vRanger 7.8.1 - Installation/Upgrade Guide

Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS)

Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS)

vRanger uses the Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) to provide application consistency. To leverage VSS, the following conditions must be met:

The source server must be running an operating system that supports VSS quiescing. The following lists the supported guest operating systems:

▪	Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1

▪	Windows Server 2012

▪	Windows Server 2012 R2

▪	Windows Server 2016

▪	Windows Server 2019

NOTE: As per VMware KB article 60395, quiescing is not supported for Windows Server 2019.

•	For VM backups, you must be running VMware® ESXi™ 6.0 or later with updated VMware Tools.

•	For application consistency, the application must support VSS quiescing. As shown in the following table, application consistency is not always available with the basic quiescing options. In these situations, you may use the vRanger VSS Tools for application-level consistency.

 

Table 13. File-level quiescing

Server version	ESXi 6.0	ESXi 6.5	ESXi 6.7
Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1	VMware VSS	VMware VSS	VMware VSS
Windows Server 2012 Windows Server 2012 R2	VMware VSS	VMware VSS	VMware VSS
Windows Server 2016	VMware VSS	VMware VSS	VMware VSS

 

Table 14. Application-level quiescing

Server version	ESXi 6.0	ESXi 6.5	ESXi 6.7
Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1	vzShadow.exe	vzShadow.exe	vzShadow.exe
Windows Server 2012 Windows Server 2012 R2	vzShadow.exe	vzShadow.exe	vzShadow.exe
Windows Server 2016	vzShadow.exe	vzShadow.exe	vzShadow.exe

 

IMPORTANT: Application-consistent backups and replications are not available for encrypted VMs.

Installing vRanger

vRanger installation overview

This version of the software can be installed on a physical or virtual machine (VM). When you complete one of these processes, three services are installed: Quest vRanger Service, Quest vRanger API Service, and Quest vRanger File Level Restore Service. The optional Quest vRanger Catalog Service may also be installed, based on your selections.

You need the following to install vRanger:

•	A physical machine or VM to host the installation.

•	Administrator access to the machine on which the software is installed.

Installing vRanger

Installing vRanger

The processes described in the following topics assume that you have already downloaded the vRanger software and saved it to an accessible location.

•	Setting up vRanger

•	Entering vRanger service credentials

•	Installing the vRanger database

•	Entering vRanger database runtime credentials

•	Installing the vRanger Catalog Service

•	Completing the installation

Setting up vRanger

1	Double-click the vRanger installation executable.

2	When the vRanger Backup & Replication dialog box appears, select the language for the interface from the Language list, and click Next.

 

NOTE: This setting applies to both the vRanger installation process and the product interface.

3	When the License Agreement dialog box appears, read the license terms, accept the agreement, and click Next.

Entering vRanger service credentials

Entering vRanger service credentials

The vRanger Services Information dialog box appears. Use this dialog box to configure the credentials that are used to run the services installed by vRanger.

 

CAUTION: The user account needed for this step must have administrator privileges on the vRanger machine.

1	In the Domain field, enter the domain in which the user account is located.

To use an account on the local machine, leave this field blank.

2	In the Username field, enter the username for the account.

 

IMPORTANT: If you choose to install the Quest vRanger Service with an account other than the account with which you are currently logged in, select Mixed-Mode authentication when installing the vRanger database.

3	In the Password field, enter the password for the account.

4	In the Choose Components dialog box, click Next.