Adding VMware ESXi & vCenter Server for Backup (Local Network)

Adding VMware ESXi & vCenter Server for Backup (Local Network)

You need to add the VMware ESXi/vCenter Server containing the VMs to the production infrastructure of the BDRSuite Backup Server before starting to configure a backup job.

Prerequisites

The VMware ESXi or vCenter Server you want to add should be of Licensed Edition
The VMware ESXi or the vCenter Server should be v4.0 & above

Adding VMware ESXi/vCenter host

Local Network

Step 1:

Log in to your backup server machine and click on Hypervisors, Servers & Endpoints in the menu.  In the sub-menu navigate to Data Sources > Hypervisors > ESXi & vCenter. You will be taken to a page where you can see all the previously added ESXi/vCenter hosts. If no host is added, you can see a message “No host added for backup”.

Step 2: 

Click Add ESXi/vCenter Server to add your ESXi or vCenter to add the Data Source to your BDRSuite Backup Server.

Step 3: 

The ESXi/vCenter Server deployed in both the local or the remote network can be added as a data source to the BDRSuite Backup Server. Select either of the options;

Local Network : VMware deployed in the local network refers to a virtualization infrastructure setup where VMware software solutions are installed and utilized within an organization’s on-premises network environment. 

Step 4:

Specify the Server Name/IP address of the VMware vCenter/ ESXi Server that you wish to add.

Step 5: 

Select the root or administrator credential of the entered VMware vCenter/ ESXi Server from the list.If you have not added the credentials earlier, you can add new credentials by clicking on the Add Credential button. Click here to know more about adding a new credential.

Step 6: 

Specify the port for the BDRSuite Backup Server to communicate with the VMware vCenter/ ESXi Server and click on the Save button to add the VMware vCenter/ ESXi Server to the Data Sources.

Notes
Note: BDRSuite Backup Server communicates with the VMware Server using port 443 as default. You can modify this port number in case you have configured a different port number for ESXi/vCenter communication.

Manage ESXi/vCenter host

You can see all the added ESXi/vCenters under the ‘Add & Manage ESXi/vCenter servers’ tab. You can edit the added VMware vCenter/ESXi Servers by clicking on the Edit icon. You will be allowed to change the Server name/IP address, credential, and port.

You can also delete the added VMware vCenter/ESXi Servers by clicking on the Delete icon.
By clicking on ‘Yes, Delete’ the added host will be permanently removed from the BDRSuite Backup Server.

Notes
Note:
  1. You need to delete the backup jobs associated with the ESXi or vCenter before deleting a host from the Data Sources.
  2. BDRSuite does not support agentless backup for the VMs running on ESXi free versions as the APIs(VADP) is required for agentless backup are not available in the ESXi free version
  3. Backing up encrypted VMs is not supported for vSphere host v6.7
  4. Backup may fail with “VMware Modular exception error” in case of ESXi compatibility/permission issue with respect to vCenter

Backup Proxy for VMware

A backup proxy is nothing but a VM client that can be set up in order to provide load balancing in huge organizations that get to deal with quite a large number of VMware hosts/virtual machines. This proxy has to be connected to the centralized BDRSuite Backup server.

A backup proxy acts as an intermediary component between the backup server and the source ESXi/ vCenter in managing the jobs. A backup proxy processes the data from the source and delivers it to the backup server, while the backup server administers the data from the proxy servers and writes the data to the backup repository.

 set up a backup proxy server, go to Data Sources > Add VMware vSphere > Backup Proxy for VMware. On this page click Add VMware Proxy.  You can add a new proxy server by specifying the following details.
  • VMware Proxy Server Name/IP Address: Enter the Machine name or IP address of the machine in which you want to install the VMware proxy agent.
  • Credential: Username and password to login to the machine selected for the backup proxy. You can select existing credential entries from the list or add a new username and password by clicking on the Add credential button.
  • Port: Port is used for the communication between the VMware proxy and the BDRSuite Backup Server. By default, port 42005 is selected.
  • The maximum number of concurrent backup tasks: Specify the number of concurrent backup jobs a proxy can process. The default is 5, you can select a value between 1 to 5.

After providing all the details, click on the Save button. On clicking the save button, BDRSuite Backup Server will try to install the BDRSuite Integration Service on the machine selected as the proxy server.  BDRSuite Integration Service is the name of the agent that acts as a VMware backup proxy. Once the BDRSuite Integration Service is successfully installed on the target machine, a new proxy server will be available on the Add & Manage Backup Proxy for VMware page.

Manage VMware Backup Proxy

You can see all the added VMware Proxy servers under the ‘Add & Manage Backup Proxy for VMware' page. You can edit the added VMware Proxy servers by clicking on the Edit icon. You will be allowed to change the Server name/IP address, credential, and port.

You can also delete the added VMware vCenter/ESXi Servers by clicking on the Delete icon.