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Connect Veeam to vCenter and add a Backup repository

  • February 27, 2017
  • 6 min read
IT and Virtualization Consultant. Romain is specializing in Microsoft technologies such as Hyper-V, System Center, storage, networking, and MS Azure. He is a Microsoft MVP and MCSE in Server Infrastructure and Private Cloud.
IT and Virtualization Consultant. Romain is specializing in Microsoft technologies such as Hyper-V, System Center, storage, networking, and MS Azure. He is a Microsoft MVP and MCSE in Server Infrastructure and Private Cloud.

Part 1: Deploy Veeam 9.5 Backup & Replication

Part 2: Prepare backup repository & Connect Veeam to vCenter

Part 3: Backup and restore your first VMware VM 

In the previous topic, we have seen how to install and update Veeam Backup & Replication 9.5. In this topic, we will prepare the environment. We will connect to vCenter to be able to backup virtual machines and we will add a backup repository.

Connect Veeam to vCenter 6.5

In my lab environment, I have deployed a vCenter Server Appliance 6.5 (VCSA). The VCSA FQDN is admin.vsphere.lab.

First, you need an administrator user to connect to vCenter from Veeam. From vCenter, add a new user as below. I have called mine Veeam.

VMware vSphere Web Client

Next, add this user to Administrators group.

VMware vSphere WEB Client view users and groups

In Veeam, navigate to Backup Infrastructure and Managed Servers. Then click on VMware vSphere.

Veeam Backup and Replication 9.5 Backup Infrastructure Managed Servers

Next, specify the vCenter or ESXi IP address or DNS Name. For this example, I specify the vCenter FQDN.

New VMware Server creation view

In the next window, specify the credentials of the user that you have added in vCenter previously. To do so, click on Manage accounts and add.

Manage Standart Credentials

Then select the credentials and click on next. A security warning is shown. Just click on Connect.

New VMware Server creation secutiry warning

If all the settings are fine, just click on finish to connect the vCenter to Veeam.

New VMware Server summary

Once the vCenter is added, you can navigate in managed servers to show all ESXi managed by the vCenter.

Veeam Backup and Replication managed servers

If you navigate in Virtual Machines, you can see all the VMs hosted in the cluster or ESXi host managed by vCenter.

Veeam Backup and Replication virtual machines view

Add a backup repository

Now that vCenter is connected to Veeam, we can backup VM. But we need a backup repository to store the backup. First I create an LUN in the Synology NAS and I map this LUN to right iSCSI target.

Storage Manager iSCSI LUN

Then I add a RDM disk to the backup VM and I select the LUN.

Storage Manager adding RDM disk to the backup VM

In the virtual machine, I initialize the disk and I create a new volume. I choose the ReFS file system and I map the volume to R:.

PowerShell command creating a new volume

Next, I come back to Veeam and I navigate to Backup infrastructure. Then I click on Add Repository.

Veeam Backup and Replication add repository

In the first screen, specify a name for the backup repository.

new backup repository name

Next, choose the type of backup repository. Because I will store the backup on a local volume, I select Microsoft Windows Server.

New backup repository type

Then I choose the repository server. I select the backup server itself but you can also choose a remote server.

New Backup repository Server

Next, specify the location of the backup. You can also limit the concurrent tasks and the read-write bandwidth.

New Backup Repository

Next, choose the mount server and choose if you want to active vPower NFS service.

New backup Repository Mount Server

To finish, review the settings and click on Apply to add the backup repository. If you check Import existing backups automatically, all Veeam backups that exist in the repository will be imported in Veeam.

New backup repository review

Once the repository is added, you can click on finish.

New backup repository applying

Once the repository is added, Veeam asks you if you want to change the location of the Veeam configuration backup files. I choose yes.

Veeam Backup and Replication backup infrastructure notification

To finish, I remove the Default Backup Repository.

Veeam Backup and Replication remove Default Backup Repository

Hey! Found Romain’s article helpful? Looking to deploy a new, easy-to-manage, and cost-effective hyperconverged infrastructure?
Alex Bykovskyi
Alex Bykovskyi StarWind Virtual HCI Appliance Product Manager
Well, we can help you with this one! Building a new hyperconverged environment is a breeze with StarWind Virtual HCI Appliance (VHCA). It’s a complete hyperconverged infrastructure solution that combines hypervisor (vSphere, Hyper-V, Proxmox, or our custom version of KVM), software-defined storage (StarWind VSAN), and streamlined management tools. Interested in diving deeper into VHCA’s capabilities and features? Book your StarWind Virtual HCI Appliance demo today!