Skip to main content

Backup M365 - disable backup capability but enable only local restore

  • November 6, 2025
  • 4 comments
  • 25 views

I have been (legally) ordered to provide “any and all” copies of backups for a client dating back two years. Veeam 8.1.2 Community runs on a Win10 Virtual Machine and runs 3 routines daily

Exchange, SharePoint + Teams, OneDrive

Manual restore will take a year and $9K of external USB hard drives.

Wondering if there is a way to give them a copy of the Veeam virtual machine with backups disabled and the only restore options are save locally. I do not want them to accidentally trigger a restore job that overwrites the live data.

Disabling the 3 jobs is not appealing because they can be enabled easily.

I changed the global admin password associated with the organization but did not affect Veeam operation.  This would allow us to continue to the original Veeam backup server for daily backups.

In typing this, it seems that providing them with a searchable and restorable archive is what I am looking for.  Plus it cannot interfere with the ongoing backup of the live data.


I am grateful for any suggestions or possible avenues to explore

 

Thanks,

mtg

4 comments

kristofpoppe
Forum|alt.badge.img+10
  • Veeam Vanguard
  • 137 comments
  • November 6, 2025

Hi ​@RedRhino,

You could remove the app registration in the tenant or remove the rights to the API’s (Graph, SharePoint,...) so the app is unable to perform restores...

The VeeamZIP included in Veeam Backup and Replication could provide you with a standalone ZIP-file of the entire VB365 machine. The client could use a trial to import the VeeamZIP and perform a restore of the machine in their environment. Veeam always makes you can restore your data even without a license. 


MicoolPaul
Forum|alt.badge.img+23
  • 2425 comments
  • November 6, 2025

What are you storing the backups on? I also notice you mentioned VB365 community but then mention a client. If you’re providing services to a customer with the community edition this is against our EULA.


  • Author
  • New Here
  • 1 comment
  • November 6, 2025

Thanks for pointing out my mistake in the original post MicoolPaul

This client is fully licensed.

 

Cheers!


Chris.Childerhose
Forum|alt.badge.img+21
  • Veeam Legend, Veeam Vanguard
  • 9587 comments
  • November 7, 2025

This would be complicated giving them a copy of the VM as you then need to deal with restoring that and going through how to do things.  I think you need to export even though the time and effort it will take being the best option.  Good luck.