vmGuardian 3.0 –Practical Operation Seminar

First

Edition

1. Feature Overview

2

ESX(i) Virtual Machine Backup

vmGuardian is a software appliance designed to backup virtual machines

developed on ESX(i).

Backup Engine

Backup engine equivalent to that of

ActiveImage Protector is integrated. Fast and

reliable backups as in ActiveImage can be

accomplished.

ActiveImage Protector 3.5

Virtual Machine without Agent

Installation of agent on virtual machine is not required.

Backups can be conducted without installing anything.

(VMware Tools needs to be setup)

Console on Web Browsers

vmGuardian is operated through console via web

browser. Installation of software on managing machine is

not necessary either as operations can be done through

web browsers.

IE / Chrome / FireFox

2. System Requirements

3

Hypervisor VMware ESX/ESXi version 4.1 or later (includes ESX/ESXi 5.5)

(Support for vStorage API is required)

Browser

Internet Explorer 9 or later, Google Chrome v25 or later, FireFox v19 or

later

(1024 x 640 resolution is recommended for any browsers)

OS

Windows Server 2012、2012 R2Windows Server 2008、2008 R2,Windows Server 2003、2003 R2,Windows 2000 Server SP4 Windows 8、Windows 8.1,Windows 7,Windows Vista,Windows XP SP3 (The NTFS file system is supported in operating systems listed above) Linux（Ext3/Ext4/Swap/LVM） *Please make sure the latest version of VMware Tools corresponding to the host is set up on virtual machines (mandatory). As for Linux virtual machines, please make sure vmsync kernel module is set up before you set up VMware Tools.

Destination Storage

for Images

Direct attachment to the appliance machine (USB2.0, IDE, SCSI)NFS,CIFS (samba),iSCSI

3. Configuration Diagram

4

One vmGuardian virtual appliance on one ESX(i)

Standard configuration in which virtual machine to be backed up and

vmGuardian appliance exist on a single ESX(i) host.

Freely select an accessible storage as image destination from virtual

appliance.

Pattern 1: Standard Configuration Backup

Virtual Appliance

Virtual

Machine

Backup

Image Backup

Image

Backup Image

3. Configuration Diagram

5

One vmGuardian

virtual appliance backs

up virtual machines on

multiple ESX(i) hosts

vmGuardian appliance

can back up virtual

machines on other

ESX(i) hosts via network.

There is no need to

create virtual appliance

for every ESX(i) host.

Pattern 2: Configuration with Multiple ESX(i) Hosts

Virtual

Machine

Virtual

Machine Virtual Appliance Virtual

Machine

Virtual

Machine

Restore Backup

Backup Image

4. Setup

6

Deploy virtual appliance provided in OVA

format as a virtual machine on ESX(i)

using vSphere Client.

OVA file is included in vmGuardian product

media.

Provisioning can be either "thick" or "thin".

40MB free space is required for thick

provisioning, and approx. 3.2GB for thin

provisioning.

(1) Template Deployment

4. Setup

7

Check the IP address when virtual

appliance has been launched.

Access the URL written in [Access URL:]

by web browser.

Supported web browsers are: Internet

Explorer,

Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.

(2) Access Virtual Appliance via Web Browser

4. Setup

8

First, install a license of vmGuardian.

License needs to be applied for every

host. (each host with target virtual machine

running)

License is required when making backups

for virtual machines. License is not

required if only restoration is done.

(3) License Installation

4. Setup

9

Create a mount point at image

destination from [Settings] > [Mount

point].

The following three protocols are

supported for mount point.

- NFS

- CIFS (shared Samba / Windows)

- Direct-Attached Storage (DAS)

(4) Storage Settings (Setting Storage Destination for

Images)

4. Setup

10

Add a target ESX(i) host or vCenter Server

from [Settings] > [Connection].

When a host is successfully added, a list

of virtual machines appear at left side of

console screen.

(5) Connection Management (adding ESX(i) Hosts)

4. Setup

11

Apply installed license to ESX(i) host

by selecting [Settings] > [License].

If license is not applied in this screen,

virtual machines cannot be backed

up.

(6) License (License Allocation to Hosts)

5. Backup

12

Launch Backup Wizard and choose a

target virtual machine.

Installation of vmGuardian

components on virtual machine is not

required. Backups can be conducted

without installing anything. (VMware

Tools needs to be setup)

Backups can be conducted when

virtual machine is either powered on or

off.

Appliance itself cannot be backed up.

1. Backup of Virtual Machines

5. Backup

13

Specify image storage destination in backup

target setting.

Compression ratio and image option can be

specified in this screen.

■ Compression Ratio Patterns

Regular Compression - Fast

Regular Compression - High Compression

Deduplication - Level 1

Deduplication - Level 2 (default)

Deduplication - Level 3

(2) Backup Options

5. Backup

14

(3) Deduplication

Compression Settings Original

Size Image Size

Compre

ssion Time

Fast 18.3GB 9.07GB 49.5% 8 min 44

sec

High Compression 18.3GB 7.39GB 40.3% 9 min 36

sec

Deduplication - Level 2 18.3GB 5.46GB 29.8% 9 min 5

sec

VMware ESXi 5.1 Hypervisor

Two virtual machines (Windows Server 2003 + Windows Server 2012)

The software comes with the same In Line Deduplication

Compression technology as in ActiveImage Protector.

Deduplication is done automatically by vmGuardian while

backup is being conducted. There is no need to purchase an

expensive storage for saving the images.

Shared folders under Windows or NAS can be used as

storage destination.

Image Size Differences According to Compression Settings

15

vmGuardian uses two types of files with the

file extensions, “.aib” and “.anx” that are

created as a result of a backup task

execution.

“.aib” file is created as the main image file

and “.anx” file is created as the index file.

Backup image files are created every time

when scheduled backup tasks are

executed.

When a baseline backup file is newly

created, the image file is named with a

sequential number.

When incremental backup task is executed,

an incremental backup image file is created

in association with a base image file

Point by Point Archive is intended for Image

File Replication environment.

(4) Created Backup Image（Point by Point Archive）

5. Backup

Single Backup

Image

Scheduled Backup

Image

16

When a baseline backup file is newly

created as a result of scheduled backup

task execution, the image file is named with

a sequential number.

Execution of an incremental backup task

does not create any additional image file,

but the changes are integrated into the

existing image file.

(Baseline image file is updated.)

Integrated Archive is intended for

reducing backup storage needs.

(5) Created Backup Image （Integrated Archive）

Single

Backup Image

Scheduled

Backup Image

5. Backup

5. Backup

17

Schedules can be either for

"Baseline (Full) Backup" or

"Incremental Backup".

Backups can be executed at any of

the following timings.

- One Time

Backup is run only once.

- Weekly

Backup is conducted by day of

the week.

- Monthly

Backup is conducted on a specific

date of the month.

(6) Schedule Settings

5. Backup

18

(7) About vStorage API

Backup Using vStorage API

Since vmGuardian uses vStorage API for Data Protection (VADP), backups

cannot be conducted in environment in which VADP does not operate.

VMware vSphere STANDARD

Edition or Above

includes vStorage API, but free ESXi

license does not. In order to use

vmGuardian, a paid edition above

STANDARD is required.

CBT Used for Incremental Backups

CBT (Change Block Tracking) can be activated when using virtual hardware

type configuration of version 7 or later in ESX4.0 or above. This

configuration is necessary in order to perform Incremental Backups in

vmGuardian.

ESX License

5. Backup

19

In order to back up entire ESX(i) host, use

the boot-up DVD for "ActiveImage

Protector Boot Environment for

vmGuardian" (AIPBE) included with

vmGuardian.

By using AIPBE, cold backup can be

performed on ESX(i) host and as

precaution for possible faults.

(8) ESX(i) Host Backup

6. Restoration

20

When performing Incremental

Backup, vmGuardian creates

recovery point for base image and

does not create new image files.

By performing recovery by choosing

a recovery point from the image file,

image from Incremental Backup can

be restored.

(1) Restoration using Recovery Point

6. Restoration

21

Performing [Restore to original

location] overwrites virtual

machine in restored.

Performing [Restore as new

location] creates a new virtual

machine in restored.

Image can be restored on a new

ESX(i) host which is not the one

backup was made from. In this

case, vmGuardian license is not

required if only restoration is

performed.

(2) Overwrite Restoration and New Restoration of Virtual

Machines

6. Restoration

22

Individual files can be restored by

mounting an image.

When multiple files need to be restored in

one go, they are downloaded in zip format.

Image is mounted as Webdav. In order to

restore a whole folder, using Webdav

client software makes it easy.

(3) Restoration of Individual Files

7. Generating Support Information

23

Click on [Support] in Web Console Menu.

You can select the displayed menu button

to generate support information.

Support information is used to conduct

analysis when error occurs in backup or

restoration operations.

Acquire and send this information when

Technical Support team asks for it.

8. Frequently Asked Questions

24

Q1: What is the difference between vmGuardian and ActiveImage

Protector?

A1: ActiveImage Protector is an agent-type backup software product. As in

other agent installation products, it allows detailed settings for backups.

When using some software products that do not work along with VSS,

service interruption and start can be automatized to be coupled with

backups by using batch file call.

Q2: Can backups be conducted without installing anything?

A2: Yes.

However, VMware Tools needs to be setup.

In Linux environment, "vmsync" needs to be activated after which "VMware

Tools" is to be installed.

Q3: How many virtual machines can each appliance backup?

A3: There is no specified limitation in number of virtual machines.

However, each appliance can perform one backup task at a time.

Therefore, in order to perform multiple schedules simultaneously, multiple

appliances are required.

9. Exercises

25

Exercise 1: Deploy virtual appliance of vmGuardian.

Deploy a virtual appliance on ESX(i) host, and perform initial setup.

Exercise 2: Backup of the virtual machine.

Create image by running a backup on virtual machine.

Exercise 3: Restore the virtual machine.

Restore the virtual machine from the image created.

Exercise 4: Recover of individual files

Mount the image file created, and restore of individual files.