• EN
Solved

How to backup a physical VBR server

O
Userlevel 4

Hello,

We have a VBR 10 with Enterprise Manager in a physical Windows Server 2012 R2. Also we have a secondary VBR 10 in a virtual machine 2012R2 in an external site.

I have to migrate all the products to version 11 and I would like to know what is the best way to backup all the configuration necessary to restore the servers in case of problem.

I read that I have to perform backup of the SQL Server configuration databases used by Veeam backup servers and Veeam Backup Enterprise Manager server, to easily go back to a previous version in case of issues with upgrade. 

So, In case of problem, I can go back to a previous version with the built-in configuration backup and the SQL Server configuration databases backup, right?

it’s also another option to do a Veeam Windows Agent Backup of that physical server from the other VBR in the external site?

Thanks in advance,

 

Omar De Souza.

icon

Best answer by Chris.Childerhose 3 August 2021, 18:39

View original

10 comments

Chris.Childerhose
Userlevel 7
Badge +20

Hi @omar.desouza - the easiest way to ensure backups is like you said a SQL DB backup as well as a Configuration backup of the VBR server as well as it helps with restore.

You can install the Windows Agent to do a full backup to the other VBR server and in case of issues restore the VBR server as a VM if needed.  The SQL and Config backup should do the trick though.

HTH

Chris Childerhose - VMCA2022 | VMCE2023 | Veeam Vanguard 7* | Veeam Legend 3* | vExpert 5* | VCAP-DCV/VCP-DCV | Object First Ace | Cisco Champion | Twitter: @cchilderhose | Blog Site – https://just-virtualization.tech
MicoolPaul
Userlevel 7
Badge +20

Hi :)

 

So yes, if you wanted a complete “belt and braces” protection for the Veeam server, you can use Veeam Agent to protect the server. Just make sure you’re saving the backup somewhere accessible if your VBR server ended up completely trashed…

Configuration Backup should be fine however, I suggest if you’re not using it already to enable encryption for your configuration backup so it will also store your credentials to save you time getting back up and running should you need to restore that backup. The only officially supported stance for recovering the database is using the configuration backup, so try to avoid restoring a SQL backup itself :relaxed:

 

Michael Paul - #VeeamLegend | #VeeamVanguard | Veeam Certified Architect | VMware vExpert | https://micoolpaul.com | Twitter: @MicoolPaul | Mastodon: @micoolpaul@masto.nu | Bluesky: @micoolpaul.bsky.social
O
Userlevel 4

Hi guys,

So what’s the best way to do the SQL DB backup? Is there a tool directly from Veeam or I have to install the classic Microsoft SQL Management Studio?

Chris.Childerhose
Userlevel 7
Badge +20

Hi guys,

So what’s the best way to do the SQL DB backup? Is there a tool directly from Veeam or I have to install the classic Microsoft SQL Management Studio?

I would just install the MS tools to do it.  I don’t believe there is a facility in Veeam to do that yet or if there ever will be.

Chris Childerhose - VMCA2022 | VMCE2023 | Veeam Vanguard 7* | Veeam Legend 3* | vExpert 5* | VCAP-DCV/VCP-DCV | Object First Ace | Cisco Champion | Twitter: @cchilderhose | Blog Site – https://just-virtualization.tech
JMeixner
Userlevel 7
Badge +17

Deleted

Jochen (Joe) Meixner | Veeam Vanguard 2024 | Veeam Legend 2021 - 2023 | Veeam Certified Architect (VMCA) 2022 | Twitter: @JoMeix | BlueSky: @jmeixner.bsky.social
JMeixner
Userlevel 7
Badge +17

Hi guys,

So what’s the best way to do the SQL DB backup? Is there a tool directly from Veeam or I have to install the classic Microsoft SQL Management Studio?

I would just install the MS tools to do it.  I don’t believe there is a facility in Veeam to do that yet or if there ever will be.

Maybe I am thinking in the wrong direction… but isn’t the Veeam configuration backup not doing exact what@omar.desouza wants? It is doing a backup of the complete VBR server configuration, in other words a backup of the sql database.

Jochen (Joe) Meixner | Veeam Vanguard 2024 | Veeam Legend 2021 - 2023 | Veeam Certified Architect (VMCA) 2022 | Twitter: @JoMeix | BlueSky: @jmeixner.bsky.social
dips
Userlevel 7
Badge +7

Maybe I am thinking in the wrong direction… but isn’t the Veeam configuration backup not doing exact what @omar.desouza wants? It is doing a backup of the complete VBR server configuration, in other words a backup of the sql database.

I was under the same impression as well. 

Additionally, a while ago, I raised it with Veeam Support and they recommended that the Veeam servers are not backed up by Veeam. 

Dipen N. K. | IT Security Specialist | Veeam Legend 2022 - 2023 | www.dipen.co.uk
O
Userlevel 4

Maybe for the VBR is enough with the Veeam backup configuration, but because we have Enterprise Manager, I found this procedure where it says: “Perform backup of the SQL Server configuration databases used by Veeam backup servers and Veeam Backup Enterprise Manager server, so that you can easily go back to a previous version in case of issues with upgrade. Note that built-in configuration backup functionality does not protect Veeam Backup Enterprise Manager configuration”

https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backup/em/em_upgrading.html?ver=110

 

 

Chris.Childerhose
Userlevel 7
Badge +20

The configuration backup is good if you are moving the server to a new one and starting with a new DB cause it will recreate everything for you yes.  The SQL DB backup is in case you need to revert back to v10 if something in the v11 goes wrong or is not working properly.  I assume a Config backup would be the same more than likely for this but you can never be too careful I always say.

There is a flag in the DB that tells Veeam what version the database is at so you also need to ensure that you reinstall the same v10 version if reverting.

Chris Childerhose - VMCA2022 | VMCE2023 | Veeam Vanguard 7* | Veeam Legend 3* | vExpert 5* | VCAP-DCV/VCP-DCV | Object First Ace | Cisco Champion | Twitter: @cchilderhose | Blog Site – https://just-virtualization.tech
MicoolPaul
Userlevel 7
Badge +20

The configuration backup is good if you are moving the server to a new one and starting with a new DB cause it will recreate everything for you yes.  The SQL DB backup is in case you need to revert back to v10 if something in the v11 goes wrong or is not working properly.  I assume a Config backup would be the same more than likely for this but you can never be too careful I always say.

There is a flag in the DB that tells Veeam what version the database is at so you also need to ensure that you reinstall the same v10 version if reverting.

Agree with this, I’ve had to downgrade from v10 to v9.5 with the config backup and have seen it work :) VBR you’ll be best using config backup and/or a full server backup, VEM I’d use a full server backup.

Michael Paul - #VeeamLegend | #VeeamVanguard | Veeam Certified Architect | VMware vExpert | https://micoolpaul.com | Twitter: @MicoolPaul | Mastodon: @micoolpaul@masto.nu | Bluesky: @micoolpaul.bsky.social

Comment


Terms & Conditions