Suggestion for Product Improvement: Virtual Lab Appliance's network setting UI

[ynojiri@kel.co.jp]

Hello Team,

I recently configured a Virtual Lab Appliance for SureBackup.

In my environment, neither a default gateway nor DNS servers are required. However, the Virtual Lab Appliance GUI treats these settings as mandatory, preventing the configuration from being completed unless values are provided. While these parameters can be omitted when using PowerShell, Veeam Support has informed me that they cannot be reset to "None" once configured.

Assuming that leaving the default gateway and DNS settings unconfigured does not cause any critical functional issues, I would like to request an enhancement that would:

・Allow Virtual Lab Appliance deployment without specifying a default gateway or DNS servers in the GUI.
・Allow users to clear these settings or set them to "None" through PowerShell after deployment.

This enhancement would improve flexibility for isolated environments where these network settings are not required.

We would greatly appreciate your consideration of this request for a future release.

Best regards,
Yasuhiro Nojiri

[david.domask]

Hi ynojiri {at} kel.co.jp,

Noted, we can certainly discuss it, but for now please use PowerShell for such deployments.

As for clearing the settings, if a wrong configuration is set, it is better to remove the created Virtual Lab and recreate it fresh.

[ynojiri@kel.co.jp]

Hi David,

Is it possible to configure a Virtual Lab using PowerShell without creating an isolated network, and use it only for heartbeat verification?

[david.domask]

Hello,

No, even in Basic networking mode, an isolated network will be automatically configured; for your configuration basic may work, but I suspect it will not due to lack of default gateway.

[ynojiri@kel.co.jp]

Hello David,

I hope you are doing well.
I believe there may be an error in the Veeam Backup & Replication 13 Veeam PowerShell Reference.
In the parameter table for the Add-VBRViAdvancedVirtualLab cmdlet, both NetworkMappingRule and NetworkOptions are marked as Required = False. However, when I tested the cmdlet based on the documentation, the command failed unless those parameters were specified.
This behavior seems inconsistent with the documentation, which suggests that these parameters are optional.
Could you please confirm whether this is a documentation issue, or if there are any additional requirements that are not currently described in the reference?
Thank you for your help.

=====
PS C:\Users\Administrator> Connect-VBRServer -Server 10.50.135.221 -User veeamadmin

cmdlet Connect-VBRServer at command pipeline position 1
Supply values for the following parameters:
Password: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

PS C:\Users\Administrator> $ESXi = Get-VBRServer -Type ESXi -Name "esxi01.ktsbackup.local"
PS C:\Users\Administrator> $vlab = Add-VBRViAdvancedVirtualLab -Server $ESXi -Name "lab created by powershell"
Add-VBRViAdvancedVirtualLab: Failed to add virtual lab. Specify both NetworkMappingRule and NetworkOptions parameters.
PS C:\Users\Administrator>
=====

Best regards,
Yasuhiro Nojiri

[david.domask]

Hello,

Correct, it looks like a documentation error, there is a hard check for both (and also a validation for NotNull)

I will ask to have the documentation updated.

[ynojiri@kel.co.jp]

Hello,

I conducted some additional testing.
It appears that configuring a virtual lab without a default gateway or without DNS settings is not allowed when using PowerShell either.
My tests showed that the cmdlet fails unless these network settings are specified.
It is possible that the PowerShell behavior or requirements have changed since the documentation was written.

=====
PS C:\Users\Administrator> New-VBRViVirtualLabProxyAppliance -Server $ESXi -Name "virtuallab.ktsbackup.local" -EnableIPv4Interface -IPAddress 10.50.135.234 -SubnetMask 255.255.255.0
New-VBRViVirtualLabProxyAppliance: Specify PreferredDNSServer or ObtainDNSAutomatically parameter.
PS C:\Users\Administrator> New-VBRViVirtualLabProxyAppliance -Server $ESXi -Name "virtuallab.ktsbackup.local" -EnableIPv4Interface -IPAddress 10.50.135.234 -SubnetMask 255.255.255.0 -ObtainDNSAutomatically
New-VBRViVirtualLabProxyAppliance: Both ObtainDNSAutomatically and ObtainIPAutomatically parameters should be disabled.
=====

Best regards,
Yasuhiro Nojiri

[ynojiri@kel.co.jp]

Hello David,

I was able to create a Virtual Lab without pre-creating a Proxy Appliance.
However, when using this method, the Proxy Appliance was automatically created and connected to an unintended port group.
I suspect that this automatically created Proxy Appliance may have its Default Gateway and DNS settings configured to be obtained automatically.
While it is possible to change the port group assignment from the vSphere side, it does not appear possible to modify the network settings of the Proxy Appliance itself. Because of this, there may be another issue with this approach.


======
PS C:\Users\Administrator> echo $network[1]

NetworkName : local-10.50.135.0
Id : local-10.50.135.0
Path : local-10.50.135.0
Type : ViSimple
NetworkId :
ViReference : network-1120
Name : local-10.50.135.0

PS C:\Users\Administrator> $prodNetwork = $network[1]
PS C:\Users\Administrator> echo $prodNetwork

NetworkName : local-10.50.135.0
Id : local-10.50.135.0
Path : local-10.50.135.0
Type : ViSimple
NetworkId :
ViReference : network-1120
Name : local-10.50.135.0

PS C:\Users\Administrator> $maprule = New-VBRViNetworkMappingRule -Server $ESXi -ProductionNetwork $prodNetwork -IsolatedNetworkName "isolated network" -vlanid 0
PS C:\Users\Administrator> $netoptions = New-VBRViVirtualLabNetworkOptions -NetworkMappingRule $maprule -IPAddress 10.22.132.129 -SubnetMask 255.255.255.128 -MasqueradeIPAddress 192.168.4.0
PS C:\Users\Administrator> echo $maprule

ProductionNetwork IsolatedNetworkName VLANID
----------------- ------------------- ------
local-10.50.135.0 isolated network 0

PS C:\Users\Administrator> echo $netoptions

NetworkMappingRule : Veeam.Backup.PowerShell.Infos.VBRViVirtualLabNetworkMappingRule
IPAddress : 10.22.132.129
SubnetMask : 255.255.255.128
MasqueradeIPAddress : 192.168.4.0
DNSServer : {}
DHCPEnabled : False
IPv6Address :
MasqueradeIPv6Address :
IPv6DNSServer : {}
IPv6PrefixLength : 0
DHCPv6Enabled : False

PS C:\Users\Administrator> $vlab = Add-VBRViAdvancedVirtualLab -Server $ESXi -Name "TEST Lab" -NetworkMappingRule $maprule -NetworkOptions $netoptions
PS C:\Users\Administrator> echo $vlab

IdOnHost : 41111150-d606-4404-8340-beb46bd32fe9
Server : esxi01.ktsbackup.local(863387b1-cd33-46cf-9b7b-7b1f377ddbd7)
Platform : VMWare
DesignatedResourcePoolName : TEST Lab
DesignatedVMFolderName : TEST Lab
CacheDatastore : DD2500_nfsv3_datastore
ProxyAppliance : TEST_Lab
ProxyApplianceEnabled : False
NetworkMapping : {isolated network}
NetworkOptions : {Veeam.Backup.PowerShell.Infos.VBRViVirtualLabNetworkOptions}
RoutingBetweenvNicsEnabled : False
IsMultiHost : False
DVS :
IpMappingRule : {}
StaticIPMappingEnabled : False
Type : Advanced
Id : 41111150-d606-4404-8340-beb46bd32fe9
Name : TEST Lab
Description : Created by .\veeamadmin at 2026/09/03 1:15.

PS C:\Users\Administrator>
======

Best regards,
Yasuhiro Nojiri