Configure a vSphere Recovery Agent

After a vSphere Recovery Agent (VRA) is installed and registered with Portal, you must configure the agent by doing the following:

• Provide information and credentials for the vCenter or ESXi host that you want to protect. The specified account should have administrative rights to the vSphere environment.

• Change the CBT setting. Changed Block Tracking (CBT) is a VMware feature that tracks changed disk sectors and improves the performance of VM backups. By default, the vSphere Agent enables Changed Block Tracking (CBT) for VMs.

• Add a vault connection. A vault connection provides vault information and credentials so that the agent can back up data to and restore data from the vault.

Beginning in version 9.00, you can also enter backup verification settings for a VRA. When backup verification settings are entered and backup verification is enabled for a vSphere backup job, the VRA verifies whether each Windows VM can be restored from the backup. See Backup verification for vSphere VMs.

To change these settings after the initial configuration, see Change vCenter or ESXi host information for a vSphere Recovery Agent, Change the CBT Setting for a vSphere Recovery Agent, Enter backup verification settings for a vSphere Recovery Agent and Add vault settings.

You can also:

• Add a description for the agent. The description appears for the vSphere environment on the Computers page. See Add a description.

• Add retention types that specify how long backups are kept on the vault. See Add retention types.

• Configure email notifications so that users receive emails when backups complete, fail, or have errors. See Monitor backups using email notifications.

• Specify the amount of bandwidth consumed by backups. See Configure bandwidth throttling.

To configure the vSphere Recovery Agent:

1. On the navigation bar, click Computers.

   The Computers page shows registered computers.

2. Find the unconfigured vSphere Recovery Agent, and expand its view by clicking its row.

   If the agent has not been configured, the Configure Automatically and Configure Manually boxes appear.

   

3. If an Assign the computer to a site list appears, choose a site for the agent.

   The site list appears if you are signed in as an Admin user in a parent site that has child sites. The list includes the parent site if it has a vault profile, and all child sites in the parent site. If the parent site name is in the list, it appears in bold followed by the word "Parent" in brackets.

4. To add a vault connection for the agent, do one of the following:

   • Choose a vault from the Choose a vault list, and then click Configure Automatically. If the vault connection is added successfully, a message appears. Click Go to Agent.

     If the vault connection is not added successfully, you can add the vault connection manually.

   • Click Configure Manually. On the Vault Settings tab, click Add Vault. In the Vault Settings dialog box, do 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.

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

     • In the Account, Username, and Password boxes, enter an account name and credentials for backing up data to and restoring data from the vault.

       Click Save.

5. On the vSphere Settings tab, do the following:

   • In the Host box, type the host name or IPV4 address of the vCenter or ESXi host that you want to protect. Specifying the host name is recommended. This will allow DNS to handle IP address changes.

   • In the Domain box, type the domain of the account for authenticating with the vCenter or ESXi host. The domain is not required if you specify the domain in the Username box.

   • In the Username box, type the account that is used to authenticate with the vCenter or ESXi host. You can type the account as username, domain\username, or username@domain.

     The user must have administrator permissions.

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

     Note: If the password for the specified user changes, change it for the VRA as soon as possible.

6. Click Verify and Save. If the credentials are valid, a Success message appears. Click Okay.

7. Do one of the following:

   • To enable CBT for VMs that do not have it enabled, select Enable Change Block Tracking (CBT) for Virtual Machines during backup.

   • To stop the VRA from enabling CBT for VMs, clear Enable Change Block Tracking (CBT) for Virtual Machines during backup.

8. To enter backup verification settings, do the following:

   1. Select Verify backups upon completion.

   2. In the Temporary Datastore list, select a datastore for running VMs during backup verification.

   3. In the Destination Host list, select a host for running VMs during backup verification.

   Note: Backup verification settings only appear if Portal and VRA requirements are met. See vSphere Rapid VM Restore and backup verification requirements.

9. Click Save. A Success message appears. Click Okay.

   The VRA is now ready for creating backup jobs. See Add a vSphere backup job.