Configuring Backups for Nutanix AHV

The configuration wizard guides you through the configuration process, which includes creating any new entities that are needed, such as a plan, a hypervisor, and a VM group.

Start the Configuration Wizard

From the Command Center navigation pane, go to Protect > Virtualization.

The Virtual machines page appears.
In the upper-right area of the page, click Add hypervisor.

The Configure Hypervisor page appears.
Click Nutanix AHV.
Click Next.

The Backup Method Overview page of the configuration wizard appears.
Review the information.
Click Next.

The Backup Gateway page of the configuration wizard appears.

Backup Gateway

A backup gateway is required to back up VMs without egress charges. Access nodes run backups and other operations. See System Requirements for On-Premises Backup Gateways.

Select an existing backup gateway or create a new backup gateway.
Steps to create a backup gateway
1. Click the add button .
  
  The Add new backup gateway dialog box appears.
2. Click Download.
  
  The backup gateway installer is downloaded. The file name of the installer is BackupGateway64.exe.
3. On the computer that you will use as the backup gateway, install the software:
  1. Right-click the installation file, and then select Run as administrator.
    
    The Custom Package Manager dialog box appears.
  2. Extract the files.
    
    The Commvault Cloud installer appears.
  3. In the Installation Path box, enter the path to install the backup gateway (default path is C:\Program Files\Metallic\ContentStore) and then click Next.
    
    The Data Directory Path screen appears.
  4. In the Select data directory path box, enter the path on the dedicated data disk for the deduplication database, index cache, and job results folder.
    
    By default, a non-OS drive with the largest amount of available space is selected as the data directory path. For example, E:\Metallic\Data.
    
    Important
    
    Because the data disk is used for intensive I/O operations such as deduplication, job results, and index caching, use either a separate data disk or virtual drives using a storage pool.
  5. Click Next to start the installation.
    
    After the software is installed, the Server Authentication dialog box appears.
  6. Click Enter Credentials, and then enter the credentials that you use to log on to the Command Center.
  7. If you are an MFA-enabled customer, when prompted, enter the authcode that was displayed on the download screen.
    
    To view the authcode, go to Manage > Company.
  8. Click Next.
  9. Before leaving the installer, copy the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the backup gateway.
4. Return to the Select backup gateway page.
5. In the Backup gateway hostname box, enter the FQDN of the backup gateway.
6. Click Submit.
  
  The backup gateway registers with Commvault Cloud.
7. Return to Commvault Cloud.
8. Refresh the list of backup gateways, and then select the backup gateway that you created.
Click Next.

The Local Storage page of the configuration wizard appears.

Local Storage

For optimal performance, store a primary copy locally and a secondary copy in a cloud location. If you back up directly to cloud, without a local copy, you might experience sub-optimal performance.

Decide whether to use local storage:
- To store the primary backup only in the cloud, move the Backup to cloud storage only toggle key to the right.
- To store the primary backup locally, select existing local storage or create a new local storage location.
  Steps to create local storage
  1. Click the add button .
    
    The Add local storage dialog box appears.
  2. In Name, enter a descriptive name for the local storage.
  3. Click Add.
    
    The Add backup location dialog box appears.
  4. From the Access node list, select the backup gateway to use.
  5. For Type, select whether the storage is local or on a network.
  6. If you selected Network, enter the credentials to access the backup location.
  7. For Backup location, enter the path to store the backup in.
  8. Click Add.
  9. Click Save.
Click Next.

The Cloud Storage page of the configuration wizard appears.

Cloud Storage

Decide whether to use cloud storage:

If you specified local storage, and you don't want to use cloud storage, move the Only use on-premises storage toggle key to the right.

Select existing cloud storage or create new cloud storage.

Steps to create cloud storage

Click the add button .

The Add cloud storage dialog box appears.

From Type, select the storage provider, and then enter the necessary values.

Storage provider	Values
Amazon S3	Name: Enter a descriptive name for the cloud storage. Region: Select the region for the cloud storage. Authentication: Select the type of authentication to use. Bucket: Enter the name of the bucket. Storage class: Select the storage class for the type of access that you want to have for the data.
Air Gap Protect	Cloud storage provider: Select Azure Blob Storage or OCI Object Storage. Storage class: Select the storage class for the type of access that you want to have for the data. Region: Select the region for the cloud storage.
Microsoft Azure Storage	Name: Enter a descriptive name for the cloud storage. Credentials: Select existing credentials or create new credentials. Region: Select the region for the cloud storage. Container: Enter the name of the container. For example, enter bucket_name.
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Object Storage	Name: Enter a descriptive name for the cloud storage. Credentials: Select the credentials to use. Region: Select the region for the cloud storage. Compartment name: Enter the name of the compartment. Bucket: Enter the name of the bucket. Storage class: Select the storage class for the type of access that you want to have for the data.

Click Save.

If you are storing the primary copy in the cloud (not locally), and you want to store a secondary copy in the cloud, do the following:

Move the Secondary copy toggle key to the right.

For Storage location, select an existing storage location or create a new storage location.

Steps to create cloud storage

Click the add button .

The Add cloud storage dialog box appears.

From Type, select the storage provider, and then enter the necessary values.

Storage provider	Values
Amazon S3	Name: Enter a descriptive name for the cloud storage. Region: Select the region for the cloud storage. Authentication: Select the type of authentication to use. Bucket: Enter the name of the bucket. Storage class: Select the storage class for the type of access that you want to have for the data.
Air Gap Protect	Cloud storage provider: Select Azure Blob Storage or OCI Object Storage. Storage class: Select the storage class for the type of access that you want to have for the data. Region: Select the region for the cloud storage.
Microsoft Azure Storage	Name: Enter a descriptive name for the cloud storage. Credentials: Select existing credentials or create new credentials. Region: Select the region for the cloud storage. Container: Enter the name of the container. For example, enter bucket_name.
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Object Storage	Name: Enter a descriptive name for the cloud storage. Credentials: Select the credentials to use. Region: Select the region for the cloud storage. Compartment name: Enter the name of the compartment. Bucket: Enter the name of the bucket. Storage class: Select the storage class for the type of access that you want to have for the data.

Click Save.

Click Next.

The Plan page of the configuration wizard appears.

Plan

A plan specifies the storage to back up the data to and other settings such as recovery point objective (RPO) settings.

Select an existing plan or create a new plan.
Steps to create a plan
1. Click the add button .
  
  The Add plan dialog box appears.
2. In the Plan name box, enter a descriptive name for the plan.
3. For the plan settings, select pre-defined settings or create custom settings:
  - To select pre-defined settings, under Retention rules, select one of the following:
    - Select Standard retention to retain the incremental backups for 1 month.
    - Select Extended retention for optimized storage where the incremental backups of primary and secondary copies are retained for 1 month, and extended retention for monthly and yearly full backups.
      
      Note
      
      The Extended retention option is available only when the secondary copy backup is selected.
  - To create custom settings, select Custom plan, and then specify the following:
    - For Snapshot retention, specify the number of snapshots to retain for IntelliSnap backups.
    - For Retention, specify the amount of time to retain the backup jobs.
    - For Retention monthly full (Secondary copy), specify the amount of time to retain the monthly full backup on secondary copy.
    - For Retention yearly full (Secondary copy), specify the amount of time to retain the yearly full backup on secondary copy.
    - For Backups run every, specify how often to run backups.
4. Click Done.
Click Next.

The Hypervisor page of the configuration wizard appears.

Hypervisor

In Hypervisor display name, enter a descriptive name for the hypervisor.
Provide a fully qualified hostname or IP address for the hypervisor.
For Hypervisor display name, type a descriptive name for the hypervisor.
For Credentials, select existing credentials or create new credentials.
Create steps using credentials
1. Click the add button .
  
  The Add credential dialog box appears.
2. For Credential Vault, select the credential vault to save the credentials in.
3. In Credential name, enter a descriptive name for the credentials.
4. In User account, enter the name of the Nutanix user account.
  
  Note
  
  If you are using the V3 API to run backups, the user account must have admin (superuser) permissions with all roles assigned. Alternatively, you can configure Active Directory (AD) services and map the AD user account to the Cluster Admin and Self Service Portal Admin roles through the Self Service Portal.
  
  For guidance on how to implement these processes, contact Nutanix Support & Services.
5. In Password, enter the password for the user account.
6. In Description, enter a description of the credentials.
7. Click Save.
Click Next.

The Add VM Group page of the configuration wizard appears.

Add a VM Group

A VM group is a set of VMs that you want to back up with the same settings.

You can add content to the VM group by using rules that auto-discover VMs and/or by selecting specific VMs.

In Name, enter a descriptive name for the VM group.
To create rules that auto-discover and select VMs to back up, do the following:
1. Click Add, and then select Rules.
  
  The Add rule dialog box appears.
2. From the list, select the type of rule to create, and then specify the rule:
  - Browse: Select specific VMs. (Selecting this option changes the Add rule dialog box to the Add content dialog box.)
  - Power state: Select VMs based on a power status of On, Off, or Other. (Other includes statuses such as Suspended).
  - Protection domain: Select a host, protection domain, or specific virtual machines.
  - Storage container: Select a storage container or specific virtual machines.
  - Virtual machine name or pattern: Select VMs based on their names. For example, to select VMs that have a name that includes "east", enter Virtual machine name or pattern | Contains | east.
3. Click Save.
To select VMs in other ways, do the following:
1. Click Add, and then select Content.
  
  The Add content dialog box appears.
2. From the Browse and select VMs list, select one of the following:
  - Protection domains: Sort VMs by host, protection domain, or specific virtual machines.
  - VMs: Sort VMs by name.
  - Storage containers: Sort VMs by storage container or specific virtual machines.
3. Select the VMs to add to the VM group.
4. Click Save.
Click Next.

The Summary page of the configuration wizard appears.

Summary

Review the summary.
Click Finish.