AsBuiltReport.Veeam.VBR Report

[jcolonfzenpr]

Hello,

For years now I have done a lot of VEAAM implementations and so I have been working on a report for Veeam Backup & Replication that uses the Veeam 11 Powershell modules. The report uses the AsBuiltReport project framework created by "Tim Carman" @tpcarman. The report has support for checking the health status of various components within VEEAM and the AsBuiltReport framework also provides the ability to configure the report to be sent via email. By no means is this report intended to compete with any Veeam tool, I just wanted to develop a free and open source implementation report.

The report is in an initial state but I would like to know if you have any ideas or if anyone would like to contribute to the project.

Here are the links and a sample report.

Project Page:

https://github.com/rebelinux/AsBuiltReport.Veeam.VBR

Sample Report:

https://technomyth.zenprsolutions.net/w ... eport.html

Ideas or suggestions are welcome!

Happy Holidays!

[Vitaliy S.]

Jonathan, thanks for sharing this with the Community!

[anthonyspiteri79]

This is awesome... Tim has been bugging me for a couple years now to get someone in our community to get this done He will be very happy!

Great work @jcolonfzenpr

[cdubus]

Since the time that I was looking for this. Thank you very much @jcolonfzenpr !!!!

[JaySt]

awsome! thank you so much!

[Zew]

Thanks, I am, however, a bit confused.

1) I see you shared the github to tpcarman's AsBuildReport. Did you fork this and create your own project page? if so where?
2) I can't use PowerShell Gallary, in the projects page states to "Download the code package / latest release zip from GitHub" which leads to a page that simply says "There aren’t any releases here"
3) I see some references in the "unblock files" sections of the read me.. "$path\Src\Private\*.ps1" I do not see the private folder in the initial project page, is this project fully open source?
4) There's one open issue about the initial script unable to locate the initializing script "Involk-AsBuiltReport not recognized" and one closed one with a similar issue were the code writer simply states the following in response:

"The Veeam As Built Report is in the very early stages of development and is not ready for testing yet. The dev branch is used for all code development. What is here now is simply the base framework for others to use to get started. When code is published to the master branch it is released to the PowerShell Gallery and becomes publicly available."

I personally write my scripts to not be refractured, this might sound stupid and does indeed cause additional code to be duplicated in my functions across many of my scripts... HOWEVER, you can take any one of my scripts, as-is, and run them and they work, avoiding this exact type of issue. I wanted to see if I could write my own scipt based on this to be how I would want it to be, a single one file script which can easily be reviewed and reverse engineered.

Currently I feel some of the code is private? if you could provide some more guidance on how to actually run the report, it would be greatly appreciated by me and others. for others that have given many positive feedback comments are you all using the PowerShell Gallary and just run the script as is without issue?

[jcolonfzenpr]

Hello,

Sorry for the delay, it has been a busy work week. As for the report, it is still in an early stage of development. I recently issued the first pull request and I am waiting for the project manager to analyze and approve it.

Pull Request:

https://github.com/AsBuiltReport/AsBuil ... BR/pull/3

In the meantime you can use the following link as an example for preliminary testing.

https://technomyth.zenprsolutions.net/2 ... ltreport/

Now the important part, I as well as any contributor to any open source project do not work for Veeam and do not receive or participate in anything related to the company. This project is developed on my spare time without any support from any party.

Finally, all incident reports will be worked on through the Github issues module.

https://github.com/AsBuiltReport/AsBuil ... BR/issues

Thanks!

[Brunok]

Hi, thank you for your effort. I could follow your instructions. But when i try to create the report with "New-AsBuiltReport” i get following error.

Code: Select all

New-AsBuiltReport -Report AsBuiltReport.Veeam.VBR -Target 192.168.xxx.xx -AsBuiltConfigFilePath AsBuiltReport.json -OutputFolderPath C:\Users\administrator\AsBuiltReport\ -Credential $cred -Format HTML -ReportConfigFilePath AsBuiltReport.Veeam.VBR.json -EnableHealthCheck -Verbose
New-AsBuiltReport : Cannot validate argument on parameter 'Report'. Invalid report type specified! Please use one of the following []
At line:1 char:27
+ New-AsBuiltReport -Report AsBuiltReport.Veeam.VBR -Target 192.168.xxx
+                           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidData: (:) [New-AsBuiltReport], ParameterBindingValidationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ParameterArgumentValidationError,New-AsBuiltReport

What is the problem for the "invalid report type ?"

Thanks
Bruno

[jcolonfzenpr]

you have an error in your command:

"New-AsBuiltReport -Report AsBuiltReport.Veeam.VBR"

the correct syntax is "New-AsBuiltReport -Report Veeam.VBR"

Hope this helps.

PD: In the next few days I will be configuring the module to be in PowershellGallery.

[Brunok]

Thanks, i tried this also, but still the same error.

Command:
New-AsBuiltReport -Report Veeam.VBR -Target 192.168.xxx.xxx -AsBuiltConfigFilePath AsBuiltReport.json -OutputFolderPath C:\Users\administrator\AsBuiltReport\ -Credential $cred -Format HTML -ReportConfigFilePath AsBuiltReport.Veeam.VBR.json -EnableHealthCheck -Verbose

Output:
New-AsBuiltReport : Cannot validate argument on parameter 'Report'. Invalid report type specified! Please use one of the following []
At line:1 char:27
+ New-AsBuiltReport -Report Veeam.VBR -Target 192.168.xxx.xxx -AsBuilt ...
+ ~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : InvalidData: (:) [New-AsBuiltReport], ParameterBindingValidationException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : ParameterArgumentValidationError,New-AsBuiltReport

also when i try
PS C:\> New-AsBuiltReportConfig Veeam.VBR -FolderPath C:\Users\administrator\

Result:
New-AsBuiltReportConfig : Cannot validate argument on parameter 'Report'. Invalid report type specified! Please use one of the following []
At line:1 char:25
+ New-AsBuiltReportConfig Veeam.VBR -FolderPath C:\Users\administrator\
+ ~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : InvalidData: (:) [New-AsBuiltReportConfig], ParameterBindingValidationException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : ParameterArgumentValidationError,New-AsBuiltReportConfig

PS C:\>

thx
Bruno

[Brunok]

Edit: just found, that the PS Modules path is empty, only a directory was created. I then copied the files manually in the psmodules path, and unlocked them.
Now it starts, but stops with another error:

....
VERBOSE: [ 08:28:01:951 ] [ Document ] - Processing table 'Cover Page'.
VERBOSE: [ 08:28:01:967 ] [ Document ] - Processing page break.
VERBOSE: [ 08:28:01:967 ] [ Document ] - Processing table of contents 'Table of Contents'.
VERBOSE: [ 08:28:01:967 ] [ Document ] - Processing page break.
New-AsBuiltReport : The term 'Invoke-AsBuiltReport.Veeam.VBR' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program. Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again.

I think, there is something wrong with the installation. I deleted all files and tried it 3x again. No luck. I also copied the 'Invoke-AsBuiltReport.Veeam.VBR' in each possible directory.

[tomcek]

Hello Brunno,

I had the same error and found the solution in the comments on the very detailed step-by-step installation guide (https://technomyth.zenprsolutions.net/2 ... iltreport/)

At the end of your configuration you need to import the module "Import-Module AsBuiltReport.Veeam.VBR -force".

After that it worked for me!

Best regards, Tom

[Brunok]

Thanks Tom, i did not see the "import-module.."
no it starts... but still errors. I think i give up slowly

Trying with a Comunity editon of Veeam



Please wait while the Veeam VBR As Built Report is being generated.
WARNING: [ 15:52:10:218 ] [ Document ] - Cannot bind argument to parameter 'Rows' because it is an empty collection.
New-AsBuiltReport : This functionality is available in the Enterprise (or higher) edition only.
At line:1 char:1
+ New-AsBuiltReport -Report Veeam.VBR -Target 192.168.xxx.xxx -Username ...
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : NotSpecified: (:) [Write-Error], WriteErrorException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.WriteErrorException,New-AsBuiltReport


Bruno

[jcolonfzenpr]

Hello Bruno,

thank you for letting me know all the problems. I recently updated the post with all the information you have provided. As for the last error related to the VEEAM license edition I will be updating the requirements.

I'm honest I don't know what requirement the Enterprise vs Community edition has that doesn't allow you to run the report. If anyone has any ideas let me know. I will schedule testing on that edition.

Best,

Jon.

[jcolonfzenpr]

thank you for helping me with this crazy process! if you have any suggestions, they will be more than welcome.

Jon.

Hello Brunno,

I had the same error and found the solution in the comments on the very detailed step-by-step installation guide (https://technomyth.zenprsolutions.net/2 ... iltreport/)

At the end of your configuration you need to import the module "Import-Module AsBuiltReport.Veeam.VBR -force".

After that it worked for me!

Best regards, Tom

[Zew]

Will you provide a github link to your work? (I'm assuming it was forked from your reference source)
Will you provide an offline package in which can be copied to a Veeam server that does not have a direct internet connection?

Thanks for your work. If it's fully open source, I would like to fork it myself and provide a alternative version of the script.

[Zew]

I did a run through of your provided guide, thanks for that it was a nice step-by-step instructions I managed to follow. I hit one road block, which was the Enterprise edition issue as mentioned by someone else here?

Please see my blog post on my attempt and the error where it failed. https://zewwy.ca/index.php/2022/01/13/v ... lt-report/

[jcolonfzenpr]

Hello,

Will you provide a github link to your work?

Fork: https://github.com/rebelinux/AsBuiltReport.Veeam.VBR (This is where I do the continuous development)
Main Report Page: https://github.com/AsBuiltReport/AsBuil ... .Veeam.VBR (This is where all the PRs end up with a more curated code)

Will you provide an offline package in which can be copied to a Veeam server that does not have a direct internet connection?
No, Offline installation can be done manually (https://www.johneverettcase.com/post/20 ... fline.html)

Best,

Will you provide a github link to your work? (I'm assuming it was forked from your reference source)
Will you provide an offline package in which can be copied to a Veeam server that does not have a direct internet connection?

Thanks for your work. If it's fully open source, I would like to fork it myself and provide a alternative version of the script.

[jcolonfzenpr]

Thanks for your contribution!

I did a search exercise on the Veeam portal and many of the powershell cmdlet do not show support for the community edition. I really don't know if the report will work on that edition. Until I can do some testing I will not be supporting that edition.

What edition of Veeam do you have installed?

If not community, Can you test it with the most recent version?

URL: https://github.com/AsBuiltReport/AsBuil ... .Veeam.VBR

Changelog: https://github.com/AsBuiltReport/AsBuil ... ANGELOG.md

If possible, make bug reports through the github issues module so that other users can benefit from it.

https://github.com/AsBuiltReport/AsBuil ... VBR/issues

Regards,

I did a run through of your provided guide, thanks for that it was a nice step-by-step instructions I managed to follow. I hit one road block, which was the Enterprise edition issue as mentioned by someone else here?

Please see my blog post on my attempt and the error where it failed. https://zewwy.ca/index.php/2022/01/13/v ... lt-report/

[Zew]

Thanks... If you already did a lookup and know which cmdlets don't work, maybe they could be excluded from the report.
Thanks again for all your work, I just happen to use community edition for my home lab which is where I test everything.

[jcolonfzenpr]

In the future, code will be added to detect and filter report content by edition. i have already included it in my TODO list.

Project Status:
https://github.com/AsBuiltReport/AsBuil ... projects/1

Best regards, Jon

[mzhen]

Thanks for your contributions and making this possible to us, I have downloaded and installed v0.2.0 from the dev branch on github manually to the path below. I also copied all ps1 files inside src folder to the path below.
C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\Modules\AsBuiltReport.Veeam.VBR
I then installed AsBuiltReport.Core using Install-module AsBuiltReport.Core cmd

I ran the following commands on a VBR server and answered the questions.
Import-Module -Name AsBuiltReport.Veeam.VBR
New-AsBuiltReport -Report Veeam.VBR -Target <VBRServer> -Username "Domain\AdminUser" -Password "SimplePass" -Format Html,Word -OutputFolderPath 'C:\Temp\AsBuiltReport' -Timestamp -Verbose


My issues or errors are the following. It's having issues connecting to the VBR server. I have confirmed the Admin username and password is correct by opening cmd as that user. I've tried localhost, IP, hostname, FQDN and username with domain. The result was the same. I don't see other replies above having this issues. I'm no sure whether that only happens to me or I have don't anything wrong. Appreciated for your replies. Thanks so much

Code: Select all

VERBOSE: [ 09:29:12:349 ] [ Document ] - Trying to import Veeam B&R modules.
VERBOSE: [ 09:29:12:490 ] [ Document ] - Identifying Veeam Powershell module version.
VERBOSE: [ 09:29:12:490 ] [ Document ] - Using Veeam Powershell module version 11.
VERBOSE: [ 09:29:12:630 ] [ Document ] - Establishing the initial connection to the Backup Server: 192.168.x.x.
VERBOSE: [ 09:29:12:630 ] [ Document ] - Looking for veeam existing server connection.
VERBOSE: [ 09:29:12:740 ] [ Document ] - No existing veeam server connection found
VERBOSE: [ 09:29:12:740 ] [ Document ] - Connecting to 192.168.x.x with privided credentials
New-AsBuiltReport : Failed to connect to Veeam BR Host '192.168.x.x' with user 'XXXXXXXXX'
At line:1 char:1
+ New-AsBuiltReport -Report Veeam.VBR -Target 192.168.x.x -Username " ...
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [Write-Error], WriteErrorException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.WriteErrorException,New-AsBuiltReport

[jcolonfzenpr]

Could you first try the Connect-VBRServer command?

Code: Select all

Connect-VBRServer -Server IP/FQDN

I have seen this behavior when the tcp port of the veeam service has been modified or when there is a firewall in between.

I am interested in knowing your findings so that I can figure out how to improve the connection code.

Regards,

[mzhen]

Thanks for your prompt reply. I was running it on a VBR server so shouldn't have firewall in between
That' strange, getting this error with PowerShell_ISE but works fine w/ normal Powershell.exe... We're not using community edition by the way.
PS C:\Windows\system32> Connect-VBRServer -Server 192.168.x.x
Connect-VBRServer : Execution environment cannot be initialized to Remote

Working now and took a while to run (<30min), captured some of the outputs below.

Code: Select all

VERBOSE: [ 12:38:48:096 ] [ Document ] - Processing section 'Protection Groups Summary' completed.
VERBOSE: [ 12:38:48:096 ] [ Document ] - Processing section 'Physical Infrastructure' completed.
VERBOSE: [ 12:38:48:096 ] [ Document ] - Processing section 'Inventory Summary' completed.
VERBOSE: [ 12:38:48:096 ] [ Document ] - Processing section 'Implementation Report' completed.
VERBOSE: [ 12:38:48:128 ] [ Document ] - Document 'Veeam VBR As Built Report - 2022-01-21_12.11.55' processing completed.
VERBOSE: [ 12:38:48:143 ] [ Document ] - Total processing time '26.88' minutes.
Veeam VBR As Built Report 'Veeam VBR As Built Report - 2022-01-21_12.11.55' has been saved to 'C:\Temp\AsBuiltReport'.

[jcolonfzenpr]

Hello,

Could you check in the log where it took so long?

I have seen this behavior when there are many offline objects.

Example Cloud, Offline Backup Proxy or Repos

[mzhen]

Not sure where to get the logs, but here is some of the outputs from the command.

Most of the time it was doing or waiting for the Discovery and Processing, not many had been discovered, around a dozen of items and 99% of them are Media Pools. It's approx 2-3 minutes per pool. Once that has finished, it then checks InfoLevel and generated the html and docx reports within a minute approx.

Code: Select all

VERBOSE: [ 12:12:41:788 ] [ Document ] - Discovered TapeX Type Drive.
...
Discovered xxxxxxxx
Processing xxxxxxxx
...
VERBOSE: [ 12:38:45:128 ] [ Document ] - Inventory InfoLevel set at 1.
VERBOSE: [ 12:38:45:315 ] [ Document ] - Processing section 'Inventory Summary' started.
VERBOSE: [ 12:38:45:331 ] [ Document ] - Virtual Inventory InfoLevel set at 1.

[jcolonfzenpr]

I didn't quite understand this part
not many had been discovered, around a dozen of items and 99% of them are Media Pools.

So the rest of the report comes out as expected but it takes a while on the Tape Infrastructure part?

Could you compare your report with my example?
https://technomyth.zenprsolutions.net/w ... eport.html

Thanks!

[mzhen]

Yes, I believe so, it took a while on the Tape Infrastructure. The report looks similar, 3 pages. some items only exist in your or my report. I don't have anything being highlighted e.g. in Amber (I don't know what other colors will be used in the report) though

[jcolonfzenpr]

The colors are related to simple health check which can be enabled with the -EnableHealthCheck option.

There are also a few changes when you increase the InfoLevel where allowed.
https://github.com/AsBuiltReport/AsBuil ... #infolevel

Regarding the delay of the Tape section, I will be evaluating other faster methods to obtain the information.

Thank for your contribution!

[mzhen]

Maybe this slow response time "issue" only happens to our environment. I do remembered some of the Veeam commands like Get-VBRTapeJob can take forever (>10min) to finish (detail here Get-VBRTapeJob Slow?) . I ended up using some assembly functions which work much faster although Veeam reckon these internal classes and methods are not supported, their definition can change from release to release. However, they're still working now since 2015.
Most users out there may not have this slow response time issue as I only saw a handful of posts about slow commands on the forum.