Backup and restore of custom attributes?

[skayser]

Hi,

we are using vCenter based custom attributes in our VMware environment and it seems these are not backed up and restored with a VM (v5.0.2.230, custom attributes of a restored VM are simply blank). I searched the forum and found no relevant hits for 'custom attribute(s)' or 'custom field(s)'. How do people handle the restore of their custom attributes (other than manually re-entering them)?

Gostev, Vitaliy, any plans to support this with VBR (apart from managing the custom attributes via Business View). Or is this feature already included and I am simply missing a checkbox somewhere?

Sebastian

[Gostev]

Hi Sebastian, I will check with development why we are not including custom attributes in VM configuration backup. Thanks!

[skayser]

Hi Gostev, any success gathering infos on the custom attributes backup situation?

[Gostev]

Hi Sebastian, yes - it appears that custom attributes are simply not store with VM configuration (VMX file) that we backup, which is why they are not backed up and restored with VM. We would have to implement separate new functionality to pull custom attributes from vCenter, store them with the VM backup, and then restore them to vCenter. Thanks.

[skayser]

Yes, custom attributes are purely VC-based and their inclusion into the backup/restore of VBR is exactly what we would be looking for. Maybe others too? If so, please chime in. Currently, we need to keep track of custom attributes ourselves and restore them separately after a VBR restore. Ideally, VBR would do this for us.

[Vitaliy S.]

Sebastian, let me chime in here. If you're using custom attributes heavily, have you considered using Business View? With BV you would be able to create dynamic groups that will categorize all new VMs automatically, there will be no need to track all the VI changes manually.

[rbrambley]

You may be able to use the free Veeam Business View to help here. BV creates Categories and groups for your VMs. You can then place your VMs in these groups automatically (like Outlook email rules). Placement of VMs in groups auto creates custom attributes. VMs can be placed manually too, of course.

You can install BV, connect vCenter to it, and then it will ask you what to do with your existing custom attributes. So, you could create new categories and groups based on your existing ones. or you can manually import and, in the future export, custom attributes. Business View also provides nice web dashboards to help you report on your groups and even provide "show back info".

A restored VM would (ideally) automatically fall into it's appropriate cats and groups thus restoring the custom attributes. Worst case would be you manually place the restored VM in the right Cat/Group.

Check out Business View! It's free! http://www.veeam.com/vmware-business-view.html

It's primarily used to enhance Veeam Monitor and Veeam Reporter, but it seems like their is some value here for your backup scenario.

[rbrambley]

Sebastian, let me chime in here. If you're using custom attributes heavily, have you considered using Business View? With BV you would be able to create dynamic groups that will categorize all new VMs automatically, there will be no need to track all the VI changes manually.

you got me by 1 min!

[JuA]

Hi,

6 years since last post. I just made a test, and the custom attributes are still not backed-up/restored (Veeam 8 + vCenter6.5. I know, it's not a supported setup).

Can you confirm that the feature doesn't exist ?

Best Regards,

Julien

[DGrinev]

Hi Julien,

Yes, custom attributes are not backed up.
However, you can backup and restore VMs that are using vSphere tags. Keep in mind though that to restore a vSphere Tag, you need to restore VM to the original vCenter Server. Thanks!

[rstoner]

Hey guys,

It would be great if Veeam B&R would be able to backup and restore VM specific Custom Attributes (Annotations). It already does this with Tags, and since Custom Attributes are usually used to store VM specific meta-data, I think it is useful to have this available when restoring. We use such attributes to issue reports to management.

Granted that this can be done with PowerCLI but it would be much better if Veeam supports this and hence have one complete supported solution.

Thanks,

Roderick Stoner

[DGrinev]

Hi Roderick,

Your request has been heard, thank you!
Please review this thread as it contains useful considerations.

[rstoner]

Hi Dmitry,

We do not wish to have another software pulling all the data that Veeam One pulls from vCentre just to use a fraction of its functionality. I am also not sure whether the free version license covers our infrastructure.

I currently have a scheduled powershell script that exports all attributes and tags of each VM, so if really in need I can refer to it and restore them. However, this is a manual process and it would be nice to have a more robust, complete solution provided by our backup software.

Thanks,

Roderick

[DGrinev]

Roderick,

That makes sense what you're saying, I will share the feedback with the relevant people. Thanks!

[Piotr]

Hi Guys,

Is there any chance that the custom attribues will be backed up in v.11? In v.10 they are not.

Regards
Piotr

[Vitaliy S.]

Hi Piotr, there are no updates for this FR (not part of the v11 release). Thanks!

[pexafrit]

Hello!
i am also very interested, to backup/restore the custom attributes!
Regards,
Fritz