How to install and configure Altaro VM Backup for VMware vSphere

Altaro VM BackupAltaro Software is a fast growing developer of easy to use backup solutions that targets towards SMB customers and focus primarily on the Microsoft Hyper-V backup. But this is about to change as per today (September 9th, 2015) Altaro announces general availability of Altaro VM Backup for VMware vSphere! Full press release can be found here and you can download your evaluation copy here.

So, let’s have a quick look on how to install and configure Altaro VM Backup, schedule some jobs, create and restore backups!

Hardware Requirements

The hardware requirements for the Altaro VM Backup Server are as follow:

  • Processor: i5 minimum or equivalent
  • Memory: 75 MB of RAM and additional 75 MB for each concurrent backup or restore job

OS Support

Versions of VMware vSphere supported in this release:

  • VMware vSphere 5.0, 5.1, 5.5 and 6.0
  • VMware vCenter 5.0, 5.1, 5.5 and 6.0

Backup server OS versions supported in this release:

  • Windows 2008 R2
  • Windows Server 2012
  • Windows Server 2012 R2
  • Windows 7 (64-Bit)
  • Windows 8 (64-Bit)
  • Windows 10 (64-bit)

Also, to manage backup configuration and jobs from a separate machine, you can install the Altaro VM Backup management software on the following operating systems:

  • Windows Server 2008 R2, 2012 and 2012 R2
  • Windows 7 (64-bit) and 8 (64-bit)

Install

The installation part is quite straight forward. After you downloaded the software, run the executable.

  1. Click Next at the welcome page.
  2. Accept EULA.
  3. Choose the destination folder or leave it to its default.
  4. Click Install to start the installation process.
  5. Click Finish when the installer is ready, this will open the management console.

Configure

Once the installer is ready, you can proceed with configuration of the software.

  1. Select This Machine and click Connect.Altaro VM Backup 01
  2. Select Add Hyper-V/VMware Host from the dashboard and then select VMware vCenter Server as the host type. Note that you can also add a stand-alone ESXi host.Altaro VM Backup 02
  3. Enter FQDN or IP address of the vCenter Server you are connecting to and provide credentials for the Administrator account. Press Test Connection to test the settings, if successful, click Next to proceed.Altaro VM Backup 03
  4. Click Finish to close the wizard.
  5. Return to Quick Setup located at top-left pane under the Altaro VM Backup logo.
  6. Proceed to step 2 – Choose Where to Store Backups.
  7. In the Add Backup Location wizard, select option that is applicable to your environment. In my case I had a local physical drive dedicated to backup data.Altaro VM Backup 04
  8. Select the drive and click Next.

At this point Altaro VM Backup is ready to schedule the jobs and create backups!

Note: if you want receive email notifications you can configure a SMTP server under the Notification pane.Altaro VM Backup 08

Schedule a backup job

  1. Select Schedules located under the Backup Location pane and click Add Backup Schedule button located at top-right part of the backup schedules pane.
  2. Choose the recurrence pattern, backup time, and offsite copy if configured. Click Save.Altaro VM Backup 05
  3. To add VM’s to this backup job, simply drag and drop the VM’s from the pane on the left to the job on the right. As example, in the screenshot below, I added all my domain controllers to the backup job and you can see them listed under the backup schedule.Altaro VM Backup 06
  4. Click Save Changes.

The backup job will now be executed at the given time. You can track the progress of each backup job on the dashboard pane.Altaro VM Backup 07

When the backup job is finished, you can review the results in the Operation History page located under Reports.

Restore VM from backup

To restore a VM from backup, follow the steps in the Virtual Machine Restore Wizard.

  1. Click Restore under the Virtual Machines
  2. Choose the location to restore from and click Next.
  3. Select VM that you want to restore and click Next.Altaro VM Backup 10
  4. Choose the restore name, restore host and the datastore where the restored VM will be placed. Also, disable the network card to avoid IP conflicts. Click Restore to start the restore process.Altaro VM Backup 11
  5. Optionally, go to the Dashboard to monitor the restore process.

When the restore is ready you should see the restored VM in your vCenter Server inventory.

Restore file from backup

To restore individual files, follow the steps in the File Level Restore Wizard.

  1. Select File Level Restore under the Gradual Restore
  2. Choose the restore source and click Next.
  3. Select a VM to restore from and click Next.
  4. Select the backup version you want to restore and click Next.
  5. Select the Virtual Hard Disk and Partition on the left pane. Expand the file browser and select file(s) you want to restore. Click Next when done.Altaro VM Backup 12
  6. Choose the extract location and click Extract.

The files will be extracted from the backup to the given location.

This concludes how to install and configure Altaro VM Backup for VMware vSphere. In my opinion, it is a solid backup product, the interface if very fresh and intuitive, the software and hardware requirements are minimal. It is a good product and very suitable for SMB’s.

Cheers!

– Marek.Z

2 Comments

  1. Hi!
    Thank you for such a detailed article. We used to work with Altaro, but it’s too expensive for us now. We decided to move on to this one https://www.nakivo.com/vmware-backup/ . Pls tell us if you’ve heard about it and what you think about it as I wanted to hear the expert’s opinion.
    Thank you in advance

    • Hi,

      Thanks for reaching out.
      By all means, I am not an expert in backup solutions but I would recommend to make use of the free trial with full options and test all the backup products you think are suitable for your organisation. Based on your results, choose the one that works for you the best combining features and pricing.

      Hope this helps.

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