Configuring Veeam Agent from VBR

[Anguel]

Hi!

We are using Veeam Agent for Windows Free to backup physical PCs to a VBR repository. So far I had configured VAW jobs on each PC separately. Now I want to do the config centrally on the VBR server but have the following questions I could not answer from the docs:

1. When deploying VAW from the server I noticed that the VAW tray icon does not appear on the client PCs anymore. Is this expected?

2. When I configure the VAW job from the VBR server I have to select a "Job Mode". However I do not understand what the difference really is:
- Are "Workstation mode" and "Server mode" both usable with the VAW Free Edition or are they somehow related to the paid Workstation and Server editions of WAV?
- Can I use "Server mode" also for workstations that are permanently connected to my company network or is it really meant for servers only?
- What are the actual benefits of "Managed by backup server" vs "Managed by agent"?

3. On some PCs I want to backup only the C: drive but I need to also include all System Partitions on that drive so that I can do a bare metal recovery when needed. Will the Volume Level Backup option with C:\ added include the system partitions or not?

Thanks in advance,
Anguel

[Vitaliy S.]

Hi Anguel,

1. Yes, that's expected. Please take a look at this existing topic > VAW 2.1 Feature Request - Return the tray icon

2. Centralized agent management functionality is available for paid edition only. As regards difference in job modes, then here is a UG for more info > Step 2. Select Job Mode

3. A short note over here, should answer your question > Specifying Volumes to Back Up

Thanks!

[Anguel]

Vitaly, thanks a lot for the information. So is there anything I can do with VAW FREE and VBR?
Looks like deployment with GUI is not possible. And recovery media creation also seems impossible. Any monitoring of configuration at least?

[Vitaliy S.]

Unfortunately, APIs that enable remote management of VAW are available in the paid edition of the backup agent, so any action with the configuration etc is not available in the FREE edition of the backup agent.

[Anguel]

Puh, why isn't that clearly indicated in the interface? I now lost many hours on trial and error.
Now I try to return everything to standalone VAW - deleted the protection group, uninstalled and reinstalled agent on the PC and now my PC again shows as unmanaged in VBR.
However, I now see a red sign in the tray saying "Job disabled" instead of "Next backup at". Reconfiguring the job on the PC does not help - the warning does not go away...

[Vitaliy S.]

Anguel,

Thanks for your feedback on UI changes. On a side note, we have a detailed feature comparison between FREE and paid versions over here > Edition Comparison.

now my PC again shows as unmanaged in VBR.

Thanks is a correct state, since you've reverted back to standalone FREE agent. All these agents are shown as unmanaged in Veeam B&R.

Reconfiguring the job on the PC does not help - the warning does not go away...

Does the job actually start after reconfiguration? Do you see updated job stats in the Veeam backup console after that?

[Anguel]

Solved that, somehow the "Disable scheduled backups" got checked on the client, I have no idea how this could happen. Sorry for the confusion.