Hyper-V Standard backup sets offer a complete, image-style backup of Hyper-V virtual machines. Hyper-V Standard backup sets can be stored online and/or locally, giving you the ability to have duplicate copies for improved disaster-recovery protection. This guide will show you how to configure Hyper-V backup sets.
Prerequisites
The following prerequisites should be met in order to ensure Hyper-V backups run successfully.
- The Backup Agent must be installed directly on the Hyper-V host which houses the virtual machines you want to back up.
- The virtual machines you intend to back up must have Integration Services up-to-date.
- The virtual machines you intend to back up must not have any dynamic volumes at the guest level. The virtual hard drive can be dynamic (host level) since this requirement only applies to how the volumes within a virtual machine are formatted.
- (Optional But Recommended) Have the Backup Agent service run with local administrator rights.
Hyper-V Standard Backup Overview
Hyper-V backups can be stored locally and in the cloud. When Hyper-V backups are stored locally, they are stored in a proprietary format (encrypted and compressed) and require a restore to access backed-up data.
When the backup agent is installed on the Hyper-V host, it can back up any virtual machine on that host. You can select any number of virtual machines to be backed up. However, a VM can only be included in one backup set at a time.
If you are backing up to the cloud, then ensure that each VM you need to back up has the most recent version of Integration Services (IS) installed. The Hyper-V host’s Integration Services also must be updated (if the host’s IS is older, then the backup fails).
You can schedule a backup set to run on a recurring schedule. The default is running once per night.
You can add more than one VM to a backup set, but, by default, only one virtual disk is processed at a time when the backup runs. You can change this behavior by increasing the number of concurrent Hyper-V worker threads on the System Page. Increasing the number of worker threads allows multiple disks to be backed up concurrently but may use more resources on the host.
Hyper-V backups copy a full, initial backup of selected VMs. After this initial backup, incremental backups containing only the changed portions of each VM are performed until the next full backup is scheduled.
Creating Hyper-V Standard Backup Sets
To create a Hyper-V Standard backup set, perform the following steps.
- Navigate to the Computer page.
The Computer page is displayed.
- Click the Backup tab.
The Backup Selections page is displayed.
- In the Backup Type pane, click Hyper-V Standard.
The Select page is displayed.
- Click the Backup Name to provide a new name for your backup set or accept the default.
- At the Select Storage Location section, click one of the following radio button options.
- Local Only (Local Vault must be enabled, and a local subscription is required. Data is not backed up to the cloud.)
- Online Only (An enabled Local Vault disables this option.)
- Online and Local (Local Vault must be enabled.)
The radio button you select is highlighted as shown in the example below.
In the Current Selection pane, select the available virtual machines you would like to back up.
Clicking the arrow
at the right of the items displays more VMs.
Your selections are displayed in the right pane. Click the remove icon
to remove any selections or clear the VM check box.
- After making your selections, click Next.
The Schedule page is displayed. Accept or edit the default schedule.
Notes- The default schedule is by the week on every day starting at 11 p.m.
- Multiple daily/weekly schedules are permitted (if they do not overlap).
- The Allow to Finish check box is always selected and grayed-out.
- Your schedule is displayed in the Schedule column. Click the remove icon
to delete the schedule.
- After setting the schedule, click Next.
The Retention page is displayed.
Select the number of versions you wish to retain, and for how long.
- Optionally, select the Enable Advanced Archiving check box.
The Advanced Archiving fields are displayed.
Make your selections, click Save Rule, and then click Next.
The Advanced page is displayed.
- In the Temporary Folder field, accept the default, type a new path, or click the Browse button to locate the temporary folder that is used during backing up.
In the Force Full Backups section, use the arrows to specify how often full backups are performed after incremental backups.
Optionally, in the Backup Mode section, select the Allow Crash-Consistent Backups check box.
Pre-Windows Server 2016 versions display a different backup mode option as shown below.
When enabled, the virtual machine may become unavailable during the snapshot process.
The software attempts an online backup first. If unable, an offline backup is created. The virtual machine is paused and put into a saved state while the snapshot is taken, and then the virtual machine resumes operation. VMs in a saved or a paused state can be backed up. The imported recovery VMs are in a saved state in both cases.
Tip: This mode is useful if an online backup cannot be taken. For instance, if the guest VM has dynamic disks, this mode allows guest VMs to be backed up in a non-quiesced, offline state.
- Click Next.
The Summary page is displayed.
After reviewing your selections, click the Create Backup Set button.
If you did not change the default backup set name when creating a new backup set, the following confirmation pop-up is displayed after clicking the Create Backup button.
This feature allows you to create a unique name for the backup set. If you already changed the default backup set name, the pop-up is not displayed.
Optionally, change the backup set name, and click Confirm.
- Your scheduled backup is displayed on the Backup Selections page.