Backup and Restore VMs on Hyper-V
Backup
Virtual machines on Hyper-V are backed-up via the Cyrus Backup solution on Cyrus1 using Powershell and Veeam Backup & Recovery (VB&R). Backup-VM.ps1 is the script that Cyrus-Backups-Server.ps1 calls to backup the VMs. The Cyrus Powershell scripts utilize the Veeam Powershell module.
It is possible to manually backup VMs from VB&R, however this is not covered by this documentation. See the Backup-VM.ps1 script for information on how the backups are done via Powershell.
Installing Veeam Backup & Replication
If VB&R needs to be installed, follow the instructions at https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backup/vsphere/install_vbr.html?ver=95 to install the free version on the desired backup server. As of this writing, the local Administrator account is used for VB&R.
Once installed, the Veeam Powershell module should be available. Use the command Asnp VeeamPSSnapin to install it (this command is included in the Backup-VM.ps1 script).
See the Backup Schedule Google Sheets file for more information about the frequency and locations of the backups.
Restore
Restoring VMs is done through Veeam Backup & Replication (VB&R).
 Important |
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| Restoring a VM will cause any existing VM with the same name to be deleted. Be very careful when performing restores! |
- Navigate to the most recent backup file (unless restoring from a previous backup) of the desired VM on the VM Backup External Hard Drive partition.
- Double click on the .vbk file to open it with VB&R.
- VB&R will open and ask for a password. This password can be found in PassPack and is named “VM Backup Encryption” on PassPack.
- Once the Password is entered, VB&R will display information about the VM backup.
- Select the VM in the Contained VMs list and click Restore → Entire VM.
- Once the Full VM Restore Wizard opens, click Next.
- Select either the Restore to the original location option (if restoring to the same hypervisor it was backed up from) or the Restore to a new location, or with different settings option.
- Complete the Full VM Restore Wizard to restore the VM.
