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Upgrading Veeam Backup for Microsoft 365 - From 8.3.0.2201 Ver  to Ver  8.4.0.1457

Back in April I rounded out the UK Veeam User Group. After a properly technical session on APIs and dashboards, I went the other way: no product talk, just a bit of thinking differently about the job. Calling it thought leadership would make me sound grander than I am.The question running through the session was whether the decisions we make when we design data protection still make sense when the pressure is on. Let’s go through my points. Start with the translation problemWhen was the last time you had to explain your backup design to a non-technical audience?Most of us could explain exactly how our backups work: proxies, data movers, repositories, immutability, 3-2-1-1-0, RTOs and RPOs. But everything we put in place is there for the business, and the business talks revenue, risk, reputation and regulation. Those vocabularies rarely meet. Tip: If something went wrong tonight, could you explain the impact to your CEO in two minutes, in business terms? Design from outcomes backwardsTh

The failure that wasn't a failure Every backup admin knows the drills for a dead array: a controller dies, a BBU gives up, a broken drive corrupts a stripe, you rebuilt, restore and move on. What almost broke us at two independent customer sites was none of those. It was worse, because nothing was actually “dead”.  The symptom: not down, just uselessly slow Two of our customers are running fully independent 2-node HCI clusters using a 3rd party HCI solution inside VMware VMs on ESX 8. As usual, the storage-VMs are consuming all the local storage on the nodes and - while mirroring via LAN - give it back to both hosts via iSCSI. Many HCI vendors go down this path.Both clusters ran flawlessly and fast for 7+ (!) years with roughly 40 VMs on top of each cluster.Goal was, to have them distributed and fully redundant between two fire zones on the campus.But suddenly and within two weeks, those two customers independently reported major outages for their systems to us. The systems never went

With my colleague ​@zzsoka  we have developed a procedure the inject needed variables for initial configuration of the Veeam appliances and now we would like to share it with you. When you deploy Linux appliances at scale, cloud‑init is usually the go‑to mechanism for injecting instance‑specific configuration (IP, hostname, NTP, credentials, etc.) at boot time. However, the Veeam Software Appliance used here does not ship with cloud‑init currently, so we need another way to achieve the same result: build one customized ISO and then let vSphere guest variables drive per‑VM configuration.This post walks through how I achieved that using:- a customized Kickstart file,- a customized GRUB configuration,- VMware guestinfo / OVF properties as the source of truth for variables, and- a small shell script that dynamically extracts and uses `vmware-rpctool` (even though open‑vm‑tools is not installed in the installer environment), cleans up after itself, and hands configuration over to the post‑i

The Ingram Micro Technology caravan was built with a modular design in mind. It was originally built to showcase our product portfolio, with its original design focused on IoT devices and integration. Over time, it evolved and was converted into a mobile datacentre to showcase the Whole ecosystem.It now features an 18RU rack inside and has previously featured HPE routing and switching solutions. As technology changes, so does the caravan, and it continues to evolve to showcase different technologies and use cases. My Latest ChangeRecently, it has gone through its most significant change yet, moving away from the Broadcom VMware hypervisor and now showcasing HPE Morpheus VM Essentials (VME) as its primary hypervisor.As part of the migration, I used Veeam Data Platform (VDP) to back up workloads from VMware and restore (transform) them into HPE VME.I was fortunate to start this project just as the production release of VDP 13.1 became available. Migration ExperienceThis didn't come witho

 When working with tape environments, tape backup troubleshooting in Veeam is often more complex than it initially appears. Many professionals associate errors directly with faulty media. However, in real-world scenarios, issues often originate from hardware behavior, environmental conditions, or subtle physical problems.In this article, I will share real troubleshooting cases and, more importantly, explain the reasoning behind each analysis. The goal is to demonstrate how to identify the root cause instead of relying only on error messages. Case 1 – Mechanical obstruction during tape movementScenarioBackup jobs started failing during tape movement operations between slots and drives.Observed symptomsFailures during load and unload operations Errors affecting a specific range of slots Intermittent behavior that initially appeared randomExample error:Unexpected slider block, cartridge is not pushed far enough into the slot(ROB_SLIDER_UNEXPECTED_BLOCK_DURING_INSERT) TroubleshootingManual

PostgreSQL is a relational database management system (RDBMS) for storing and managing data. The default installations of Veeam Backup & Replication from v12 uses PostgreSQL. This is due to various reasons as described in the following articles: how to Migrate Veeam Configuration Database to PostgreSQL Server.Steps to move Veeam Configuration Database to PostgreSQL Server | Veeam Community Resource Hub Note: At the time of writing this guide, Veeam still recommended to use Microsoft SQL Server when you backup more than 5000 VMs. There are numerous reasons for upgrading the PostgreSQL Engine used by VBR? I will therefore refer you to the following release note. Determine the PostgreSQL version and BackupBefore proceeding, verify Veeam’s official support for the target PostgreSQL version (system requirements for the compatibility list). At the time of writing this article, Veeam currently supports “local or remote” installation of the following versions of PostgreSQL instance for the

I was planning to upgrade the PostgreSQL database from version 15 to version 17 in a Veeam Backup & Replication environment.Below are the steps I followed to complete the upgrade and restore the Veeam configuration.Steps performed1. Prepare the Veeam environment Upgraded Veeam Backup & Replication to the latest available build. Created a new Veeam configuration backup. Stopped all Veeam services using PowerShell: Get-Service Veeam* | Stop-Service -Force2. Back up the PostgreSQL databaseBefore making any changes, I backed up the PostgreSQL database using pgAdmin.3. Upgrade PostgreSQL Uninstalled PostgreSQL 15. Installed PostgreSQL 17. 4. Restore the Veeam configurationAfter installing PostgreSQL 17, I started the Veeam Backup & Replication Configuration Restore wizard.I selected the configuration backup created earlier and followed the restore wizard to restore the Veeam configuration.5. Start services and validate the environmentAfter completing the configuration rest

 The release of Morpheus 9.1.0 marks one of the most significant updates in the platform’s history. While the release notes list nearly 80 new features and enhancements, the real story isn’t the number. It is how these innovations collectively strengthen virtualization, observability, storage, automation, and cloud-native operations across a unified platformMuch of the innovation focuses on improving the virtualization experience for VM Essentials customers. From Host Profiles and advanced migration capabilities to intelligent storage management, GPU virtualization, virtual switching, monitoring, and operational automation, this release delivers meaningful improvements for organizations running business-critical virtualized workloads.Therefore, it´s time to upgrade your HPE Morpheus VM Essentials Manager and the Host Agents.This procedure is aimed at customers using release 9.0.0 or later. If you are using 8.x or earlier, you must first reach 9.0.x, because 9.0.0 is the minimum require

We recently upgraded a customer environment to Veeam Backup & Replication 13.1.1.18. The environment used a distributed repository architecture with a combination of Ubuntu Hardened Repositories and repositories deployed using Veeam Hardened Repository ISO v2.The VBR upgrade itself went smoothly, but upgrading the remote components and reconnecting to the repositories presented a few challenges. One of them turned out to be a DNS firewall rule that we had not initially considered.Here are some lessons learned from the upgrade.1. Preparation is keyBefore starting any Veeam Backup & Replication upgrade, I always verify that the configuration backup is available and usable.If something goes wrong during the installation and a full reinstall becomes necessary, having a verified configuration backup makes it much easier to restore the environment to its original state.During the installation, the setup wizard runs a configuration check to validate the existing environment and identi

🚀 One of the most interesting enhancements in Veeam Data Platform 13.1 may also be one of the most strategic for the long term: Post-Quantum Cryptography.Version 13.1 introduces significant advancements across multiple areas, from support for new hypervisors and enhanced cyber resilience capabilities to improvements across the entire data protection platform.Among all these innovations, one aspect particularly caught my attention: cryptographic resilience.When discussing backup and recovery, we tend to focus on concepts such as immutability, ransomware protection, RPOs, and RTOs. These are all fundamental pillars of a modern data protection strategy.However, there is a less discussed challenge that organizations should start considering today: ensuring that data protected now remains secure years into the future.🔐 The scenario known as "Harvest Now, Decrypt Later" assumes that an attacker can collect encrypted data today and store it for years, waiting for future advances in computin

Status: 19.10.2026Note: Information and links you can find at the end of this postVersion: Veeam Enterprise Manager 12.3.2.4934Introduction:Recently I got an interesting service request from a colleague.It mentioned that in one environment, the job details in Veeam Enterprise Manager showed two different time stamps for the same event: one correct and one wrong.That sounds a little bit confusing at first, but let's get into detail.Problem:On the left side, the time from Veeam Enterprise Manager is shown.
On the right side, the time from the Veeam Backup Server is shown.As you can see, there is a time offset of exactly nine hours between these two time stamps.
The Veeam Backup Server shows the correct time.
Both systems are located in the time zone Europe/Berlin.
In general, this offset does not impact the functionality of the backup.Solution:The reason for this time discrepancy is the time zone setting of the PostgreSQL database, which was installed when Enterprise Manager was set up.


  Something strange is happening in your infrastructure: Someone wants to enable SSH?Obtain temporary root access?Change security-critical settings without your knowledge? Who you gonna call? Ghostbus... uh, no: the Security Officer of course. With Veeam v13, this new role has been introduced for the Veeam Software Appliance and the Veeam Infrastructure Appliance. However, what may initially sound like the supreme ghost hunter—uh, I mean security chief — for the entire Veeam environment is often misunderstood. The Security Officer neither manages backup jobs nor automatically approves the deletion of backups. Its actual purpose is much more specific: It ensures that particularly critical changes to the appliance cannot be performed by a single person. The Security Officer approves or rejects requested actions. But when do you really need this role? What is the difference between the Security Officer, MFA, and Four-Eyes Authorization? And why is this role particularly relevant for VBR a

SAML single sign-on in Veeam Backup & Replication v13 lets your identity provider handle authentication while Veeam keeps control of authorization. Users sign in with their corporate identity, MFA and Conditional Access policies apply upstream, and Veeam stops being one more place that stores passwords.The setup is simple. The part that trips people up is group mapping, and it comes down to which Microsoft Entra ID license you have.The mental modelKeep this sequence in mind for both setup and troubleshooting:Trust. Veeam trusts Entra ID as the identity provider through exchanged SAML metadata and the signing certificate. Assertion. After the user authenticates, Entra ID sends a signed SAML assertion containing claims about that user. Identity mapping. Veeam matches a claim (the user's UPN or a group claim) to a user or group in Users & Roles. Authorization. Veeam applies the role assigned to that user or group.Entra ID proves who the user is. Veeam decides what they can do.Step

If your Veeam Backup files have been damaged due to storage media failure or malware activity, your first and best step is to contact Veeam Technical Support for assistance.I am a Data Recovery specialist and am not affiliated with Veeam. The following information is based on my personal experience recovering data from damaged backup files in a professional DR laboratory, specifically dealing with media failures and ransomware-induced corruption.Terminology used:Header: The first 4KB of the file. SSS0 / SSS1 (Snapshot Slots): Contain archive metadata (parameter groups, Metabank tables with addresses and sizes, and CRC for integrity verification). Metabank: Contains the metadata required to navigate the backup file.The metadata describing data block placement forms tree-like structures that build an abstract object map. This map is then associated with a map of physically stored blocks. This separation of maps is precisely what enables Veeam's deduplication mechanism.Q: The Header (firs

Hey everyone, I’m Klaus, a Technical Account Manager at Veeam in Germany.A big part of my role is working strategically with customers around data protection, resilience, and recovery. Disaster recovery concepts are an important part of that work – especially when it comes to understanding which workloads really matter, how they depend on each other, and what needs to come back first when things go wrong. Over time, I noticed that many of these discussions and workshops tend to start in a very similar way: the customer provides an RVTools export, we open a spreadsheet, and sooner or later we end up discussing which VM is actually “critical”. That sounds simple at first, but it rarely is. The final result often lives in that spreadsheet, while a lot of the context behind it does not. Dependencies are difficult to represent properly, assumptions remain in people’s heads, and six months later it can be surprisingly hard to understand why a system ended up in “Gold”, which workloads it dep

 In this demo I have MCP for Fusion, Everpure Fusion fleets, MCP for vCenter, and MCP for Veeam software as the data protection layer. And I'm gonna walk through a simple scenario on how you can tie these three things together to simulate a recovery action. So let's say [I] work on the help desk or somewhere like that, or in the data protection space, and I get a call, and it's from the app team, and they say that this VM, so called test-vm01, data got corrupted. So you'll notice I just asked where the VM is. I didn't say, "Hey, look on this array. Check in Veeam." I just say, "I got a VM." And it's going to go out there, locate where that VM lives, correlate that with the data protection space, and then tell me my options, just as I asked.So it hasn't done anything yet. It's asking me things to check, right? Hey, do you need files? Do you need a database, right? What type of recovery do you need? Is it the whole VM you're gonna roll back, right? Is the VM still on?I am confronted with

other possible Topic-name: When a PostgreSQL Shows Up That Isn't Yours - A field report on a new AAP warning after the upgrade to 13.1 — including the workaround Veeam Support cleared me to publish.  The symptomAfter upgrading a customers environment (doesn’t matter if VBR on Windows or VSA) to 13.1, a previously clean job started completing with a warning: a VM backup of (in this example) an Exchange server with Application-Aware Processing (AAP) enabled. Exchange processing itself was fine. The warning referred to a PostgreSQL instance that isn't really in access of the customer: an embedded component of (in this case) Trellix/McAfee Email Security running on the same guest OS.The customer told me: Vendor-managed, no credentials, no supported way to administer it.So Veeam can't authenticate against it — and flags that with a warning. The same job ran clean on the previous version.  What changedSupport's original answer was (and i have the confirmation to do this post about it): With

Veeam 13.1 can back up OpenShift Virtualization VMs from the console your team already uses, without an agent in the guest. Here's the architecture in one diagram: five components, two of them new, and the five steps a backup job takes across them.  ComponentsVBR Server — the one giving ordersWhat it is: your existing Veeam Backup & Replication machine, physical or virtual. Job description: holds the configuration, schedules jobs, allocates resources, and coordinates every backup and restore. It also doubles as a general-purpose backup proxy, so it can move data to and from repositories on its own. Where it sits in the diagram: top-left, feeding the plug-in. Mental model: the control tower. It decides what and when; it does not read VM disks.Veeam Plug-in for KubeVirt — the translatorWhat it is: the integration layer between VBR and everything OpenShift Virtualization. Job description: lets the backup server connect to an OpenShift Virtualization cluster and run data protection and

Managing user access through Microsoft Entra ID has become a standard requirement in many environments. With Veeam ONE 13.1, it is now possible to integrate SAML-based authentication and use Entra ID or any other SAML IDP as an external Identity Provider. This step-by-step guide shows the process on how to add Entra ID as an IDP in VeeamOne 13.1. First, we need to create an enterprise application in Entra IDNavigate to https://entra.microsoft.com/ --> Enterprise applications and add a new application  Select "create your own application" and specify a name, I chose "VeeamOne SAML"  Specify SAML as the single-sign on method  Now switch to VeeamOne and go to configuration --> access management and add an identity provider  In the Identity Provider Settings: Display name: specify some name for your IDPIDP URL: copy the "App Federation Metadata Url"Entity ID: copy the "Microsoft Entra Identifier"  In the Veeam ONE Settings, you need to specify a Client ID, for example "VeeamOne"The S

There are so many data-breach incidents reported by news media day after day in Japan. Ransomware incidents seem to be increasing as well, although we do not hear about them as often as data-breach incidents. Maybe they have become so common and no longer considered newsworthy.Having said that, there was a new incident just reported on October 7th and it appears to be a special case. The first report was about Ibaraki Prefecture municipal office and municipal police websites closure due to IDCF Cloud service outage. The IDCF Cloud is run by Softbank subsidiary IDC Frontier, which then announced that a part of their system was compromised. Later, more details were announced that IDCF Cloud’s East Japan Region 1 was down due to a ransomware attack, which impacted 495 organizations throughout Japan.According to public information on the IDC Frontier website, IDCF Cloud service’s East Japan Region 1 uses VMware ESXi / vCenter, suggesting the ransomware targeted that specific deployment, th

During a recent Veeam Agent for Windows deployment project, we found an interesting issue involving VSS, SQL Writer, and old SQL Server references left behind after an incomplete removal or previous intervention.The scenario looked simple at first: a new backup project using VBR, Windows servers, and workstations protected by Veeam Agent. The agent deployment was successful, the jobs were configured, and everything was going according to plan.However, two specific servers started failing during the snapshot stage.At first, it looked like another common VSS issue. But after a deeper investigation, we found that the root cause was related to old SQL Server references pointing to files that no longer existed on the server. The environmentThe environment included: VBR; Veeam Agent for Windows; Windows Server 2025; Servers with SQL-related components; Jobs configured for protection through Veeam Agent. An important detail in this scenario is that the job was not initially configured

This week will take a small break from Wasabi related things and check out replication for Proxmox VE.  Check out blog #6 below.Blog - Veeam 13.1 and Proxmox VE – Native Replication is Here Veeam 13.1 and Proxmox VE – Native Replication is Here The post-Broadcom VMware licensing situation has driven a real migration toward alternative hypervisors, and Proxmox VE has been one of the biggest beneficiaries. Veeam has clearly been watching these trends, because version 13.1 delivers something Proxmox users have been waiting for: native VM replication.This is not just a backup story anymore. Proxmox is now a first-class citizen in Veeam’s disaster recovery capabilities. What’s New for Proxmox in 13.1?  Veeam already had Proxmox VE support for backup and recovery. Version 13.1 extends this with: Native VM replication — create Proxmox VM replicas for near-instant failover Instant Recovery — spin up VMs directly from backup storage without waiting for a full restore Unified management — ma

Every environment has a system that everyone knows is old, but nobody can simply turn off.During a new Veeam Data Platform 13 deployment, I reached one of those systems: an Oracle 10g database running in a Solaris zone. It held almost 48 TiB of data and supported core applications and services used across a worldwide company.The customer knew it needed to be modernized. They also estimated that replacing or migrating the applications and databases around it would cost millions of dollars. That project wasn’t going to happen before we needed a reliable backup.The backup job wouldn’t completeMy initial plan was to protect the Oracle workload as part of the new Veeam deployment. The jobs failed, so I started troubleshooting them like any other failed backup.Eventually, the support requirements gave me the answer. The Veeam Plug-In for Oracle RMAN supports Oracle Database 11g Release 2 and newer; Oracle 10g isn’t listed. Solaris 10 is listed as a supported operating system for the standalo