Ubuntu to veeam infrastructure appliance

[matteu]

Hello,

I don t find in the documentation the process to migrate from ubuntu hardened repository to veeam infrastructure appliance on the same hardware. I just see it s possible to upgrade from veeam hardened repo ISO.

Is it mandatory to lost all the data or is it possible to keep data and just reset the OS volume in this scenario with the option "keep data" ?

[mikkeland]

Not much help to you, but we are in the same boat, and I'll be monitoring this post for further info
/Mikkel

[matteu]

Let see when someone will answer

[Mildur]

Same hardware is not possible for „bring your own linux“ repositories. The Veeam Infrastructure Installer will wipe all data/disks during deployment.
Upgrade is only possible if you have used our Veeam Hardened Repository ISO v2.

Best,
Fabian

[matteu]

Thanks for your answer

[ftravinsky]

Let me ask an unsupported question.

What if we physically unplug the drives with TBs of backups, format the server and then reattach drives with existing filesystem to a freshly formatted v13 appliance.

What would have to be done next?

[rech.robert]

It would be interesting to lab this with a VM and seeing how it handles swapping data disks. I know the software appliance doesn’t support using software RAID like ZFS, so you would need to be running a hardware RAID controller to do that. You would also need a separate disk for the software appliance to use as a data disk because the software appliance installer won’t let you progress without at least 2 disks. You would also want to check and see if the software appliance installer used that temp data disk for anything other than the repository. If so, then you may be stuck with it

[ftravinsky]

Yes, let's assume hardware RAID with some tiny volumes presented to OS, including ones required to proceed with install. All that supported by just 2 physical drives.
And a huge data volume on, let's assume 12 dedicated drives with XFS filesystem and Veeam 12 .VBK files on it. Those 12 drives to be ejected and reinserted later on a powered off system, to preserve hardware RAID consistency.

[cpfleger]

You could give it a test drive with a VM doing a restore installation keeping the data drives data

(https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/vbr/u ... ing&ver=13)


Maybe that works?

Regards!

[onspeed]

I’ve had success in transitioning an existing Ubuntu Hardened Repository into a Veeam v13 Infrastructure Appliance (VIA) using the ISO repair option.
Obviously this is not a supported method, so proceed at your own risk but hopefully it might be of some help

This approach assumes:
• You have two logical RAID volumes
• One for the operating system
• One for the backup data
• Both are configured as logical volumes (LVM) in Ubuntu

The process works by renaming volume groups (VGs) and logical volumes (LVs) to match VIA expectations. This allows the repair process to correctly:
• Identify OS vs data volumes
• Reinstall the OS volume only
• Preserve the backup data volume

Step 1 — Prepare the Veeam Backup & Replication (VBR) Server
1. Disable all backup jobs targeting the Ubuntu Hardened Repository
2. Remove all backups from the configuration database that reference this repository

Step 2 — Rename OS and Data Volume Groups and Logical Volumes
This step ensures the Veeam Infrastructure Appliance repair process correctly identifies the OS and data disks.

1. Record current VGs and LVs:

Command: lvs

2. Rename volumes to align with VIA naming conventions:

command: vgrename <yourDATAvg> datavol
command: lvrename datavol <yourDATAlv> veeamrepo
command: vgrename <yourOSvg> systemvol
command: lvrename systemvol <yourOSlv> system

3. Refresh and verify:

command: vgscan --mknodes
command: lvscan

Step 3 — Run the Veeam v13 Infrastructure Appliance Repair
1. Shut down the server and boot from the VIA ISO
2. Select:
Veeam Hardened Repository
Reinstall (Repair Mode)
3. Configure:
Hostname
IP settings
Password and MFA
4. After installation:
Sign in to the console
Navigate to Remote Access Configuration and enter the shell
5. Change to the backup directory:

command: cd /var/lib/veeam

6. Verify the backup directory ownership:

command: ls -l

Expected:
User: veeam-usr-transportsvc
Group: veeam-grp-backup

**Note** If your original backup folder had a different name, move its contents into /var/lib/veeam/backup

7. Remove immutability temporarily to adjust ownership:

Command: chattr -R -i /var/lib/veeam/backup

8. Fix ownership:

Command: chown -R veeam-usr-transportsvc:veeam-usr-transportsvc /var/lib/veeam/backup/*

**Note** Immutability will be re-applied automatically after the repository is rescanned.


Step 4 — Reconfigure VBR
1. Locate the Ubuntu server under Managed Servers
2. Edit properties and switch the access method to certificate-based authentication
3. Create a new backup repository using path: /var/lib/veeam/backup
4. Rescan the repository to import backups into the configuration database
5. Update each backup job:
Point to the new repository
Map existing backups to the jobs
6. Re-enable backup jobs