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Acronis Backup Service

Version 5

ADMINISTRATOR'S GUIDE

Revision: 3/9/2016

Table of contents

1 Administrator's Guide ......................................................................................................4

1.1 About this document ................................................................................................................. 4

1.2 What's new in version 5............................................................................................................. 4

1.3 About the backup service .......................................................................................................... 4

1.3.1 Accounts and groups ....................................................................................................................................... 4

1.3.2 Components .................................................................................................................................................... 5

1.3.3 Supported web browsers ............................................................................................................................... 7

1.4 Step-by-step instructions ........................................................................................................... 7

1.4.1 Activating the backup service subscription ................................................................................................... 7

1.4.2 Creating a group .............................................................................................................................................. 7

1.4.3 Creating an account ........................................................................................................................................ 8

1.4.4 Accessing the web consoles ........................................................................................................................... 9

1.4.5 Creating a report about the service usage .................................................................................................... 9

1.5 Advanced scenarios .................................................................................................................10

1.5.1 Deploying agents on client machines .......................................................................................................... 10

2 User's Guide .................................................................................................................. 12

2.1 About the backup service ........................................................................................................12

2.2 What's new in version 5...........................................................................................................12

2.3 Software requirements ............................................................................................................14

2.3.1 Supported web browsers ............................................................................................................................. 14

2.3.2 Supported operating systems and environments ...................................................................................... 14

2.3.3 Supported Microsoft SQL Server versions ................................................................................................... 15

2.3.4 Supported Microsoft Exchange Server versions ......................................................................................... 15

2.4 Activating the account .............................................................................................................16

2.5 Accessing the backup service ..................................................................................................16

2.6 Installing the software .............................................................................................................16

2.6.1 Preparation .................................................................................................................................................... 16

2.6.2 Proxy server settings ..................................................................................................................................... 18

2.6.3 Linux packages ............................................................................................................................................... 19

2.6.4 Installing agents ............................................................................................................................................. 21

2.6.5 Updating agents ............................................................................................................................................ 22

2.6.6 Uninstalling agents ........................................................................................................................................ 23

2.7 Backup console views ..............................................................................................................23

2.8 Backup .....................................................................................................................................24

2.8.1 Backup plan cheat sheet ............................................................................................................................... 26

2.8.2 Selecting data to back up .............................................................................................................................. 26

2.8.3 Selecting a destination .................................................................................................................................. 31

2.8.4 Schedule ......................................................................................................................................................... 32

2.8.5 Retention rules .............................................................................................................................................. 33

2.8.6 Replication ..................................................................................................................................................... 33

2.8.7 Encryption ...................................................................................................................................................... 34

2.8.8 Starting a backup manually .......................................................................................................................... 36

2.9 Recovery ..................................................................................................................................36

2.9.1 Recovery cheat sheet .................................................................................................................................... 36

2.9.2 Creating bootable media .............................................................................................................................. 36

2.9.3 Recovering a machine ................................................................................................................................... 37

2.9.4 Recovering files.............................................................................................................................................. 41

2.9.5 Recovering system state ............................................................................................................................... 44

2.9.6 Recovering SQL databases ............................................................................................................................ 44

2.9.7 Recovering Exchange data ............................................................................................................................ 46

2.10 Operations with backups .........................................................................................................48

2.10.1 The Backups tab ............................................................................................................................................ 48

2.10.2 Deleting backups ........................................................................................................................................... 48

2.11 Operations with backup plans .................................................................................................49

2.12 Advanced operations with virtual machines ...........................................................................50

2.12.1 Running a virtual machine from a backup................................................................................................... 50

2.12.2 Application-aware backup ............................................................................................................................ 52

2.12.3 Managing virtualization environments........................................................................................................ 54

2.12.4 Machine migration ........................................................................................................................................ 54

2.13 Troubleshooting .......................................................................................................................55

3 Glossary ........................................................................................................................ 56

1 Administrator's Guide

1.1 About this document

This document is intended for organization administrators and end users who want to use Acronis

Backup Service.

This document describes how to quickly set up the backup service and perform backup and recovery.

1.2 What's new in version 5

 Quotas for the numbers of protected machines. You can set "hard" quotas and overage for the

number of workstations, servers, and virtual machines that an account (p. 8) is allowed to back

up.

For information about new backup and recovery features, refer to the "What's new in version 5" (p.

12) section of the User's Guide.

1.3 About the backup service

The backup service management is available through a web interface.

1.3.1 Accounts and groups

There are two account types: administrator accounts and user accounts. Both the user and the

administrators can manage backups of the user's data.

Each account belongs to a group. The organization group is automatically created for your

organization. Optionally, you can create unit groups, which typically correspond to units or

departments of the organization.

An administrator can create and manage groups, administrator accounts, and user accounts on or

below their level in the hierarchy.

The following diagram illustrates two hierarchy levels—the organization and unit groups. Optional

groups and accounts are shown by a dotted line.

The following table summarizes operations that can be performed by the administrators and users.

Operation

Administrators

Users

Create groups

Yes

Create accounts

Yes

Download and install the backup

software

Yes

Manage backup

Yes

Manage recovery

Yes

Create reports about the service usage

Yes

1.3.2 Components

This section describes the software components utilized by the backup service.

On the end-user side

At least one of the following components must be installed on the end-user side:

 Agent for Windows backs up disks, volumes, and files on a machine running Windows.

 Agent for VMware backs up ESX(i) virtual machines without installing agents into the guest

systems. The agent is installed on a Windows machine that has network access to vCenter Server

and to the storage where the backed-up virtual machines are stored.

 Agent for Hyper-V backs up Hyper-V virtual machines without installing agents into the guest

systems. The agent is installed on a Hyper-V host.

 Agent for Virtuozzo backs up Virtuozzo virtual machines and containers without installing agents

into the guest systems. The agent is installed on a Virtuozzo host.

 Agent for Exchange backs up Microsoft Exchange Server databases.

 Agent for SQL backs up Microsoft SQL Server databases.

 Agent for Linux backs up disks, volumes, and files on a machine running Linux.

 Agent for Mac backs up disks, volumes, and files on a machine running OS X.

The agents can be installed by users or by administrators.

On the data-center side

The servers are located in Acronis data centers.

 Account server stores the user account hierarchy and enables administering the backup service

from the account management console. Only administrators can access this console.

 Backup management server manages the agents. It enables users and administrators to set up

and monitor backups from the backup management console.

The backup storages are located in Acronis data centers. End users have the option to store backups

either in a data center or within their local networks.

The following diagram illustrates the default backup service architecture. Blue arrows ( ) show the

software component interactions. Black arrows ( ) show how administrators and end users access

the backup service.

1.3.3 Supported web browsers

The backup service web interface supports the following web browsers:

 Google Chrome 29 or later

 Mozilla Firefox 23 or later

 Opera 16 or later

 Windows Internet Explorer 10 or later

 Safari 5.1.7 or later running in the OS X and iOS operating systems

In other web browsers (including Safari browsers running in other operating systems), the user

interface might be displayed incorrectly, or some functions may be unavailable.

1.4 Step-by-step instructions

The following steps will guide you through the installation and basic use of the backup service. They

describe how to:

 Activate the backup service subscription

 Create a group

 Create an account

 Access the backup management console

 Create a report about the service usage

For information about how to back up and recover data, refer to the User's Guide (p. 12).

1.4.1 Activating the backup service subscription

1. Go to http://www.acronis.com/en-us/my/backup-service/.

2. Log in to your Acronis account. If you do not have an Acronis account, create one.

3. Enter the backup service registration codes.

4. Click Register.

5. To access the account management console, click Manage your backups.

At a later time, you can access the management console at https://backup.acronis.com/.

1.4.2 Creating a group

Skip this step if you do not want to organize accounts into groups.

You may want to create a new Unit group within a EUC group when expanding the backup service to

a new organizational unit.

To create a group

1. Log in to the backup management console.

2. Click Manage accounts.

3. Select a group in which you want to create the new group.

4. On the bottom of the Groups pane, click "+".

5. In Name, specify a name for the new group.

6. [Optional] In Identifier, type a string that will act as the identifier for the group. This identifier

will appear in monthly reports, together with the group's usage data. You can use this identifier

to refer to this group in other software, such as in your billing or monitoring systems.

The identifier can consist of up to 256 Unicode characters (for example, numbers and Latin

letters). It does not need to be unique across groups.

7. In Language, select the default language of notifications, reports, and backup software that will

be used within this group.

8. [Optional] In Contact information, specify the contact information for the group.

9. Click Create.

The newly created group appears in the Groups tree.

If you want to specify the billing information for a group, select the group in the Groups list, click

Properties, and then complete the billing information section.

1.4.3 Creating an account

At least one account (either an administrator or a user) must exist within a unit. If an EUC does not

have units, at least one account must exist within the EUC.

To create an account

1. Log in to the backup management console.

2. Click Manage accounts.

3. Select a group in which you want to create the account.

4. Click the Accounts tab, and then click "+".

5. Specify the following contact information for the account.

 Login

Important Each account must have a unique login. You can create multiple logins using the same

email address.

 Email address

 [Optional] First name

 [Optional] Last name

6. If you want this account to be an administrator account, enable the Administrator privileges

switch.

7. [Optional] Specify the storage quota and the maximum number of machines the user is allowed

to back up.

 Physical workstations

 Physical servers

 Virtual machines

 Storage quota

These quotas are "soft". If any of these values are exceeded, a notification will be sent to the

email address specified in step 5. Restrictions on using the backup service are not applied.

8. [Optional] Specify the quota overages. An overage allows the user to exceed the quota by the

specified value. When the overage is exceeded, backups fail.

Important If you set both a quota and its overage to zero, the corresponding functionality will be hidden

from the user.

9. [Optional] Change the Backup notifications level. If you disable backup notifications, the

notifications about backup failures, warnings, and successful backups will not be sent to the

specified email address.

10. [Optional] Disable Business notifications. If you do this, notifications about exceeded quotas will

not be sent to the specified email address.

11. Click Add.

As a result:

 A new account appears in the Accounts tab.

 An email message containing the activation link is sent to the email address you specified.

1.4.4 Accessing the web consoles

To log in to the backup service

1. Go to the backup service login page. The login page address was included in the activation email

message.

2. Type the login and password of the account.

3. Click Log in.

Administrators log in directly to the backup console. To access the account management console,

they must click Manage accounts.

For information about how to back up and recover data, refer to the User's Guide (p. 12).

1.4.5 Creating a report about the service usage

Usage reports provide historical data about using the backup service.

Only administrators can create these reports. The report data differs, depending on who created the

report.

 Reports created by organization administrators contain statistics for each of the units.

 Reports created by unit administrators contain statistics for each of end users in the unit.

Reporting parameters

The report includes the following data about a unit and its accounts:

 Size of backups by group, by account, by machine type.

 Amount of protected machines by group, by account, by machine type.

 Price value by group, by account, by machine type.

 The total size of backups.

 The total amount of protected machines.

 Total price value.

Enabling or disabling scheduled usage reports

Scheduled report covers system usage data for the last full calendar month. The reports will be

generated and sent on the second day of every month to all administrators of your group.

1. In the account management console, click Reports.

2. Select the Scheduled tab.

3. In Status, enable or disable the scheduled usage reports by clicking the on/off switch.

4. [Optional] To generate a report immediately, click Send report now.

Enabling or disabling ad-hoc usage reports

Ad-hoc report covers system usage data for the specified period with one-day interval. This type of

report can be generated on demand and cannot be scheduled. The report will be sent to the email

address of your administrator account.

1. In the account management console, click Reports.

2. Select the Ad-hoc tab.

3. In Reporting period, select start and end dates of reporting period.

4. To generate a report immediately, click Send report now.

1.5 Advanced scenarios

1.5.1 Deploying agents on client machines

You can centrally install (or deploy) Agent for Windows onto machines that are members of an Active

Directory domain, by using Group Policy.

In this section, you will find out how to set up a Group Policy object to deploy agents onto machines

in an entire domain or in its organizational unit.

Every time a machine logs on to the domain, the resulting Group Policy object will ensure that the

agent is installed on the machine and the machine is registered in the backup service.

Prerequisites

Before proceeding with agent deployment, ensure that:

 You have an Active Directory domain with a domain controller running Microsoft Windows

Server 2003 or later.

 You are a member of the Domain Admins group in the domain.

 You have downloaded the All agents for installation in Windows setup program. The download

link is available on the Add machine page in the backup console.

Step 1: Creating the .mst transform and extracting the installation package

1. Log on as an administrator on any machine in the domain.

2. Create a shared folder that will contain the installation packages. Ensure that domain users can

access the shared folder—for example, by leaving the default sharing settings for Everyone.

3. Copy the setup program to the folder you created.

4. Start the setup program.

5. Click Create .mst and .msi files for unattended installation.

6. Specify the credentials of the account to which the machines should be assigned.

7. Review or modify the installation settings that will be added to the .mst file.

8. Click Generate.

As a result, the .mst transform is generated and the .msi and .cab installation packages are extracted

to the folder you created. You can now move or delete the setup program .exe file.

Step 2: Setting up the Group Policy objects

1. Log on to the domain controller as a domain administrator; if the domain has more than one

domain controller, log on to any of them as a domain administrator.

2. If you are planning to deploy the agent in an organizational unit, ensure that the organizational

unit exists in the domain. Otherwise, skip this step.

3. In the Start menu, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Active Directory Users and

Computers (in Windows Server 2003) or Group Policy Management (in Windows Server 2008

and Windows Server 2012).

4. In Windows Server 2003:

 Right-click the name of the domain or organizational unit, and then click Properties. In the

dialog box, click the Group Policy tab, and then click New.

In Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2012:

 Right-click the name of the domain or organizational unit, and then click Create a GPO in this

domain, and Link it here.

5. Name the new Group Policy object Agent for Windows.

6. Open the Agent for Windows Group Policy object for editing, as follows:

 In Windows Server 2003, click the Group Policy object, and then click Edit.

 In Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2012, under Group Policy Objects, right-click

the Group Policy object, and then click Edit.

7. In the Group Policy object editor snap-in, expand Computer Configuration.

8. In Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008:

 Expand Software Settings.

In Windows Server 2012:

 Expand Policies > Software Settings.

9. Right-click Software installation, then point to New, and then click Package.

10. Select the agent's .msi installation package in the shared folder that you previously created, and

then click Open.

11. In the Deploy Software dialog box, click Advanced, and then click OK.

12. On the Modifications tab, click Add, and then select the .mst transform that you previously

created.

13. Click OK to close the Deploy Software dialog box.

2 User's Guide

2.1 About the backup service

This service enables backup and recovery of physical and virtual machines, files, and databases to

local or cloud storage.

This service is available through a web interface.

2.2 What's new in version 5

Virtualization

The availability of the features listed in this section depends on the settings made by your backup

service administrator.

 Recovery to a new VM. Define a new name and exact location for machines that are recovered

as VMs (p. 39) (Hyper-V and ESXi).

 VM Flashback (incremental restore). The fastest possible VM recovery technology. Only the

changes between the current VM state and its state within the backup are recovered. Both

Hyper-V and ESXi platforms are supported.

 New platform support: Virtuozzo. Agent-less backup and recovery (including file recovery) of

Virtuozzo virtual machines and containers.

 Run a VM from a backup (instant recovery) and move it to production without downtime. The

ability to run an ESXi or Hyper-V virtual machine (p. 50) from a locally stored backup of a virtual

or physical machine, for validation or disaster-recovery purposes. An ESXi machine running from

a backup can be converted to a regular virtual machine, without downtime.

 Application items recovery from a VM backup. Application-aware agent-less backup (p. 52) of

ESXi virtual machines running Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft Exchange enables browsing

and recovery of databases without recovering the entire machine.

 Application-aware backup of VMs with Microsoft Active Directory. Application-aware agent-less

backup (p. 52) of ESXi virtual machines running Microsoft Active Directory prevents the

possibility of a USN rollback after a recovery of a domain controller.

 Enhanced hypervisor management. The ability to view (p. 54) vSphere and Hyper-V

environments in the native hypervisor-specific presentation.

 Change vCenter/ESXi password without reinstallation. The ability to change (p. 54) the vCenter

or ESXi host connection password in the backup console.

 Flexible backup configuration. More backup options:

 CBT. Changed Block Tracking (CBT) for both Hyper-V and ESXi virtual machines.

 Choose between crash-consistent and application-consistent snapshots. New Volume

Shadow Copy Service (VSS) for virtual machines backup option to enable or disable

quiescing by using hypervisor tools. Supports both Hyper-V and ESXi virtual machines.

 Intelligent snapshot failure handling. Re-attempt, if an error occurs when creating a virtual

machine snapshot. Supports both Hyper-V and ESXi virtual machines.

 More recovery options:

 VM power management.

Monitoring

 Centralized view for activities. The new Activities tab enables viewing and auditing activities

from all machines in a single place. Each account has a view scoped to their area of control.

 Improved problem detection via alerts. The new Alerts tab was added. Alerts are raised not only

on errors or failures, but also on frozen, missed, or corrupted backups, exceeded quotas. Once a

problem is resolved, the alert is automatically dismissed.

Backup

 Self-service backup monitor. Backup monitor (in a Windows taskbar or an OS X menu bar)

enables the end users to control the backup process:

 Protect the machine with a single click immediately after the agent installation.

 View the backup progress.

 Prevent the backups from running.

 Backup replication. The ability to replicate backups (p. 33) to a local folder or to a network share.

Separate retention rules can be applied to the second destination.

 Advanced backup schemes. The ability to choose a backup scheme (p. 32) (Always full; Weekly

full, Daily incremental; Custom) when configuring a disk-level backup to a local or a network

folder.

 Advanced scheduling options. The ability to create a backup plan without a predefined schedule

and to disable a schedule for an existing backup plan. The plans with the disabled schedule can

be run manually.

 Flexible backup configuration. The new backup options give you more control over the backup

process:

 Backup consolidation

 Backup splitting

 Compression level

 Fast incremental/differential backup

 File-level security

 Task failure handling

Recovery

 Simplified P2V and V2P migration. The ability to recover backups of physical machines as virtual

machines and vice versa (p. 54) by using the web interface.

 Enhanced backups management. The new Backups tab enables browsing and management (p.

48) of locally stored backups, including backups of machines which are no longer present in the

backup console. Each account has a view scoped to their area of control.

 More recovery options:

 Restart the machine automatically after a recovery is finished.

Other

 Backup agents (p. 18) and bootable media now support HTTP proxy servers.

 It is now possible to delete a single backup (p. 48).

 The backup agent setup language can now be selected in the setup program.

 Usability fixes and improvements. The user interface was improved to simplify the backup and

recovery configuration.

2.3 Software requirements

2.3.1 Supported web browsers

The backup service web interface supports the following web browsers:

 Google Chrome 29 or later

 Mozilla Firefox 23 or later

 Opera 16 or later

 Windows Internet Explorer 10 or later

 Safari 5.1.7 or later running in the OS X and iOS operating systems

In other web browsers (including Safari browsers running in other operating systems), the user

interface might be displayed incorrectly, or some functions may be unavailable.

2.3.2 Supported operating systems and environments

Agent for Windows

Windows XP Professional SP2+ (x86, x64)

Windows Server 2003/2003 R2 – Standard and Enterprise editions (x86, x64)

Windows Small Business Server 2003/2003 R2

Windows Vista – all editions

Windows Server 2008 – Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter, and Web editions (x86, x64)

Windows Small Business Server 2008

Windows 7 – all editions

Windows Server 2008 R2 – Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter, Foundation, and Web editions

Windows MultiPoint Server 2010/2011/2012

Windows Small Business Server 2011 – all editions

Windows 8/8.1 – all editions except for the Windows RT editions (x86, x64)

Windows Server 2012/2012 R2 – all editions

Windows Storage Server 2003/2008/2008 R2/2012/2012 R2

Windows 10 - Home, Pro, Education, Enterprise editions

Windows Server 2016 – Technical Preview 4

Agent for Linux

Linux with kernel from 2.4.20 to 4.4 and glibc 2.3.2 or later

Various x86 and x86_64 Linux distributions, including:

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.x, 5.x, 6.x, 7.0, 7.1, and 7.2

Ubuntu 9.10, 10.04, 10.10, 11.04, 11.10, 12.04, 12.10, 13.04, 13.10, 14.04, 14.10, 15.04,

and 15.10

Fedora 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 and 11

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 – supported on file systems, except for Btrfs

Debian 4, 5, 6, 7.0, 7.2, 7.4, 7.5, 7.6, 7.7, 8.0, 8.1, and 8.2

CentOS 5.x, 6.x, and 7.0

Oracle Linux 5.x, 6.x, 7.0, 7.1, and 7.2 – both Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel and Red Hat

Compatible Kernel

CloudLinux 6.x

ClearOS 5.x, 6.x, 7, and 7.1

Before installing the product on a system that does not use RPM Package Manager, such as

an Ubuntu system, you need to install this manager manually; for example, by running the

following command (as the root user): apt-get install rpm

Agent for Mac

OS X Mountain Lion 10.8

OS X Mavericks 10.9

OS X Yosemite 10.10

OS X El Capitan 10.11

Agent for VMware

This agent is delivered as a Windows application for running in any operating system listed

above for Agent for Windows.

VMware ESX(i) 4.0, 4.1, 5.0, 5.1, 5.5, and 6.0

Agent for Hyper-V

Windows Server 2008 (x64) with Hyper-V

Windows Server 2008 R2 with Hyper-V

Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008/2008 R2

Windows Server 2012/2012 R2 with Hyper-V

Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2012/2012 R2

Windows 8, 8.1 (x64) with Hyper-V

Windows 10 – Pro, Education, and Enterprise editions with Hyper-V

Windows Server 2016 with Hyper-V – Technical Preview 4

Agent for Virtuozzo

Virtuozzo 6.0.10

2.3.3 Supported Microsoft SQL Server versions

Agent for SQL supports the following versions of Microsoft SQL Server:

 Microsoft SQL Server 2005

 Microsoft SQL Server 2008

 Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2

 Microsoft SQL Server 2012

 Microsoft SQL Server 2014

2.3.4 Supported Microsoft Exchange Server versions

Agent for Exchange supports the following versions of Microsoft Exchange Server:

 Microsoft Exchange Server 2016 – all editions

 Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 – all editions, Cumulative Update 1 (CU1) and later.

 Microsoft Exchange Server 2007/2010 – all editions, all service packs.

 Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 – all editions, SP2 or later.

Hotfix http://support.microsoft.com/kb/908072 must be installed.

2.4 Activating the account

When an administrator creates an account for you, an email message is sent to your email address.

The message contains the following information:

 An account activation link. Сlick the link and set the password for the account. Remember your

 A link to the backup console login page. Use this link to access the console in future. The login

and password are the same as in the previous step.

2.5 Accessing the backup service

You can log in to the backup service if you activated your account.

To log in to the backup service

1. Go to the backup service login page. The login page address was included in the activation email

message.

2. Type the login and password of the account.

3. Click Log in.

2.6 Installing the software

2.6.1 Preparation

Step 1

Choose the agent, depending on what you are going to back up. The following table summarizes the

information, to help you decide.

Note that Agent for Windows is installed along with Agent for Exchange and Agent for SQL. If you

install, for example, Agent for SQL, you also will be able to back up the entire machine where the

agent is installed.

What are you going to

back up?

Which agent do I need?

Where to install it?

Physical machines

running Windows

Agent for Windows

On the machine that will be backed up.

Physical machines

running Linux

Agent for Linux

On the machine that will be backed up.

Physical machines

running OS X

Agent for Mac

On the machine that will be backed up.

VMware ESXi virtual

machines

Agent for VMware

On a Windows machine that has network access to

vCenter Server and to the virtual machine storage.*

Hyper-V virtual

machines

Agent for Hyper-V

On the Hyper-V host.

Virtuozzo virtual

machines and containers

Agent for Virtuozzo

On the Virtuozzo host.

SQL databases

Agent for SQL

On the machine running Microsoft SQL Server.

Exchange databases

Agent for Exchange

On the machine running Microsoft Exchange Server.

Virtual machines hosted

on Windows Azure

The same as for physical

machines**

On the machine that will be backed up.

*If your ESXi uses a SAN attached storage, install the agent on a machine connected to the same SAN. The

agent will back up the virtual machines directly from the storage rather than via the ESXi host and LAN.

**A virtual machine is considered virtual if it is backed up by an external agent. If an agent is installed in the

guest system, the machine appears as a physical machine.

Step 2

Review the system requirements for the agents.

Agent

Disk space occupied by the agent(s)

Agent for Windows

550 MB

Agent for Linux

500 MB

Agent for Mac

450 MB

Agent for VMware

700 MB (150 MB + 550 MB Agent for Windows)

Agent for Hyper-V

600 MB (50 MB + 550 MB Agent for Windows)

Agent for Virtuozzo

500 MB

Agent for Exchange

750 MB (200 MB + 550 MB Agent for Windows)

Agent for SQL

600 MB (50 MB + 550 MB Agent for Windows)

The typical memory consumption is 300 MB above the operating system and running applications.

The peak consumption may reach 2 GB, depending on the amount and type of data being processed

by the agents.

Step 3

Download the setup program. To find the download links, click All machines > Add.

The Add machine page provides web installers for each agent that is installed in Windows. A web

installer is a small executable file that downloads the main setup program from the Internet and

saves it as a temporary file. This file is deleted immediately after the installation.

If you want to store the setup programs locally, download a package containing all agents for

installation in Windows by using the link at the bottom of the Add machine page. Both 32-bit and

64-bit packages are available. These packages also enable unattended installation, for example, via

Group Policy. This advanced scenario is described in the Administrator's Guide (p. 10).

Installation in Linux and OS X is performed from ordinary setup programs.

All setup programs require an Internet connection to register the machine in the backup service. If

there is no Internet connection, the installation will fail.

Step 4

Before the installation, ensure that your firewalls and other components of your network security

system (such as a proxy sever) allow both inbound and outbound connections through the following

TCP ports:

 443 and 8443 These ports are used for accessing the backup console, registering the agents,

downloading the certificates, user authorization, and downloading files from the cloud storage.

 7770...7800 The agents use these ports to communicate with the backup management server.

 44445 The agents use this port for data transfer during backup and recovery.

If a proxy server is enabled in your network, refer to the "Proxy server settings" (p. 18) section to

understand whether you need to configure these settings on each machine that runs a backup agent.

2.6.2 Proxy server settings

The backup agents can transfer data through an HTTP proxy server.

The agent installation requires an Internet connection. If a proxy server is configured in Windows

(Control panel > Internet Options > Connections), the setup program reads the proxy server settings

from the registry and uses them automatically. In Linux and OS X, you must specify the proxy settings

before the installation.

Use the procedures below to specify the proxy settings before the agent installation or to change

them at a later time.

In Linux

1. Create the file /etc/Acronis/Global.config and open it in a text editor.

2. Copy and paste the following lines into the file:

<?xml version="1.0" ?>

<value name="Host" type="TString">"proxy.company.com"</value>

</key>

</registry>

3. Replace proxy.company.com with your proxy server host name/IP address, and 443 with the

decimal value of the port number.

4. Save the file.

5. If the backup agent is not installed yet, you can now install it. Otherwise, as the root user, restart

the agent by executing the following command in any directory:

sudo service acronis_mms restart

In OS X

1. Create the file /Library/Application Support/Acronis/Registry/Global.config and open it in a

text editor, such as Text Edit.

2. Copy and paste the following lines into the file:

<?xml version="1.0" ?>

<value name="Host" type="TString">"proxy.company.com"</value>

</key>

</registry>

3. Replace proxy.company.com with your proxy server host name/IP address, and 443 with the

decimal value of the port number.

4. Save the file.

5. If the backup agent is not installed yet, you can now install it. Otherwise, do the following to

restart the agent:

a. Go to Applications > Utilities > Terminal

b. Run the following commands:

sudo launchctl stop acronis_mms

sudo launchctl start acronis_mms

In Windows

1. Create a new text document and open it in a text editor, such as Notepad.

2. Copy and paste the following lines into the file:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Acronis\Global\HttpProxy]

"Enabled"=dword:00000001

"Host"="proxy.company.com"

"Port"=dword:000001bb

3. Replace proxy.company.com with your proxy server host name/IP address, and 000001bb

with the hexadecimal value of the port number. For example, 000001bb is port 443.

4. Save the document as proxy.reg.

5. Run the file as an administrator.

6. Confirm that you want to edit the Windows registry.

7. If the backup agent is not installed yet, you can now install it. Otherwise, do the following to

restart the agent:

a. In the Start menu, click Run, and then type: cmd

b. Click OK.

c. Run the following commands:

net stop mms

net start mms

2.6.3 Linux packages

To add the necessary modules to the Linux kernel, the setup program needs the following Linux

packages:

 The package with kernel headers or sources. The package version must match the kernel version.

 The GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) compiler system. The GCC version must be the one with

which the kernel was compiled.

 The Make tool.

 The Perl interpreter.

The names of these packages vary depending on your Linux distribution.

In Red Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS, and Fedora, the packages normally will be installed by the setup

program. In other distributions, you need to install the packages if they are not installed or do not

have the required versions.

Are the required packages already installed?

To check whether the packages are already installed, perform these steps:

1. Run the following command to find out the kernel version and the required GCC version:

cat /proc/version

This command returns lines similar to the following: Linux version 2.6.35.6 and gcc

version 4.5.1

2. Run the following command to check whether the Make tool and the GCC compiler are installed:

make -v

gcc -v

For gcc, ensure that the version returned by the command is the same as in the gcc version in

step 1. For make, just ensure that the command runs.

3. Check whether the appropriate version of the packages for building kernel modules is installed:

 In Red Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS, and Fedora, run the following command:

yum list installed | grep kernel-devel

 In Ubuntu, run the following commands:

dpkg --get-selections | grep linux-headers

dpkg --get-selections | grep linux-image

In either case, ensure that the package versions are the same as in Linux version in step 1.

4. Run the following command to check whether the Perl interpreter is installed:

perl --version

If you see the information about the Perl version, the interpreter is installed.

Installing the packages from the repository

The following table lists how to install the required packages in various Linux distributions.

Linux

distribution

Package names

How to install

Red Hat

Enterprise

Linux

kernel-devel

gcc

make

The setup program will download and install the packages

automatically by using your Red Hat subscription.

perl

Run the following command:

yum install perl

CentOS

Fedora

kernel-devel

gcc

make

The setup program will download and install the packages

automatically.

perl

Run the following command:

yum install perl

Ubuntu

linux-headers

linux-image

gcc

make

perl

Run the following commands:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install linux-headers-`uname -r`

sudo apt-get install linux-image-`uname -r`

sudo apt-get install gcc-<package version>

sudo apt-get install make

sudo apt-get install perl

The packages will be downloaded from the distribution's repository and installed.

For other Linux distributions, please refer to the distribution's documentation regarding the exact

names of the required packages and the ways to install them.

Installing the packages manually

You may need to install the packages manually if:

 The machine does not have an active Red Hat subscription or Internet connection.

 The setup program cannot find the kernel-devel or gcc version corresponding to the kernel

version. If the available kernel-devel is more recent than your kernel, you need to either update

the kernel or install the matching kernel-devel version manually.

 You have the required packages on the local network and do not want to spend time for

automatic search and downloading.

Obtain the packages from your local network or a trusted third-party website, and install them as

follows:

 In Red Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS, or Fedora, run the following command as the root user:

rpm -ivh PACKAGE_FILE1 PACKAGE_FILE2 PACKAGE_FILE3

 In Ubuntu, run the following command:

sudo dpkg -i PACKAGE_FILE1 PACKAGE_FILE2 PACKAGE_FILE3

Example: Installing the packages manually in Fedora 14

Follow these steps to install the required packages in Fedora 14 on a 32-bit machine:

1. Run the following command to determine the kernel version and the required GCC version:

cat /proc/version

The output of this command includes the following:

Linux version 2.6.35.6-45.fc14.i686

gcc version 4.5.1

2. Obtain the kernel-devel and gcc packages that correspond to this kernel version:

kernel-devel-2.6.35.6-45.fc14.i686.rpm

gcc-4.5.1-4.fc14.i686.rpm

3. Obtain the make package for Fedora 14:

make-3.82-3.fc14.i686

4. Install the packages by running the following commands as the root user:

rpm -ivh kernel-devel-2.6.35.6-45.fc14.i686.rpm

rpm -ivh gcc-4.5.1.fc14.i686.rpm

rpm -ivh make-3.82-3.fc14.i686

You can specify all these packages in a single rpm command. Installing any of these packages may

require installing additional packages to resolve dependencies.

2.6.4 Installing agents

In Windows

1. Ensure that the machine is connected to the Internet.

2. Log on as an administrator and start the setup program.

3. Click Install.

4. Specify the credentials of the account to which the machine should be assigned.

5. Click Show proxy settings if you want to verify or change the proxy server host name/IP address

and port. Otherwise, skip this step. If a proxy server is enabled in Windows, it is detected and

used automatically.

6. [Only when installing Agent for VMware] Specify the address and access credentials for the

vCenter Server or standalone ESXi host whose virtual machines the agent will back up.

7. [Only when installing on a domain controller] Specify the user account under which the agent

service will run. For security reasons, the setup program does not automatically create new

accounts on a domain controller.

8. Click Start installation.

You can change the installation path and the account for the agent service by clicking Customize

installation settings on the first step of the installation wizard.

In Linux

1. Ensure that the machine is connected to the Internet.

2. As the root user, run the installation file.

3. Specify the credentials of the account to which the machine should be assigned.

4. Complete the installation procedure.

Troubleshooting information is provided in the file:

/usr/lib/Acronis/BackupAndRecovery/HOWTO.INSTALL

In OS X

1. Ensure that the machine is connected to the Internet.

2. Double-click the installation file (.dmg).

3. Wait while the operating system mounts the installation disk image.

4. Inside the image, run the .pkg file.

5. If prompted, provide administrator credentials.

6. Specify the credentials of the account to which the machine should be assigned.

7. Complete the installation procedure.

2.6.5 Updating agents

Agents starting with the following versions can be updated by using the web interface:

 Agent for Windows, Agent for VMware, Agent for Hyper-V: version 11.9.191 and later

 Agent for Linux: version 11.9.179 and later

 Agent for Mac, Agent for SQL, Agent for Exchange, Agent for Virtuozzo: any version

To find the agent version, select the machine, and then click Info.

To update from earlier agent versions, download and install the newest agent manually. To find the

download links, click All machines > Add machine.

To update an agent by using the web interface

1. Click Updates.

The software displays the machines with outdated agent versions.

2. Select the machines on which you want to update the agents. The machines must be online.

3. Click Update agent.

The update progress is shown in the status column for each machine.

2.6.6 Uninstalling agents

If you want to modify, repair, or manually update an agent, do not uninstall it from the machine.

Instead, run the agent setup program, and then choose the corresponding option. If you remove the

agent and install it again, the machine will be duplicated in the backup service and the backups of the

old machine will not be associated with the new machine.

If you no longer want to back up a physical machine, do the following:

1. Uninstall the agent as described below. Once the agent is uninstalled, the machine is shown as

offline in the backup console.

2. In the backup console, select the machine, and then click Delete.

If you no longer want to back up virtual machines, do the following:

1. Uninstall Agent for VMware or Agent for Hyper-V as described below. Once the agent is

uninstalled, the machines are shown as offline in the backup console.

2. In the backup console, select the machine where Agent for VMware or Agent for Hyper-V was

installed, and then click Delete.

In Windows

1. Log on as an administrator.

2. Go to Control panel, and then select Programs and Features (Add or Remove Programs in

Windows XP) > Acronis Backup Client > Uninstall.

3. Confirm your decision.

In Linux

1. As the root user, run /usr/lib/Acronis/BackupAndRecovery/uninstall/uninstall

2. Confirm your decision.

In OS X

1. Double-click the installation file (.dmg).

2. Wait while the operating system mounts the installation disk image.

3. Inside the image, run the Uninstall.tool file.

4. If prompted, provide administrator credentials.

5. Confirm your decision.

2.7 Backup console views

The backup console has two views: a simple view and a table view. To switch between the views,

click the corresponding icon in the top right corner.

The simple view supports a small number of machines.

The table view is enabled automatically when the number of machines becomes large.

Both views provide access to the same features and operations. This document describes access to

operations from the table view.

2.8 Backup

A backup plan is a set of rules that specify how the given data will be protected on a given machine.

A backup plan can be applied to multiple machines at the time of its creation, or later.

To create the first backup plan

1. Select the machines that you want to back up.

2. Click Backup.

The software displays a new backup plan template.

3. [Optional] To modify the plan parameters, click the corresponding section of the backup plan

panel.

4. [Optional] To modify the backup options, click the gear icon.

5. Click Apply.

6. Specify a name for the new backup plan, and then click OK.

To apply an existing backup plan

1. Select the machines that you want to back up.

2. Click Backup. If a common backup plan is already applied to the selected machines, click Add

backup plan.

The software displays previously created backup plans.

3. Select a backup plan to apply.

4. Click Apply.

2.8.1 Backup plan cheat sheet

The following table summarizes the available backup plan parameters. Use the table to create a

backup plan that best fits your needs.

WHAT TO BACK UP

ITEMS TO BACK UP

Selection methods

WHERE TO

BACK UP

SCHEDULE

Backup schemes

(not for Cloud)

HOW LONG TO KEEP

Disks/volumes

(physical machines)

Direct selection (p. 26)

Policy rules (p. 26)

File filters (p. 30)

Cloud (p. 31)

Local folder (p.

31)

Network

folder (p. 31)

Always incremental

(Single-file) (p. 32)

Always full (p. 32)

Weekly full, daily

incremental (p. 32)

Custom (F-D-I) (p. 32)

By backup age (single

rule/per backup set)

(p. 33)

By number of

backups (p. 33)

Keep indefinitely (p.

33)

Disks/volumes (virtual

machines)

Policy rules (p. 26)

File filters (p. 30)

Files (physical

machines only)

Direct selection (p. 28)

Policy rules (p. 28)

File filters (p. 30)

Always full (p. 32)

Weekly full, daily

incremental (p. 32)

Custom (F-D-I) (p. 32)

System state

Direct selection (p. 29)

Always full (p. 32)

Weekly full, daily

incremental (p. 32)

Custom (F-I) (p. 32)

SQL databases

Direct selection (p. 29)

Exchange databases

Direct selection (p. 30)

2.8.2 Selecting data to back up

2.8.2.1 Selecting disks/volumes

A disk-level backup contains a copy of a disk or a volume in a packaged form. You can recover

individual disks, volumes, or files from a disk-level backup. A backup of an entire machine is a backup

of all its disks.

There are two ways of selecting disks/volumes: directly on each machine or by using policy rules. You

can exclude files from a disk backup by setting the file filters (p. 30).

Direct selection

Direct selection is available only for physical machines.

1. In What to back up, select Disks/volumes.

2. Click Items to back up.

3. In Select items for backup, select Directly.

4. For each of the machines included in the backup plan, select the check boxes next to the disks or

volumes to back up.

5. Click Done.

Using policy rules

1. In What to back up, select Disks/volumes.

2. Click Items to back up.

3. In Select items for backup, select Using policy rules.

4. Select any of the predefined rules, type your own rules, or combine both.

The policy rules will be applied to all of the machines included in the backup plan. If no data

meeting at least one of the rules is found on a machine when the backup starts, the backup will

fail on that machine.

5. Click Done.

Rules for Windows, Linux, and OS X

 [All volumes] selects all volumes on machines running Windows and all mounted volumes on

machines running Linux or OS X.

Rules for Windows

 Drive letter (for example C:\) selects the volume with the specified drive letter.

 [Fixed Volumes (Physical machines)] selects all volumes of physical machines, other than

removable media. Fixed volumes include volumes on SCSI, ATAPI, ATA, SSA, SAS, and SATA

devices, and on RAID arrays.

 [BOOT+SYSTEM] selects the system and boot volumes. This combination is the minimal set of

data that ensures recovery of the operating system from the backup.

 [Disk 1] selects the first disk of the machine, including all volumes on that disk. To select

another disk, type the corresponding number.

Rules for Linux

 /dev/hda1 selects the first volume on the first IDE hard disk.

 /dev/sda1 selects the first volume on the first SCSI hard disk.

 /dev/md1 selects the first software RAID hard disk.

To select other basic volumes, specify /dev/xdyN, where:

 "x" corresponds to the disk type

 "y" corresponds to the disk number (a for the first disk, b for the second disk, and so on)

 "N" is the volume number.

To select a logical volume, specify its name along with the volume group name. For example, to back

up two logical volumes, lv_root and lv_bin, both of which belong to the volume group

vg_mymachine, specify:

/dev/vg_mymachine/lv_root

/dev/vg_mymachine/lv_bin

Rules for OS X

 [Disk 1] Selects the first disk of the machine, including all volumes on that disk. To select

another disk, type the corresponding number.

2.8.2.2 Selecting files/folders

File-level backup is available only for physical machines.

A file-level backup is not sufficient for recovery of the operating system. Choose file backup if you

plan to protect only certain data (the current project, for example). This will reduce the backup size,

thus saving storage space.

There are two ways of selecting files: directly on each machine or by using policy rules. Either

method allows you to further refine the selection by setting the file filters (p. 30).

Direct selection

1. In What to back up, select Files/folders.

2. Click Items to back up.

3. In Select items for backup, select Directly.

4. For each of the machines included in the backup plan:

a. Click Select files and folders.

b. Click Local folder or Network share.

The share must be accessible from the selected machine.

c. Browse to the required files/folders or enter the path and click the arrow button. If

prompted, specify the user name and password for the shared folder.

d. Select the required files/folders.

e. Click Done.

Using policy rules

1. In What to back up, select Files/folders.

2. Click Items to back up.

3. In Select items for backup, select Using policy rules.

4. Select any of the predefined rules, type your own rules, or combine both.

The policy rules will be applied to all of the machines included in the backup plan. If no data

meeting at least one of the rules is found on a machine when the backup starts, the backup will

fail on that machine.

5. Click Done.

Selection rules for Windows

 Full path to a file or folder, for example D:\Work\Text.doc or C:\Windows.

 Templates:

 [All Files] selects all files on all volumes of the machine.

 [All Profiles Folder] selects the folder where all user profiles are located (typically,

C:\Users or C:\Documents and Settings).

 Environment variables:

 %ALLUSERSPROFILE% selects the folder where the common data of all user profiles is

located (typically, C:\ProgramData or C:\Documents and Settings\All Users).

 %PROGRAMFILES% selects the Program Files folder (for example, C:\Program Files).

 %WINDIR% selects the folder where Windows is located (for example, C:\Windows).

You can use other environment variables or a combination of environment variables and text. For

example, to select the Java folder in the Program Files folder, type: %PROGRAMFILES%\Java.

Selection rules for Linux

 Full path to a file or directory. For example, to back up file.txt on the volume /dev/hda3

mounted on /home/usr/docs, specify /dev/hda3/file.txt or /home/usr/docs/file.txt.

 /home selects the home directory of the common users.

 /root selects the root user's home directory.

 /usr selects the directory for all user-related programs.

 /etc selects the directory for system configuration files.

Selection rules for OS X

Full path to a file or directory.

Examples:

 To back up file.txt on your desktop, specify /Users/<username>/Desktop/file.txt, where

<username> is your user name.

 To back up all users' home directories, specify /Users.

 To back up the directory where the applications are installed, specify /Applications.

2.8.2.3 Selecting system state

System state backup is available for machines running Windows Vista and later.

To back up system state, in What to back up, select System state.

A system state backup is comprised of the following files:

 Task scheduler configuration

 VSS Metadata Store

 Performance counter configuration information

 MSSearch Service

 Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS)

 The registry

 Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)

 Component Services Class registration database

2.8.2.4 Selecting SQL databases

A backup of an SQL database contains the database files (.mdf, .ndf), log files (.ldf), and other

associated files. The files are backed with the help of the SQL Writer service. The service must be

running at the time that the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) requests a backup or recovery.

To select SQL databases

1. Click Microsoft SQL.

Machines with Agent for SQL installed are shown.

2. Browse to the data that you want to back up.

Double-click a machine to view the SQL Server instances it contains. Double-click an instance to

view the databases it contains.

3. Select the data that you want to back up. You can select entire instances or individual databases.

 If you select entire SQL Server instances, all current databases and all databases that are

added to the selected instances in the future will be backed up.

 If you select databases directly, only the selected databases will be backed up.

4. Click Backup. If prompted, provide credentials to access the SQL Server data. The account must

be a member of the Backup Operators or Administrators group on the machine and a member

of the sysadmin role on each of the instances that you are going to back up.

2.8.2.5 Selecting Exchange Server data

The following table summarizes the Microsoft Exchange Server data that you can select for backup

and the minimal user rights required to back up the data.

Exchange version

Data items

User rights

2003

Storage groups

Membership in the Organization Management role

group.

2007

Storage groups

Membership in the Exchange Organization

Administrators role group

2010/2013

Databases

Membership in the Organization Management role

group.

A full backup contains all of the selected Exchange Server data.

An incremental backup contains the changed blocks of the database files, the checkpoint files, and a

small number of the log files that are more recent than the corresponding database checkpoint.

Because changes to the database files are included in the backup, there is no need to back up all the

transaction log records since the previous backup. Only the log that is more recent than the

checkpoint needs to be replayed after a recovery. This makes for faster recovery and ensures

successful database backup, even with circular logging enabled.

The transaction log files are truncated after each successful backup.

To select Exchange Server data

1. Click Microsoft Exchange.

Machines with Agent for Exchange installed are shown.

2. Browse to the data that you want to back up.

Double-click a machine to view the databases (storage groups) it contains.

3. Select the data that you want to back up. If prompted, provide the credentials to access the data.

4. Click Backup.

2.8.2.6 File filters

File filters define which files and folders to skip during the backup process.

File filters are available for both disk-level and file-level backup.

To enable file filters

1. Select the data to back up.

2. Click the gear icon next to the backup plan name, and then click Backup options.

3. Select File filters.

4. Use any of the options described below.

Exclude files matching specific criteria

There are two options that function in an inverse manner.

 Back up only files matching the following criteria

Example: If you select to back up the entire machine and specify C:\File.exe in the filter criteria,

only this file will be backed up.

 Do not back up files matching the following criteria

Example: If you select to back up the entire machine and specify C:\File.exe in the filter criteria,

only this file will be skipped.

It is possible to use both options simultaneously. The latter option overrides the former, i.e. if you

specify C:\File.exe in both fields, this file will be skipped during a backup.

Criteria

 Full path

Specify the full path to the file or folder, starting with the drive letter (when backing up

Windows) or the root directory (when backing up Linux or OS X).

Both in Windows and Linux/OS X, you can use a forward slash in the file or folder path (as in

C:/Temp/File.tmp). In Windows, you can also use the traditional backslash (as in

C:\Temp\File.tmp).

 Name

Specify the name of the file or folder, such as Document.txt. All files and folders with that name

will be selected.

The criteria are not case-sensitive. For example, by specifying C:\Temp, you will also select C:\TEMP,

C:\temp, and so on.

You can use one or more wildcard characters (* and ?) in the criterion. These characters can be used

both within the full path and in the file or folder name.

The asterisk (*) substitutes for zero or more characters in a file name. For example, the criterion

Doc*.txt matches files such as Doc.txt and Document.txt

The question mark (?) substitutes for exactly one character in a file name. For example, the criterion

Doc?.txt matches files such as Doc1.txt and Docs.txt, but not the files Doc.txt or Doc11.txt

Exclude hidden files and folders

Select this check box to skip files and folders that have the Hidden attribute (for file systems that are

supported by Windows) or that start with a period (.) (for file systems in Linux, such as Ext2 and

Ext3). If a folder is hidden, all of its contents (including files that are not hidden) will be excluded.

Exclude system files and folders

This option is effective only for file systems that are supported by Windows. Select this check box to

skip files and folders with the System attribute. If a folder has the System attribute, all of its contents

(including files that do not have the System attribute) will be excluded.

Tip You can view file or folder attributes in the file/folder properties or by using the attrib command. For more

information, refer to the Help and Support Center in Windows.

2.8.3 Selecting a destination

Click Where to back up, and then select one of the following:

 Cloud storage

Backups will be stored in the cloud data center.

 Local folders

If a single machine is selected, browse to a folder on the selected machine or type the folder

path.

If multiple machines are selected, type the folder path. Backups will be stored in this folder on

each of the selected physical machines or on the machine where the agent for virtual machines is

installed. If the folder does not exist, it will be created.

 Network folder

Browse to the required shared folder or enter the path and click the arrow button. If prompted,

specify the user name and password for the shared folder.

2.8.4 Schedule

The scheduling parameters depend on the backup destination.

When backing up to cloud storage

By default, backups are performed on a daily basis, Monday to Friday. You can select the time to run

the backup.

If you want to change the backup frequency, move the slider, and then specify the backup schedule.

Important The first backup is full, which means that it is the most time-consuming. All subsequent backups are

incremental and take significantly less time.

When backing up to a local or network folder

You can choose one of the predefined backup schemes or create a custom scheme. A backup scheme

is a part of the backup plan that includes the backup schedule and the backup methods.

In Backup scheme, select one of the following:

 [Only for disk-level backups] Always incremental (single-file)

By default, backups are performed on a daily basis, Monday to Friday. You can select the time to

run the backup.

If you want to change the backup frequency, move the slider, and then specify the backup

schedule.

The backups use the new single-file backup format (p. 56).

 Always full

By default, backups are performed on a daily basis, Monday to Friday. You can select the time to

run the backup.

If you want to change the backup frequency, move the slider, and then specify the backup

schedule.

All backups are full.

 Weekly full, Daily incremental

By default, backups are performed on a daily basis, Monday to Friday. You can modify the days of

the week and the time to run the backup.

A full backup is created once a week. All other backups are incremental. The day on which the

full backup is created depends on the Weekly backup option (click the gear icon, then Backup

options > Weekly backup).

 Custom

Specify schedules for full, differential, and incremental backups.

Differential backup is not available when backing up SQL data, Exchange data, or system state.

Additional scheduling options

With any destination, you can do the following:

 Set a date range for when the schedule is effective. Select the Run backup plan within a date

range check box, and then specify the date range.

 Disable the schedule. While the schedule is disabled, the retention rules are not applied unless a

backup is started manually.

 Introduce a delay from the scheduled time. The delay value for each machine is selected

randomly and ranges from zero to the maximum value you specify. You may want to use this

setting when backing up multiple machines to a network location, to avoid excessive network

load.

Click the gear icon, then Backup options > Schedule. Select the Distribute backup start times

within a time window check box, and then specify the maximum delay. The delay value for each

machine is determined when the backup plan is applied to the machine and remains the same

until you edit the backup plan and change the maximum delay value.

Note This option is enabled by default, with the maximum delay set to 30 minutes.

2.8.5 Retention rules

1. Click How long to keep.

2. In Cleanup, choose one of the following:

 By backup age (default)

Specify how long to keep backups created by the backup plan. By default, the retention rules

are specified for each backup set (p. 56) separately. If you want to use a single rule for all

backups, click Switch to single rule for all backup sets.

 By number of backups

Specify the maximum number of backups to keep.

 Keep backups indefinitely

Note A backup stored in a local or network folder cannot be deleted if it has dependent backups that are not

subject to deletion. Such backup chains are deleted only when the lifetime of all their backups expires. This

requires extra space for storing backups whose deletion is postponed. Also, the backup age and number of

backups may exceed the values you specify.

2.8.6 Replication

If you enable backup replication, each backup will be copied to a second location immediately after

creation. If earlier backups were not replicated (for example, the network connection was lost), the

software also replicates all of the backups that appeared after the last successful replication.

Replicated backups do not depend on the backups remaining in the original location and vice versa.

You can recover data from any backup, without access to other locations.

Usage examples

 Reliable disaster recovery

Store your backups both on-site (for immediate recovery) and off-site (to secure the backups

from local storage failure or a natural disaster).

 Using the cloud storage to protect data from a natural disaster

Replicate the backups to the cloud storage by transferring only the data changes.

 Keeping only the latest recovery points

Delete older backups from a fast storage according to retention rules, in order to not overuse

expensive storage space.

Supported locations

You can replicate a backup from any of these locations:

 A local folder

 A network folder

You can replicate a backup to any of these locations:

 A local folder

 A network folder

 The cloud storage

To enable backup replication

1. On the backup plan panel, enable the Replicate backups switch.

2. In Where to replicate, specify the replication destination, as described in "Selecting a

destination" (p. 31).

3. In How long to keep, specify the retention rules, as described in "Retention rules" (p. 33).

2.8.7 Encryption

We recommend that you encrypt all backups that are stored in the cloud storage, especially if your

company is subject to regulatory compliance.

Important There is no way to recover encrypted backups if you lose or forget the password.

Encryption in a backup plan

To enable encryption, specify the encryption settings when creating a backup plan. After a backup

plan is applied, the encryption settings cannot be modified. To use different encryption settings,

create a new backup plan.

To specify the encryption settings in a backup plan

1. On the backup plan panel, enable the Encryption switch.

2. Specify and confirm the encryption password.

3. Select one of the following encryption algorithms:

 AES 128 – the backups will be encrypted by using the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)

algorithm with a 128-bit key.

 AES 192 – the backups will be encrypted by using the AES algorithm with a 192-bit key.

 AES 256 – the backups will be encrypted by using the AES algorithm with a 256-bit key.

4. Click OK.

Encryption as a machine property

This option is intended for administrators who handle backups of multiple machines. If you need a

unique encryption password for each machine or if you need to enforce encryption of backups

regardless of the backup plan encryption settings, save the encryption settings on each machine

individually.

Saving the encryption settings on a machine does not affect the currently applied backup plans, but

will override the encryption settings of all backup plans applied later. Any backup created by these

backup plans will be encrypted, even if encryption is disabled. After the settings are saved, they

cannot be modified, but you can reset them as described below.

This option is available for machines running Windows or Linux. It is not supported for OS X.

This option can be used on a machine running Agent for VMware. However, be careful if you have

more than one Agent for VMware connected to the same vCenter Server. It is mandatory to use the

same encryption settings for all of the agents, because there is a kind of load balancing among them.

To save the encryption settings on a machine

1. Log on as an administrator (in Windows) or the root user (in Linux).

2. Run the following script:

 In Windows: <installation_path>\PyShell\bin\acropsh.exe -m manage_creds

--set-password <encryption_password>

Here, <installation_path> is the backup agent installation path. By default, it is

%ProgramFiles%\BackupClient in 32-bit Windows and %ProgramFiles(x86)%\BackupClient

in 64-bit Windows.

 In Linux: /usr/sbin/acropsh -m manage_creds --set-password <encryption_password>

The backups will be encrypted using the AES algorithm with a 256-bit key.

To reset the encryption settings on a machine

1. Log on as an administrator (in Windows) or root user (in Linux).

2. Run the following script:

 In Windows: <installation_path>\PyShell\bin\acropsh.exe -m manage_creds --reset

Here, <installation_path> is the backup agent installation path. By default, it is

%ProgramFiles%\BackupClient in 32-bit Windows and %ProgramFiles(x86)%\BackupClient

in 64-bit Windows.

 In Linux: /usr/sbin/acropsh -m manage_creds --reset

Important After you reset the encryption settings on a machine, the backups of this machine will fail. To

continue backing up the machine, create a new backup plan.

How the encryption works

The AES cryptographic algorithm operates in the Cipher-block chaining (CBC) mode and uses a

randomly generated key with a user-defined size of 128, 192 or 256 bits. The larger the key size, the

longer it will take for the program to encrypt the backups and the more secure your data will be.

The encryption key is then encrypted with AES-256 using an SHA-256 hash of the password as a key.

The password itself is not stored anywhere on the disk or in the backups; the password hash is used

for verification purposes. With this two-level security, the backup data is protected from any

unauthorized access, but recovering a lost password is not possible.

2.8.8 Starting a backup manually

1. Select a machine that has at least one applied backup plan.

2. Click Backup.

3. If more than one backup plans are applied, select the backup plan.

4. Click Run now on the backup plan panel.

The backup progress is shown in the Status column for the machine.

2.9 Recovery

2.9.1 Recovery cheat sheet

The following table summarizes the available recovery methods. Use the table to choose a recovery

method that best fits your need.

What to recover

Recovery method

Physical machine

(Windows or Linux)

Using the web interface (p. 37)

Using bootable media (p. 41)

Physical machine (Mac)

Using bootable media (p. 41)

Virtual machine

(VMware or Hyper-V)

Using the web interface (p. 39)

Using bootable media (p. 41)

Virtual machine or

container (Virtuozzo)

Using the web interface (p. 39)

Files/Folders

Using the web interface (p. 41)

Downloading files from the cloud storage (p. 42)

Using bootable media (p. 43)

System state

Using the web interface (p. 44)

SQL databases

Using the web interface (p. 44)

Exchange databases

Using the web interface (p. 46)

SQL and Exchange

databases from

application-aware

backups

Using the web interface (p. 53)

2.9.2 Creating bootable media

Bootable media is a CD, DVD, USB flash drive, or other removable media that enables you to run the

agent without the help of an operating system. The main purpose of bootable media is to recover an

operating system that cannot start.

We highly recommend that you create and test a bootable media as soon as you start using disk-level

backup. Also, it is a good practice to re-create the media after each major update of the backup

agent.

You can recover either Windows or Linux by using the same media. To recover OS X, create a

separate media on a machine running OS X.

To create bootable media in Windows or Linux

1. Download the bootable media ISO file. To download the file, select a machine, and then click

Recover > More ways to recover... > Download ISO image.

2. Do any of the following:

 Burn a CD/DVD using the ISO file.

 Create a bootable USB flash drive by using the ISO file and one of the free tools available

online.

Use ISO to USB or RUFUS if you need to boot an UEFI machine, Win32DiskImager for a

BIOS machine. In Linux, using the dd utility makes sense.

 Connect the ISO file as a CD/DVD drive to the virtual machine that you want to recover.

To create bootable media in OS X

1. On a machine where Agent for Mac is installed, click Rescue Media Builder on the Applications

menu.

2. The software displays the connected removable media. Select the one that you want to make

bootable.

Warning All data on the disk will be erased.

3. Click Create.

4. Wait while the software creates the bootable media.

2.9.3 Recovering a machine

2.9.3.1 Physical machine

This section describes recovery of physical machines by using the web interface.

Use bootable media instead of the web interface if you need to recover:

 OS X

 Any operating system to bare metal or to an offline machine

Recovery of an operating system requires a reboot. You can choose whether to restart the machine

automatically or assign it the Interaction required status. The recovered operating system goes

online automatically.

To recover a physical machine

1. Select the backed-up machine.

2. Click Recovery.

3. Select a recovery point. Note that recovery points are filtered by location.

If the machine is offline, the recovery points are not displayed. Do any of the following:

 If the backup is located in the cloud storage, click Select machine, select a target machine

that is online, and then select a recovery point.

 Select a recovery point on the Backups tab (p. 48).

 Recover the machine as described in "Recovering disks by using bootable media" (p. 41).

4. Click Recover > Entire machine.

The software automatically maps the disks from the backup to the disks of the target machine.

 To recover to another physical machine, click Target machine, and then select a target

machine that is online.

 If the disk mapping fails, recover the machine as described in "Recovering disks by using

bootable media" (p. 41). The media enables you to choose disks for recovery and to map the

disks manually.

5. Click Start recovery.

6. Confirm that you want to overwrite the disks with their backed-up versions. Choose whether to

restart the machine automatically.

The recovery progress is shown on the Activities tab.

2.9.3.2 Physical machine to virtual

This section describes recovery of a physical machine as a virtual machine by using the web interface.

This operation can be performed if at least one Agent for VMware or Agent for Hyper-V is installed

and registered.

For more information about P2V migration, refer to "Machine migration" (p. 54).

To recover a physical machine as a virtual machine

1. Select the backed-up machine.

2. Click Recovery.

3. Select a recovery point. Note that recovery points are filtered by location.

If the machine is offline, the recovery points are not displayed. Do any of the following:

 If the backup is located in the cloud storage, click Select machine, select a machine that is

online, and then select a recovery point.

 Select a recovery point on the Backups tab (p. 48).

 Recover the machine as described in "Recovering disks by using bootable media" (p. 41).

4. Click Recover > Entire machine.

5. In Recover to, select Virtual machine.

6. Click Target machine.

a. Select the hypervisor (VMware ESXi or Hyper-V).

At least one Agent for VMware or Agent for Hyper-V must be installed.

b. Select whether to recover to a new or existing machine. The new machine option is

preferable as it does not require the disk configuration of the target machine to exactly

match the disk configuration in the backup.

c. Select the host and specify the new machine name, or select an existing target machine.

d. Click OK.

7. [Optional] When recovering to a new machine, you can also do the following:

 Click Datastore for ESXi or Path for Hyper-V, and then select the datastore (storage) for the

virtual machine.

 Сlick VM settings to change the memory size, the number of processors, and the network

connections of the virtual machine.

8. Click Start recovery.

9. When recovering to an existing virtual machine, confirm that you want to overwrite the disks.

The recovery progress is shown on the Activities tab.

2.9.3.3 Virtual machine

A virtual machine must be stopped during the recovery to this machine. The software stops the

machine without a prompt. When the recovery is completed, you have to start the machine

manually.

This behavior can be changed by using the VM power management recovery option (click Recovery

options > VM power management).

To recover a virtual machine

1. Do one of the following:

 Select a backed-up machine, click Recovery, and then select a recovery point.

 Select a recovery point on the Backups tab (p. 48).

2. Click Recover > Entire machine.

3. If you want to recover to a physical machine, select Physical machine in Recover to. Otherwise,

skip this step.

Recovery to a physical machine is possible only if the disk configuration of the target machine

exactly matches the disk configuration in the backup.

If this is the case, continue to step 4 in "Physical machine" (p. 37). Otherwise, we recommend

that you perform the V2P migration by using bootable media (p. 41).

4. The software automatically selects the original machine as the target machine.

To recover to another virtual machine, click Target machine, and then do the following:

a. Select the hypervisor (VMware ESXi, Hyper-V, or Virtuozzo).

Only Virtuozzo virtual machines can be recovered to Virtuozzo. For more information about

V2V migration, refer to "Machine migration" (p. 54).

b. Select whether to recover to a new or existing machine.

c. Select the host and specify the new machine name, or select an existing target machine.

d. Click OK.

5. [Optional] When recovering to a new machine, you can also do the following:

 Click Datastore for ESXi or Path for Hyper-V and Virtuozzo, and then select the datastore

(storage) for the virtual machine.

 Сlick VM settings to change the memory size, the number of processors, and the network

connections of the virtual machine.

6. Click Start recovery.

7. When recovering to an existing virtual machine, confirm that you want to overwrite the disks.

The recovery progress is shown on the Activities tab.

2.9.3.4 Recovering disks by using bootable media

For information about how to create bootable media, refer to "Creating bootable media" (p. 36).

To recover disks by using bootable media

1. Boot the target machine by using bootable media.

2. Click Manage this machine locally or click Rescue Bootable Media twice, depending on the

media type you are using.

3. If a proxy server is enabled in your network, click Tools > Proxy server, and then specify the

proxy server host name/IP address and port. Otherwise, skip this step.

4. On the welcome screen, click Recover.

5. Click Select data, and then click Browse.

6. Specify the backup location:

 To recover from cloud storage, select Cloud storage. Enter the credentials of the account to

which the backed up machine is assigned.

 To recover from a local or a network folder, browse to the folder under Local folders or

Network folders.

Click OK to confirm your selection.

7. Select the backup from which you want to recover the data. If prompted, type the password for

the backup.

8. In Backup contents, select the disks that you want to recover. Click OK to confirm your selection.

9. Under Where to recover, the software automatically maps the selected disks to the target disks.

If the mapping is not successful or if you are unsatisfied with the mapping result, you can re-map

disks manually.

Changing disk layout may affect the operating system bootability. Please use the original machine's disk

layout unless you feel fully confident of success.

10. [When recovering Linux] If the backed-up machine had logical volumes (LVM) and you want to

reproduce the original LVM structure:

a. Ensure that the number of the target machine disks and each disk capacity are equal to or

exceed those of the original machine, and then click Apply RAID/LVM.

b. Review the volume structure, and then click Apply RAID/LVM to create it.

11. If you are recovering an operating system to dissimilar hardware, choose to use the Universal

Restore feature.

[When recovering Windows] Click Add folder and specify the path to the location where drivers

for the motherboard, mass storage, and network adapter are stored. If the target hardware has a

specific mass storage controller, such as RAID (especially NVIDIA RAID) or a fibre channel

adapter, explicitly specify the mass storage drivers for them. To do this, in Mass storage drivers

to install anyway, click Add driver, and then specify the drivers.

12. [Optional] Click Recovery options to specify additional settings.

13. Click OK to start the recovery.

2.9.4 Recovering files

2.9.4.1 Recovering files by using the web interface

1. Select the machine that originally contained the data that you want to recover.

2. Click Recovery.

3. Select the recovery point. Note that recovery points are filtered by location.

If the selected machine is physical and it is offline, recovery points are not displayed. Select a

recovery point on the Backups tab (p. 48) or use other ways to recover:

 Download the files from the cloud storage (p. 42)

 Use bootable media (p. 43)

4. Click Recover > Files/folders.

5. Select the files that you want to recover.

6. If you want to save the files as a .zip file, click Download, select the location to save the data to,

and click Save. Otherwise, skip this step.

7. Click Recover.

8. Select the recovery destination. You can select the original location or any local or network

folder.

Files from virtual machines can be recovered to a network folder, or to the machine where Agent

for VMware, Agent for Hyper-V, or Agent for Virtuozzo is installed. If you select a network folder,

it must be accessible from that machine.

9. Click Start recovery.

10. Select one of the file overwriting options:

 Overwrite existing files

 Overwrite an existing file if it is older

 Do not overwrite existing files

The recovery progress is shown on the Activities tab.

2.9.4.2 Downloading files from the cloud storage

You can browse the cloud storage, view the contents of the backups, and download files that you

need.

Limitation: Backups of system state, SQL databases, and Exchange databases cannot be browsed.

To download files from the cloud storage

1. Select a machine that was backed up.

2. Click Recover > More ways to recover... > Download files.

3. Enter the credentials of the account to which the backed up machine is assigned.

4. [When browsing disk-level backups] Under Versions, click the backup from which you want to

recover the files.

[When browsing file-level backups] You can select the backup date and time in the next step,

under the gear icon located to the right of the selected file. By default, files are recovered from

the latest backup.

5. Browse to the required folder or use search to obtain the list of the required files and folders.

6. Select the check boxes for the items you need to recover, and then click Download.

If you select a single file, it will be downloaded as is. Otherwise, the selected data will be archived

into a .zip file.

7. Select the location to save the data to, and then click Save.

2.9.4.3 Recovering files by using bootable media

For information about how to create bootable media, refer to "Creating bootable media" (p. 36).

To recover files by using bootable media

1. Boot the target machine, by using the bootable media.

2. Click Manage this machine locally or click Rescue Bootable Media twice, depending on the

media type you are using.

3. If a proxy server is enabled in your network, click Tools > Proxy server, and then specify the

proxy server host name/IP address and port. Otherwise, skip this step.

4. On the welcome screen, click Recover.

5. Click Select data, and then click Browse.

6. Specify the backup location:

 To recover from cloud storage, select Cloud storage. Enter the credentials of the account to

which the backed up machine is assigned.

 To recover from a local or a network folder, browse to the folder under Local folders or

Network folders.

Click OK to confirm your selection.

7. Select the backup from which you want to recover the data. If prompted, type the password for

the backup.

8. In Backup contents, select Folders/files.

9. Select the data that you want to recover. Click OK to confirm your selection.

10. Under Where to recover, specify a folder. Optionally, you can prohibit overwriting of newer

versions of files or exclude some files from recovery.

11. [Optional] Click Recovery options to specify additional settings.

12. Click OK to start the recovery.

2.9.5 Recovering system state

1. Select the machine for which you want to recover the system state.

2. Click Recovery.

3. Select a system state recovery point. Note that recovery points are filtered by location.

4. Click Recover system state.

5. Confirm that you want to overwrite the system state with its backed-up version.

The recovery progress is shown on the Activities tab.

2.9.6 Recovering SQL databases

This section describes how to recover SQL databases from the backups performed by Agent for SQL.

For information about recovering SQL databases from application-aware backups of virtual machines,

refer to "Recovering databases from application-aware backups" (p. 53).

The backup service enables you to recover SQL databases to a SQL Server instance, if Agent for SQL is

installed on the machine running the instance. You will need to provide credentials for an account

that is a member of the Backup Operators or Administrators group on the machine and a member of

the sysadmin role on the target instance.

Alternatively, you can recover the databases as files. This can be useful if you need to recover

databases to a machine where Agent for SQL is not installed, or you need to extract data for data

mining, audit, or further processing by third-party tools. You can attach the SQL database files to a

SQL Server instance, as described in "Attaching SQL Server databases" (p. 46).

System databases are basically recovered in the same way as user databases. The peculiarities of

system database recovery are described in "Recovering system databases" (p. 45).

To recover SQL databases

1. Click Microsoft SQL.

Machines with Agent for SQL installed are shown.

2. Select the machine that originally contained the data that you want to recover.

3. Click Recovery.

4. Select a recovery point. Note that recovery points are filtered by location.

If the machine is offline, the recovery points are not displayed. Do one of the following:

 If the backup is located in the cloud storage, click Select machine, select an online machine

that has Agent for SQL, and then select a recovery point.

 Select a recovery point on the Backups tab (p. 48).

The machine chosen for browsing in either of the above actions becomes a target machine for

the SQL databases recovery.

5. Click Recover SQL databases.

6. Select the data that you want to recover. Double-click an instance to view the databases it

contains.

7. If you want to recover the databases as files, click Recover as files, select a local or a network

folder to save the files to, and then click Recover. Otherwise, skip this step.

8. Click Recover.

9. By default, the databases are recovered to the original ones. If the original database does not

exist, it will be recreated. You can select another machine or another SQL Server instance to

recover the databases to.

To recover a database as a different one to the same instance:

a. Click the database name.

b. In Recover to, select New database.

c. Specify the new database name.

d. Specify the new database path and log path. The folder you specify must not contain the

original database and log files.

10. [Optional] To change the database state after recovery, click the database name, and then

choose one of the following states:

 Ready to use (RESTORE WITH RECOVERY) (default)

After the recovery completes, the database will be ready for use. Users will have full access

to it. The software will roll back all uncommitted transactions of the recovered database that

are stored in the transaction logs. You will not be able to recover additional transaction logs

from the native Microsoft SQL backups.

 Non-operational (RESTORE WITH NORECOVERY)

After the recovery completes, the database will be non-operational. Users will have no

access to it. The software will keep all uncommitted transactions of the recovered database.

You will be able to recover additional transaction logs from the native Microsoft SQL backups

and thus reach the necessary recovery point.

 Read-only (RESTORE WITH STANDBY)

After the recovery completes, users will have read-only access to the database. The software

will undo any uncommitted transactions. However, it will save the undo actions in a

temporary standby file so that the recovery effects can be reverted.

This value is primarily used to detect the point in time when a SQL Server error occurred.

11. Click Start recovery.

12. If the original databases were selected as the destination, confirm overwriting the databases

with their backed-up versions.

The recovery progress is shown on the Activities tab.

2.9.6.1 Recovering system databases

All system databases of an instance are recovered at once. When recovering system databases, the

software automatically restarts the destination instance in the single-user mode. After the recovery

completes, the software restarts the instance and recovers other databases (if any).

Other things to consider when recovering system databases:

 System databases can only be recovered to an instance of the same version as the original

instance.

 System databases are always recovered in the "ready to use" state.

Recovering the master database

System databases include the master database. The master database records information about all

databases of the instance. Hence, the master database in a backup contains information about

databases which existed in the instance at the time of the backup. After recovering the master

database, you may need to do the following:

 Databases that have appeared in the instance after the backup was done are not visible by the

instance. To bring these databases back to production, attach them to the instance manually by

using SQL Server Management Studio.

 Databases that have been deleted after the backup was done are displayed as offline in the

instance. Delete these databases by using SQL Server Management Studio.

2.9.6.2 Attaching SQL Server databases

This section describes how to attach a database in SQL Server by using SQL Server Management

Studio. Only one database can be attached at a time.

Attaching a database requires any of the following permissions: CREATE DATABASE, CREATE ANY

DATABASE, or ALTER ANY DATABASE. Normally, these permissions are granted to the sysadmin role

of the instance.

To attach a database

1. Run Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio.

2. Connect to the required SQL Server instance, and then expand the instance.

3. Right click Databases and click Attach.

4. Click Add.

5. In the Locate Database Files dialog box, find and select the .mdf file of the database.

6. In the Database Details section, make sure that the rest of database files (.ndf and .ldf files) are

found.

Details. SQL Server database files may not be found automatically, if:

 They are not in the default location, or they are not in the same folder as the primary

database file (.mdf). Solution: Specify the path to the required files manually in the Current

File Path column.

 You have recovered an incomplete set of files that make up the database. Solution: Recover

the missing SQL Server database files from the backup.

7. When all of the files are found, click OK.

2.9.7 Recovering Exchange data

This section describes how to recover Exchange databases from the backups performed by Agent for

Exchange. For information about recovering Exchange databases from application-aware backups of

virtual machines, refer to "Recovering databases from application-aware backups" (p. 53).

The backup service enables you to recover Exchange Server data to the original Exchange Server.

The following table summarizes the Exchange Server data that you can select for recovery and the

minimal user rights required to recover the data.

Exchange version

Data items

User rights

2003

Storage groups

Membership in the Organization Management

role group.

2007

Storage groups

Membership in the Exchange Organization

Administrators role group.

2010/2013

Databases

Membership in the Organization Management

role group.

Alternatively, you can recover the databases (storage groups) as files. The database files, along with

transaction log files, will be extracted from the backup to a folder that you specify. This can be useful

if you need to extract data for an audit or further processing by third-party tools, or when the

recovery fails for some reason and you are looking for a workaround to mount the databases

manually (p. 47).

To recover Exchange data

We will refer to both databases and storage groups as "databases" throughout this procedure.

1. Click Microsoft Exchange.

Machines with Agent for Exchange installed are shown.

2. Select the machine that originally contained the data that you want to recover.

3. Click Recovery.

4. Select a recovery point. Note that recovery points are filtered by location.

If the machine is offline, the recovery points are not displayed. Use other ways to recover:

 If the backup is located in the cloud storage, click Select machine, select an online machine

that has Agent for Exchange, and then select a recovery point.

 Select a recovery point on the Backups tab (p. 48).

The machine chosen for browsing in either of the above actions becomes a target machine for

the Exchange data recovery.

5. Click Recover Exchange databases.

6. Select the data that you want to recover.

7. If you want to recover the databases as files, click Recover as files, select a local or a network

folder to save the files to, and then click Recover. Otherwise, skip this step.

8. Click Recover. If prompted, provide credentials to access the Exchange Server.

9. By default, the databases are recovered to the original ones. If the original database does not

exist, it will be recreated.

To recover a database as a different one:

a. Click the database name.

b. In Recover to, select New database.

c. Specify the new database name.

d. Specify the new database path and log path. The folder you specify must not contain the

original database and log files.

10. Click Start recovery.

11. If the databases are recovered to the original ones, confirm overwriting the databases with their

backed-up versions.

The recovery progress is shown on the Activities tab.

2.9.7.1 Mounting Exchange Server databases

After recovering the database files, you can bring the databases online by mounting them. Mounting

is performed by using Exchange Management Console, Exchange System Manager, or Exchange

Management Shell.

The recovered databases will be in a Dirty Shutdown state. A database that is in a Dirty Shutdown

state can be mounted by the system if it is recovered to its original location (that is, information

about the original database is present in Active Directory). When recovering a database to an

alternate location (such as a new database or as the recovery database), the database cannot be

mounted until you bring it to a Clean Shutdown state by using the Eseutil /r <Enn> command.

<Enn> specifies the log file prefix for the database (or storage group that contains the database) into

which you need to apply the transaction log files.

The account you use to attach a database must be delegated an Exchange Server Administrator role

and a local Administrators group for the target server.

For details about how to mount databases, see the following articles:

 Exchange 2016: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa998871.aspx

 Exchange 2013: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa998871(v=EXCHG.150).aspx

 Exchange 2010: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa998871(v=EXCHG.141).aspx

 Exchange 2007: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa998871(v=EXCHG.80).aspx

 Exchange 2003: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb124040.aspx

2.10 Operations with backups

2.10.1 The Backups tab

The Backups tab shows backups of all machines ever registered under a certain account. This

includes offline machines and machines that are no longer registered in the backup service.

A backup service administrator can view backups on behalf of any account that belongs to the given

unit or EUC. This account is indirectly chosen in Machine to browse from. The Backups tab shows

backups of all machines ever registered under the same account as this machine is registered.

To view the backups stored in a local or a network folder, first add this folder to the list of backup

locations. Click Browse and specify the folder path.

To select a recovery point by using the Backups tab

1. On the Backups tab, select the location where the backups are stored.

The software displays all backups that your account is allowed to view in the selected location.

The backups are combined in groups. The group names are based on the following template:

2. Select a group from which you want to recover the data.

3. [Optional] Click Change next to Machine to browse from, and then select another machine.

Some backups can only be browsed by specific agents. For example, you must select a machine

running Agent for SQL to browse the backups of Microsoft SQL Server databases.

Important Please be aware that the Machine to browse from is a default destination for recovery from a

physical machine backup. After you select a recovery point and click Recover, double check the Target

machine setting to ensure that you want to recover to this specific machine. To change the recovery

destination, specify another machine in Machine to browse from.

4. Click Show backups.

5. Select the recovery point.

2.10.2 Deleting backups

To delete backups of a machine that is online and present in the backup service

1. On the All machines tab, select a machine whose backups you want to delete.

2. Click Recovery.

3. Select the location to delete the backups from.

4. Do one of the following:

 To delete a single backup, select the backup to delete, and then click the recycle bin icon.

 To delete all backups in the selected location, click Delete all.

5. Confirm your decision.

To delete backups of any machine

1. On the Backups tab, select the location from which you want to delete the backups.

The software displays all backups that your account is allowed to view in the selected location.

The backups are combined in groups. The group names are based on the following template:

2. Select a group.

3. Do one of the following:

 To delete a single backup, click Show backups, select the backup to delete, and then click the

recycle bin icon.

 To delete the selected group, click Delete.

4. Confirm your decision.

2.11 Operations with backup plans

To edit a backup plan

1. If you want to edit the backup plan for all machines to which it is applied, select one of these

machines. Otherwise, select the machines for which you want to edit the backup plan.

2. Click Backup.

3. Select the backup plan that you want to edit.

4. Click the gear icon next to the backup plan name, and then click Edit.

5. To modify the plan parameters, click the corresponding section of the backup plan panel.

6. Click Save changes.

7. To change the backup plan for all machines to which it is applied, click Apply the changes to this

backup plan. Otherwise, click Create a new backup plan only for the selected resources.

To revoke a backup plan from machines

1. Select the machines that you want to revoke the backup plan from.

2. Click Backup.

3. If several backup plans are applied to the machines, select the backup plan that you want to

revoke.

4. Click the gear icon next to the backup plan name, and then click Revoke.

To delete a backup plan

1. Select any machine to which the backup plan that you want to delete is applied.

2. Click Backup.

3. If several backup plans are applied to the machine, select the backup plan that you want to

delete.

4. Click the gear icon next to the backup plan name, and then click Delete.

As a result, the backup plan is revoked from all of the machines and completely removed from

the web interface.

2.12 Advanced operations with virtual machines

2.12.1 Running a virtual machine from a backup

You can run a virtual machine from a disk-level backup that contains an operating system. This

operation, also known as instant recovery, enables you to spin up a virtual server in seconds. The

virtual disks are emulated directly from the backup and thus do not consume space on the datastore

(storage). The storage space is required only to keep changes to the virtual disks.

We recommend running this temporary virtual machine for up to three days. Then, you can

completely remove it or convert it to a regular virtual machine (finalize) without downtime.

As long as the temporary virtual machine exists, retention rules cannot be applied to the backup

being used by that machine. Backups of the original machine can continue to run.

Usage examples

 Disaster recovery

Instantly bring a copy of a failed machine online.

 Testing a backup

Run the machine from the backup and ensure that the guest OS and applications are functioning

properly.

 Accessing application data

While the machine is running, use application's native management tools to access and extract

the required data.

Prerequisites

 At least one Agent for VMware or Agent for Hyper-V must be registered in the backup service.

 The backup must be stored in a network folder or in a local folder of the machine where Agent

for VMware or Agent for Hyper-V is installed. If you select a network folder, it must be accessible

from that machine.

Important A virtual machine cannot be run from a backup stored in the cloud storage. This is because this

operation requires intense random-access reading from the backup.

 The backup must contain an entire machine or all of the volumes that are required for the

operating system to start.

 Backups of both physical and virtual machines can be used. Backups of Virtuozzo containers

cannot be used.

2.12.1.1 Running the machine

1. Do one of the following:

 Select a backed-up machine, click Recovery, and then select a recovery point.

 Select a recovery point on the Backups tab (p. 48).

2. Click Run as VM.

The software automatically selects the host and other required parameters.

3. [Optional] Click Target machine, and then change the virtual machine type (ESXi or Hyper-V), the

host, or the virtual machine name.

4. [Optional] Click Datastore for ESXi or Path for Hyper-V, and then select the datastore for the

virtual machine.

Changes to the virtual disks accumulate while the machine is running. Ensure that the selected

datastore has enough free space.

5. [Optional] Сlick VM settings to change the memory size and network connections of the virtual

machine.

6. [Optional] Select the VM power state (On/Off).

7. Click Run now.

As a result, the machine appears in the web interface with one of the following icons: or

. Such virtual machines cannot be selected for backup.

2.12.1.2 Deleting the machine

We do not recommend to delete a temporary virtual machine directly in vSphere/Hyper-V. This may

lead to artifacts in the web interface. Also, the backup from which the machine was running may

remain locked for a while (it cannot be deleted by retention rules).

To delete a virtual machine that is running from a backup

1. On the All machines tab, select a machine that is running from a backup.

2. Click Delete.

The machine is removed from the web interface. It is also removed from the vSphere or Hyper-V

inventory and datastore (storage). All changes that occurred to the data while the machine was

running are lost.

2.12.1.3 Finalizing the machine

While a virtual machine is running from a backup, the virtual disks' content is taken directly from that

backup. Therefore, the machine will become inaccessible or even corrupted if the connection is lost

to the backup location or to the backup agent.

For an ESXi machine, you have the option to make this machine permanent, i.e. recover all of its

virtual disks, along with the changes that occurred while the machine was running, to the datastore

that stores these changes. This process is named finalization.

Finalization is performed without downtime. The virtual machine will not be powered off during

finalization.

To finalize a machine that is running from a backup

1. On the All machines tab, select a machine that is running from a backup.

2. Click Finalize.

3. [Optional] Specify a new name for the machine.

4. [Optional] Change the disk provisioning mode. The default setting is Thin.

5. Click Finalize.

The machine name changes immediately. The recovery progress is shown on the Activities tab. Once

the recovery is completed, the machine icon changes to that of a regular virtual machine.

2.12.2 Application-aware backup

When you back up an ESXi virtual machine running Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Exchange Server,

or Active Directory Domain Services, enable Application backup for additional protection of these

applications' data.

Why use application-aware backup?

By using application-aware backup, you ensure that:

1. The applications are backed up in a consistent state and thus will be available immediately after

the machine is recovered.

2. You can recover the SQL and Exchange databases without recovering the entire machine. Thus,

you do not need to install Agent for SQL or Agent for Exchange in the guest system and create an

additional backup plan to protect the applications.

3. The SQL and Exchange transaction logs are truncated after each successful backup. SQL log

truncation can be disabled in the backup plan options.

4. If a domain contains more than one domain controller, and you recover one of them, a

nonauthoritative restore is performed and a USN rollback will not occur after the recovery.

2.12.2.1 Prerequisites

Before enabling the application backup, ensure that:

 The virtual machines being backed up meet the requirements for application-consistent

quiescing listed in the following VMware knowledge base article:

https://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-60/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.vmware.vddk.pg.doc%2FvddkBk

upVadp.9.6.html

 VMware Tools is installed and up-to-date on each of the virtual machines that you want to back

up.

 User Account Control (UAC) is disabled on the machines. If you do not want to disable UAC, you

must provide the credentials of a built-in domain administrator (DOMAIN\Administrator) when

enabling application backup.

 Entire machine is selected for backup.

 The Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) for virtual machines backup option is enabled in the

backup plan. To find this option, click the gear icon, then Backup options > Volume Shadow

Copy Service (VSS) for virtual machines. This option is enabled by default.

For Microsoft SQL Server, also ensure that:

 SQL Server Browser Service and TCP/IP protocol are enabled on the machines. For instructions on

how to start SQL Server Browser Service, refer to:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms189093.aspx. You can enable the TCP/IP protocol by

using a similar procedure.

2.12.2.2 Required user rights

An application-aware backup contains metadata of VSS-aware applications that are present on the

disk. To access this metadata within the guest system, Agent for VMware needs an account with the

appropriate rights that are listed below. You are prompted to specify this account when enabling

application backup.

 For SQL Server:

The account must be a member of the Backup Operators or Administrators group on the

machine, and a member of the sysadmin role on each of the instances that you are going to back

up.

 For Exchange Server:

See "Selecting Exchange Server data" (p. 30).

 For Active Directory

The account must be a domain administrator.

2.12.2.3 Recovering databases from application-aware backups

You can recover SQL and Exchange databases from application-aware backups of virtual machines.

For information about creating application-aware backups, see "Application-aware backup" (p. 52).

The databases, along with their logs and other related files, will be saved as files to a folder you

specify. After that, you can attach the databases to a live SQL Server or Exchange Server. You can also

use the database files for data mining, audit, or further processing by third-party tools.

To recover databases

1. Select the machine which originally contained the data that you want to recover.

2. Click Recovery.

3. Select a recovery point. Note that recovery points are filtered by location.

4. Click Recover, and then click one of the following:

 SQL databases

 Exchange databases

5. Select the databases that you want to recover.

6. Click Recover as files.

7. Select the recovery destination. You can specify a network folder or a local folder of the machine

where Agent for VMware is installed. If you select a network folder, it must be accessible from

that machine.

8. Click Start recovery.

9. Select one of the file overwriting options:

 Overwrite existing files

 Overwrite an existing file if it is older

 Do not overwrite existing files

10. You can now attach the recovered databases as described in one of the following sections:

 Attaching SQL Server databases (p. 46)

 Mounting Exchange Server databases (p. 47)

2.12.3 Managing virtualization environments

You can view the vSphere, Hyper-V, and Virtuozzo environments in their native presentation. Once

the corresponding agent is installed and registered, the VMware, Hyper-V, or Virtuozzo tab appears

under Resources.

The VMware tab enables you to change access credentials for the vCenter Server or standalone ESXi

host without re-installing the agent.

To change the vCenter Server or ESXi host access credentials

1. Under Resources, click VMware.

2. Click Hosts and Clusters.

3. In the Hosts and Clusters list (to the right of the Hosts and Clusters tree), select the vCenter

Server or standalone ESXi host that was specified during the Agent for VMware installation.

4. Click Overview.

5. Under Credentials, click the user name.

6. Specify the new access credentials, and then click OK.

2.12.4 Machine migration

You can perform machine migration by recovering its backup to a non-original machine.

The following table summarizes the available migration options.

Backed-up

machine type

Available recovery destinations

Physical

machine

ESXi virtual

machine

Hyper-V virtual

machine

Virtuozzo virtual

machine

Virtuozzo

container

Physical machine

VMware ESXi

virtual machine

Hyper-V virtual

machine

Virtuozzo virtual

machine

Virtuozzo

container

For instructions on how to perform migration, refer to the following sections:

 Physical-to-virtual (P2V) - "Physical machine to virtual" (p. 38)

 Virtual-to-virtual (V2V) - "Virtual machine" (p. 39)

 Virtual-to-physical (V2P) - "Virtual machine" (p. 39) or "Recovering disks by using bootable

media" (p. 41)

Although it is possible to perform V2P migration in the web interface, we recommend using bootable

media in specific cases. Sometimes, you may want to use the media for migration to ESXi or Hyper-V.

The media enables you to do the following:

 Choose individual disks or volumes for recovery.

 Manually map the disks from the backup to the target machine disks.

 Recreate logical volumes (LVM) or Linux Software RAID on the target machine.

 Provide drivers for specific hardware that is critical for the system bootability.

2.13 Troubleshooting

This section describes how to save an agent log to a .zip file. If a backup fails for an unclear reason,

this file will help the technical support personnel to identify the problem.

To collect logs

1. Select the machine that you want to collect the logs from.

2. Click Activities.

3. Click Collect system information.

4. If prompted by your web browser, specify where to save the file.

3 Glossary

Backup set

A group of backups to which an individual retention rule can be applied.

For the Custom backup scheme, the backup sets correspond to the backup methods (Full,

Differential, and Incremental).

In all other cases, the backup sets are Monthly, Daily, Weekly, and Hourly.

 A monthly backup is the first backup created after a month starts.

 A weekly backup is the first backup created on the day of the week selected in the Weekly

backup option (click the gear icon, then Backup options > Weekly backup).

 A daily backup is the first backup created after a day starts.

 An hourly backup is the first backup created after an hour starts.

Differential backup

A differential backup stores changes to the data against the latest full backup (p. 56). You need

access to the corresponding full backup to recover the data from a differential backup.

Full backup

A self-sufficient backup containing all data chosen for backup. You do not need access to any other

backup to recover the data from a full backup.

Incremental backup

A backup that stores changes to the data against the latest backup. You need access to other backups

to recover data from an incremental backup.

Single-file backup format

A new backup format, in which the initial full and subsequent incremental backups are saved to a

single .tib file, instead of a chain of files. This format leverages the speed of the incremental backup

method, while avoiding its main disadvantage–difficult deletion of outdated backups. The software

marks the blocks used by outdated backups as "free" and writes new backups to these blocks. This

results in extremely fast cleanup, with minimal resource consumption.

“Acronis” and “Acronis Secure Zone” are registered trademarks of Acronis International GmbH.

"Acronis Compute with Confidence", “Acronis Startup Recovery Manager”, “Acronis Active Restore”,

“Acronis Instant Restore” and the Acronis logo are trademarks of Acronis International GmbH.

Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

VMware and VMware Ready are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of VMware, Inc. in the

United States and/or other jurisdictions.

Windows and MS-DOS are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

All other trademarks and copyrights referred to are the property of their respective owners.

Distribution of substantively modified versions of this document is prohibited without the explicit

permission of the copyright holder.

Distribution of this work or derivative work in any standard (paper) book form for commercial

purposes is prohibited unless prior permission is obtained from the copyright holder.

DOCUMENTATION IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED CONDITIONS,

REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES, INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY,

FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT, ARE DISCLAIMED, EXCEPT TO THE

EXTENT THAT SUCH DISCLAIMERS ARE HELD TO BE LEGALLY INVALID.

Third party code may be provided with the Software and/or Service. The license terms for such

third-parties are detailed in the license.txt file located in the root installation directory. You can

always find the latest up-to-date list of the third party code and the associated license terms used

with the Software and/or Service at http://kb.acronis.com/content/7696

Acronis patented technologies

Technologies, used in this product, are covered and protected by one or more U.S. Patent Numbers:

7,047,380; 7,275,139; 7,281,104; 7,318,135; 7,353,355; 7,366,859; 7,475,282; 7,603,533; 7,636,824;

7,650,473; 7,721,138; 7,779,221; 7,831,789; 7,886,120; 7,895,403; 7,934,064; 7,937,612; 7,949,635;

7,953,948; 7,979,690; 8,005,797; 8,051,044; 8,069,320; 8,073,815; 8,074,035; 8,145,607; 8,180,984;

8,225,133; 8,261,035; 8,296,264; 8,312,259; 8,347,137; 8,484,427; 8,645,748; 8,732,121 and patent

pending applications.

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