Backup Veeam configuration database before upgrade

[CaptainPistache]

Hi,

I'm planning to upgrade our Veeam Backup and Replication from 9.0 to 9.5 and following the step n°7 on this checklist, it's recommended to backup the Veam configuration databases :

Perform a backup of the corresponding SQL Server configuration databases used by backup and Enterprise Manager servers, so that you can easily go back to previous version in case of issues with upgrade. Note that built-in configuration backup functionality does not protect Enterprise Manager configuration.

What is the best and safest way to achieve this ?

I've read somewhere else that the configuration database is automatically excluded during the backup job of the Veeam server itself.
is that the same database the checklist is talking about ?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Kind regards

[foggy]

Veeam B&R configuration database is excluded from VSS processing, not from the backup. You can either backup the entire VM or use SQL Server native tools to perform database backup.

[CaptainPistache]

Thanks for the express reply.

Would it really been pertinent to backup the entire VM ? I mean, if the upgrade fails and B&R is not functionnal anymore, we won't be able to restore the database, no ?
Or am I missing something ?

And sorry but as I'm far from being a DBA, could you tell me in a few words what's the difference between what you call VSS processing and the backup itself ?

Thank you very much.

Kind regards

[foggy]

Would it really been pertinent to backup the entire VM ? I mean, if the upgrade fails and B&R is not functionnal anymore, we won't be able to restore the database, no ?

You can always restore Veeam B&R configuration using built-in configuration backup functionality. If it is EM, then its database can be restored via Veeam Explorer for SQL Server.

And sorry but as I'm far from being a DBA, could you tell me in a few words what's the difference between what you call VSS processing and the backup itself ?

You can read about VSS and application-aware processing performed during VM backup here.

[CaptainPistache]

Thanks a lot for your help, the upgrade went perfectly well.