Veeam Advice Please

[Jobos]

I'm running a trial of Veeam together with Peasoup's 2TB cloud offering but something is not quite right or more likely I am doing something wrong.

 

Veeam is running on a local standalone VM and at this time there are 2 backup jobs running. The first job is a full backup of the Windows fileserver (entire computer) and storage is the second disk on the VM. The job appears to be running well although very slow as the file server is a remote server with the MSP. The second job is a copy job saving to the cloud and again it appears to be running well. I started trialling Veeam using a file backup job and that working well too. I could select folders to backup and restoring them was easy but there was no way I could find to copy the job to Peasoup's cloud, only to the local storage so that's when I disabled the file backup and made a new full backup job and backup copy job.

 

When I try to run a individual file and folder restore I don't get the option as it only shows the file backup job that was saving to the local VM (now disabled) but I want to restore from the cloud or the full local backup job as they are the latest jobs. I could restore the complete server but that's not what I want.

 

Any advice?

 

[Steve21]

Its a bit hard to picture what you're doing here as the terminology is either a bit off in terms of the job types you're using, or it's an odd way you're doing this in Veeam logic. 

Do you mean Copy Job as in an individual File Copy? Or a BackUp Copy Job that copies a local backup to the cloud?

If you're just after a file-level restorable copy in the cloud, you can just do a normal server backup + backup copy job and it'll copy it to the cloud from which you can pull individual files/folders as well as the whole VM (File Copy BackUp etc is only really used for specific cases and is used differently in the restore/backup jobs compared to a normal backup)

If you're actually using the File Share level option when you load the backups it'll only show the latest version, but if you then open the restore wizard it'll show an option inside it to pick a select restore point off the list

If you're using it via the Agent you'd need to do the restore via the Agent route and then Guest restore and then pick select/source etc

Steve

 

[PotNoodleTech]

Best way I've found to deal with Veeam and multiple copy jobs is to actually make sure you have a decent amount of HDD storage on the veeam server - the initial backup job gets stored on the veeam server itself.  Then you can use multiple backup copy jobs to actually farm the backup out to various places be that tertiary NAS boxes around the school, storage in antoher school or LA,  or upload to cloud storage.

 

Been doing that for best part of a decade and jobs just run perfectly every day.

 

If you skip that local backup to local veeeam server you miss out on having that bonefide super fast dead cert working backup whch all other backup can copy to and reference from. Your then relying on disparate devices and possibly internet connections to hope the backup manages to finish successfully rather than just taking a quick copy from existing good data.

Edited June 12, 2025 by PotNoodleTech

[Jobos]

 

6 hours ago, PotNoodleTech said:

Best way I've found to deal with Veeam and multiple copy jobs is to actually make sure you have a decent amount of HDD storage on the veeam server - the initial backup job gets stored on the veeam server itself.  Then you can use multiple backup copy jobs to actually farm the backup out to various places be that tertiary NAS boxes around the school, storage in antoher school or LA,  or upload to cloud storage.

 

Been doing that for best part of a decade and jobs just run perfectly every day.

 

If you skip that local backup to local veeeam server you miss out on having that bonefide super fast dead cert working backup whch all other backup can copy to and reference from. Your then relying on disparate devices and possibly internet connections to hope the backup manages to finish successfully rather than just taking a quick copy from existing good data.

 

That's really what I'm doing. Backing up to the veeam server then copying that backup to the cloud. The problem starts when I do a test restore as all I want is to restore few files and not the complete server.

[Koldov]

Not a Veeam expert at all, so the below may all be complete gibberish...

 

Is it the type of backup you are creating then?

 

Possibly if you are creating a 'volume level', or 'file level' they still produce an image based backup, so you'd have to download the whole image. Unless you can explore the image somehow...?

 

Is there some sort of option in your backup job to enable something like 'Guest Processing' I think it's 'Guest File System Indexing'... that may be the option you're looking for...?

 

EDIT: Just checked ours... Search for the backup through the console, select it and see the top ribbon for Guest Files (Windows).

 

 

 

 

Edited June 12, 2025 by Koldov

[Jobos]

17 hours ago, Koldov said:

Not a Veeam expert at all, so the below may all be complete gibberish...

 

Is it the type of backup you are creating then?

 

Possibly if you are creating a 'volume level', or 'file level' they still produce an image based backup, so you'd have to download the whole image. Unless you can explore the image somehow...?

 

Is there some sort of option in your backup job to enable something like 'Guest Processing' I think it's 'Guest File System Indexing'... that may be the option you're looking for...?

 

EDIT: Just checked ours... Search for the backup through the console, select it and see the top ribbon for Guest Files (Windows).

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the help everyone but still not able to find the option to just restore a few files as it seems only to give me the option to restore the complete VM. It could be the type of backup I using and as said earlier there is a file backup option in Veeam but sadly that is only uses local storage and not cloud.

 

Veeam is a beast and with backups being such an important thing I don't want to chance making a mistake so I've decided to go with Backup Assist that I've had running for the past 3 weeks.

 

Backup Assist is really good at what it does and just works. The MSP backs up the VMs anyway so I don't need to worry about full restores but they are charging £1800 for file backups and that only gives us 1TB for 28 days restore capability so really over priced for what it is. For a fraction of cost I can backup using grandfather, father, son and have immediate access to the restores.

 

[PotNoodleTech]

Thats a weird one - i've been restoring individual files from VMs for well over a decade with Veeam on both Vmware and Hyper-V.  Must be something to do with the way you've set the jobs/servers up?

[Jobos]

4 minutes ago, PotNoodleTech said:

Thats a weird one - i've been restoring individual files from VMs for well over a decade with Veeam on both Vmware and Hyper-V.  Must be something to do with the way you've set the jobs/servers up?

 

Yes, most likely is although the servers are with the MSP running on a Linux host which we do not have access to

[Koldov]

What you are doing sounds fairly complicated but I guess if it's possible with other backup software it should be possible with Veeam, but I don't have Veeam doing anything with remote backups, so the following could be complete rubbish...

 

So, to be clear...

 

You are backing up a remote MSP hosted VM file sever, to an onsite local VM running Veeam.

 

Two jobs, 'entire computer' and 'storage/data (files)'

 

These jobs/backups will go to your Veeam repository on the local onsite VM 

 

Then you want a 'copy job' to copy that backup, from the local onsite VM to cloud storage.

 

My thoughts are...

 

1st job should be 'OS Volume' not 'Entire Computer'

2nd job should be the Data Disk/Files ensuring 'Guest Files' is enabled.

 

These will backup to the onsite local VM to a Veeam repository

 

3rd job would be to copy those from the repository to your cloud storage

 

Any file restores would come from the onsite local VM Veeam repository anyway, there shouldn't be any need to restore individual files from the cloud storage as you will have the same data in both places.

 

For DR, you would probably be restoring entire computers/VMs anyway.

 

I guess the above is bandwidth intensive and will take a long time as you are basically downloading it all just to upload it again... You will probably get someone who knows Veeam to give you better options...

 

If you want to bypass this, it looks like it's possible to backup your MSP VM directly to Peasoup utilising some form of Veeam Cloud Connect:

 

"To back up a cloud VM using Veeam, you'll typically utilize Veeam Agent for cloud machines and configure a backup job pointing to a Veeam Cloud Connect repository or a cloud storage provider. You can also use the Veeam Backup & Replication product with the Cloud Connect option to back up VMs to a service provider's cloud. 

 

Steps to Back Up a Cloud VM to Cloud Storage using Veeam Agent:

Install Veeam Agent for cloud machines: Install the agent on the target cloud VM. 

Configure a backup job: In the Veeam Backup & Replication console, create a new Agent backup job. 

Select the cloud machine: Add the cloud VM you want to back up to the job. 

Choose the backup mode: Select the appropriate backup mode (e.g., full backup, incremental backup). 

Specify the backup destination: Choose the Veeam Cloud Connect repository or specify the details for the cloud storage provider. 

Configure advanced settings: Adjust backup schedule, compression, encryption, and other settings as needed. 

Run the backup: Start the backup job to back up the cloud VM to the specified destination. 

 

Steps to Back Up a Cloud VM to Cloud Storage using Veeam Backup & Replication (Cloud Connect):

Configure a Veeam Cloud Connect service provider: Add the details of the cloud service provider in the Veeam Backup & Replication console. 

Create a backup job: Create a new virtual machine backup job. 

Select the VM: Add the cloud VM to the job. 

Choose the cloud repository: Select the Veeam Cloud Connect repository associated with the service provider. 

Configure advanced settings: Adjust backup schedule, compression, encryption, and other settings as needed. 

Run the backup: Start the backup job. 

Additional Considerations:

Security:

Ensure that the cloud storage provider is configured with appropriate security measures (e.g., encryption, access control). 

Performance:

Consider network bandwidth when backing up to cloud storage to avoid slow backup speeds. 

Cost:

Be mindful of storage costs associated with cloud storage, as these can vary depending on the provider and usage. 

Restore:

Understand how to restore data from the cloud storage location in case of a disaster

 

 

 

 

[Jobos]

@Koldov Thanks, I have started that running so should be finished by Monday at which time I will test.

[Jobos]

So I made new jobs but this time selected OS Volume and Veeam has been running since Friday afternoon. The backup to the local Veeam server has completed but the copy job from Veeam server to cloud is still running although at 92% now.

 

Next is to try a file restore so I select guest files restore.

 

 

 

 

Microsoft Windows

 

 

Select the weekend job.

 

 

Select full restore point

 

 

Then I get here and I don't see a way to select any file and I'm concerned if I go further the whole server will get restored.

 

 

 

 

 

[PotNoodleTech]

Hi you've got to next past the "Reson and summary" and then it loads the individual file browser for the job where you can select drives and files?

[Jobos]

4 minutes ago, PotNoodleTech said:

Hi you've got to next past the "Reson and summary" and then it loads the individual file browser for the job where you can select drives and files?

 

That's the part I'm not sure off and I would hate Veeam to go off and restore the server from last weeks back up.

[NegativeKillDeath]

6 minutes ago, Jobos said:

 

That's the part I'm not sure off and I would hate Veeam to go off and restore the server from last weeks back up.

As PNT says the next stage is where you do the recovery.  

[DavR]

Long time Veeam user here - Yes, you do need to complete to wizard for the file level restore, before it will allow to choose the files you wish to restore, they come up in the next wizard.

 

Nothing to do with local, cloud, or whatever, that's the behaviour whatever you're doing.

[Jobos]

Thanks, I was being too cautious and I see now where I was going wrong.

 

 

[PotNoodleTech]

I agree it is confusing to start like you say you think to yourself am i restoring the whole server?  Veeam could tidy that wizard up with a couple less clicks, and some clearer text but it's been like that for years so don't hold your breath.

[Jobos]

Veeam have been running faultlessly for almost a week and now has 1 full backup and 5 increment backups. When I setup Veeam for testing there were options for how many and how long to keep backups for. What is the recommended settings please?

 

At the moment Veeam runs a volume level backup on the OS drive as that is where the file shares are. The MSP setup the server and if I were doing it I would have made a second data drive but there you go.

 

Storage is set to the local Veeam server with a retention of 7 days.

Keep certain full backups longer for archival purposes, 1 weekly.

 

Under configure, configure GFS. Keep weekly full backups for 1 week. If multiple full backups exist, use the one from Sunday.

 

Configure secondary destinations for this job - TRUE

Secondary target is the copy job which uploads to Peasoup cloud.

 

Schedule is daily at 18:00.

 

The first full backup was 1.4 GB and the increment backup are around 15GB each.

 

The Peasoup trial is 2TB