This topic describes how to back up VMware virtual machines (VMs) by using Cloud Backup. After you create a backup plan, you can run backup jobs immediately or on schedule. To improve data security, Cloud Backup also supports incremental backup for scheduled backup plans.
Prerequisites
The preparations for data backup are completed. For more information, see Before you begin (on-premises VMware) or Before you begin (ACVS).
Before you add a vCenter Server, make sure that the disaster recovery gateway can access port 443 of the vCenter Server and port 902 of VMware ESXi.
Step 1: Add a vCenter Server
Before you back up VMware VMs, you must add a vCenter Server in the Cloud Backup console.
Log on to the Cloud Backup console.
In the left-side navigation pane, choose .
In the top navigation bar, select a region.
On the VMware Backup & Disaster Recovery page, click the Managed vCenter Servers tab. Then, click Add vCenter Server.
In the Add vCenter Server panel, configure the parameters and click Create. The following table describes the parameters.
Parameter
Description
Server IP
The IP address of the vCenter Server.
If you back up VMs in Alibaba Cloud VMware Service (ACVS), you must obtain the IP address of the vCenter Server from the ACVS console.
Username
The username of the vCenter Server.
If you back up on-premises VMware VMs, append the domain name to the username. Example: admin***@vsphere.local.
If you back up VMs in ACVS, you must obtain the username of the vCenter Server from the ACVS console. Example: cloud***@acvs.aliyuncs.com.
Password
The password that corresponds to the username of the vCenter Server.
NoteA vCenter Server may fail to be added if the password contains the following special characters:
` ^ ~ = ; ! / ( [ ] { } @ $ \ & # % +
Description
The description of the vCenter Server.
Step 2: Create a backup plan
To create a backup plan, perform the following steps:
On the Managed vCenter Servers tab, find the added vCenter Server and click Create Backup Plan in the Actions column.
In the Create Backup Plan panel, configure the parameters and click Next. The following table describes the parameters.
Parameter
Description
Plan Name
The name of the backup plan. If you do not configure this parameter, a random name is specified.
Retention Period
The retention period of the backup data. Unit: days, weeks, months, or years.
Consistency Mode
The snapshot consistency mode. Valid values:
Crash Consistency (default): uses VMware software snapshots to perform normal backup.
File System Consistency: uses VMware Tools to perform silent backup. If silent backup cannot be performed, Cloud Backup performs normal backup by using VMware software snapshots.
Use LAN-free Backup
Specifies whether to perform a LAN-free backup. If you select this check box, the disk that you want to back up is mounted on the backup gateway, and data is transferred over a storage area network (SAN) instead of a local area network (LAN). If the mount fails, data is transferred over a LAN.
Backup Policy
The policy that is used to back up data. Valid values: Right Now and On Schedule.
If you select On Schedule, you must specify the Start Time, Backup Interval, and Enable Incremental Backup parameters for the scheduled backup plan.
If you enable incremental backup, you must specify the Start Time and Backup Interval parameters for incremental backup.
ImportantIf the Changed Block Tracking (CBT) feature is disabled for a VM, a full backup is performed instead of an incremental backup. For more information, see Enable the CBT mode.
Incremental backup includes only the data that is generated or modified after the most recent full or incremental backup job is completed.
We recommend that you perform a full backup at least 1 hour after the previous incremental backup is completed.
Start Time
This parameter is required only if the Backup Policy parameter is set to On Schedule. This parameter specifies the time at which the backup starts. You can set this parameter based on your backup plan. The default value is the time when the backup plan is created.
Backup Interval
This parameter is required only if the Backup Policy parameter is set to On Schedule. This parameter specifies the interval at which backups are performed. Default value: 1 day. Units: hours, days, or weeks.
Enable Incremental Backup
This parameter is required only if the Backup Policy parameter is set to On Schedule. This parameter specifies whether to enable incremental backup. Valid values:
No (default): disables incremental backup
Yes: enables incremental backup
In the Select VMs step, select the source VM and click Next.
In the Confirm & Execute step, check whether the backup plan is configured based on your business requirements. The configurations include the backup plan name, retention period, backup policy, and VMs. Then, click Create.
After the backup plan is created, Cloud Backup runs backup jobs based on the backup plan. On the Backup Plans tab, you can perform the following operations:
To start a backup job, find the backup plan and click Run Now in the Actions column.
To suspend a running backup job, find the backup plan and choose in the Actions column. To resume a suspended backup job, find the backup plan and choose in the Actions column.
To delete a backup plan, find the backup plan and choose in the Actions column. After you delete the backup plan, Cloud Backup no longer runs backup jobs for the backup plan but retains the backup data.
(Optional) Specify a gateway to run backup jobs
After a backup plan is created, backup jobs are dispatched to gateways based on the status of each gateway. The status includes the number of jobs that are running on each gateway, whether LAN-free backup is enabled for each gateway, and the performance of the ESXi host of each VM.
If you need to back up a large number of VMs, you can install multiple gateways to increase backup efficiency. The procedure to install multiple gateways is similar to the procedure to install a single gateway. For more information, see Before you begin (on-premises VMware).
After multiple gateways are installed, Cloud Backup dispatches backup jobs based on the load of each gateway. You can also specify the gateway on which you want to run a backup plan.
Log on to the Cloud Backup console.
In the top navigation bar, select a region.
In the left-side navigation pane, choose .
On the Backup Plans tab, find the backup plan for which you want to specify a gateway, and choose in the Actions column.
In the Specify Gateway panel, select a gateway to run backup jobs.
Click Create.
On the Backup History tab, you can view the gateway on which the backup job for each VM is run.
References
For more information about how to restore a VMware VM to an on-premises vCenter Server or Alibaba Cloud VMware Service, see Restore a VMware VM.
For more information about how to restore a VMware VM to an Alibaba Cloud Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instance, see Restore a VMware VM to an ECS instance.