Start Using Commvault for Backups

To back up servers by using Commvault, you need to create a plan—or backup policy—that defines where to store the backups, when to take them, and which servers are to be backed up.

This section describes the steps for creating the plan, identifying the servers to back up and how to validate the backup activity. Be aware that no plan is permanent; you can change the plan at any time, as your needs dictate.

Create a Plan that Defines Backup Parameters

First, define the parameters by which Commvault runs backups, including when to take them and where to store them, and collects the contents of those backups. Create these plans based on your requirements and specific Recovery Point Objectives (RPO) and Recovery Time Objectives (RTO).

1. Create a plan and add the recovery destination for the Oracle Cloud VMware Solution hypervisor to it:
   1. Select Manage then Plans then click Create Plans.
   2. On the Create server backup plan dialog box, enter a Name for this storage object..
   3. Open the Storage dropdown control and, under Deduplication section, select the block storage volume you create earlier in this exercise.
   4. Accept the default Retention policy—how long to retain the backed up date—and click Save.
2. If necessary—for example, if you are also using Oracle Cloud Infrastructure as a hypervisor—add a second storage option:
   1. Click Add copy and enter a Name for this storage object.
   2. Open the Storage dropdown control and, under Deduplication section, select the block storage volume you create earlier in this exercise.
   3. Accept the default Retention policy and click Save.

   Note:

   You can add as many storage options as necessary for your implementation.
3. Now, set the Recovery Point Objective:
   1. Under RPO, select the Backup frequency—that is, how often you want backups taken—and the Start time—that is, the time of day the backups should commence.
   2. Click Save.
   3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 for each storage object.

Create VM Groups and Attach Backup Plan

VM groups are simply a collection of servers that you want to back up per the parameters defined for your RTO and RPO. In this task, you will create a VM group and attach the plan you created in the previous section.

From the Commvault Command Center:

1. Create and attach the backup plan for Oracle Cloud VMware Solution managed VMs:
   1. Select Protect then Virtualiztion then VM Groups. Then click Create VM group.
   2. On the Add VM dialog box, select Oracle Cloud VMware Solution as your Hypervisor and give the group a Name.
   3. Browse the hypervisor to select the appropriate guest VMs to which you want to apply the plan.
   4. Ensure Enable backup plan is selected and choose the backup Plan you want to apply.
   5. Click Save.
2. Optionally, if you are also planning to protect instances with Oracle Cloud Infrastructure as a hypervisor, create and attach the backup plan for that service:
   1. Select Protect then Virtualiztion then VM Groups. Then click Create VM group.
   2. On the Add VM dialog box, select Oracle Cloud Infrastructure as your Hypervisor and give the group a Name.
   3. Then Navigate the server list until you find the appropriate compartment, open that compartment, and select the servers to which you want to apply the plan.
   4. Ensure Enable backup plan is selected and choose the backup Plan you want to apply.
   5. Click Save.

Validate the Backup Jobs

You can validate the backup configuration from the VMgroups tab of the Virtualization page.

1. Remaining on the Commvault Command Center VM Groups tab, click the name of the group you just created and then click the Overview tab.
   The specific data for the group will appear. It is arranged into three groups:

   • Instances; which shows the results of the latest backup operation.
   • Summary; which summarizes the backup plan, including the hypervisor name, the time of the next scheduled backup, rhe Region, if any, in which the servers reside, and a toggle to enable or data management.
   • Content, which lists the servers in the VM group.
2. Review the Instances data. At first, it should all register zero (0). This is because you haven't reached the time scheduled in the plan for the backup and data won't be available until the backup runs. If you want to launch a manual backup, Click Back up and:
   1. On the Select backup level dialog box, select either Full or Incremental and When the job completes, notify via email. Then click OK.
      If this is the first time running this backup plan, regardless of whether you select Full or Incremental, Commvault will run a full backup, which takes longer to complete than an incremental backup.
   2. On the Backup started for job... message, click View job details to see the summary and details of the backup operation.
   3. In the Commvault Command Center, select Jobs and, on the list of jobs, verify that your backup operation is running.