Configure servers and virtual machines for backup
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This topic covers the steps required to get started with backing up the servers and virtual machines in your environment.
- VMware virtual machine backup
- MS SQL server backup
- File server backup
- Hyper-V backup
- NAS share backup
Virtual machine backup
Perform the following tasks to set up Phoenix to back up your virtual machine setup.
Task Number | Task | Description |
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Prepare your VMware setup for backup | ||
1 |
Determine if you want to configure Phoenix for VMware ESXi or VMware vCenter Server. |
You can choose to configure Phoenix for:
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Ensure that your VMware setup has sufficient resources for a backup proxy deployment |
Backup proxy is bundled along with a CentOS installer in an OVF virtual appliance. When you deploy the appliance, a new CentOS virtual machine is created along with an installation of the backup proxy. To enable the backup proxy to work as expected, ensure that your setup is such that you can assign the minimum resources that backup proxy requires. For more information, see Prerequisites for setting up Phoenix for VMware. |
3 |
Ensure that you have adequate storage |
Depending on your data needs, the Druva Support team creates and assigns storage for your setup. To request for additional storage, write to the Druva Support team. Alternatively, get in touch with your account executive. |
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Log in to the Phoenix Management Console |
To begin, log in to the Phoenix Management Console with the credentials that you received in the invitation email.
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Register your VMware setup and configure virtual machines for backup | ||
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To enable backup across virtual machines, you must deploy one or multiple instances of backup proxy on ESXi hypervisors or vCenter Servers, depending on whether you want to enable backup for virtual machines created on specific hosts or virtual machines across all hosts. Thereafter, you must register and configure the backup proxy. At the time of registration, Phoenix generates an activation token. At the time of configuration, use this token to activate backup proxy. |
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After activating backup proxy, virtual machines hosted on ESXi appear under All Virtual Machines on the VMware Setups page. Configure your virtual machines to schedule for automatic backups. |
MS SQL server backup
You can set up MS-SQL server for backup after you have completed the initial configuration. Initial configuration includes:
- Creating or selecting an organization: In Phoenix, Organization is an access-based control mechanism to configure the servers for backup and restore. Organizations create a logical partitioning of the entities, such as servers, content rules, backup policies, and so on. Phoenix provides a default organization that you can select and register the servers.
- Creating administrators: Administrators are users that control server registration and configuration for backup and restore.
For the details on setting up Phoenix to back up databases to Failover Cluster Instance (FCI), refer to Configure Phoenix for the backup of node-based SQL failover cluster.
After the initial configuration is complete, perform the following steps to let Phoenix back up databases created and managed using MS-SQL server.
Task Number | Task | Description |
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Prepare MS-SQL servers for backup | ||
1 | Log in to the Phoenix Management Console and select an organization to register a server. | From the Phoenix Management Console, select an organization in which you want to register an MS- SQL server. Use the Register New Server option from the MS-SQL Servers tab of the selected organization to download the Phoenix agent and generate the activation token. |
Register MS-SQL server and configure databases for backup | ||
2 | Register the server |
Go through the prerequisites, install the Phoenix agent on the system that hosts MS-SQL server instance(s), and activate the agent using the activation token. When you activate the agent, you provide a server name for the system on which the agent is installed. Your system is registered with the server name you provide. Phoenix agent discovers the instances and AGs running on the server. To see the instances and AGs, log on to Phoenix Management Console, select the organization, and then click Protect > MS-SQL Servers. You can see the instances and AGs under the Instances/AGs tab. |
3 | Configure instances/AGs for backup |
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Back up databases | ||
4 | Agent triggers backup based on a backup set | Phoenix agent triggers a backup job based on the schedule you specify in the backup policy. When a full or differential backup job is triggered, Phoenix backs up the selected database based on the content rule, and its snapshot is created. When a log backup is triggered, the transaction log of the database is backed up based on the backup policy. |
Restore databases | ||
5 | Trigger restore from the Phoenix Management Console | When you require a recovery, you trigger a restore job from the Phoenix Management Console. Phoenix lets you perform the following restore jobs: |
File server backup
The following diagram depicts the steps to set up Phoenix to back up files and folders.
The following table summarizes the steps to set up Phoenix to back up your File servers.
Task Number | Task | Description |
1 |
Log in to the Phoenix Management Console |
To begin, log in to the Phoenix Management Console with the credentials that you received in the invitation email.
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2 |
The prerequisites for installing Phoenix agent. |
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After activating Phoenix agents, the activated servers appear as registered servers under Protect > Windows/Linux Servers > All Servers. Configure these servers to ensure their readiness for backup. |
Hyper-V backup



Before you get into Phoenix configuration, learn more about Phoenix for Hyper-V and read system requirements.
Steps to set up Phoenix to back up virtual machines
Perform the following tasks to set up Phoenix to back up your virtual machines.
Task Number | Task | Description |
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1 |
Prepare your host for backup |
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2 |
Register your host and configure virtual machines for backup |
The All Virtual Machines tab lists all the virtual machines across the registered hosts. Select the virtual machines you want to configure and click Configure VM for backup. |
Next steps
After you have an overview of configuration, see:
NAS share backup



Steps to set up Phoenix to back up NAS shares
The following diagram depicts how to configure Phoenix to back up data from NAS shares.
The following table summarizes how to configure Phoenix to back up your NAS shares.
Task Number | Task | Description |
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1 |
Read the Prerequisites for the NAS proxy |
The system requirements for installing the NAS proxy. NAS proxy is the Phoenix agent that handles backup and restore requests from NAS shares from a separate Windows or Linux server. You must install at least one NAS proxy to be able to add a NAS device. |
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Add a NAS device that you want to back up. |
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Establish the link between the NAS proxy and the NAS device. |
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5 | Add a NAS share | Add the NAS share to the NAS device. |
6 | Configure the backup set using the NAS proxy | Set the backup content, backup schedule, retention period, and assign the proxy to perform the backups. |
Related articles
Oracle database backup
Perform the following tasks to set up Phoenix to back up your databases.
Click to enlarge
Task | Description | Where to perform the steps? |
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1. Prerequisites for Oracle |
Read the system requirements for deploying the Phoenix Backup Store. |
Druva documentation portal |
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For more information, see Get Started with Phoenix. |
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Not all administrators can perform the actions required to configure a Phoenix Backup Store. For more information, see Manage administrator accounts. |
Note: If this is your first login, the welcome screen appears. Click Get Started to set up Phoenix. |
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The RMAN can store data on the Phoenix Backup Store as long as enough storage is available on it. Phoenix alerts you when the storage on the Phoenix Backup Store is critically low. Backups can fail if enough storage on the Phoenix Backup Store is not available for RMAN to store Oracle RMAN backups. |
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