vRanger 7.7 - User Guide

Selecting a transport method

Selecting a transport method

In vRanger, the transport determines how backup data is sent, and where the backup processing activity occurs; for more information, see VMware backup transport options. When configuring a backup job for a VMware® VM, the Backup Wizard, by default, uses the Automatic transport selection option to select the best transport method at run-time; you can also configure the transport manually by using the Using Custom transport selection option.

 

NOTE: The Transport Selection page is not available when backing up a physical or Hyper-V® virtual server. When backing up physical servers and Hyper-V VMs, vRanger sends the backup data over the network to the repository. Because this method is the only one available for transporting data for physical and Hyper-V servers, the Transport Selection page of the Backup Wizard does not display.

To select a transport method for VMware machines, complete one of the following procedures:

•	Using Automatic transport selection

•	Using Custom transport selection

Using Automatic transport selection

The Backup Wizard includes an Automatic transport selection option, which lets vRanger select the best available method for your configuration. When determining the best transport, vRanger uses two key criteria:

•	Whether virtual appliances (VAs) are deployed.

•	Where vRanger is installed.

The logic used to select a transport differs slightly based on whether vRanger is installed on a VM or on a physical server. For more information about the order in which vRanger checks for transport availability, see Transport selection order: VM backup.

To use Automatic transport selection:

1	On the Transport Selection page, select Automatic transport selection.

The selected transport method appears at the bottom of the page.

 

IMPORTANT: Each time the job runs, vRanger detects your configuration and selects the best transport method available at run-time. That method might not always be what is shown on the page during the job setup.

vRanger verifies whether any VAs are configured on the source host. If the host belongs to a cluster, and no host VA is found, vRanger searches for shared VAs on the cluster as well.

If no VA is detected, click Configure Virtual Appliance to add a VA to vRanger. For more information about configuring the VA, see Understanding the vRanger virtual appliance (VA).

2	Click Next.

Using Custom transport selection

The Custom transport selection option lets you specify both where the actual backup processing activity occurs) and which transport to use. For more information, see VMware backup transport options.

To use Custom transport selection:

1	On the Transport Selection page, select Custom transport selection.

This option enables the custom settings.

2	Select where you want the job to occur from the following options:

▪	On this vRanger machine.

▪	On a vRanger VA.

vRanger verifies whether any VAs are configured on the source host. If the host belongs to a cluster, and no host VA is found, vRanger searches for shared VAs on the cluster as well.

If no VA is detected, click Configure Virtual Appliance to add a VA to vRanger. For more information about configuring the VA, see Understanding the vRanger virtual appliance (VA).

 

NOTE: Using the vRanger VA is recommended for scalability and performance.

3	Select which transports the job should attempt from the following options:

▪	Advanced [SAN / HotAdd]

▪

LAN

For more information, see VMware backup transport options.

4	[Optional] If you want your LAN backups to be encrypted, select Use SSL encryption when transferring files over the LAN connection.

 

CAUTION: This option causes reduced performance.

5	Click Next.

Configuring restore options

Configuring restore options

The Options Selection page displays the restore options available depending on the type of VM you want to restore.

To configure restore options:

1	On the Options Selection page, select from the following restore options:

▪	Force overwrite: This option overwrites any existing disk or config files of the same name as those files in the destination host.

▪	Force power on: This option turns on the VM after the restore.

▪	Create cluster role for restored virtual machine: This option is for Hyper-V® VMs only. It attempts to add the VM as a cluster resource of the Hyper-V host parent cluster.

 

NOTE: The cluster option is available only when a Hyper-V cluster has been added to the vRanger inventory and includes the host that is selected as the restore destination.

2	Click Next.

Setting the recurrence schedule

Setting the recurrence schedule

The Recurrence Schedule Selection page lets you indicate whether the restore job should be done on demand — at this moment — or at a future time. To schedule a future occurrence, you must define the start time, recurrence pattern, and range of recurrence.

To set the recurrence schedule:

1	On the Recurrence Schedule Selection page, select the options as described in the following table.

 

Table 1.  

This will be an On Demand job…	There is no need to define a schedule. The job runs on demand.
Start Time	The time of day at which to run the job.
Recurrence Pattern	In this section, you establish how often the report should be generated. There are five options within this section: • Daily: The daily option can be scheduled to run the report every weekday or every x number of days. • Weekly: vRanger can be configured to run on weekly intervals, from every week to every 99 weeks. The day of the week on which to run reports can be configured. • Monthly: The monthly option offers the following configurations: ▪ Day [x] of every [y] month: x can be any value from 1 to 31. This value determines the day of the month on which the job occurs. y can be any value from 1 to 99. This value determines the monthly interval — for example, every two months sets the job to run every other month. ▪ The [f] [d] of every [y] month(s): f can be either: first, second, third, fourth or last. d can be: weekday, weekend day, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. y can be any value from 1 to 99. This value determines the monthly interval — for example, every two months sets the report to run every other month. • Yearly: The yearly option offers the following configurations: ▪ Every [m] [x]: m is any month of the year. This value determines the month of the year in which the report occurs. x can be any value from 1 to 31. This value determines the day of the month on which the report occurs. ▪ The [f] [d] of [m]: f can be either: first, second, third, fourth, or last. d can be: day, weekday, weekend day, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. m is any month of the year. This value determines the month of the year in which the report occurs. • Interval: The interval option lets you select the number of days, hours, and minutes that should pass between jobs. NOTE: The interval selected must be greater than or equal to five minutes.
Range of Recurrence	Select the starting date and ending date: • No end date: The job recurs until it is stopped. • End after: Select the number of occurrences. • End by: Select the date by which to end the recurrence.

2	Click Next.

Configuring email notifications

Configuring email notifications

The Email Notification Selection page lets you select the email addresses to which notifications should be sent for this job. You can also request that a report be sent to the recipients identified after the job is complete.

To add or edit email addresses, see Setting up the SMTP server.

To configure email notifications:

1	On the Email Notification Selection page, in the Selected column, select the address to which notifications should be sent.

 

TIP: To select all email addresses, select the check box in the Selected column header.

2	Click Next.