CBT: When selected, NAKIVO Backup & Replication enables the VMware Changed Block Tracking feature for source VMs. This feature enables the product to quickly identify the data blocks that have changed since the last job run, which significantly increases the job speed. Click the error handling link to specify the following options:

• On error: Choose one of the following job behaviors in relation to CBT error:

  • switch to proprietary method: If VMware CBT fails to provide data on changed blocks for a VM and this option is selected, NAKIVO Backup & Replication performs an incremental backup of the VM using the NAKIVO proprietary change tracking technology.

  • reset CBT: If VMware CBT fails to provide data on changed blocks for a VM and this option is selected, NAKIVO Backup & Replication resets VMware CBT for the VM. 

  • fail VM processing: If VMware CBT fails to provide data on changed blocks for a VM and this option is selected, NAKIVO Backup & Replication does not process the VM and states job failure (other VMs in the job will be processed).

• Double-check changed blocks provided by CBT: When selected, NAKIVO Backup & Replication runs a check on data blocks provided by VMware CBT to ensure that VMware CBT does not overstate the amount of changed data.

• Use proprietary method: When selected, NAKIVO Backup & Replication performs incremental backups using the NAKIVO proprietary change tracking technology. This feature requires reading the contents of all VM disks to determine which data blocks have changed since the last job run.

• No change tracking (always full): When selected, NAKIVO Backup & Replication always performs a full VM backup of all source VMs. 

Network Acceleration

When enabled, NAKIVO Backup & Replication uses compression and traffic reduction techniques to speed up data transfer. Select this option if you plan to back up over WAN or slow LAN links. 

Encryption

When enabled, VM data is protected with AES 256 encryption while traveling over the network. 

• Data encryption increases the backup time and CPU load on machines running Transporters. Select this option if you back up over WAN without a VPN connection.

• You need at least one Transporter at source and target sites to enable encryption.

VM Verification

When VM verification is enabled, the NAKIVO Backup & Replication checks the integrity of the backup by starting it and interacting with it. You can choose one of the following VM verification options: 

• Disabled: VM Verification is disabled.

• Screenshot verification: When enabled, all VM backups created by the job are verified: After a backup of a VM is completed, the VM is recovered from the backup using Flash boot (and is disconnected from networks) and a screenshot of the recovered VM is taken once the VM OS has booted, after which the VM is discarded. VM screenshots are included in email notifications (if they have been configured) and displayed on the Dashboard.

• Boot verification: When enabled, all VM backups created by the job are verified as follows. After a VM backup is completed, NAKIVO Backup & Replication recovers the VM using Flash boot, disables networking to prevent network connections, and verifies that system start is successful.

Important
VM verification requires VMware Tools to be installed on all VMs.

After choosing Screenshot verification, do the following in the dialog box that opens:

1. Provide a location of the VMs to be booted:

   1. Target Container: Choose a target container (cluster, host, or resource pool) where VMs will be run using Flash boot.

   2. Target Datastore: Choose a datastore that will host changes to the recovered VMs.

   3. Proxy transporter: Choose a proxy Transporter from the list of available Transporters.

      Notes
      NAKIVO Backup & Replication will use a proxy Transporter in the following cases:

      • The Transporter assigned to the Backup Repository cannot use iSCSI port 3260 because it is occupied by other services.

      • iSCSI packages are missing on the Transporter assigned to the Backup Repository.
        

2. Set verification options:

   1. Verify not more than x VMs simultaneously: Specify the maximum number of VMs that can be started on the target container simultaneously. 

   2. Recovery time objective: Specify the amount of time allocated for verification of each VM backup. If a VM OS does not start within the specified amount of time, verification will be considered failed.

   3. Screenshot delay: The amount of time that the product should wait after the guest OS start before making a screenshot. The specified time must be sufficient to fully start the VM OS. Try increasing this amount if the default amount is insufficient.
      

      

After choosing Boot verification, do the following in the dialog box that opens: 

1. Provide a location of the VMs to be booted as described for the Screenshot verification option.

2. Set verification options:

   1. Verify not more than x VMs simultaneously: Specify the maximum number of VMs that can be started on the target container simultaneously. 

   2. Recovery time objective: Specify the amount of time allocated for the verification of each VM backup. If a VM OS does not start within the specified amount of time, verification is considered failed.
      

      

Exclude Swap Files and Partitions

With this option enabled, NAKIVO Backup & Replication automatically excludes swap files and partitions during the backup process.

Exclude Unused Blocks

With this option enabled, NAKIVO Backup & Replication automatically excludes unused disk blocks and blocks occupied by deleted files during processing of source objects running Windows OS. This feature allows for reducing backup storage space and object processing time.

Full Backup Settings

If the type of the Backup Repository that you've selected on the Destination page of the wizard is set to Incremental with full backups (Store backups in separate files option is selected), you can specify the following options:

• Create full backup: Specify how often full backups should be created. 

• Full backup mode: Specify how the full backup should be created. You can choose one of the following options:

  • Synthetic Full: When this option is selected, NAKIVO Backup & Replication first performs an incremental backup (that is, transfers only the data that has changed since the last backup) and then transforms the available data into a full backup file. The benefits of this approach are:

    • The Synthetic Full backup is usually faster than the Active Full backup.

    • The load on the network is lower as less data is transferred.

    • The load on the source datastores running your production VMs is lower.

  • Active Full: When this option is selected, NAKIVO Backup & Replication reads all VM data from the source datastore and transfers it to the Backup Repository.

• If a full backup fails, create a full backup on the next job run: With this option selected, the next job run creates a full backup if the current job run fails to do so.
  

  

Pre and Post Job Actions

NAKIVO Backup & Replication allows you to enable certain actions before a backup job begins and after it has completed. You can choose to send job run reports, truncate Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft SQL Server logs on specified VMs, and run local pre- and post- job scripts.

Email Notifications

NAKIVO Backup & Replication can send email notifications about job completion status to specified recipients. This feature complements global notifications and allows you to configure notifications on a per-job level.

To enable this option, configure your Email settings. To send email notifications, select Send job run reports to and specify one or more email addresses in the text box. Use semicolons to separate multiple email addresses.

Truncation of Microsoft Exchange Server Transaction Logs

Microsoft Exchange Server database transaction logs record all changes to an Exchange Server database. Over time, these log files accumulate and can consume all of the available disk space if not periodically removed. NAKIVO Backup & Replication provides an option to delete (aka truncate) Microsoft Exchange Server logs on the source VMs after job completion.

The transaction logs are deleted after the job is completed so that the log files are available in the VM backup. Note that the product deletes only those transaction logs which are already committed to (available in) the Microsoft Exchange database.

Note

Truncation is not supported for items added using Direct Connect.

To set up Microsoft Exchange log truncation, do the following:

1. Select the Truncate Exchange logs option.

2. In the dialog box that opens, select the checkboxes next to the VMs running Microsoft Exchange and then select the credentials next to each VM. These credentials will be used to log in to the VMs that you have selected. 

Truncation of Microsoft SQL Server Transaction Logs

Microsoft SQL Server database transaction logs record all changes to an SQL Server database. Over time, these logs accumulate and can consume all of the available disk space if not periodically removed. NAKIVO Backup & Replication provides the option to delete (or truncate) Microsoft SQL Server logs on the source VMs after job completion.

The transaction logs are deleted after the job is completed so that the original log records are available in the VM backup. Note that the product deletes only those transaction logs that are already committed to (available in) the Microsoft SQL Server database.

Note

Truncation is not supported for items added using Direct Connect.

To set up Microsoft SQL Server log truncation, do the following:

1. Select the Truncate SQL Server logs option.

2. In the dialog box that opens, select the checkboxes next to the VMs running Microsoft SQL Server and then select credentials next to each VM. These credentials will be used to log in to the VMs that you have selected.

File System Indexing

Select this option to create an index of files and folders during the backup job run.

To use a temporary agent for file system indexing:

1. Make sure that the Use installed VM agents option is disabled in the Job Options section.

2. Enable the File system indexing option and click the settings link to open the File system indexing popup.

3. In the Instances tab, select the appropriate credentials for each VM for which you would like to enable file system indexing in the Select credentials column. You may also manage your existing credentials or create new ones in the Credentials tab. See Managing Credentials for more information.

Notes

• The source VM must be turned on during backup for data to be indexed.

• If the source VM contains files/folders a user has no access to, data about such files/folders is not indexed.

• If the backup jobs fails or is stopped, or the existing recovery point is removed, the index is deleted.

• If the original backup is removed but a copy is retained, the indexed data is retained.

• If the existing backup job is removed but the backup is retained, the indexed data is also retained.

• Indexing starts with VM processing within a running backup job.

• Indexed data is not duplicated when a backup copy to tape job is created.

Pre Job Script

To run a script before the product begins backing up VMs, do the following:

1. Place a script file on the machine on which the Director is installed.

2. Select the Run local pre job script option.

3. Specify the following options in the dialog box that opens:

   • Script path: Specify a local path to the script on the machine on which the Director is installed. A script interpreter should be specified.
     

     Example (Windows): cmd.exe /c D:\script.bat

     Example (Linux): bash /root/script.sh

   • Job behavior: Choose one of the following job behaviors in relation to script completion:

     • Wait for the script to finish: When this option is selected, VM backup is only started after the script is completed.

     • Do not wait for the script to finish: When this option is selected, the product runs the script and starts backing up VMs at the same time.

   • Error handling: Choose one of the following job behaviors in relation to script failure:

     • Continue the job on script failure: When this option is selected, the job performs VM backup even if the script has failed.

     • Fail the job on script failure: When this option is selected and the script fails, the job is failed and VM backup is not performed.

Post Job Script

To run a script after the product has finished backing up all VMs, do the following:

• Place a script file on the machine on which the Director is installed.

• Select the Run local post job script option.

• Specify the following options in the dialog box that opens:

  • Script path: Specify a local path to the script on the machine on which the Director is installed. A script interpreter should be specified. 
    

    Example (Windows): cmd.exe /c D:\script.bat

    Example (Linux): bash /root/script.sh

  • Job behavior: Choose one of the following job behaviors in relation to script completion:

    • Wait for the script to finish: When this option is selected, the job is in the “running” state until the script is completed.

    • Do not wait for the script to finish: When this option is selected, the job is completed even if the script execution is still in progress.

  • Error handling: Choose one of the following job behaviors in relation to script failure:

    • Continue the job on script failure: When this option is selected, script failure does not influence the status of the job.

    • Fail the job on script failure: When this option is selected and the script fails, the job status is set to “failed” even if VM backup is successful.

Important
Pre- and post-job scripts can be executed only on the machine on which the Director is installed. 

Data Transfer

In the Data Transfer section of the Options page, you can choose a transport mode, select a Transporter to be used for reading data from source VMs, specify a b load, and configure bandwidth throttling.

Transport Mode

In the Data Transfer section, choose a transport mode for retrieving VM data:

• Automatic selection: When this option is selected, NAKIVO Backup & Replication automatically selects the best transport mode available:

  • When the source Transporter is installed on a VM, NAKIVO Backup & Replication tries to use transport modes in the following order: Hot Add > SAN > LAN.

  • When the source Transporter is installed on a physical machine, NAKIVO Backup & Replication tries to use transport modes in the following order: SAN > LAN. Hot Add is not supported for physical machines.

• SAN only: When this option is selected, NAKIVO Backup & Replication only uses direct SAN access to retrieve VM data. If direct SAN access to VM data is not available, the job fails.

• Hot Add only: When this option is selected, NAKIVO Backup & Replication only uses Hot Add to retrieve VM data. If direct Hot Add is not available, the job fails.
  

  Notes

  • When hot-add cannot be enabled for at least one disk of a source VM (even if the disk is deselected in the job), Hot Add is unavailable for all disks of the VM.

  • Do not create a manual snapshot of the transporter VM housing NAKIVO Backup & Replication while the Hot Add disks are attached it. In case you need to create a snapshot or restart a VM, make sure to stop all jobs and then detach all Hot Add disks in NAKIVO Backup & Replication.
    

• LAN only: When this option is selected, NAKIVO Backup & Replication only retrieves VM data over LAN.

Transporter Pool

If this option is enabled, only the transporters that belong to the selected transporter pool shall be used during the job run.

Transporters

In NAKIVO Backup & Replication, Transporters perform all of the heavy lifting: reading data from the source VM, compressing the data, transferring the data over the network, performing data deduplication, and so on. In large and geographically distributed environments, multiple Transporters can be deployed to distribute the data protection workload, optimize network traffic, and improve data transfer speeds. Thus, if more than one Transporter is deployed for NAKIVO Backup & Replication, it is important to determine which should be used to read data from a particular source VM (the target Transporter is always the one that is assigned to the Backup Repository).

By default, the product automatically determines which Transporter should be used to read data from the source VM. However, you can manually specify which Transporters should be used for the job. To manually specify Transporters, proceed as follows:

In the Data Transfer section, choose one of the following options:

• Automatic selection: The product automatically determines which Transporters are the closest to source hosts (the hosts that run selected VMs) and uses those Transporters to retrieve data from source VMs.
• Manual - configured for all VMs: Select this option to manually specify a single Transporter to be used to retrieve data from source VMs.
• Manual - configured per host: Select this option to manually specify which Transporter should be used to retrieve data from each source host.

Replacement Transporters

When configuring NAKIVO Backup & Replication, you can manually select a primary and replacement Transporter for each separate host or set them to be selected automatically.

Note
This option becomes available only if you select Manual - configured per host from the Transporters drop-down list.

You have the following options:

• Select automatically: When selected, the replacement Transporters are selected automatically for each host.

• Use only primary transporters: When selected, only primary Transporters are used during job execution.

• Select manually per host: When selected, the Transporters can be selected manually or can be set to be chosen automatically for each separate host.

Transporter Load

You can limit the maximum number of Transporter tasks used by the job. By default, this number is set to 3 concurrent tasks.

To change the default number of tasks, do the following:

1. In the Data Transfer section, select the Limit transporter load to checkbox.

2. Specify the number of concurrent tasks in the corresponding box.

Bandwidth Throttling

Follow the steps below to regulate the speed of data transfer over the network for your backup job:

1. For the Bandwidth throttling option, choose Enabled.

   Note
   If bandwidth throttling is disabled for the current job, global bandwidth rules may still apply to your job. Refer to Bandwidth Throttling for details.
   

2. Click the settings link that becomes available.

3. The Job Bandwidth Rules dialog box opens, displaying the list of available rules. You have the following options:

   • Create a new bandwidth rule for your backup job:

     1. Click the Create New Rule button.

     2. The New Bandwidth Rule dialog box opens. Refer to the Bandwidth Throttling topic for details on creating a bandwidth rule.

     3. Click Save.

   • Activate an existing bandwidth rule for your job. Select the checkbox to the left of the required bandwidth rule. To deactivate a bandwidth rule for your job, deselect the corresponding checkbox.

   • Edit a bandwidth rule. Click the Edit link for a bandwidth rule and modify it in the Edit Bandwidth Rule dialog box that opens.

   • Disable a bandwidth rule. Click the Disable link. The bandwidth rule is disabled for all jobs.

   • Remove a bandwidth rule. Click the Remove link and then click Delete to confirm your operation.

Backup from Storage Snapshots

With NAKIVO Backup & Replication, you can enable backup from storage snapshots. This approach can be helpful when you back up large volumes of data. Enabling this option can significantly reduce the load on the production environment. For more information, refer to Backup from HPE 3PAR, HPE Nimble, HPE Primera, and HPE Alletra Storage Snapshots.

Notes
This option is disabled in the following cases:

• No supported storage devices were added to the Inventory.

• The selected VMs/disks don’t reside on the supported storage devices.

• The selected VMs/disks reside on more than 1 datastore/virtual volume.

• The selected VMs reside on multiple ESXi hosts.
  

Proceed by choosing one of the following options:

• Enabled (proceed on error): With this option selected, NAKIVO Backup & Replication proceeds even if an error is encountered.

• Enabled (fail on error): With this option selected, NAKIVO Backup & Replication automatically fails the job if an error is encountered.

• Disabled: Selecting this option disables backup from storage snapshots.

Bottleneck detection

When the Bottleneck detection option is enabled, additional information is collected and recorded in NAKIVO Backup & Replication logs in the course of data transfer for the purpose of bottleneck detection. Check this option to enable the Bottleneck detection capability of the Transporters engaged in the job.

Completing the New Backup Job Wizard for VMware

Click Finish or Finish & Run to complete job creation.

Note
If you click Finish & Run, you will have to define the scope of your job. Refer to Running Jobs on Demand for details.