How to place Veeam Agent backup chain on Veeam Cloud Connect repository, so that backup job continues backup chain

Challenge

You need to place a Veeam Agent backup chain on the Veeam Cloud Connect repository in such a way that the Veeam Agent backup job continues the existing backup chain.

Cause

By default, a new Veeam Agent backup job starts a new backup chain. A Veeam Agent backup job also starts a new backup chain when you change a target location in the backup job settings. If you do not want the backup job to start a new backup chain, you can map a backup job to the previously made backups.

This article describes scenarios for Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows operating in the standalone mode where you need to move a backup file that is stored locally to the Veeam Cloud Connect repository. The article describes the following scenarios:

1. Move backup to the cloud repository that uses a simple backup repository as a back end. The operation is performed using Veeam Backup & Replication.
2. Move backup to the cloud repository that uses a scale-out backup repository (SOBR) as a back end. The operation is performed using Veeam Backup & Replication.
3. Move backup to the cloud repository that uses a simple backup repository as a back end. The operation is performed using Veeam Service Provider Console (VSPC).
4. Move backup to the cloud repository that uses a scale-out backup repository (SOBR) as a back end. The operation is performed using Veeam Service Provider Console (VSPC).

Such scenarios may be required in case you want to back up a large amount of data to the cloud repository using a slow network connection. In this case, the Veeam Agent backup job may fail to transfer a full backup to a remote location in a limited time period of 168 hours. To resolve this, you need to create a full backup on a local storage, move the backup file to the cloud repository with external tools, and use the backup file as a "seed" for a new backup chain.

Solution

Scenario 1

In this scenario, assume the following:

• The initial Veeam Agent backup job name is BackupJob1.
• The initial Veeam Agent backup job created a full backup file that you need to place on the Veeam Cloud Connect repository.
• The initial Veeam Agent backup job created a backup file on a local storage in the C:\VeeamBackup\BackupJob1 folder.
• The Veeam Cloud Connect repository stores backup files in the C:\Backup folder.
• Cloud resources are exposed to the tenant whose name is Tenant1.
• Tenant1 provided access to the cloud repository to the subtenant whose name is Subtenant1.

To move a backup file that is stored locally to the Veeam Cloud Connect repository, do the following:

1. On the Tenant server, delete the existing Veeam Agent backup job as described in the Disabling and Removing Jobs section of the Veeam Backup & Replication User Guide.
2. On the Tenant server, delete configuration database records about backups created by the Veeam Agent backup job as described in the Removing from Configuration section of the Veeam Backup & Replication User Guide.
3. Move VBK and VBM files of the full backup from the local storage to the cloud repository using a reliable drive or NAS (ask the provider if they have a preferred method):
   • If you move the backup for the tenant, move files from C:\VeeamBackup\BackupJob1 to C:\Backup\Tenant1\BackupJob1.
   • If you move the backup for the subtenant, move files from C:\VeeamBackup\BackupJob1 to C:\Backup\Tenant1\Users\Subtenant1\BackupJob1.
4. In the Veeam backup console on the Service Provider backup server, open the Backup Infrastructure view and rescan the cloud repository. During rescan, Veeam Backup & Replication will display information about added tenant backups in the rescan statistics window, in the Tenant backups line.
5. On the Veeam Agent computer, edit the initial backup job:
   1. At the Name step of the wizard, set the same name for the backup job that was specified in the path to the backup file (step 3).
   2. At the Destination step of the wizard, target the backup job at the Veeam Cloud Connect repository.
   3. At the Credentials step of the wizard, specify the same tenant credentials that were used for the folder with a backup file (step 3).
   4. If you use Veeam Backup & Replication 10 / Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows 4.0 / Veeam Agent for Linux 4.0, at the Backup Resources step of the wizard, click the Map backup link and select the backup file. If you use earlier versions of Veeam software, just proceed to the next step.
6. Run the job. If the initial backup job was set to encrypt backup files, enter the password to start the backup process.

Scenario 2

In this scenario, assume the following:

• The initial Veeam Agent backup job name is BackupJob1.
• The initial Veeam Agent backup job created a full backup file that you need to place on the Veeam Cloud Connect scale-out backup repository (SOBR).
• The initial Veeam Agent backup job created a backup file on a local storage in the C:\VeeamBackup\BackupJob1 folder.
• The Veeam Cloud Connect repository stores backup files in the C:\Backup folder.
• Cloud resources are exposed to the tenant whose name is Tenant1.
• Tenant1 provided access to the cloud repository to the subtenant whose name is Subtenant1.

Note that the backup job name, the backup folder, the VBM file and the path to it must conform to naming standards for SOBR:

• Allowed alphanumeric characters: a-z, A-Z, 0-9
• Allowed special characters: _ - . + = @ ^
• The path and VBM file must not contain spaces. If the path or the VBM file contain spaces, replace them with underscores.

To move a backup file that is stored locally to SOBR, do the following:

1. On the Tenant server, delete the existing Veeam Agent backup job as described in the Disabling and Removing Jobs section of the Veeam Backup & Replication User Guide.
2. On the Tenant server, delete configuration database records about backups created by the Veeam Agent backup job as described in the Removing from Configuration section of the Veeam Backup & Replication User Guide.
3. On the Veeam Cloud Connect repository, create a folder for the backup job on each extent below the subtenant folder and copy the VBM file into each of the created job folders. In our scenario, the BackupJob1 folder must be created on each extent of Tenant1\Users\Subtenant1 and the VBM file must be copied into each BackupJob1 folder.
4. Move VBK and VBM files of the full backup from local storage to the cloud repository using a reliable drive or NAS (ask the provider if they have a preferred method):
   • If SOBR is created with the Data Locality placement policy, place VBK and VIB files on the preferred extent in the newly created BackupJob1 folder.
   • If SOBR is created with the Performance Mode placement policy, place VBK files on their designated extents (if applicable) and place the VIB(s) on their designated extent(s) (if applicable) in the BackupJob1 folder.
5. In the Veeam backup console on the Service Provider backup server, open the Backup Infrastructure view and rescan the cloud repository. During rescan, Veeam Backup & Replication will display information about added tenant backups in the rescan statistics window, in the Tenant backups line. 
6. On the Veeam Agent computer, edit the initial backup job:
   1. At the Name step of the wizard, set the same name for the backup job that was specified in the path to the backup file (step 3).
   2. At the Destination step of the wizard, target the backup job at the Veeam Cloud Connect repository.
   3. At the Credentials step of the wizard, specify the same tenant credentials as were used for the folder with a backup file (step 3).
   4. If you use Veeam Backup & Replication 10 / Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows 4.0 / Veeam Agent for Linux 4.0, at the Backup Resources step of the wizard, click the Map backup link and select the backup file. If you use earlier versions of Veeam software, just proceed to the next step.
7. Run the job. If the initial backup job was set to encrypt backup files, enter the password to start the backup process.

Scenario 3

In this scenario, assume the following:

• The initial Veeam Agent backup job name was created using VSPC.
• The initial Veeam Agent backup job name is BackupJob1.
• The initial Veeam Agent backup job created a full backup file that you need to place on the Veeam Cloud Connect repository.
• The initial Veeam Agent backup job created a backup file on a local storage in the C:\VeeamBackup\BackupJob1 folder.
• The Veeam Cloud Connect repository stores backup files in the C:\Backup folder.
• Cloud resources are exposed to the tenant whose name is Tenant1.
• Tenant1 provided access to the cloud repository to the subtenant whose name is Subtenant1.

To move a backup file that is stored locally to the Veeam Cloud Connect repository through VSPC, do the following:

1. Disable the initial Veeam Agent backup job as described in the Disabling and Enabling Veeam Backup Agent Jobs section of the Veeam Service Provider Console User Guide.
2. Move VBK and VBM files into the subtenant folder on the Cloud Connect Service Provider (SP) site using a reliable drive or NAS (ask the provider if they have a preferred method).
3. In the Veeam backup console on the Service Provider backup server, open the Backup Infrastructure view and rescan the cloud repository. During rescan, Veeam Backup & Replication will display information about added tenant backups in the rescan statistics window, in the Tenant backups line.
4. Edit the initial Veeam Agent backup job through VSPC:
   1. At the Destination step of the wizard, target the backup job at the Veeam Cloud Connect repository.
   2. At the Credentials step of the wizard, specify the same tenant credentials that were used for the folder with a backup file (step 2).
5. Run the job. If the initial backup job was set to encrypt backup files, enter the password to start the backup process.

Scenario 4

In this scenario, assume the following:

• The initial Veeam Agent backup job name was created using VSPC.
• The initial Veeam Agent backup job name is BackupJob1.
• The initial Veeam Agent backup job created a full backup file that you need to place on the Veeam Cloud Connect scale-out backup repository (SOBR).
• The initial Veeam Agent backup job created a backup file on a local storage in the C:\VeeamBackup\BackupJob1 folder.
• The Veeam Cloud Connect repository stores backup files in the C:\Backup folder.
• Cloud resources are exposed to the tenant whose name is Tenant1.
• Tenant1 provided access to the cloud repository to the subtenant whose name is Subtenant1.

Note that the backup job name, the backup folder, the VBM file and the path to it must conform to naming standards for SOBR:

• Allowed alphanumeric characters: a-z, A-Z, 0-9
• Allowed special characters: _ - . + = @ ^
• The path and VBM file must not contain spaces. If the path or the VBM file contain spaces, replace them with underscores.

To move a backup file that is stored locally to SOBR through VSPC, do the following:

1. Disable the initial Veeam Agent backup job as described in the Disabling and Enabling Veeam Backup Agent Jobs section of the Veeam Service Provider Console User Guide.
2. On the Veeam Cloud Connect repository, create a folder for the backup job on each extent below the subtenant folder and copy the VBM file into each of the created job folders. In our scenario, the BackupJob1 folder must be created on each extent of Tenant1\Users\Subtenant1 and the VBM file must be copied into each BackupJob1 folder.
3. Move VBK and VBM files of the full backup from local storage to the cloud repository using a reliable drive or NAS (ask the provider if they have a preferred method):
   • If SOBR is created with the Data Locality placement policy, place VBK and VIB files on the preferred extent in the newly created BackupJob1 folder.
   • If SOBR is created with the Performance Mode placement policy, place VBK files on their designated extents (if applicable) and place the VIB(s) on their designated extent(s) (if applicable) in the BackupJob1 folder.
4. As Service Provider open the Backup Infrastructure view in Veeam Backup & Replication and rescan the cloud repository. As a result of rescanning, the backup appears in the Tenant backups line. 
5. Edit the initial Veeam Agent backup job through VSPC:
   1. At the Destination step of the wizard, target the backup job at the Veeam Cloud Connect repository.
   2. At the Credentials step of the wizard, specify the same tenant credentials as were used for the folder with a backup file (step 2).
6. Run the job. If the initial backup job was set to encrypt backup files, enter the password to start the backup process.

More Information

See the following scenarios in other KB articles:

1. How to migrate a backup chain to Scale-Out Backup Repository (SOBR) — KB2236.
2. How to migrate a backup chain created by Veeam Agent operating in the standalone mode to the Veeam backup repository — KB2321.
3. How to migrate a backup chain created by Veeam Agent operating in the managed mode to the new Veeam backup repository or Cloud Connect repository — KB2849.
4. How to migrate a backup chain created by Veeam Backup & Replication to the new Veeam backup repository — KB1729.