Veeam – Page 7 – driftar's Blog

Veeam – Install & Configure Veeam Agent for Windows Beta (with B&R Repository)

2. February 2017 by Karl Widmer

Today i had a day off in the office because of a national holiday. I used the day to relax a little, and to get some hands on the new Veeam Agent for Windows Beta. I downloaded and installed it on one of my virtual servers in my homelab. This server is a Active Directory Domain Controller, which is located on the physical ESXi host which is providing the lab platform. This virtual server wasn’t backed up until today because i was waiting for the new Veeam Agent for Windows.

Download and Setup of Veeam Agent for Windows

If you’re interested to get hands on this new Veeam Agent for Windows Beta version, go to this website and register. You’ll receive an email with further information how to download this nice piece of software. But be informed, you probably won’t get an email with download information immediately. As it was by me it took a while. I think the mails go out in waves. But stay tuned, it’s worth to wait a day or two 😉

Let’s install the Veeam Agent for Windows now. It’s pretty simple. Download the zip file, extract, double click, next, next, finish. You know the process from Veeam Endpoint Backup FREE already, if you’re using this software. Let’s have a quick look at the process.

Veeam – Becoming a Veeam Vanguard for the first time

31. January 2017 by Karl Widmer

Last year in November i applied for the Veeam Vanguard program. I said to me “come on, give it a try”. I wasn’t absolutely unsure if the people at Veeam will select me as a Vanguard. This program is no certification exam or something you can “learn” for it. You will be hand-picked by the Vanguard team which consists of many specialists in their branch.

This week i received an email from “Rickatron” Rick Vanover, one of the evangelists at Veeam. In this email he wrote that i was selected as a Veeam Vanguard. I literally freaked out!

The first time i’m honored as a Veeam Vanguard. I’m really proud!

What is the Veeam Vanguard program?

I think the following quote from the Veeam Vanguard website will best describe it.

A Veeam Vanguard represents our brand to the highest level in many of the different technology communities in which we engage. These individuals are chosen for their acumen, engagement and style in their activities on and offline.

It’s all about the community. People out there in the IT, bloggers, influencers, partners can apply as a Veeam Vanguard. Those people are pushing the brand “Veeam”, they are curious, keen and eager. Those people want to do more, and they do more. Vanguards are helping other community people with their technical help and expertise. They produce content for the community, forum and blog posts. But not only this. They are active on and offline, talking about things, explaining things to other people.

Veeam – Installing Update 1 for Veeam Backup & Replication 9.5

22. January 2017 by Karl Widmer

First of all: Yes, after installing Update 1 for Veeam Backup & Replication 9.5 you can move on and upgrade to the latest vSphere version. Veeam does now support vSphere 6.5. Why does this guy write a blog post about a simple update you may think. Well, because i can and because probably ~~all~~ most Veeam users waited to upgrade to the latest vSphere version until Veeam releases Update 1.

VMware announced vSphere 6.5 last year at VMworld Europe in Barcelona. This new version comes with plenty of new features (like VM encryption, vCenter Server appliance with integrated update manager etc.) Unfortunately there was no support through Veeam Backup & Replication 9.5 at this time. So it took a while for the programmers and coders to create an update for Veeam Backup & Replication 9.5 and also for testing this new update against the new vSphere version.

Since the 20th of January the new Update 1 for Veeam Backup & Replication 9.5 is now available via Veeam Knowledge Base. This post will be updated when it’s available in the regular download section.

You know it from other Veeam updates, it’s easy as pie. Just few clicks and some minutes later the update is installed. Even if the setup assistant does not prompt for a restart, it’s not a bad idea to do so. During the update installation the Veeam services will be stopped and files are being replaced and updated. So a restart is not a bad idea at all.

Review – 10 most popular posts on my blog in 2016

5. January 2017 by Karl Widmer

Call it a review or a look back. Or a time travel if you like to. I’d like to introduce you the 10 most popular posts on my blog of 2016. And a short reflection what happend in 2016.

Very much happened last year (you don’t say?). I had the opportunity to work on many interesting customer projects. Deploying VMware AirWatch for a customer was one of my favorite projects. But there were not only projects in my company and for customers but also many personal projects. I invested much effort, time and money to build a small vSphere homelab as preparation for my VCP exam (which i failed twice in 2016, damn it). In 2016 i attended also two great events in Barcelona and Frankfurt.

I took the chance and went the first time to VMworld Europe last year. It was great. Exhausting. Interesting. I met so many cool people, had interesting chats with them. In Frankfurt i attended the VeeamON Forum which was also a cool event. All about virtualization and data security. I would like to mention the Veeam EMEA team, when i had the opportunity to join them for dinner. Really cool guys there at Veeam, thank you!

And i also really started with blogging. In the meantime i really like it. Sometimes i don’t know what to write. I’m not a fashionista, or a foodie, that puts every bit on the internet. I’d like to provide content which hopefully help people to get their job done and i’d like to help solving a problem. Most of my blog posts are based on problems which i struggled with, and a solution i found for it. Bang. Put that on my website. Because mostly you’re not alone with a specific IT problem. And if you find a solution here on my blog, you’re welcome. I’m here to help.

Some other blog posts are based just on my personal interest in all kinds of IT belongings. Is there a new feature in Veeam or a new version? I’ll go out and test it. Bang. Blog post done.

But now let us focus on what happened on my blog last year. What are the 10 most popular blog posts of 2016? Here they are!

Number 1

VMware – Read before upgrade to vSphere 6.5

vSphere 6.5 was officially announced at VMworld Europe 2016 in Barcelona. The world waited for it. But as always, there are some things to consider before you upgrade your infrastructure to the latest version.

Number 2

Veeam – Automatic backup tests with SureBackup

You probably know the movie “Groundhog Day” with Bill Murray. Every day the same things happen. So with your backups. You backup your data each and every day. But do you also test it? What happens if you really have to restore something? There are many companies which don’t test their backups. With Veeam SureBackup you can fully automate it. And save your time for more important things.

Number 3

VMware vSphere – How to script vMotion for your VMs

Scripting can help you automate things. Just thinking about the batch scripts for network drive mapping at Windows login. And that’s a simple one. But we dig deeper and go to vMotion. This blog post based on a solution i found for a specific problem in my vSphere homelab. I had to find out how i can vmotion my VMs to one specific host so that i can backup them all. Et voila. A nice PowerCLI script arised from researching, trial and error.

Number 4

VMware Homelab – Hardware für den Homeserver

I have to excuse for the language. I’m a native german speaking person. And this was one of the first blog posts about my upcoming vSphere homelab. I had an old game rig and i upgraded with lots of memory, disks and stuff to become my ESXi host which is hosting three other nested ESXi servers. The hardware got a second life, and it is also the starting point of my certification preparations. I’ll probably review this post and make it also available in english.

Number 5

Veeam – Backup your Office 365 mailboxes (on a UNC path)

Many companies relay on their emails and email systems. Some companies have their own mail server, other companies are moving to the cloud. With Office 365 you’ve got different possibilities and you’ll find the one which suits you the best. Office 365 is not only, but also hosted Exchange. You can access your mails on every device at every time, wherever you are. BUT you are responsible to backup up those mailboxes. With Veeam Backup for Office 365 you can do that, fast and easy. I’ll show you how.

Number 6

Veeam SureBackup – Ping-Test Troubleshooting

When we’re talking about backups, we have to talk about recoverability and backup tests too. With Veeam SureBackup you can configure automated backup tests and save your time for more important things. But it’s possible that it doesn’t run out of to box just with clicking around and configure the things. Make sure you configure the virtual helper appliance correctly, according your networking needs.

Number 7

Veeam Endpoint Backup: error: Cannot find partition

I’m sure you’re backing up your personal computer, don’t you? Well, you should. Heard of crypto locker and other malware around the interwebz? At least that should worry you. But also when configuring your backup for your personal computer you can get some trouble. Veeam Endpoint Backup FREE is the right choice for you. Quick and easy setup and configuration. But you can also mess things up, or if your computer has some issues, then you’ve got problems. You can configure Veeam Endpoint Backup so that each and every partition is covered. This post shows you how to do that.

Number 8

VMware – vSAN Deploy and Manage course – Day 1

Just a few weeks ago a attended the VMware VSAN Deploy and Manage course. Three days packed full with information and hands-on labs. We had a great teacher, Paul McSharry. This guy knows the stuff. And of course i did a daily review.

Number 9

Microsoft Active Directory – Change UPN for all users

We’re back at scripting again. This time it’s an Active Directory topic. Many of you might know that. Changing the UPN for a bunch of Active Directory accounts can be frustrating, if not some pain in the b***. I had to do that some months ago for few hundred users. I searched for a solution which i can use not only for one specific use case, but to have a script i can edit and use it anywhere i want. Here it is. Chaning UPN for all users with a script.

Number 10

VMware Certification – How to fail the third time at VCP exam

Last but not least, the mos frustrating and annoying topic for me in 2016 was learning and certification. I thought that i’m ready. Ready to catch the VCP6-DCV exam. But i wasn’t. I tried it at VMworld Europe in Barcelona. And i failed miserably. This was the third time i failed at the VCP exam. I tried once VCP5 and 5.x (that was at the end of 2015). And last year i tried VCP6 two times. The second one was in December. I failed there too. This year i will pass it. And not only just pass it but also get some points. I’ll review all my notes and the study guides and get prepared.

That’s it folks. The review is done. These were the 10 most popular posts on my blog in 2016. I hope you enjoyed this review, and that you probably found a topic of interest, or a solution for a problem. I’m always here to help.

I whish you a great, successful, lucky and healthy 2017. I whish you all the best!

Veeam – Backup your Office 365 mailboxes (on a UNC path)

15. December 2016 by Karl Widmer

Today i’d like to provide you another one of my straight-forward walk through guides. Everybody is talking about cloud. Is it either a private cloud or a public cloud, or probably something between (a hybrid cloud, you don’t say…). So many people and companies want to have their stuff migrated to the cloud or are already using cloud technologies.

Microsoft Office 365 is also one of these cloud technologies. It’s your mail hosted in the cloud. It is available in different sizes and versions, combined with powerful office and collaboration applications (Word, Excel, Outlook, Skype for Business and Sharepoint Online and so on) or just the mail part of it. You can choose whatever you need, and at very attractive pricing conditions.

Compare the Microsoft Office 365 business plans here:

https://products.office.com/en-us/business/compare-more-office-365-for-business-plans

But today we don’t talk about how cool and great this Office 365 stuff is. We wanna talk about how you backup your mails. Your mails are stored somewhere in the cloud (actually a physical datacenter located somewhere). I don’t know if Microsoft does backups for YOUR mails. It’s always better to do that by yourself. Then you know it’s working and you can recover in case of a user deleted something, or whatever can happen with these mails.

So let’s talk about Veeam Backup for Office 365.

This nice piece of software from Veeam is now available since a few days. It’s working very fine, and it is simple to install as you know that from other Veeam software. As mentioned above, this post should guide you through the simple setup and configuration of Veeam Backup for Office 365. When i don’t count the time it took to take screenshots, then the installation is done in a few minutes. Promise. Let’s dig into that.