Blogs and Podcasts

I like to show all the utilities that Veeam offers us ... to perform administration tasks in the backup infrastructures Did you ever use??Extract Utility Veeam Backup & Replication comes with an extract utility that can be used to recover machines from backup files. The extract utility does not require any interaction with Veeam Backup & Replication and can be used as an independent tool on Linux and Mic

Let’s walk through the steps to perform a Physical to Virtual machine (P2V) conversion using Veeam Backup and Replication (VBR) to migrate a physical server to a Cluster virtual machine.Install Veeam Agent on the Physical MachineInstall the Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows on the physical server you want to convert. Ensure the agent is properly configured and connected to your Veeam Backup and Replication server.You can also create a Protection Group to install it. We will show you how to convert it from the Veeam Backup and Replication Management Console.Create a Protection Group and add the physical machine to the protection.Ensure you select the Install Backup agent.

For ease of administration, I will use Portainer a lightweight Docker Container management solution to administer my Docker environment instead of using the Container Manager on Synology.To proceed with this task, we have to first install the Container Manager on Synology. Launch the Package Center on your Synology NAS, and search for Container Manager. You will have to install it as shown below.Note: When Installed, you can also open it and navigate to the Image tab, select the Prometheus image and click Launch. You will also have to do the same for Grafana. But as I said above, we will be using Portainer as it simplifies Docker management

Hey Folks, I wanted to share my discovery of Veeam v13 beta with you. ​@Michael Melter  made an excellent post on the installation.I had undertaken the same work so I'm sharing my version with you. On my side, in this first post I go a bit further by presenting the Host Management part. I wish you a good read! 1. Veeam Software ApplianceOne of the flagship announcements at VeeamON was the release of the Linux appliance version - yes, Veeam Backup & Replication is switching to Linux. (The Windows version is not deprecated for now, so don't worry).Objective: we want a product that performs backups without having to worry about maintaining operating systems.In this first article, we wil

THERE IS NOW NATIVE FUNCTIONALITY TO DO THIS EASILYGreetings friends, some time ago I wrote about how to enable these notifications for Veeam Backup for Microsoft 365, it was a success, and very simple until Microsoft, and Google, disabled the normal SMTP on TLS, so many people ended with these notifications broken due the force of OAuth.Since Veeam Backup for Microsoft 365 v7, you can configure OAuth on the Console, for regular email notifications. But the Audit Email Settings configuration API wasn’t that trivial andeasy to setup, until today. We will go step by step, so you can have those Audit operations working again. Let’s go.Recommended – All Automated!Please come here to find everything automated:

Greetings everyone, as you know I have been working on Grafana Dashboards across all Veeam RESTful APIs (the only one pending is VBA GCP), but as the time has passed, the releases and core products I was using have evolved as well…I am talking about the time-series I am using to store all the recollected data from the APIs. I was using InfluxDB v1.x (latest stable release is v1.8), but InfluxData is about to deprecate it and consider it end-of-life at the end of 2021. That left all the Community using it with the only option to go to InfluxDB v2.x, and start leveraging Flux, the new query language, which is extremely versatile btw.Introducing the new Grafana Dashboard for Veeam Enterprise Manager for InfluxDB v2 using Flux, and Grafana 8.xBefore go any further, I just wanted to thank

Hi all, Everyone that knows me knows that I am a massive Python geek and data science nerd outside of being a full time nerd. Anyway I’ve been working on a YouTube series on using the Veeam API with Python showing the long way and the easy way to connect, discover, manipulate and visualize data from the APIs.I will be doing deep dives later in the series as well as creating interesting apps and widgets with one of Python’s many libraries. I’ll also be branching off into other languages like C# and Golang overtime.The GitHub repo of all the Jupyter notebooks I am using in the series can be found here:https://github.com/shapedthought/veeam-api-and-python-youtube If you have any suggestions for reports or visualisation

About 2 years ago I decided to try out Nutanix and learn a little about how it worked along with Veeam. Like most people this started with a Google search and several blog posts of others who have deployed Nutanix CE in their home labs, mostly nesting inside their VMware environments to save on necessary hardware. So, why not. I downloaded CE, carved out a VM on my VMware host, went through the steps and before long I had a single node cluster running. I setup a couple small VMs on it, added to my Veeam server, setup backups and backup copy jobs, and was off and running. Over time I left it running and didn’t really think much about it. Occasionally, someone would ask about Veeam capabilities with Nutanix and Cloud Connect, or something else, and I could show them, or test out what they wanted to try, but otherwise just left it running. Not too long ago, Nutanix released CE 2.0, however I waited, no rush

This is part 2 of the blog series about Veeam Backup for Proxmox, which focuses on backup and restore. Part 1 was about the architecture and setup; in case you’ve missed it, you can find it here: Disclaimer: All information and screenshots in this blog post are based on an early access release. Until the final release changes can and will occur! Restoring/Migrating from VMwareBefore we can start to backup systems running on Proxmox, of course we need to deploy a VM. The first release of Veeam Backup for Proxmox will support cross-platform restore, so I restored an existing Windows Server 2022 system from VMware to Proxmox.The process isn’t much different from other platforms and doesn’t require any special knowledge. 

Nutanix has been around for sometime but I have only recently decided to take a peak at it.I am going to install a single node cluster nested in my Proxmox homelab.First step is to create your Nutanix account (free) and login. Head to the Nutanix Community Edition page by pressing launch.Press Launch under Community EditionISO and InstructionsDownload the ISO and then upload into your Proxmox. Now time to setup the VM. Create the VM Choose the ISO.

As a Domain Administrator, it's likely you've never performed a KRBTGT password reset. Especially since the account appears disabled when viewed in Active Directory Users and Computers (ADUC). However, the KRBTGT account is not disabled. This is misleading due to the special nature of the KRBTGT account. This is because it operates under special security permissions and restrictions that prevent its normal use. Such as interactive logon or enabling or disabling the account actions. The disabled icon or status is simply an indication that it cannot be used for normal operations This critical account is automatically created when a Domain Controller (DC) is provisioned and is used by the Key Distribution Center (KDC) to issue and sign Kerberos tickets, which are essential for Kerberos authentication.In this article “

 The Veeam Plug-in for Microsoft SQL natively integrates with Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio. It transfers database and transaction logs to backup repositories associated with Veeam Backup & Replication.Compared to image-level backups created by Veeam Backup & Replication, Veeam plug-ins can offer more flexible scenarios for database backup.This plug-in’s users can backup and restore individual Microsoft SQL Server databases and configure independent backup scheduling for full, differential, and log

Hi there! I would like to share with all of you this awesome tool called Apache GuacamoleApache Guacamole is a clientless remote desktop gateway. It supports standard protocols like VNC, RDP, and SSH.I use it a lot to connect to my HomeLab, instead of enabling a VPN and open few RDP and SSH, I use my Navigator to connect to my Servers, no matter where Im connecting from (Ipad, Macbook, Raspberry Pi, Windows, etc.)For me is very useful, you can add MFA, SSL Cert, etc. very flexible and friendly.Here you will find the Installation files, instructions and useful information.Just a few screenshots!These are from my home lab. In another post, I will share with you a basic deploy an

I’m really happy to share with the Veeam Community this Open Source Project Called Veeam Decoys.  It is public knowledge that multiple threat actors use various tactics and techniques to identify services when they are already inside the internal networks of the organization they are attacking. In fact, the Mitre ATT&CK Enterprise matrix has two complete tactics, "Discovery" TA0007 and "Lateral Movement" TA0008, which list and explain multiple techniques and tools used by attackers. For example, the most sought-after services within the internal network are Remote Desktop Protocol and SSH. If we review Coveware's reports from this year, in the Q1-2024 report, we can observe that the "Lateral Movement" tactic ranks third among the most used tactics by threat actors according to the percentage of cases: 

Hey all, I just finished posting the third of a three-part series on deploying the Veeam Hardened Repository ISO.  I’ve been waiting a long time for the ISO to be released and have been occasionally bugged Rick about it, but this thing has been solid for me for over a week.  I’ve had a server waiting for it for over a year and it was worth the wait as it was super easy to deploy aside from working around the slightly buggy GUI for Rocky Linux.  I will note that Hannes specified 64GB of RAM for the VHR ISO, but my PowerEdge R550 that we ordered for the task previously has 32GB and seems to be keeping up just fine, though time will tell. Since it’s broken up into multiple parts, I’ll just share links to my blog rather than copying it into this post, though I will share a few screenshots as a teaser.

I want to share my experience of an Active directory migration through the VB Replication software related to an Active directory environment 2012 R2 - forest and domain functional level 2012 R2.The customer asked me to migrate 3 Domain controllers from an old  VMware 5.5 to the new VMware 6.5 infrastructure for a technological refresh.Given that the best solution from Microsoft is to create new VMs and promote them Domain Controllers and transfer FSMO roles.That said, there are scenarios like mine, where this type of approach was not possible as it was mandatory to maintain the same FQDN and IP address due to application configuration problems.Microsoft advised against demoting and promoting a DC with a different OS but with the same FQDN and IP, even if my environment was relatively small 3 DC one forest \ domain and not complex it could be done with the metadata cleanup procedure but the customer did not give the approval. So I have adopted the solutio

The Veeam Software Appliance v13 brings a new level of simplicity, security, and efficiency to modern data-protection workflows. Built on a hardened Linux foundation and designed for fast, consistent deployments, the VSA is an excellent option for organizations seeking a streamlined, appliance-based approach to Veeam Backup & Replication.In this guide, I provide a practical overview of how to configure the Veeam Software Appliance v13 and highlight the main features that make this version stand out. Why VSA v13 Is a Major Step ForwardSecurity by DesignVSA v13 was built with a strong security focus from the very first boot. It includes: A minimal Linux operating system, drastically reducing the attack surface SELinux in strict mode, providing advanced policy enforcement SSH disabled by default, preventing unnecessary access paths With these

This no new part about what else is new in v12, because I this is great improvement in the upcoming release.With Veeam Backup & Replication (VBR) v12 it will be possible to use a Linux Hardened Repository (LHR) server as proxy server. Only limitation seems to be the transport mode. Only Network mode (NBD) is supported! This is because of security reasons. Network Mode was possible to implement without requiring root permissions on service. This is no show-stopper, because it is the most secure among all available transport modes. H

Yesterday, Veeam released the Community Preview of the Hardened Repository ISO (Build 0.1.15).The ISO respectively the project was presented at the Veeam ON in Fort Lauderdale this year. I have been eagerly awaiting this installation ISO since the information was published. What is this Managed Hardened Repository ISO by Veeam?The Managed Hardened Repository ISO is an installation ISO to correctly install a Veeam Hardened Repository with Veeam’s best practices and a full hardening.Inside the installer you have to specify some settings, but everything else is predefined, so that after the guide guided installation you have a DISA STIG hardened repository. The whole thing without any further necessary adjustments. Benefits of the ISOThe biggest benefit of the ISO is that you don’t have to make any further customizations or run any scripts (the system is already hardened through the customi

Veeam Backup and Replication is comprehensive data protection and disaster recovery solution which is capable of creating image-level backups of virtual, physical servers, cloud machines, and restoration as well. The technology used in the product optimizes data transfer and resource consumption, which helps to minimize storage costs and the recovery time in case of a disaster. Veeam Backup and Replication provides a centralized console for administering backup, restore, and replication operations in all supported platforms (virtual, physical, and cloud environments).  The prerequisite requires you to have a SQL Server already running in your environment. Please see "how to download and install Microsoft SQL Server 2019

Because VMware snapshots is always a topic for backups, I want to share my latest experiences with VM-snapshots on NFS. I had to troubleshoot a problem with system time within a VMware vSphere VM. During backup VM freezes for more than 30 seconds. When this happens, system time in VM also stops and resets to current time after the freeze. And this behavior causes massive problems in the application-layer. During troubleshooting we found a very slow VM snapshot deletion on NFS volumes on ESXi hosts.EnvironmentIn this setup, we were running:HPE SimpliVity Hyper-converged infrastructure running in current Version. Notice: SimpliVity uses NFS v3 to present volumes to their hosts. VMware vSphere 6.7 in quite current version. Current Version of Veeam Backup and Replica

Some of you may have noticed a certificate validation error when using the Automatic Update function in the Veeam Backup for Microsoft 365 console. The error is due to a certificate expiring (which is needed to validate server updates). There is no cause for concern; the certificate was not compromised, and the option to manually patch the server was not interrupted. This certificate has since been updated, but a manual patch is needed to get the new certificate for validation. For those who want the quick fix, head over to KB4341. The rest of this article will cover some good-to-know information about certificates and some lessons learned.What is PKIWe commonly hear the term “cer

UPDATE--  Check out the step by step in our helpcenter https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backup/vsphere/using_vm_migrator_utility.html?ver=120 12.3 What’s New - https://www.veeam.com/veeam_backup_12_3_whats_new_wn.pdfHelpCenter - https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backup/powershell/veeam_vm_migrator.html?ver=120  Hey Everyone, What is a Moref ID? In VMware, a Moref ID (Managed Object Reference ID) is a unique identifier assigned to different objects or resources within the vSphere environment, like virtua

i am facing issue with adding linux server to backup, bakcup fail after 3 minutes with error Unable to process server: backup agent is missing. veeam v12do we miss anything else, i have added the server through job backup with the wizard and added the root user.but it failed any suggestions please. 

It’s that time of year again where we need to plan for the year ahead and be sure that any upcoming end-of-life or end-of-support dates from our dependent software vendors are addressed.Why does this matter when I’m just trying to protect the data?Times change, and software changes with them, until it’s no longer supported. At any point, a patch to an operating system, a .NET framework update, or anything else really, could end up with the software no longer being backed up properly, or not working at all in production. Without valid support there’s no process to get a fix, and whilst your backup software may still be in support with Veeam, if the vendor won’t fix the problem, it’s time to start panicking.With this in mind, let’s explore the software & operating systems being declared end of life in 2024 so we can start planning our upgrades/migrations if necessary. Veeam