You can add two or more Windows machines for protection on the Rapid Recovery Core simultaneously using the Protect Multiple Machines Wizard. To protect your data using Rapid Recovery, you need to add the workstations and servers for protection in the Rapid Recovery Core Console; for example, your Exchange server, SQL Server, Linux server, and so on.
As with protecting individual machines, protecting multiple machines simultaneously requires you to install the Rapid Recovery Agent software on each machine you want to protect.
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NOTE: As an exception to this rule, if protecting virtual machines on a VMware/ESXi or Hyper-V host, you can use agentless protection. For more information, including restrictions for agentless protection, see Understanding Rapid Snap for Virtual. |
Protected machines must be configured with a security policy that makes remote installation possible.
To connect to the machines, they must be powered on and accessible.
There is more than one method to deploy the Agent software to multiple machines simultaneously. For example:
The process of protecting multiple machines includes optional steps that you can access if you select an advanced configuration. Advanced options include repository functions and encryption. For example, you can specify an existing Rapid Recovery repository to save snapshots, or you can create a new repository. You can also specify an existing encryption key (or add a new encryption key) to apply to the data saved to the Core for the machines you are protecting.
The workflow of the Protect Multiple Machines Wizard may differ slightly based on your environment. For example, if the Rapid Recovery Agent software is installed on the machines you want to protect, you are not prompted to install it from the wizard. Likewise, if a repository already exists on the Core, you are not prompted to create one.
When protecting multiple machines, follow the appropriate procedure, based on your configuration. See the following options for protecting multiple machines:
The protecting procedure requires the following tasks be completed before you begin:
- The Rapid Recovery Agent has been deployed and installed on the machine you want to protect.
- The machine you want to protect was restarted after the Agent installation.
- A repository has been created and is accessible from the Rapid Recovery Core.
Use this procedure to simultaneously protect one or more machines on an Active Directory domain.
- From the Rapid Recovery Core Console button bar, click the Protect
![[Expand drop-down menu]](/technical-documents/image/c4622ce6-6ade-4dc9-a7c9-c42f541ec58a)
drop-down menu, and then click ![[Protect multiple machines]](/technical-documents/image/532aab50-3343-45dd-9555-f46f306122fc)
Protect Multiple Machines.
The Protect Multiple Machines Wizard opens.
- On the Welcome page, select one of the follow installation options:
- Click Next.
- On the Connection page of the wizard, from the Source drop-down list, select Active Directory.
- Enter the domain information and credentials as described in the following table.
Table 49: Domain information and credentials
| Host |
The host name or IP address of the Active Directory domain. |
| User name |
The user name used to connect to the domain; for example, Administrator or, if the machine is in a domain, [domain name]\Administrator). |
| Password |
The secure password used to connect to the domain. |
- Click Next.
- On the Select Machines page of the wizard, select the machines you want to protect.
The system automatically verifies each machine you selected.
- Click Next.
If the Protection page appears next in the Protect Multiple Machines Wizard, skip to step 12.
If the Agent software is not yet deployed to the machines you want to protect, or if any of the machines you specified cannot be protected for another reason, then the selected machines appear on the Warnings page.
- Optionally, on the Warnings page of the wizard, you can verify any machine by selecting the machine and then clicking Verify in the toolbar.
- Optionally, on the Warnings page, select After Agent installation, restart the machines automatically.
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NOTE: Quest recommends this option. You must restart agent machines before they can be protected. |
- If the status indicates that the machine is reachable, click Next to install the Rapid Recovery Agent software.
The Protection page appears.
- Optionally, on the Protection page, if you want a name other than the IP address to display in the Rapid Recovery Core Console for this protected machine, then in the Display name field, type a name in the dialog box.
You can enter up to 64 characters. Do not use the special characters described in the topic prohibited characters. Additionally, do not begin the display name with any of the character combinations described in the topic prohibited phrases.
- 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 will take 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.
- 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.
- If you selected a Typical configuration for the Protect Machine Wizard and specified custom protection, then click Next and continue to step 15 to choose which volumes to protect.
- If you selected Advanced configuration for the Protect Machine Wizard in step 2, and default protection, then click Next and proceed to step 17 to see repository and encryption options.
- On the Protection Volumes page, select which volumes you want to protect. If any volumes are listed that you do not want to include in protection, click in the Check column to clear the selection. Then click Next.
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NOTE: It is best practice to protect, at minimum, the system reserved volume and the volume with the operating system (typically the C:/ drive). |
- 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.
- On the Repository page, select the repository you want to use to store recovery points for this machine, and then click Next.
- On the Encryption page, do one of the following:
- If you want to use encryption keys for data stored in the repository, select Encrypt the data at rest in a repository, and then do one 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 50: Define new encryption key
| 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. |
- If you want to encrypt all data that transports over a network, select Encrypt the data in transport over a network.
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NOTE: This option is enabled by default, so if you do not want to encrypt data in this fashion, clear this option. |
- 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. |
The Rapid Recovery Agent software is deployed to the specified machines, if necessary, and the machines are added to protection on the Core.
While you can protect multiple machines simultaneously using this wizard, all the machines you protect in a single installation using the Protect Multiple Machines wizard must either use the Rapid Recovery Agent software, or use agentless protection. This process describes protection using the Agent software. For the procedure to protect multiple machines simultaneously using agentless protection, see Protecting vCenter/ESXi virtual machines using agentless protection.
The protecting procedure requires the following tasks be completed before you begin:
- The Rapid Recovery Agent has been deployed and installed on the machine you want to protect.
- The machine you want to protect was restarted after the Agent installation.
- A repository has been created and is accessible from the Rapid Recovery Core.
Use this procedure to simultaneously protect one or more machines on a VMware vCenter/ESXi virtual host using Rapid Recovery Agent.
- 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.
- On the Welcome page, select one of the follow installation options:
- Click Next.
- On the Connection page of the wizard, from the Source drop-down list, select vCenter / ESXi.
- Enter the host information and logon credentials as described in the following table.
Table 51: vCenter/ESXi connection settings
| Host |
The name or IP address of the VMware vCenter Server/ESXi 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. |
| Password |
The secure password used to connect to this virtual host. |
- To use agentless protection, select Use Rapid Snap for Virtual host-based protection, and then see Protecting vCenter/ESXi virtual machines using agentless protection.
- Click Next.
- On the Select Machines page, do one of the following:
- From the visible list of VMs, select the VMs you want to protect.
- To navigate through the VMware tree structure to locate more VMs, click View Tree and then select either Hosts and Clusters or VMs and Templates. Select the VMs you want to protect.
A notification appears if Rapid Recovery detects that a machine is offline or does not have VMware Tools installed.
- Click Next.
- On the Adjustments page, enter the credentials for each machine in the following format:
hostname::username::password.
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NOTE: Enter one machine on each line. |
- Click Next.
If the Protection page appears next in the Protect Multiple Machines Wizard, skip to step 15.
If the Agent software is not yet deployed to the machines you want to protect, or if any of the machines you specified cannot be protected for another reason, then the selected machines appear on the Warnings page.
- Optionally, on the Warnings page, you can verify any machine by selecting the machine and then clicking Verify in the toolbar.
- Optionally, on the Warnings page, select After Agent installation, restart the machines automatically.
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NOTE: Quest recommends this option. You must restart agent machines before they can be protected. |
- If the status indicates that the machine is reachable, click Next to install the agent software.
The Protection page appears.
- Optionally, on the Protection page, if you want a name other than the IP address to display in the Rapid Recovery Core Console for this protected machine, then in the Display name field, type a name in the dialog box.
You can enter up to 64 characters. Do not use the special characters described in the topic prohibited characters. Additionally, do not begin the display name with any of the character combinations described in the topic prohibited phrases.
- 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 will take 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.
- 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.
- If you selected a Typical configuration for the Protect Machine Wizard and specified custom protection, then click Next and continue to the next step to choose which volumes to protect.
- If you selected Advanced configuration for the Protect Machine Wizard in step 2, and default protection, then click Next and proceed to step 20 to see repository and encryption options.
- On the Protection Volumes page, select which volumes you want to protect. If any volumes are listed that you do not want to include in protection, click in the Check column to clear the selection. Then click Next.
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NOTE: It is best practice to protect, at minimum, the system reserved volume and the volume with the operating system (typically the C:\ drive). |
- 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.
- On the Repository page, select the repository you want to use to store recovery points for this machine, and then click Next.
- On the Encryption page, do one of the following:
- If you want to use encryption keys for data stored in the repository, select Encrypt the data at rest in a repository, and then do one 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 52: Define new encryption key
| 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. |
- If you want to encrypt all data that transports over a network, select Encrypt the data in transport over a network.
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NOTE: This option is enabled by default, so if you do not want to encrypt data in this fashion, clear this option. |
- 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. |
The Rapid Recovery Agent software is deployed to the specified machines, if necessary, and the machines are added to protection on the Core.
This procedure requires that you first create a repository that is accessible from the Rapid Recovery Core. For more information, see Understanding repositories.
Complete the following procedure to agentlessly protect one or more ESXi virtual machines (VMs).
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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. |
- 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.
- On the Welcome page, select one of the follow installation options:
- Click Next.
- On the Connection page of the wizard, from the Source drop-down list, select vCenter/ESXi.
- Enter the host information and logon credentials as described in the following table.
Table 53: vCenter/ESXi connection settings
| 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. |
| Password |
The secure password used to connect to this virtual host. |
- Ensure that Use Rapid Snap for Virtual host-based protection is selected. (This option is selected by default).
- Click Next.
- 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. |
- 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.
- Click Next.
- 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. |
- Click Next.
- On the Protection Rules page, select any of the following options:
Table 54: ESXi and vCenter agentless protection options
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Protect machine if it is orphaned by this Core |
Lets 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. |
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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. |
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Protect machine if it is paired with a different Core |
Protects the VM with this Core and discontinues protection from the other Core. |
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Delete old VMware snapshots in order to enable Changed Block Tracking |
Lets the Core delete previous VMware snapshots, including snapshots created by a user or another program, if required to enable Changed Block Tracking (CBT). |
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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. |
- Click Next.
- 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.
- Proceed with your configuration as follows:
- If you specified default protection, then click Next and continue to step 16 to the ABM Settings page.
- If you specified custom protection, then click Next and continue to the next step to configure a protection schedule.
- 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.
- Optionally, on the ABM Settings page, select Enable Active Block Mapping, and then complete the following information:
Table 55: Active Block Mapping settings
| Enable Active Block Mapping |
Lets you enable or disable the ABM feature. |
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Enable swap file blocks exclusion |
Excludes the content of system files, such as pagefile.sys, hyberfill.sys, and swapfile.sys, from the backup. |
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Exclude subdirectories |
Lets you 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.
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NOTE: This option may affect the performance of the "determining data" phase of transfers. | |
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+ 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.
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NOTE: Active Block Mapping only supports NTFS file systems. |
- Click Next.
- 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.
- On the Repository page, select the repository you want to use to store recovery points for this machine, and then click Next.
- On the Encryption page, do one of the following:
- If you want to use encryption keys for data stored in the repository, select Encrypt the data at rest in a repository, and then do one 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 56: Define new encryption key
| 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. |
- 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. |
