Veeam 5 in VM backing up itself

[bluecoffee]

We have veeam installed in a VM (Windows 2008r2). It backs up all VMs fine, bar itself. I have tried creating a new job with just the VM with veeam installed in and I get the error, There are no VMs to backup.

This did work fine with Veeam 4. Only stopped after upgrade.

Can anyone help? Thanks, Matt

[Gostev]

Hi Matt, you are experiencing inadvertent of autoskipping feature, that was supposed to work in Virtual Appliance mode (trying to backup itself in the Virtual Appliance mode causes a number of pretty terrible issues). Autoskip was supposed to work in Virtual Appliance mode only, however due to a bug it affects all modes. This will be addressed in 5.0.1, and for now I am hearing that workaround is to open VMX file for Veeam Backup VM and change any char in VM GUID. Alternatively, you can setup additional Veeam Backup server to backup your primary server (this is the recommended approach, because this way you will be able to perform consistent backups of SQL Express backing Veeam confiration database). Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you.

[axs@moffatt.com]

Can you send along some instructions on how to modify the .vmx file on a Veeam backup VM on an ESXi server? I think a patch is in order here instead of upgrade...

[Gostev]

Sure, but patch would take a few days to be delivered and tested, and I wanted to provide immediate resolutions. For modification instructions and further assistance with this, please contact our support directly.

[bluecoffee]

Thanks for the quick response Gostev. I have tried modifying uuid.location and vc.uuid but to no luck. Do you know the exact key I need to change.

Thanks in advance.

[Gostev]

I do not know much details, I have managed to got on hold of one of the developers right after you post, but he did not provide too many details, and it is 2am right now so I doubt I can get more information at this time. I recommend that you open a support case for assistance with this, to make sure you get the answer promptly. I will try to remember to update this topic with more details tomorrow. Or hopefully Vitaly will be able to do this earlier.

[bluecoffee]

Thanks for you help, especially at this hour. Look forward to hearing more tomorrow. If I get a support case open I will update this tread too.

[Vitaliy S.]

Hello Matt, I've just talked to our R&D team, currently there is no way to workaround it, you may either use another backup server (as Anton advised above) or use SQL Management Studio to backup Veeam SQL database.

Next week there will be a hotfix that will allow to process Veeam Backup server in the backup jobs. You may obtain this fix through our support team. I will update the thread as soon as the hotfix is available. It is best to get support case opened, so that you are notified on hotfix availability.

[Gostev]

Correct, just wanted to stress again that with our without this issue, the only reliable way to backup Veeam Backup server with local SQL database is to use separate Veeam Backup server instance with application-aware image processing option enabled.

And in case of remote SQL, you just backup that SQL normally, and if you loose Veeam server - you just reinstall it pointing to the existing SQL database. No real need to backup the server itself, as reinstall takes less than 2 minutes when remote SQL is used.

[withanh]

Anton, thanks for the link. I must have been sleeping when I searched because I sure don't remember finding this. Of course, it was 2am...

So is it a violation of the licensing to install a second copy of Veeam if it's backing up the same datacenter? i.e. we are licensed for 8 sockets and my Veeam server is running in a VM on those sockets. If I install a copy of Veeam on another machine and use that to back up my VM-Veeam, am I good?

Thanks!

h

[Gostev]

Hi Darhl, sure - you can install as many Veeam Backup servers as needed, as long as total number of unique processed sockets does not exceed your licensed amount.

[withanh]

Thanks Anton. Can you confirm there is a hotfix on the way? I may just wait for that if it's close...

[Gostev]

Confirming.

[JasonITPRO]

Hi,

Is there an update on this hotfix? I just upgraded to version 5.0, and now I too can no longer use Veeam to backup the VM that Veeam is installed on.

[Gostev]

Hi Jason, the hotfix will be available this week as Vitaly had posted earlier. Please open a support case to be notified on hotfix availability. Thank you!

[ptmartin]

Hi Jason, the hotfix will be available this week as Vitaly had posted earlier. Please open a support case to be notified on hotfix availability. Thank you!

I've opened a support case this morning to hopefully expedite this hotfix availability. I don't see that it is available yet and am hoping it will be soon. Thanks -Paul

[withanh]

It should be, I got the hotfix last week, but it might not be publicly available, one of those "you have to ask for it to get it" hotfixes.

h

[ptmartin]

Yep - the squeaky wheel gets the grease. I just received an email telling me how to obtain the hotfix 4-hours after opening a support case online. The only problem was that there were minimal instruction other than to stop 2 services and "unzip" it. It came with several files and updates for other products on both the x86 and x64 platforms but again ... what do I do with the files that have been unzipped? The only executable in the collection of files immediately throws up an error. Any insight would be appreciated!

[withanh]

Stop the Veeam services, then in the Veeam folder, find the files with the same names as the unzipped ones. Rename them to <whatever>.dll.old, put the new ones in place, start Veeam services back up.

Make sure you pick the proper files from the unzipped set (aka x86 or x64)

h

[ptmartin]

Thanks for the help 'H' ... That did it!

[withanh]

Good deal, glad it worked out!

h

[zoharp]

hi,

im having the same problem , were can i get this patch?

[withanh]

Open a support case (support@veeam.com). They'll hook you up.

[zoharp]

done! - ID#544424

[zoharp]

how soon would you be able to help/supply the patch?

[withanh]

I won't really be able to help, but Veeam support should hook you up. They're usually pretty good about getting back on support requests.

h

[fgonzalez]

Guys,

Can you please give me and update on how to backup Veaam server itself? can you please tell me what the process is?

Thanks a lot

[Alexey D.]

Hello Fernando,

It is possible to backup B&R itself, just make sure that you're not using Virtual Appliance mode and application-aware processing is disabled.

Also, a good practice would be using remote SQL server instance instead of local one (and doing backups of that remote instance), and not protecting B&R server itself - if you lose it, you can deploy it quickly and just point to the saved datadase.