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Foglight Evolve 7.3.0 - Foglight for Cloud Migration User Guide

Protecting virtual machines

To protect one or more agentless ESXi virtual machines (VMs), do the following:
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NOTE: Quest recommends that VMware Tools be installed on virtual machines (VMs) you want to protect on vSphere or ESXi hosts. When VMware Tools are installed on a VM using a Windows operating system (OS), the backups that the Rapid Recovery Core captures use Microsoft Volume Shadow Services (VSS). For information on the behavior of agentless VMs with or without VMware Tools, see Benefits of installing hypervisor tools for agentless protection in Rapid Recovery User Guide.
1
From the Rapid Recovery Core Console button bar, click the Protect drop-down menu, and then select Protect Multiple Machines.
The Protect Multiple Machines Wizard opens.
2
On the Welcome page, select either of the follow installation options:
•
If you do not have multiple repositories defined for this Core, or you do not need to establish encryption, select Typical.
•
If you have multiple repositories defined, or you want to establish encryption, select Advanced (show optional steps).
Optionally, if you do not want to see the Welcome page for the Protect Machine Wizard in the future, select the option Skip this Welcome page the next time the wizard opens.
3
Click Next.
4
On the Connection page of the wizard, from the Source drop-down list, select vCenter/ESXi.
5
Enter the host information and logon credentials as described in the following table.
Table 1. vCenter/ESXi connection settings
Text Box
Description

Host

The name or IP address of the virtual host.

Port

The port used to connect to the virtual host.

The default setting is 443.

User name

The user name used to connect to this machine.For example, Administrator (or, if the machine is in a domain, [domain name]\Administrator).

Enter the user name or, to use a set of credentials saved to Credentials Vault, use the drop-down list and select a user name.

Optionally, to save your credentials to Credentials Vault, click the plus sign next to the text box. For more information, see Credentials Vault in Rapid Recovery User Guide.

Password

The secure password used to connect to this virtual host.

6
Ensure that Use Rapid Snap for Virtual host-based protection is selected. (This option is selected by default).
7
Click Next.
8
On the Select Machines page, select the VMs you want to protect. You can use the drop-down menu to display a tree of Hosts and Clusters or of VMs and Templates exactly as they appear in your vCenter/ESXi environment.
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CAUTION: Quest recommends that you limit agentless protection to no more than 200 VMs at once. For example, do not select more than 200 VMs when using the Protect Multiple Machines Wizard. Protecting more than 200 VMs results in slow performance. There is no limit to how many VMs a Core can agentlessly protect over time. For example, you could protect 200 VMs today and another 200 VMs tomorrow.
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NOTE: VMware Changed Block Tracking (CBT) must be enabled on each of the VMs you want to protect. If it is not enabled, Rapid Recovery automatically enables CBT to ensure protection.
9
If you want to automatically protect new VMs when they are added to the host, select Auto protect new machines, and then complete the following steps.
a
Click Next.
b
On the Auto Protection page, select any containers in which you expect to add new machines.
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NOTE: You may need to switch between views of Hosts and Clusters and VMs and Templates.
c
Click Next.
d
On the Protection Rules page, select any of the following options:
Table 2. ESXi and vCenter agentless protection options
Option
Description

Protect machine if it is orphaned by this Core

Allows the Core protect a machine that was previously protected but was then removed from protection because the hypervisor became unreachable. This option is selected by default.

Protect machine if it already has recovery points

Shows existing recovery points alongside the new recovery points after protection. This option is selected by default.

Protect machine agentlessly if it is already protected with the Rapid Recovery Agent

If a Core detects that a machine is already protected by the Rapid Recovery Agent, this option permits duplicate protection (both agentlessly and with the Agent). The protected VM must be powered on and VMware Tools must be installed. This option is selected by default.

Protect machine if it is paired with a different Core

Protects the VM with this Core and discontinues protection from the other Core.

Delete old VMware snapshots in order to enable Changed Block Tracking

Allows the Core delete previous VMware snapshots, including snapshots created by a user or another program, if required to enable Changed Block Tracking (CBT).

Save rules

Saves the selected rules to use for future VM agentless protection on this hypervisor host. These rules apply to machines protected automatically or by using the Protect Multiple Machines wizard.

10
Click Next.
11
On the Protection page, select the appropriate protection schedule settings as described below:
•
To use the default protection schedule, in the Schedule Settings option, select Default protection (hourly snapshots of all volumes).
With a default protection schedule, the Core takes snapshots of all volumes on the protected machine once every hour. To change the protection settings at any time after you close the wizard, including choosing which volumes to protect, go to the Summary page for the specific protected machine.
•
To define a different protection schedule, in the Schedule Settings option, select Custom protection.
Schedule options are added to the wizard workflow.
12
Proceed with your configuration as follows:
•
If you specified default protection, then click Next and continue to Step 14 to the ABM Settings page.
•
If you specified custom protection, then click Next and continue to the next step to configure a protection schedule.
13
On the Protection Schedule page, define a custom protection schedule and then click Next. For details on defining a custom protection schedule, see Creating custom protection schedules in Simple Mode in Rapid Recovery User Guide.
14
Optionally, on the ABM Settings page, select Enable Active Block Mapping, and then complete the following information:
Table 3. Active Block Mapping settings
Option
Description

Enable Active Block Mapping

Allows you to enable or disable the ABM feature.

Enable swap file blocks exclusion

Excludes the content of system files, such as pagefile.sys, hyberfill.sys, and swapfile.sys, from the backup.

Exclude subdirectories

Allows you to exclude specific files by specifying '<file name>' or '<folder>\<subfolder>\<file name>'.

Only the files will be excluded. The folders or subfolders that contained excluded files are included in the mount point, with no contents.

NOTE: This option may affect the performance of the “determining data” phase of transfers.

+ Add

If you opted to exclude subdirectories, click Add and enter the location in the Path table for each item you want to exclude.

For more information, see Understanding Active Block Mapping in Rapid Recovery User Guide.
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NOTE: Active Block Mapping only supports NTFS file systems.
15
Click Next.
16
Proceed with your configuration as follows:
•
If you selected a Typical configuration for the Protect Machine Wizard in Step 2 and specified default protection, then click Finish to confirm your choices, close the wizard, and protect the machine you specified.
•
If you selected Advanced configuration for the Protect Machine Wizard in Step 2, and default protection, then click Next to see repository and encryption options.
17
On the Repository page, select the repository you want to use to store recovery points for this machine, and then click Next.
18
If you want to use encryption keys for data stored in the repository, on the Encryption page select Encrypt the data at rest in a repository, and then do either of the following:
•
To select an existing encryption key to apply to all new data stored in your repository, select Encrypt data using Core-based encryption with an existing key, and from the Select encryption key drop-down menu, select the encryption key.
•
To define a new encryption key at this time to apply to all future data stored in your repository, select Encrypt data using Core-based encryption with a new key, and then enter information about the key as described in the table below:
Table 4. Define new encryption key
Text Box
Description

Name

Enter a name for the encryption key.

Encryption key names must contain between 1 and 64 alphanumeric characters. Do not use prohibited characters or prohibited phrases.

Description

Enter a descriptive comment for the encryption key. This information appears in the Description field when viewing a list of encryption keys in the Rapid Recovery. Descriptions may contain up to 254 characters.

Best practice is to avoid using prohibited characters and prohibited phrases.

Passphrase

Enter a passphrase used to control access.

Best practice is to avoid using prohibited characters.

Record the passphrase in a secure location. Quest Data Protection Support cannot recover a passphrase. Once you create an encryption key and apply it to one or more protected machines, you cannot recover data if you lose the passphrase.

Confirm passphrase

Re-enter the passphrase. It is used to confirm the passphrase entry.

19
Click Finish to save and apply your settings.
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NOTE: The first time protection is added for a machine, a base image (that is, a snapshot of all the data in the protected volumes) transfers to the repository indicated in your Rapid Recovery Core following the schedule you defined, unless you specified that the Core should initially pause protection. For information on pausing and resuming protection, see Pausing and resuming protection in Rapid Recovery User Guide.
For more information, see Protecting vCenter/ESXi virtual machines using agentless protection in Rapid Recovery User Guide.

Configuring Cloud account

Before you move data between Azure and your Core, you must add cloud provider account information to the Rapid Recovery Core Console. This information identifies the cloud account in the Core Console while caching the connection information securely. This process then allows Rapid Recovery Core connect to the cloud account to perform the operations you specify.

To add a cloud account, do the following:
1
Creating an Azure storage account. For more information, see Creating an Azure storage account in Rapid Recovery User Guide.
2
Creating an Azure Active Directory web application. For more information, see Creating an Azure Active Directory web application in Rapid Recovery User Guide.
3
Adding a cloud account.
a
On the Rapid Recovery Core Console icon bar, click the (More) icon, and then select Cloud Accounts.
The Cloud Accounts page appears.
b
On the Cloud Accounts page, click + Add New Account.
The Add New Account dialog box opens.
c
Select Microsoft Azure Resource Management (for Virtual Export) from the Cloud type drop-down list.
d
Enter the details described in the following table.
Text Box
Description

Display name

Enter a display name for this cloud account to display on the Rapid Recovery Core Console; for example, Azure Cloud Account 1.

Region

Select the appropriate region for your Azure account. For example, select from Azure Global Cloud, Azure China Cloud, Azure German Cloud, Azure US Government Cloud, and so on.

Tenant ID

Enter the tenant ID precisely. This is an alphanumeric string (also called the Directory ID) associated with your Azure Active Directory application.

To obtain this value from the Azure UI, select Azure Active Directory > Properties > Directory ID.

Application ID

Enter the application ID for your Azure AD application precisely.

To obtain this value from the Azure UI, select Azure Active Directory > App registrations, select your application, and from the Settings pane, copy the Application ID.

Secret key

Enter the secret key for this account.

You must obtain this value from the Azure when you set up the key. If you do not record it, you must create a new secret key. From the Azure UI, to see or create secret keys, select Azure Active Directory > App registrations, select your application, click Settings, and from the Settings pane, click Keys.

Subscription ID

Enter the subscription ID for your Azure account precisely.

To obtain this value from the Azure UI, select All services, click Subscriptions, and from the appropriate subscription, copy the Subscription ID.

For more information, see Adding a cloud account in Rapid Recovery User Guide.

Monitoring Rapid Recovery Server

To collect Rapid Recovery Server data in Foglight, create a Rapid Recovery agent in Foglight first. To create a Rapid Recovery agent, go to Homes > Protection > Rapid Recovery > Administration.

For more information, see Administration Tab > Creating Rapid Recovery Agent in Foglight Protect Dashboard Guide.

Monitoring vCenter

To do cloud modeling, the vm performance metric, CPU, Memory, Storage, and other information are required. Create a VMware Performance agent to collect vCenter data.

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IMPORTANT:
1. Before creating your first VMware Performance agent, you must configure a Virtual Center user with sufficient privileges. For more information, see Enabling VMware Performance Agents to Collect Data from a Virtual Center in the Foglight for VMware Installation Guide.
2. If the protected vCenter in rapid recovery is using IP, ensure that the vCenter is monitored by the same IP. However, if the protected vCenter in rapid recovery is using FQDN, ensure that the vCenter is monitored by the same FQDN.

For more information, see Using Foglight for VMware > Interacting with Foglight for VMware > Configuring monitoring agents for data collection in Foglight for VMware User and Reference Guide.

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