Veeam B&R server - disaster recovery/rebuilt - how to test?

[StephanG]

Hi,

i am currently working on our disaster recovery plan for Veeam Backup infrastructure.
I am following this blog post without config backup: https://www.veeam.com/blog/restoring-in ... veeam.html

But when i try to add the AWS S3 repository i get:


So i cannot complete it - as the other service is still running.
If i try to add it as "External Repo" - i cannot add it because there is no folder shown

How can i test a disaster recovery from scratch?

Best regards
Stephan

#MOD: Merged from second comment and added the picture

Pic not loading:
It says
Selected object storage is already managed by another backup server. If you continue all jobs currently using this repository will fail.

[Mildur]

Hi Stephan

I merged your comment with the topic and added the correct picture link. Now the picture is available.

You can use access keys from a user account with read-only IAM policies to connect to the bucket with a second VBR server. It will allow you to test restore of VM backups (agents currently don't work) on the second server.
The IAM policy set is documented in our user guide:
https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backu ... ct-storage

1.) Create access keys with read-only IAM permissions on your object storage
2.) Connect to the bucket with those access keys
3.) On that popup message, you can click YES (nothing will happen to the bucket, because write permission are missing)
4.) bucket will be successfully added as a repository
5.) rescan the backup repository

Backups should now be displayed in "Object Storage (Imported)".

If i try to add it as "External Repo" - i cannot add it because there is no folder shown

External repositories are part of our cloud protection solutions (Veeam Backup for AWS/Azure/GCP) and not for local hypervisor backups.

Best,
Fabian

[StephanG]

Thanks for the quick response - used the JSON but it has shows an error because of a misplaced comma - AI fixed it :

Certainly! The error you're encountering is likely due to the trailing comma at the end of the "Action" list. JSON does not allow trailing commas in arrays or objects. Here's the corrected JSON:

```json
{
"Version": "2012-10-17",
"Statement": [
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": [
"s3:ListBucket",
"s3:GetBucketLocation",
"s3:GetObject",
"s3:ListAllMyBuckets",
"s3:GetBucketVersioning",
"s3:GetBucketObjectLockConfiguration"
],
"Resource": "*"
}
]
}
```

You can use this corrected JSON in your AWS permissions. If you need further assistance or have more questions, feel free to ask!

Source: Conversation with Copilot, 7/5/2024

[Mildur]

Thanks. I will notify our user guide team

Best,
Fabian

[StephanG]

Next issue then - import backup states:
Infrastructure Item save failed Error: S3 Error: Access Denied
It cannot save anything to S3 at the moment - so error is ok

[Mildur]

Yes, it is possible to encounter such error messages. The backup server currently lacks the necessary code to respond to a situation where a read-only state is detected.
I recommend performing another rescan and verifying if the restore points are listed in "Object Storage (Imported)". From there, start a recovery test.

Best,
Fabian

[StephanG]

Always fails with the error:
https://pasteboard.co/OPwRNM4delRV.png

I am curious - how do others test their desaster recovery plans? I cannot be the only one

[StephanG]

Do you have another hint how to accomplish this task?

[Mildur]

May I ask, is encryption enabled on the repository? It worked with encryption in my testing, but I just saw the statement in the user guide that it doesn't work with encryption.
I remember that connecting encrypted capacity tiers is not possible with read-only permission. But I thought it should work with "direct to object storage repositories".

I suggest to open a support ticket and ask them to investigate the logs. This should confirm why it is not possible to rescan/import the backups.

Best,
Fabian

[StephanG]

Sure the backups are encrypted. I will open a support case

[StephanG]

Opened up a case - but not really making progress.
#07337747

Is there a license needed for the recovery process? I did not add it to my test server so it is not active in 2 places.

[Mildur]

Hi Stephan

Thanks for the case.
A license is never needed for a restoring from our backups. The community edition is sufficient for restores.

Best,
Fabian

[StephanG]

It is not possible to test the backup like that. Write access is needed to attach the storage to Veeam.
How to perform disaster recovery tests then?