Objectives for 7.2 are broke down as the following
- Create, edit and clone a vSphere Data Protection backup job
- Modify a preconfigured backup job.
- Backup and restore a Virtual Machine (file level restore, full VM backup)
- Create a replication job according to a deployment plan
- Configure a Backup Verification job to ensure integrity of restore points
Create, edit and clone a vSphere Data Protection backup job
I can’t imagine the exam will ask you to deploy the appliance but I will cover the steps anyway. I deployed this from the Web Client.
Give the appliance and name and location.
Choose a network for the appliance and IP address information.
Review and complete. Once deployed browse to the following
>https://FQDN-appliance:8543/vdp-configure
Default username is - root
Default password is - changeme
First step is to add the IP information. Its critical at this stage the forward and reverse DNS lookup addresses are added on the DNS server or this stage will fail.
Even with the forward and reverse DNS entries added I still received the following error
IP/DNS could not be resolved. Check the IP, DNS values for forward and reverse lookup validation.
To resolve this I need to add a search domain on the appliance, SSH is disabled by default so I need to do this from the console. If I do a nslookup I can see it fails.
I need to add a search domain to /etc/resolv.conf which I do using the VI editor.
Now the nslookup works ok and I can proceed to the next page of the setup.
I now need to choose a time zone.
Add the credentials.
Now it needs to be pointed to the vCenter. For my lab I use the SSO administrator account but for yours you might want to use a service account. Im running in an external deployment mode so I need to expand the Use vCenter for SSO Authentication box and point it to my external PSC. Do a test to make sure connection is ok and move on to the next page.
Choose to create new storage or connect to existing storage.
For new storage point to where you want it.
Pick the compute resources.
Review and complete.
The appliance will then continue the installation and for me in my lab this took some time, keep an eye on the console and the running tasks in vCenter. Once complete reload the Web Client and the plug in will be installed.
Open the plugin and select the appliance - Connect
Once connected to create a new job I go to Backup - Backup Job Actions - New
Choose the backup type, for my example I will choose a guest image backup that will backup the VM.
I will pick a full backup.
Pick the VMs that need to be backed up.
Choose the schedule.
Choose the retention policy.
Give the job a name and complete the wizard.
Either wait for the schedule to run or manually start the backup. Select Backup Now - Backup All Sources
Monitor the active tasks as the job runs and completes.
To change the backup window go to Configuration - Backup Appliance - Backup Window Configuration.
To edit a job I got to Backup - Backup Job Actions - Edit
Choose either to add or remove VMs from the job.
Choose to choose to change the schedule if required.
Choose to edit the retention policy if required.
Finally if the name needs to be change, change it here.
Its possible to clone jobs if you want to keep some of the same settings such as retention policies or schedule. To clone a job go to Backup - Backup Job Actions - Clone. The same settings shown here are the same as new jobs and to edit jobs. One option you might want from a clone would be to add different VMs but keep the same retention policy.
Modify a preconfigured backup job.
Modifying jobs are covered in the above section.
Backup and restore a Virtual Machine (file level restore, full VM backup)
Backups have covered in the above section. To perform a restore I go to Restore - VM - Restore. Select the VM and restore point.
Select the restore options. If the VM needs to be restored to the original location make sure Restore to original location is selected. When this is selected the datastore is grayed out.
To restore to a different location make sure the check box is not selected and more options will appear such as a new name and target destination. The datastore option now appears for the destination datastore.
Create a replication job according to a deployment plan
Setting up a replication job is similar to a backup job. I go to Replication - Replication Job Actions - New.
Choose the type of replication job you will need.
Select the clients.
Choose the number of backups that will be replicated, by default all backups will be replicated,
Pick the destination, this will be another appliance running on a remote site. I haven’t set one up in my lab so will need to skip this part.
Pick a schedule.
Choose the retention policy.
Finally give the job a name and complete.
Configure a Backup Verification job to ensure integrity of restore points
To validate a backup I go to Backup - Backup Verification - Backup Verification Job Actions - New.
Select the VMs.
By default the guest OS heartbeat will be used for verification but additional scripts can be added if required.
Choose a destination, this can be another ESXi host or resource pool along with the required datastore.
Choose a schedule for verification.
Give it a name and complete.
When the job runs notice a new VM is created in the destination configured, this is removed once the job has finished.