Manage retention during migration

[matteu]

Hello,

I'm migrating from vmware to nutanix and I would like to know how to manage it with my retention backup.

I'm using REFS repository as backup and only some backup are copied to a storage array with backup copy (this will evolve later for LHR and 100% backup will be copied)
My storage space can't store all my vmware backup + Nutanix backup.

I would like to know what would you choose to perform the migration. What I'm thinking about is :
-migrate one VM from vmware to nutanix
-Remove the TAG on vmware side from the VM for avoid to continue vmware backup with Veeam
-Let background retention execute the job to remove the data stored on the volume
-Add the VM to backup job from Nutanix environment

Will it work ? I would like to be sure background retention will remove my "old" retention and get the space for my new backup to be stored.
Will GFS will be removed too or do I need to manual remove them ?

Thanks for your help

[Mildur]

Hi Matteu

Background retention will not remove the backups immediately after you remove the VM from the Backup Job. It will remove your "old backups" according to their specified retention policy. Short term restore points and GFS backups.
If you want to clear up your repository immediately for new backups, you have to manually delete the backups from disk.

Additionally, there is our "deleted item retention policy". This feature should take care of removing the backups of VMs that have been removed from the backup job after the specified time period --> https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backu ... ml?ver=120

Best,
Fabian

[matteu]

Thanks for your answer.
Both method should work yes. For the second one, I read in older topic it will not remove GFS restore point.

[Sam31Tls]

Hi Mildur,
i tested this scenario but unfortunaltly observed thatthe backup files are still on the repository 3 days after the retention expiration.
Looking at the background retention documentation (https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backu ... ml?ver=120) i noticed that this background retention fonctionnality cleanup only "orphaned" backups : The background retention aims mostly at backups that are no longer processed by jobs (orphaned backups shown in the node with the (Orphaned) postfix)
As a matter of fact my test VM, although not processed anymore by the backup job, does not appear in the "Disk (orphaned)" yet. That may explain why the expired backups are not purged but i fail to understant why my test VM is not branded as "orphaned".
Must i remove the job in itself to make my VM ophaned (as stated here https://community.veeam.com/discussion- ... ation-5986) ?
In Matteu's and I use case we cannot remove the whole backup job after we have migrated only a few VMs.

Is there a way to mark a vm as orphaned(by cli maybe) ?
Or is there another path we could take, another viable scenario in a production environnement?
If not are manual deletions the only way?

Sorry for the long post and thank you in advance!

[matteu]

Hello,

I Come back here to have some answer maybe ?
As mentioned by sam31 the background rétention policy don t work befause the vm is not orphaned. Rhat means only the second way could work but gfs point should be removed manually right ?

Thanks

[Mildur]

Hi Sam, HI Matteu

Under specific circumstances the background retention will take care of backups which are still in a backup job:

https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backu ... ml?ver=120

The background retention aims mostly at backups that are no longer processed by jobs (orphaned backups shown in the node with the (Orphaned) postfix). However, this retention can also be helpful for standard backups, in case backups are created by jobs without a schedule, the job retention has not been applied yet or failed for some reason, and so on.

[For backups linked to jobs] If the retention is set in days, Veeam Backup & Replication leaves at least 3 backup files in a backup chain regardless of the set retention. If the retention is set in restore points, Veeam Backup & Replication leaves backup files in a backup chain. The minimum number of backup files left equals the current retention period. You can delete these backup files manually as described in section Deleting Backups from Disk.

You can also remove or exclude the VMs from the old backup job. VM exclusions will trigger the deleted item retention.

Best,
Fabian