Post Migration from Windows to Linux - restoring backups

[CorruptedBackup]

Hello all,

I'm asking for advice and BPs regarding post migration. We are using the latest version of B&R.
So we migrated from Windows Server to Ubuntu Linux.
So far the previous backups of the jobs are stored in a temp server. The jobs have been launched to do an Active Full backup as of starting a new chain of backups.
My question is:

- should we also copy the old backups and let Veeam discover them? We want to do this mainly because we want to migrate other Windows Repository and need the storage space that is the temp server.
- if yes, then what is the best way to copy old backups in the temp server to the new Linux server? winscp? rsync? etc?
- Will the old backups be discovered if we rescan once we copy them over to the Linux repo?

another this is the folder sructure:

on the Windows Server it was:
K:\
Rep1 (folder)
Rep2 (folder)
Rep3 (folder)
Rep4 (folder)

but now on Linux we created new folders and new name:

/mnt/veeam/Rep5
/mnt/veeam/Rep6
/mnt/veeam/Rep7
/mnt/veeam/Rep8


and the jobs basically now point to (old windows repo -> new Linux repo):
was: Rep1 -> now: Rep5
was: Rep2 -> now: Rep6
was: Rep3 -> now: Rep7
was: Rep4 -> now: Rep8

any input or help is very much appreciated

Kind regards.

[david.domask]

Hi Alex,

If you're on the latest version, you can vastly simplify this with the Backup Move feature. Basically just add the new repository, then from the Home Tab in the console, under Backups > Disk, just right-click your desired backup and you can move it.

If you're using a Scale-out Backup Repository that has the temporary repository added, you can also use Evacuate the temp repository Extent to distribute it to the other extents (your new repositories) automatically.

Either should work, but note there are a few requirements for the Backup Move feature. This should avoid a lot of manual file copying.

[CorruptedBackup]

Hello David,

thank you very much for your reply.
A question regarding the move feature, since the temp server where the backups are has no veeam component installed on it, should I install on it the data mover/ transporter or just add the server to the veeam console and it will do it automatically?

thank you a lot

[david.domask]

Hi Alex,

You're very welcome, hope this ends up being the answer for you.

As for the pre-requisites, just add the target server as a Backup Repository and you'll have everything automatically configured in terms of what's needed for the Backup Move operation. Do note the requirements for Backup Move from my first link, as there are a few situations where it's not possible to use it with specific situations (mostly legacy backups)

[CorruptedBackup]

Thank you so much for the help
have a great day

[CorruptedBackup]

Hello David,

just a quick question,

if i add the temp server which contains the old backups, then add it as a new repository and point the directory to the old one, will any data be deleted?

thank you.

[david.domask]

Hi Alex,

You're very welcome for the help so far.

For your most recent question, just to confirm, you're not adding the same server and folder path multiple times to the same/different Veeam servers right?

Just adding a repository will not affect the backup files stored on the repository, as this will just make the repository and the backups it holds accessible from the Veeam Console.

But note that it is unsupported to add the same repository server/path to the same VBR multiple times and to multiple VBR servers at the same time, so just want to make sure you're not trying this as this could potentially affect backups negatively.

[CorruptedBackup]

Hello David,

thank you so much for the help.
No, basically the temp and target servers are separate from the old repo.
I just added the temp server and scanned one of the repos (dir) and it was successfully imported to the Veeam console, now it is moving the backups. So far so good.

Again thank you for the help, very much appreciated :'D

[david.domask]

Glad to hear it's all working out! Always welcome and good luck

[CorruptedBackup]

Hello David,

one last question regarding the moved backups.
I now have launcehd the move backups feature and it copied them to the new linux repo.

Now under the "Repo" I have:

"Job x dir" & and "Job x dir_1" where the former contains new backups that have been made post migration, and the latter has the moved backups by veeam.

is it fine to move the files from "Job x dir_1" to "Job x dir" and rescan the repo?

thank you

[david.domask]

Hi Alex,

If you've had a new job running already to the new repo, it will have a separate backup chain, and you cannot merge the two chains regrettably.

So you have a few options:

1. Keep the old backups and let Background Retention handle cleaning them up at the appropriate time
2. Remap the backup job to the original backup chain and keep the old chain around for restores from that time period.

So you won't be able to get the new separate backup chain into the original chain unfortunately, just decide how you want to proceed.

[Moose]

Alex,

Just curious why you have migrated the Veeam infrastructure to linux base?

Thanks

Pete