Veeam Backup Validator

[wimdes]

Hello,

We want to check backup archives after copying them over the network, of onto external storage.
Is it possible to check the archive without importing the backup?

Scripting import and removal afterwards could be done, but may be a bit complex if you have to take into account backup job names

regards
Wim

[Gostev]

Hi Wim,

Yes, this is exactly what backup validator support tool is intended for. It is located in B&R 6.5 installation directory - so just try running it from the command line, it has built-in help and is pretty self-explanatory. Let us know if you need any help or have further questions.

Thanks!

[wimdes]

Gostev,

as far as i can figure out you cannot just point to a disk/network location to check an archive,
the archive has to be imported first?

regards
Wim

[Gostev]

Yes, you just point the tool to a backup file on disk. No need to import or anything like that.

[wimdes]

that's not working Gostev! we cannot use a path, only backup job name?

[Gostev]

My bad, the currently available version of the tool indeed still requires that backups are imported into B&R. Sorry for misinformation!

[wimdes]

so they good news is, soon there will be a new version

[mmbank33]

Is the use of this tool documented anywhere. I could not get it to run from a command line.

[foggy]

John, try the /? key, it provides pretty descriptive help for the tool. Feel free to ask if you still have any questions after reading it.

[mmbank33]

i am new and trying to learn how to use everything, are you referring to using the /? key at what point?
I do not see the tool documented in the user guide. Is this tool something I can use to verify a backup without having to go through the process of setting up a virtual lab?

[Gostev]

Backup Validator is a command line utility, so this is the command line key.
There is no public documentation, as this is a support tool.

Is this tool something I can use to verify a backup without having to go through the process of setting up a virtual lab?

Not really, it is not a replacement for SureBackup. All it checks for is that actual backup file was not modified/corrupted after it was created (for example, during transfer over WAN, or removable media). However, only SureBackup will help you ensure that your VMs are actually recoverable. Backup file may be totally fine, and yet contain unrecoverable VMs (e.g. some OS or application files were deleted or corrupted BEFORE the backup was taken).

[mmbank33]

thnak you, I understand.

[wimdes]

Gostev,

is there a version coming then, that doesn't need importing?

regards
Wim

[Gostev]

Not soon.

[rei.andrea]

it would be possible to have a standalone tool (like extract.exe) for check integrity of .VBK full backup file that i copy from normal repository to removable HD for disaster recovering ?

my porpouse is:
- copy .VBK to removable HD
- test .VBK with Validator utility with batch script for example:
validator.exe [file.VBK]
so I'm sure that file I copied are CRC integrity (like test option in zip)

Another option that would be enough is to have an automated generated .MD5 or .SHA1 crc file for .VBK when veeam finish the backup job
[file.VBK]
[file.SHA1]
so i'ts simple to ceck the integrity of file also when i'ts copied to another location and don't need to have veeam installed

[dellock6]

Even if it's only meant to be used by support, and thus not officially supported, look for veeam.backup.validator.exe in the installation directory

Luca.

[rei.andrea]

Even if it's only meant to be used by support, and thus not officially supported, look for veeam.backup.validator.exe in the installation directory

Luca.

Ok i use "veeam.backup.validator.exe" from command line to check the backup and it' work
I "manually corrupt a backup" [injection fake string ona vbk] and the validator returns error:

"Skipping VM 'TEST': File "TEST_1-flat.vmdk" is corrupted.
Failed to decompress LZ4 block: Incorrect decompression result or length (result: '524187', expected length: '524288')."

if I import that "manually corrupt a backup" veeam import them without error and I also able to restore a files without an error.
i presume because the files that I restore are in the block not damaged of .VBK??

from what I understand the structure of .VBK permit the restore of file present in the area not damage ?
it is correct ?


[REQUEST]
I would appreciate if there is the possibility to put in the GUI of veeam a button for [TEST BACKUP]

[Vitaliy S.]

i presume because the files that I restore are in the block not damaged of .VBK?? from what I understand the structure of .VBK permit the restore of file present in the area not damage ?
it is correct ?

Yes, when you try to restore from a corrupted VBK file, there is still a possibility that blocks you're referring to are not damaged, so some data (VMs/files) can be restored even from this file.

[veremin]

I would appreciate if there is the possibility to put in the GUI of veeam a button for [TEST BACKUP].

This functionality is already there and called SureBackup. With this feature, you can test existing backups and replicas in automatic fashion.

Thanks.

[dellock6]

Also because the Validator tests the VBK file itself, not the VM. At the end, we all want to be able to restore a running VM, regardless the state of the backup file.
And, in addition, I would say surebackup is quicker to run than validator, in order to read huge VBK files it takes quite a long time. It's a great tool to have, but I would not use it in a daily routine...

Luca.

[john.brodhurst]

Is there a tool publicly available to test for the structure of a VBK file? I have a VBK chain that I suspect is not in the best of health, but recreating it is not straightforward due to the size of the storage.

[PTide]

Hi John,

Have you tried to use a built-in SureBackup?

[john.brodhurst]

Thanks for the reply PTide and also the merge...whoever did it. SureBackup isn't quite what I'm looking for, I think. Earlier this week the backups started failing with a Zlib decompression error but even after an active full this error persists. I'm not sure what has gone wrong but I really, really don't want to start a new chain.

[Shestakov]

Hello, John.
I think Pavel gave you a valuable advice, since Surebackup Recoverability Verification is what you need for your concerns. It makes a number of test to check if VMs in the backup file are healthy and recoverable. If you don't want to rely on it, you can try to make a restore manually to see if VMs are not corrupted. Thanks!

[Gostev]

even after an active full this error persists

I think I have to tell you some bad news about your backup storage then, most likely...

[john.brodhurst]

I think I have to tell you some bad news about your backup storage then, most likely...

Agreed. This was the conclusion I was heading towards. In a perfect world I would liked there to be a button somewhere I could press that would rescan the VBM, the VBK and the associated intermediate files and tell me what was wrong. I will keep wishing!

Thanks for the help though. I think we will need to find some way of doing a deep disk check on the storage volume. We may have sufficient storage to start a new chain but if the storage is defective then that's not going to help much.

[foggy]

In a perfect world I would liked there to be a button somewhere I could press that would rescan the VBM, the VBK and the associated intermediate files and tell me what was wrong.

Wouldn't the Veeam Backup Validator tool (discussed in this thread above) do this for you?

[john.brodhurst]

I will have to look at this in depth once I'm back in the office. I'm on the road this week so one of my esteemed colleagues has taken over on this case but the validator tool sounds like it could be useful

[neilmacneil]

How does one retrieve the backup and point ID for use with the backup validator?

[veremin]

I think backup ID can be gotten via PowerShell. But I'm wondering why you need it, don't you know (can't see on a filesystem) the name of your backup?