Veeame: 3.0.1. Clarification re:OneDrive

[techgirl]

In the interface, if I try to set only "File level"->User files, it generates the message:
"OneDrive ... support is limited to system state backups only ... change ... to perform backup of system state only, or install a license... "

DOCS says : "In the Free edition of Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows, you can create in Microsoft OneDrive only file-level backups that contain operating system data."

The interface appears to allow me to proceed when I chooose Volume Level (i.e. EVERYTHING on C including OS) or File Level of User files as long as I ALSO check Operating System.

Can you confirm, for OneDrive what you mean by "system state only" is NOT "operating system only" but rather the ENTIRE PC (or at least the entire disk containing the OS) ? So it will indeed backup user files as well ?

[Dima P.]

Hello techgirl,

You need to select File level backup > Operating system, that will work in Free version for OneDrive set as a target. Cheers!

[techgirl]

"You need to select File level backup > Operating system"
Does this mean the only choice to backup when using OneDrive is only Windows OS and not any of the user's own content files ?

[Dima P.]

techgirl,

Operating System resolves into operating system volume, so basically content of entire volume where operating system is installed including the user profiles (unless they are moved to another volume). Makes sense?

[Jan1]

Hello,
What about limitation 15GB for single file in Onedrive. Is this limitation works on veeam backup files ?

[Dima P.]

Hello Jan1,

The backup file is chunked into blocks during upload to OneDrive, so file size limit should not be the issue. Cheers!

[techgirl]

Thank you Dima!

[rawtaz]

A slight follow-up on this (this time regarding Veeam Agent for Windows FREE version 4.0)..

On a test machine where I installed the free Veeam Agent for Windows, if I select the "File level backup" backup mode, then in the Files section I have the following:

- Operating system
- Personal files
- Local disk (C:) -> volume level backup
- EFI System Partition
- Recovery

Besides the "Local disk" one, the last two are volumes, I'm guessing they're representing the other partitions on the disk.

Question 1: If I select the "Operating system", then all of the other four checkboxes are checked and greyed out. Does this mean that having checked "Operating system", all of the checked-and-greyed-out four other options' contents will be backed up too?

Question 2: If yes, is this option equivalent to selecting the backup mode "Entire computer"? If yes, this option should probably be renamed to something like "Entire system", because "Operating system" sounds like it'd back up only C: (obviously, I'm not sure who ever came up with calling it just "Operating system" in this case).

Question 3: If the answer to question #1 is affirmative, then this means that by selecting "Operating system" in "File level" backup mode, one can back up "Personal files" using the free Veeam Agent for Windows (because "Operating system" will include the "Personal files" option as well). If this is true, then what is the reason/rationale behind disallowing just the "Personal files" option when backing up to OneDrive? It makes no sense to me to restrict that feature in just some configurations.

Question 4: If the answer to question #2 is affirmative, then why can you not back up to OneDrive when selecting the "Entire computer" backup mode? If the "Entire computer" mode and "File level" mode with "Operating system" selected under Files is the same thing in all practical aspects, it makes no sense to me to restrict one of these configurations from backing up to OneDrive, when the other one works.

[Dima P.]

Question 1

Yes

Question 2

No, you may have one operating system volume + system partitions and data volume. Operating system will backup the operating system volume and system partitions, entire computer mode will backup every single volume within your machine.

Question 3 & Question 4

It's a limitation of the Free version. You can backup personal files or use entire computer backup mode with workstation or server edition.

[rawtaz]

/me wonders why this forum does not show a Quote button for the latest post, when it shows it for all but the latest post.

Re: Question 2: No, you may have one operating system volume + system partitions and data volume. Operating system will backup the operating system volume and system partitions, entire computer mode will backup every single volume within your machine.

This is highly unclear. You replied Yes to question #1, which means that all of the following will be backed up when selecting the "Operating system" files in "File level" backup mode:

- Operating system
- Personal files
- Local disk (C:) -> volume level backup
- EFI System Partition
- Recovery

This shows that not just the C: (operating system) volume will be backed up, but also the other two volumes as well as the personal files on the local disk. So, given that in the example above it indeed seems like "Operating system" will include all volumes, what would be an example of what is not backed up with the "Operating system" option?

Re: Question 3 & 4:

This too is unclear. If you read what I wrote, I showed that you can indeed back up personal files to OneDrive. So these questions remain entirely unanswered.

[Dima P.]

Not all the volumes, but volumes required to boot your operating system after recovery.

Imagine you have a computer with operating system volume and data volume. Operation system requires Boot Loader (in your case it's EFI partition), System Volume (for example C:\) and Recovery Partition. Data volume (for example D:\) is just a volume.

1. Entire Computer Backup Mode will include all the volumes: Boot Loader, System Volume C:\, Recovery Partition and Data Volume D:\
2. Operating System option will include: Boot Loader, System Volume (for example C:\) and Recovery Partition
3. Personal files option will include: C:\Users folder only

I showed that you can indeed back up personal files to OneDrive. So these questions remain entirely unanswered.

When you select Operating System, yes, you protect Personal Files as well. If you are looking for a way to select specific scope of objects for backup to OneDrive you can use paid version of Veeam Agent for Windows. Thank you!

[rawtaz]

Okay, your last post clarifies some of the questions. The third question is still unanswered though.

To sum up the answer to question #2; No, "Entire computer" (backup mode) and "Operating system" ("File level" backup mode) can be different, but they're only going to be different when you have more than a C:. If you only have a C: and no extra data volume (e.g. D:), they will be equivalent.

Question #3 remains; We already know that using the licensed version of this software, you can do X and Y. But this doesn't answer the question I asked. Here's the question again: Considering that if you select "Operating system" in "File level" backup mode, you can back up "Personal files" using the free Veeam Agent for Windows (because "Operating system" will include the "Personal files" option as well), then what is the reason/rationale behind disallowing just the "Personal files" option when backing up to OneDrive? Why exclude the ability to back something up in one configuration, when you can back it up in another configuration?

[Dima P.]

As I've mentioned earlier - that's a licensing limitation. More options (i.e. ability to select Personal files without selecting Operating System option) are provided in paid editions while free version provides basic options.

[rawtaz]

Dima;

I'm not sure how to express myself when two times in a row you fail to answer a simple question even though I've pointed out to you that you are not actually answering the question.

For at least the third time, the question is: "What is the reason/rationale behind disallowing just the "Personal files" option when backing up to OneDrive, when backing up personal files to OneDrive is perfectly doable if you instead select the "Operating system" option?".

This is NOT the question that you have given an answer to two times now. In other words, you are answering another question than the one that is being asked.

To clarify even further, everyone already knows what you wrote – that the technical reason within the software is due to licensing – but that is NOT what I'm asking about. Hence such a reply doesn't add anything in terms of an answer to the question I am actually asking.

If this is still unclear to you, please ask someone else with knowledge to answer the question to do so. Thanks!