Creating a backup plan

Log in to XMS, go to the Backup tab (Plans > Backup) and click the + Add plan button in the top toolbar.

Select VMware from the platforms list.

Define the name of the backup plan.

Select one of the available ESXi or vCenter servers (from those already connected to Xopero ONE) and choose which virtual machines you want to protect. You can select Protect all to include all VMs from the chosen server, or Select VMs to manually add only specific virtual machines.

Click the Edit button next to the VMware backup options section to configure the following settings:

1. Application aware — a VSS-based feature that ensures a consistent backup of the virtual machine and its applications (for example, Windows Server systems running Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Exchange, or Microsoft Active Directory). In Xopero ONE, you can enable application-aware backup on supported guest operating systems (recommended). You can also choose to continue the backup in case of application errors—if this option is enabled, the backup process will proceed even if the application-aware feature encounters an error.

1. Changes processing (CBT) — a feature that lets you configure how differential and incremental backups are performed. You can choose between the following options:

   1. VMware CBT (recommended) — a VMkernel feature that tracks changes to the storage blocks of virtual machines over time. For VMware CBT, there are two additional settings: Enable CBT in VMware for all VMs included in the backup, and Reset CBT for every full copy to prevent any issues related to CBT.

   2. Xopero ONE classic method — a less efficient but useful option when VMware CBT fails. This method compares data block by block to identify changes between the previous and current backup.

1. Virtual machine state — an optional feature that lets you specify the VM states in which the backup should be performed. If a virtual machine is in a different state than the one selected, it will not be included in the backup process.

2. Transport method — defines how virtual machines are transferred between VMware and the backup worker. There are four options available:

   1. Automatic (recommended) — Xopero ONE will automatically determine the best available transport method for each worker and apply it accordingly.

   2. HotAdd — available only for virtual appliance workers (see this article for more details). This method creates a snapshot and a linked clone of the target virtual machine. The disk is then attached to the worker, which reads the linked clone’s virtual disks for backup.

   3. SAN — this mode requires the backup server to have access to the SAN storage containing the virtual disks. A SAN backup worker must be a physical machine. In this mode, data is read directly from the VMware LUN storage where the virtual disks are located.

   4. LAN — also called NBD/NBDSSL. In this mode, the ESXi host reads data from the storage and sends it over the network to the worker. This method is typically used when no other transport option is available.

1. Skip SWAP and empty blocks — Xopero ONE allows you to reduce backup size using two additional options:

   1. Skip SWAP files, and partitions — when this option is enabled, Xopero ONE will skip swap partitions and files. These function as virtual memory, storing temporary data that is not currently used by RAM.

   2. Skip empty blocks — when this option is enabled, Xopero ONE will skip empty blocks that do not need to be backed up, reducing the overall backup size.

1. Worker — device directly responsible for backing up your virtual machines. You can have multiple workers and assign different workers to each backup plan. A worker can be either a physical or virtual machine.

Specify the backup location by choosing from the available storage options within your service.

Configure the Scheduler & data retention settings by defining when backups should run and which types of backup copies to use.

Go to the Advanced settings section to customize additional options, including encryption, compression levels, and deduplication. These settings provide greater flexibility and help optimize the backup process.

After completing the configuration, click the Save button. The protection plan will then automatically begin protecting your VMware virtual machines according to the schedule you defined.