Removing VMware host from inventory but still need Veeam backups

[gregom]

I think I already know the answer to this question but I'd just like to get confirmation from those more familiar. We have a vCenter 6.5 setup with 9 hosts. 8 of 9 of them are running ESXi 6.5 but 1 of 9 still has 5.5. We're needing to upgrade vCenter to 7.0u3 but cannot do that with the ESXi 5.5 host in the inventory, and it will be some time before we are able to upgrade it. So we'd like to remove it from the vCenter (as we can't share resources with it anyway) and proceed with our 7.0u3 upgrade of vCenter and ESXi 7.0u3 on 8 of our hosts.

If this is no problem what is the preferred process for this in Veeam? The host has its own backup job so I'm thinking of just removing the VM's from the backup job, then removing the host from vCenter, then adding the now standalone host to Veeam, then add those VM's back to that job. Will that work?

I don't spend a ton of time on our VMware stuff so I'd like to have a better understanding and confidence level before I go mucking about. Appreciate your feedback and suggestions. Thanks!

[Mildur]

Hi Michael

7.0u3 requires Veeam V11a.
Veeam v11a is the last version which can backup VMs from ESXI 5.5 host.

The host has its own backup job so I'm thinking of just removing the VM's from the backup job, then removing the host from vCenter, then adding the now standalone host to Veeam, then add those VM's back to that job. Will that work?

It will work. But I assume you protected the VMs over the vCenter before?
VMs have different MoRefIDs on Host and vCenter database. After you change the job to backup those VMs from vCenter to the ESXi Host, Veeam will see them as new VMs and process an active full backup.

Best,
Fabian

[gregom]

Thanks for the response. Thanks for warning me about the version requirements. We are already running 11.0.1.1261 P20230227. And thanks for confirming this should work fine, but the backup will not continue incremental and will be a new full - that is important to be aware of.