Backup vRealize Suite by Using EMC Avamar

You can back up vRealize Suite components by using EMC Avamar to perform an on-demand backup.

In addition to this on-demand backup, you can schedule Avamar to perform automatic backups. Scheduled backups run automatically to ensure that backups occur on an ongoing basis. You can schedule backups to run daily, weekly, or monthly. For information on scheduling backups in Avamar, see the EMC Avamar for VMware User Guide.

Avamar deletes all existing snapshots at the time of restoration.

Prerequisites

• Deploy and configure the Avamar appliance. See the EMC Avamar for VMware User Guide.
• Verify that all nodes are powered on and are accessible during backup.
• Add all vRealize Suite components you need to backup as clients. See the EMC Avamar for VMware User Guide.

Procedure

1. In Avamar Administrator, click Backup & Restore.
2. Click the Backup tab.
   The top left pane contains a list of domains.
3. Select a domain in the upper tree, and select a virtual machine client, VMware folder, resource pool, or vApp in the lower tree.
4. In the Browse for File, Folders, or Directories pane, select the data to back up.

   Option	Description
   Back up the entire image	Right-click the top (root) folder, and select Select All.
   Back up specific virtual disks	Select one or more disks to back up only the selected virtual disks.

5. In the Actions menu, select Backup Now.
   The On Demand Backup Options dialog box appears.
6. Select the backup retention setting.

   Option	Description
   Retention period	Automatically delete this backup from the Avamar server after a specific amount of time. Specify the number of days, weeks, months, or years for the retention period.
   End date	Automatically delete this backup from the Avamar server on a specific calendar date. Browse to the date to delete this backup on the calendar.
   No end date	Keep this backup while this client remains active in the Avamar server.

7. From the Avamar encryption method list, select the encryption method to use for data transfer between the client and the Avamar server during the backup.
8. (Optional) Select a proxy to perform backup.
   The default setting is automatic, which enables the Avamar server to choose the best proxy for this operation.
9. (Optional) Click More Options.
   In most cases, system default settings are the optimum settings for on-demand image backups.
   The Backup Command Line Options dialog box appears.
   1. Select the plug-in type. In most cases, the system default settings are the optimum settings for on-demand image backups.
   2. (Optional) Select Use Changed Block Tracking (CBT) to increase performance.
   3. (Optional) Select Snapshot Quiesce Options to configure settings for snapshot quiescence.
   4. (Optional) Click More to include additional plug-in options with this backup, enter the attribute and attribute value, and click +.
10. Click OK.
    The On Demand Backup Options dialog box closes and the following status message appears: Backup initiated.
11. Click OK.

What to do next

For information on monitoring and cancelling backup procedures, see the EMC Avamar for VMware User Guide.