Backing Up Virtual Machines

Table Of Contents

Recovering files to a virtual machine

To recover files directly into a virtual machine, use either of the following methods:

 Recover the files to a system network share of the virtual machine. For example, the

\\MyVM\c$ network share corresponds to the C volume of the MyVM virtual machine. This

method applies only to virtual machines running Windows. You must specify the credentials of

an administrator on the virtual machine.

 Install Agent for Windows or Agent for Linux inside the guest operating system and then recover

the files by using this agent.

Or you may recover the files to a network share in your network, and then move them to the virtual

machine or access them from the virtual machine.

3.8 Virtual machines on a management server

Availability of virtual machines

Virtual machines are displayed as available when the agent is available for the management server

and the machines are available for the agent. The list of virtual machines is refreshed dynamically

every time the management server synchronizes with the agents.

When the virtualization server or the virtual appliance becomes unavailable or is withdrawn, the

virtual machines are grayed out.

When virtual machines become unavailable for the agent (this happens when machines are removed

from the virtualization server inventory, deleted from the disk, or the server's storage is down or

disconnected), the machines disappear from the All virtual machines groups and other groups they

are included in. Tasks that back up these virtual machines will fail with an appropriate log record; as a

result, the backup plan will have the Error status.

The online or offline state of a virtual machine does not affect its backup since virtual machines can

be backed up in both states.

Backup plans for virtual machines

Virtual machines can be included in a backup plan that backs up disks and volumes.

What happens when a group of virtual machines is included in a backup plan

Each machine will be backed up to a separate archive. The default archive name will include the

virtual machine name. It is advisable to keep the default archive naming so that you can easily find

each machine's backups in the storage vault.

The backups can run concurrently even if executed by the same agent. You can set the number (p.

32) of virtual machines for the agent to simultaneously back up. The maximum value is 10.

Grouping of virtual machines

The Virtual machines section of the navigation tree contains one built-in group called All virtual

machines. You cannot modify this group manually, delete or move it. You can include this group in a

backup plan that backs up disks and volumes.

You can create both static and dynamic groups of virtual machines. Any virtual machine that is

currently available can be added to a static group. You cannot create groups that contain both

physical and virtual machines.