Protecting Veeam Backup & Replication Configuration

Protecting the Veeam Backup Server

As recommended by best practice for disaster recovery you can place Veeam Backup & Replication installation on a virtual machine and protect it with backups or replicas. Out-of-the box Veeam automatically creates configuration backups on the default backup repository.

These configuration backups contain all the information about Veeam Backup & Replication, like Backup Infrastructure components and objects, Backup jobs (passwords are not stored by default), Sessions and Tape setup. The configuration backup can be used to automatically rebuild the Veeam Backup & Replication server with all objects, sessions and jobs.

To restore all jobs and their metadata (you will be asked for all required passwords during the restore process). Please refer to the Veeam Backup & Replication User Guide for further details: https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backup/vsphere/vbr_config.html?ver=95

Tip: If encryption is enabled for configuration backup the passwords are also stored in the configuration backup files.

Planning for Disaster Recovery of Veeam Backup Server

Having a solid disaster recovery strategy for your availability components, like the backup server, is key to a successful recovery. For all situations follow these basic guide lines:

  1. Make sure the daily configuration backup is not placed in the default location on the backup server itself
  2. Modify the backup configuration backup settings to point to a secure backup repository on a different location/site
  3. Schedule the configuration backup to run when the backup server is least occupied;
  4. Make sure the configuration backup is encrypted to protect the configuration details. Also all passwords are than stored in the configuration backup files
  5. Check that you receive notifications about the status of the configuration backup job results
  6. Think about placement of the backup server, configuration backup and database. This is highly depended on the overall infrastructure design and DR strategy of your organization

By default, Veeam Backup & Replication is configured to create a daily configuration backup. The resulting configuration backup file is stored in the \VeeamConfigBackup\%BackupServer% folder on the default backup repository. However, for security’s sake, it is recommended that you do not store configuration backups on the default backup repository or in any other folder on the backup server. In this case, if the backup server fails, its configuration data will remain, and you will be able to recover the failed backup server.

When the backup server is in the primary site it is recommended to replicate the Veeam backup server VM to the secondary site (verify network and IP mapping settings before you begin; refer to https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backup/vsphere/replica_job.html?ver=95 for details).

Note you cannot IP map a replica Veeam backup server if the control of the replica is by the same server being replicated, it can only be done using another VBR server to control that replica)

Also check the location of the configuration database, when the database is external ensure this server is also replicated to the secondary site. If the server is replicated successfully, in the event of a disaster, you may start its replica in the secondary location without having to reinstall Veeam Backup & Replication. This will help to lower overall Recovery Time Objective (RTO).

Tip Use Veeam's File Copy Job to place a copy of the configuration backup at the DR site. You can configure another repository for that purpose.

Note All data required for a restore is directly placed within the backup file (which VMs are in the backup file as well as deduplication and encryption information), even in the event that configuration database is lost or damaged you can set up a new Veeam backup server and import the backup files there, or even use the stand-alone “Extract” utility (both a command line and a graphical version are provided). Then you will be able to restore VMs, files and application data without restoring the configuration database.

Note: Backup copy jobs do not process configuration backups. Remember that configuration backups are not processed with backup to tape jobs; if you want to store configuration backups on tape use file to tape jobs instead.

Antivirus on Veeam Servers

Antivirus software monitors all 'write' operations on the operating system and this also extends to Veeam backup files. Data that is processed by a backup proxy and repository can overload the antivirus system so that it blocks the backup files, this can slow down the backup process or even lead to backup file corruption. To avoid this it is recommended to add the following items to the list of antivirus exclusions on all Veeam servers including Veeam backup server, proxy server, repository server, WAN accelerator server, tape server, and others.

Folders on the Veeam Server

  • C:\Program Files\Veeam

  • C:\Program Files(x86)\Veeam

  • C:\Program Files\Common Files\Veeam

  • C:\Program Files(x86)\Common Files\Veeam

  • VBRCatalog ([HKLM\SOFTWARE\Veeam\Veeam Backup Catalog\] CatalogPath value)

  • NFS (Configured in each repository, stored in [HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Veeam\Veeam NFS\] RootFoldervalue)

  • C:\VeeamFLR\*

  • C:\Windows\Veeam

Folder on Guest OS for VSS

  • C:\Windows\VeeamVssSupport

  • C:\Windows\VeeamLogShipper

Folder on VMware Backup Proxies and CIFS Repository Gateway

  • C:\Program Files(x86)\Veeam

  • C:\Windows\Veeam

Folders on Windows Repositories

  • C:\Program Files(x86)\Veeam

  • C:\Windows\Veeam

  • All Veeam repository folders

Folders on WAN accelerator

  • C:\Program Files(x86)\Veeam

  • C:\Windows\Veeam

  • All WAN cache folders

Files

  • VeeamAgent.exe

  • VeeamAgent64.exe

  • .vmdk .vbk .vlb .vib .vrb .vbm .vbo

Tip: Due to the complex nature of antivirus software some additional exclusions may be needed. If the antivirus has a logging or history system you can review its logs to detect whether it has taken any actions that might affected Veeam Backup & Replication operations.

Consider that other services or process may be using ports configured for the Veeam vPower NFS Service. To avoid possible issues it is recommended to stop the Veeam vPower NFS Service if you do not plan to use it. Make sure that none of the NFS ports are used by other software (including antivirus systems). For more information please refer to this Veeam Knowledge Base article: http://www.veeam.com/kb1055.

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