Configure a new Hyper-V Agent

After the Hyper-V Agent Management service is installed and registered with Portal, you must configure the agent by specifying:

• The fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or IP address of the Hyper-V cluster or standalone host that you want to protect.

• Credentials for authenticating with the Hyper-V environment. For a Hyper-V cluster, the user must be an Active Directory domain user with administrative rights and full control over the cluster. For a standalone host, the user can be a local or domain user with administrative rights.

IMPORTANT: Beginning with version 8.84 of the Hyper-V Agent, you must provide Hyper-V environment information and credentials in Portal before you can install Hyper-V Agent Host services.

When configuring a new Hyper-V Agent, you can also add vault settings. Vault settings provides vault information and credentials so that the Agent can back up data to and restore data from the vault.

To change the Hyper-V environment information and credentials, add vault settings, or perform other configuration tasks after the initial configuration, see Configure computers.

To configure a new Hyper-V Agent:

1. On the navigation bar in Portal, click Computers.

   The Computers page shows registered computers.

2. Find the computer that has the Hyper-V Agent Management service installed, and expand its view by clicking its row.

   Before you provide Hyper-V credentials for the Agent, the name of the computer where the Management service is installed appears on the Computers page.

3. If a Configuration mode section appears, select Configure a new Hyper-V Agent, and then click Continue.

   The Configuration mode section appears if offline Hyper-V Agents are available in the site. This section includes a Recover a previous Hyper-V Agent option for recovering the configuration and backup jobs from an offline Hyper-V Agent instead of configuring a new Agent. See Recover jobs and settings from an offline Hyper-V Agent.

4. In the Register agent with Hyper-V environment section, specify the following information:

   • In the Address box, type the FQDN or IP address of the Hyper-V cluster or standalone host that you want to protect. Specifying the FQDN of the cluster or standalone host is recommended. This will allow DNS to handle IP address changes.

     IMPORTANT: For a Hyper-V cluster, enter the FQDN or IP address of the cluster (not of a host in the cluster). 

   • In the Domain box, type the domain of the account for authenticating with the Hyper-V cluster or standalone host.

     The domain is not required if you specify the domain in the Username box or if you specify a local user for a standalone host.

   • In the Username box, type the administrator account that is used to authenticate with the Hyper-V cluster or standalone host. You can type the account as username, domain\username, or username@domain.

     For a Hyper-V cluster, the user must be an Active Directory domain user with administrative rights and full control over the cluster. 

     For a standalone host, the user can be a local or domain user with administrative rights.

   • In the Password box, type the password for the specified user.

5. To validate the credentials, click Verify Information. If the credentials are valid, a Success message appears. Click Okay.

6. Click Continue.

7. In the Vault Configuration section, click Configure Vault.

   You can also add vault connections after the initial configuration. See Add vault settings.

8. On the Vault Settings tab, click Add Vault.

9. In the Vault Settings dialog box, do one of the following:

   • In the Vault Name box, enter a name for the vault connection. In the Address box, enter the vault host name or IPV4 address. In the Account, Username, and Password boxes, enter an account and credentials for backing up data to and restoring data from the vault.

     Specifying the host name of the vault is recommended. This will allow DNS to handle IP address changes.

   • If a policy with a vault profile is assigned to the computer, click the Vault Profile list. In the list, click the vault profile that you want to add for the computer. Vault information and credentials are then populated in the Vault Settings dialog box.

10. (Optional) Change one or more of the following Advanced Settings for the vault connection:

    • Agent Host Name. Name of the computer on the vault. For a Hyper-V environment, by default, the name is the fully qualified domain name of the cluster or standalone host.

    • Port Number. Port used to connect to the vault.

    • Attempt to Reconnect Every. Specifies the number of seconds after which the agent should try to connect to the vault if the vault becomes unavailable during a backup or restore. The value can be from 30 to 1800 seconds.

    • Abort Reconnect Retries After. Enter the number of minutes after which the agent should stop trying to reconnect to the vault if the vault becomes unavailable during a backup or restore. The value can be from 60 to 720 minutes. If the Agent cannot connect to the vault successfully in the specified time, the backup or restore fails.

11. Click Save.

    If the agent is protecting a Hyper-V cluster, the FQDN of the cluster now appears on the Computers page in Portal instead of the Management service computer name.