disable change block tracking in free version of veeam backu

[joejoe]

Is there a way to disable change block tracking in the free version of Veeam backup? I have 1 or 2 vms I would like to do a full backup of periodically but I don't want to enable change block tracking. Is this possible? From past experience, I believe the program does enable it and I would prefer not to.

I'm also looking at perhaps switching to the vCenter appliance. Can the free version successfully backup the appliance in a consistent state so if I had to restore, the VCSA would be useable?

Thanks

[Vitaliy S.]

VeeamZIP creates a full backup of your VM, it doesn't create a chain of incremental restore points. Yes, you can safely backup your vCenter Server appliance with Veeam backup free as well.

[joejoe]

I just tried it on a dummy vm and VeeamZIP is turning on CBT. Is there a way to prevent that (like a registry key) as I would prefer not to have that option enabled on any VMs I try to backup.

[Vitaliy S.]

You can disable this on the VM itself via vSphere Client. Can you please tell me why do you want to disable it?

[joejoe]

The GUI won't allow me to turn it off without powering down the VM first. I found a little powershell code which seems to do it live but it's just one more thing to remember to do.

I want it disabled because I've seen a bug or two in the past and it's something I don't want to worry about. In fact, there's a new bug in ESXi 6 with CBT: http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/micros ... Id=2114076

Since VeeamZIP always does a full backup anyway, having it turn on CBT doesn't help and in certain cases might cause problems down the road.

Long story short, I want to keep things as simple as possible and taken an occasional backup or a vm or two. Turning on CBT, for zero gain in my situation, just adds one more thing to potentially cause problems.

[foggy]

There is actually a performance gain in using CBT, even during full backups (unused blocks are not read, which allows to speed up the backup itself and reduce stress put the storage).

And, btw, the mentioned bug is addressed by VMware in the recent ESXi patch.

[itwheel]

Why does it feel like Veeam is avoiding answering this question?
Removing CBT processing is slower but this appears the only way to get a backup with the VM set to a prior snapshot.

[foggy]

Hi Marcus, which question do you feel Veeam is avoiding?