Moving Veeam B&R to another server?

[flavor4real]

Hello guys,
What files do I need to keep if I want to install Veeam B&R on another VM, which then will take the main role. The original Veeam B&R will then be retired. ... Thx

[Alexey D.]

Hello,

The main objective for you is not to lose B&R database, which contains all the information about your jobs' setup.

Please take a look at these topics, you should find all the answers there:
Move Veeam database only to another sql server
How to move a job from one server to another w/o messing CBT

Hope this helps!

[flavor4real]

Thanks for pointing me to the right direction

Just a question:
Copy the content of SqlLockInfo value (under Veeam Backup & FastSCP registry key) from production Veeam server to DR Veeam server, this should prevent this error from appearing. I can't find the "SqlLockInfo" value

[Alexey D.]

Since you are installing new copy of B&R from scratch, it's ok to skip this step with "SqlLockInfo": during setup you will be asked whether to reuse existing database - just click yes and setup will do the chemistry.

Dancing with "SqlLockInfo" is needed only when switching DB between existing installations.

[flavor4real]

Thanks

[flavor4real]

[merged]

Hello,
How is it going.
Currently we have Veeam B&R on a VM which gives us issues.
I'm adjusting our Veeam B&R environment and going to have a new Veeam B&R Main Environment setup on another VM, running the jobs. Then on the same end I would like to have another Veeam B&R environment setup which is ready to kick off whenever the veeam main environment goes down.

Is this possible? I assume that the SQL DB from the main has to be moved, corerct? Can it be shared? What are the steps in do so?
Thanks,

[Vitaliy S.]

You cannot share the same database between two or more different backup servers. The only way out for you would be using a remote SQL server for Veeam job configuration data. Once this configuration is set up, you can easily backup this SQL server for DR purposes.

[rfn]

[merged ]

Hi,

I'm looking for some advice on how to change our configuration.

We currently have our VBR server on a VM where the Enterprise Manager and the Microsoft Search Server is also installed. Our environment is pretty small with 3 hosts and an EqualLogic PS4000vx for our production VM's. We have a second EqualLogic PS4000e in a secondary server room which VBR replicates our VM's to each night. All hosts are connected to both SAN's.

VBR backups up our VM's using VA mode and stores the backup on a file server which is stored in the secondary server room.

The VBR database is stored on a SQL Server 2005 that is running in a VM that is also backed up by VBR.

When I first created this setup it seemed like a really good idea. Performance was better than on a older physical server that I initially tried and I had the resources available on the ESX hosts. The database was protected by VBR itself because it backed up the SQL Server.

The disadvantage is that if our primary SAN fails then we loose VBR as well and can't restore backups before we install a new instance of VBR and connect it to the database. We do have the replicas which we can just turn on which is why we're replicating as well as backing up. It also seems like performance has dropped and I could use the resources that VBR is taking up. I have now got a decent quad-core server that I could use as a physical server and wish to move to that.

The physical server will of course be connected to both LAN and the SAN network (two separate networks) so that I can use Direct SAN access. I have thought of moving the database back to the VBR server but storing it on an iSCSI drive on the primary SAN and use Dell's Host Integration Tools to setup replication to the secondary SAN. That would protect the database and I have no plans of protecting the VBR server more than that. Is that the way to go? Is it possible to set the location of the database when using SQL Server Express?

The physical server will be located in the secondary server room so that it will survive a disaster in our primary server room.

So the plan is this:

1. Install VBR on the physical server with default settings (SQL Server Express)
2. Detach the old database from the current SQL Server 2005.
3. Place the database files on the iSCSI drive and attach it to SQL Server Express
3. Launch VBR and change the jobs from VA mode to Direct SAN mode.

Will this work? I have problem in loosing the current Search Server indexes as they're never used, but will new indexes be created once the new server starts creating backups?

Regards,
René Frej Nielsen

[Vitaliy S.]

The disadvantage is that if our primary SAN fails then we loose VBR as well and can't restore backups before we install a new instance of VBR and connect it to the database.

That's not 100% true. Have you considered using a tiny restore utility that would allow you to restore VMs without having backup console?

That would protect the database and I have no plans of protecting the VBR server more than that. Is that the way to go?

Yes.

Is it possible to set the location of the database when using SQL Server Express?

Yes, you can edit SQL database location via registry keys.

Will this work? I have problem in loosing the current Search Server indexes as they're never used, but will new indexes be created once the new server starts creating backups?

Yes, that will work. Please be aware that index is stored with the backup file itself as well, so there is no way to loose index data completely.

Please check out our sticky v5 FAQ for more information about indexing.

[rfn]

I didn't know about the little restore utility and that is a nice thing, but in case of disaster then we have the replicas as it is now.

I've been wondering if it's necessary to do replication now that it's possible to start a VM directly from the backup? I know that performance will probably not be as good, but the the performance of the daily backup would probably be much better since we could then backup from SAN to SAN, instead of from SAN to a fileserver with not the fastest disks.

Right now we're only making backups and replications during the night, but the original idea was to do much more frequent backups/replications of our SQL Server. I had to drop that because something messed up in the snapshot/hot-add process and it failed to much. I hope that it works better now that VBR 5.x has matured.

With the above in mind, then what's your take on dropping replication and use backups only?

[Vitaliy S.]

While Instant Recovery capability brings huge benefits, it still doesn't mean that replicas are no longer needed. If I were you I would try to run a VM from a backup file and see what performance do you get. Also please note that replicas would be very useful if you decide to failover to all production VMs at the same time in case your main SAN goes down.

As regards snapshot/hot-add process, I'm not sure what the problem you had, but snapshot removal procedures are handled solely by VMware. Anyway if you still face any issues feel free to contact our techincal team for assistance.

[rfn]

You're right that I should probably test it... And as you point out then I might get problems if I have to run full production from backup. It was just and idea

I was in contact with your support when I had the problems with snapshot/hot-add and got the same reply that it was VMware that handled that, but since I don't have problems with snapshotting or hot-add when running daily backup, then I guess that things are generally fine. It was just when doing it each our that snapshots tend to stick and hot-add failed because of that.

[Daveyd]

[merged]

I have 2 Veeam backup servers, 1 physical and 1 Virtual. I will be decomissioning the virtual server. I have 8 forward incremental jobs on the virtual server. Is there a way to move the jobs from the VM to the physical server and have the jobs pickup the incremental chain where it left off and keep the existing jobs on the physical server intact?

[Daveyd]

From reading this thread, maybe I am a little confused here...but I need to move my jobs from an existing Veeam server to another existing Veeam server (VM) which already has a DB/jobs and have the jobs I am migrating pick up the incremental chain where they left off, as well as not mess with the existing jobs on the physical Veeam server

[Vitaliy S.]

Hi Dave, merging backup jobs into a single backup servers' database is not possible.

[buck]

I'm trying to move my B&R install to a new VM as well. On the current VM, I stopped Veeam services, then through the SQL Server 2005 (Express) Manager, I detached the database (VIM_VCDB). I copied those files to my dedicated SQL server (2008) to make use of that.

When attaching the DB there, though, I get a message saying "To upgrade a full-text catalog, click Add Catalog and locate and select it. Full-text indexes will be imported, based on the Full-Text Upgrade Option." OK, at this point, I'm lost. I've moved SQL databases before, but never ran into that message. I'm not sure if it's because I'm going from SQL 2005 to 2008 or what.

My plan was to attach the DB on the SQL Server, then install Veeam B&R on a new Server 2008 VM that I created just for Veeam stuff, and point to the SQL Server as the existing database.

Anyone have any advice, or had a similar problem? I don't really want to proceed if there's going to be problems down the road. I could install SQL Express on the new B&R server, but if I don't have to, I'd rather not.

[Gostev]

Well, I can only say that this has nothing to deal with Veeam functionality... some internal SQL business. Might be best to seek help of some SQL guru. Hope we have some on these forums

[chum]

I need to move our current installation of Veeam B&R from our old physical Win2K3 32bit Server to a newer Win2K3 64 bit physical server.

Is there a guide with the various steps on how to do this?

[Gostev]

Did you read this topic?

[chum]

I had a read through a fe threads, and there didn't seem to be anything definitive.

The closest I got was;

"If you need to move Veeam backup server to another machine/VM, you should be using the following procedure:

1. Move/backup Veeam SQL configurations database using native SQL server management tools to the new server.
2. Copy SqlLockInfo registry key to the new Veeam backup server, as it is described in this topic:
http://www.veeam.com/forums/viewtopic.p ... nfo#p12702
3. Choose the copied database while installing new Veeam console, and perform the installation.
4. After doing this, re-enter all credentials used to connect to vCenter Server/Hosts without removing them from the console.

If you face any difficulties with that, please contact our technical support for assistance."

However further down someone posted a comment saying that they tried that procedure and it didn't work.

Is there a step missing, or iis there an issue going from 32bit B&R to 64 bit B&R?

[Vitaliy S.]

The procedure you've quoted is correct, so feel free to follow it. If you face any problems during the transition, you can always contact our support team.

[JorisK]

[merged]

Hi,

I want to replace one of my backup servers, the backup data stays untouched. I want to reinstall the backup server, reinstall VEEAM Backup 5 and import the jobs information again.

Is this possible?

[schedlbauerm]

[merged]

I've installed a new veeam server.

On the old server there are about 30 remote replica jobs.

How can I move/migrate the jobs from the old to the new server without loosing the replicas ?

The destination storage with the replicas stays the same. I just want the new jobs on the new server to accept the already available replicas on the destination storage.

Best regards,

Martin

[mmartin]

[merged]

Hi folks

We have Veeam B+R running in our office with both backup jobs and replication jobs.

I want to add another veeam server out in our DR site and let it manage the replication jobs, however we have about 15 servers some quite large so I don't want to lose all the data we already have and the fact that currently all the jobs are running successfully.

Is there anyway to backup up the DB or files and then import them when we get to the other side or do I just have to start all over again.

Thanks

Michael

[mmartin]

While my post was merged it is slightly different but happy for it to remain here if I can get an answer.

I want to move my replication jobs from my office Veeam server to my DR Veeam Server without having to recreate and reseed can it be done.

Is there anyway to test the DR servers without manual intervention? so similar to surebackup but for replication servers.

[foggy]

Michael, currently there is no such ability, the whole Veeam DB can be moved only.
Regarding your second question, please see this topic. Thanks.

[arsprod]

[merged]

I'm moving to a new Veeam server and don't want to recreate all the replica jobs. Is there a way to export/import jobs from one server to another?

Aaron

[pcrebe]

Hi Gostev,
should i backup the C:\backup\Replicas folder (default) to move my backup server v6 or the jobs recreate that at the next start? In that folder i've only replica .vbk metadata files, naturally.

thanks,
Carlo

[foggy]

Carlo, replica metadata will be automatically re-created during the next job run, though, note, that it will obviously take longer than the previous runs. Thanks.

[pwinterbourne]

[merged]

Hi,

I have the latest Veeam software installed and need to reinstall my operating system on the server. Basically, to cut a long story short I need to downgrade my windows license from enterprise to standard for compliance issues and the only way to do it is to reinstall the OS and start from scratch. I need to know how to backup my veeam configuration and restore it once I have reinstalled AND I need to know if I can reimport my previous backups and not have to do another full backup of my existing virtual machines. The main issue with my existing vm's is that it takes 3 days to do a full back up so ideally I really do not want to do this (as I am using reverse incrementals at the moment)

any help would be greatly appreciated

thanks,

Paul