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Merge 2 Veeam VBR servers into one.

RonV
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  • RonV
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I have 2 Veeam V11 VBR servers. Which backup different servers. Servers are mostly VMWare, Windows/Linux and some Agent backups. No NFS/CIFS/ network share backups. At one point in time, these were 2 VBR servers in 2 separate data-centers but these data-centers got merged so now they’re located in the same data-center. They each use backup copy jobs to offload backups to Azure. For Azure, they’re using the same account, but upload to a different folder. Both servers have different proxies and different backup repositories. Backup repo’s are a combo of Windows and Linux (immutable). Each server uses a different SQL (server 2019)  back-end.

 

Now, the idea is, to upgrade Veeam to V12 and merge these 2 V11 VBR servers into one V12 VBR server. Is this even possible? An upgrade to V12 can either done on the existing servers and then merge or I could build a new VBR server, install Veeam V12 and migrate both servers to the new one. The on-prem jobs cover about 15 days or so, so I could just setup new jobs for the on-prem backups and let the old ones ‘die on the Vine’.  But then what about the Backup Copy → Azure stuff. These are the weekly/monthly/yearly backups I need to keep. Can those be migrated? Even if I want to start over. Do I really have to re-configure hundreds of jobs or can they be copied over? 

 

Has anyone ever done this, merging 2 VBR servers into one? Willing to share hints, tips, suggestions, gotcha’s?

 

 

11 comments

coolsport00
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Pretty sure this can't be done. The only way to "merge" is to install a new one and somehow be able to restore the VBR DB config backup to one new server DB. And this can't be done.

About the only thing I know you can do is upgrade one of them & just create new jobs from the other server on the upgraded one. 

Shane Williford - Veeam VMCA/VMCE | Veeam Legend | VUG Leader | VCP-DCV | Twitter: @coolsport00
Moustafa_Hindawi
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I don't think there's a supported way to merge 2 VBRs in one server, as each one has its own SQL database.

What I could suggest is you upgrade to v12 and then install Veeam Enterprise Manager and manage both VBRs from one VEM.

Otherwise, you will need to recreate one of the VBR jobs, infrastructure, and Repo to the another VBR and then import the backup files. 

Moustafa Hindawi | Blogger | Nutanix Technology Champion | NCSE | NCM-MCI | VMCE | 2xVCAP-DTM & DCV | 2xVCP-NV & CMA | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/moustafaadelmoustafa/ | My Blog: https://cloudwhales.co.uk/author/mhindawi/
Chris.Childerhose
Userlevel 7
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As Shane said merging is not possible. You do what Shane said and upgrade one then move jobs over from the other.

If you have time and it is not urgent you could deploy a new server and then recreate all the jobs again leaving the current servers running then when you are ready cut over the other components to the new server.  Will take some planning but might be another option.

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
StefanZi
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Merging two VBRs is not a built-in function as everyone else said.

However, I head of some migration projects using the VBR REST API. It allows export of jobs and infrastructure (mainly only for VMware though) and you also can import the exported JSON again. 

The process might require altering some JSON references before importing and I am currently not aware of a ready-to-use solution for migrating/moving between VBRs.

However, there are some REST API projects out there to ease the process. Have a look at tdewin/vbreasyrest (github.com) or shapedthought/vcli: vcli is a simple tool to interact with (most) Veeam APIs (github.com).

MatzeB
Userlevel 5
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Hi, also I can not merge two Veeam servers ;) But what I recently tried for a customer is mapping backup files in a new backup job on a new backup server. If you have space issues and don't want to make new full backups for everything then this could be a help.

For me i wasn't aware that it is also possible to map backup files from another backup server. The tests was with primary backups, not a copy job.

Regards Matze

Matthias Beller - VMCA2022/2020 | VMCE2023/2021/2020 | Veeam Vanguard
Scott
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You can not merge.

You could use enterprise manager to have a single pane of glass, but best would be to decommission one and add the jobs to the other. 

 

RonV
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Thanks for the responses. As per @coolsport00 looks like upgrading 1 server and then migrate the jobs and related items over from the other server to the new server is the way to go. 

Or As @Chris.Childerhose suggest: create a new server and migrate both servers over to the new server. 

I will do some research on @StefanZi’s suggestion. Automating might be the way to go to avoid doing 5 million mouseclicks to re-setup a few hundred jobs. Maybe I will hit the automation desk session at VeeamON next week and ask some questions there 😀

 

@Moustafa_Hindawi , @Scott:  Enterprise manager: Yes that could work too, but I am really trying to downscale some of the Veeam infrastructure we currently have. So while EM might work, it is not an option in our case. 

Thanks for all the responses! 

RonV
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.

coolsport00
Userlevel 7
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Keep us posted on your progress @RonV 

Shane Williford - Veeam VMCA/VMCE | Veeam Legend | VUG Leader | VCP-DCV | Twitter: @coolsport00
BertrandFR
Userlevel 7
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Hello,

as wrote before it’s not possible to merge two vbr or merge two DB Backup into one, but i had to think about this subject in the past.

Scott
Userlevel 7
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Thanks for the responses. As per @coolsport00 looks like upgrading 1 server and then migrate the jobs and related items over from the other server to the new server is the way to go. 

Or As @Chris.Childerhose suggest: create a new server and migrate both servers over to the new server. 

I will do some research on @StefanZi’s suggestion. Automating might be the way to go to avoid doing 5 million mouseclicks to re-setup a few hundred jobs. Maybe I will hit the automation desk session at VeeamON next week and ask some questions there 😀

 

@Moustafa_Hindawi , @Scott:  Enterprise manager: Yes that could work too, but I am really trying to downscale some of the Veeam infrastructure we currently have. So while EM might work, it is not an option in our case. 

Thanks for all the responses! 

 

Understandable, there are times when EM is quite handy. I actually use it with my single Veeam instance.   If you have multiple sites, just have repos and proxies at both sites, Make sure you have the config backup sent to an offsite location and you are also covered in the event of a disaster. 

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