How to place Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows backup chain on Veeam backup repository, so backup job continues chain

This article documents placing a backup chain created by Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows in a Veeam Backup & Replication repository so that when the Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows backup job targets that repository it will continue the existing backup chain.

By default, when a new Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows backup job is created, a new backup chain is started. A new backup chain is also generated if the target location in the Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows backup job settings is changed. If it is desired to continue an existing backup chain rather than starting a new one, the backup job can be mapped to previously created backup files. However, mapping requires that the job's existing restore point be placed in the Veeam Backup & Replication backup repository first.

This article addresses scenarios relevant to Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows operating in standalone mode:

 Scenario 1: Remote Repository Seeding

A backup file stored locally may need to be moved to a remote Backup Repository. This may be the case when a large amount of data must be backed up to a Backup Repository over a slow network connection, where a full backup to a remote location may not be completed within the 168-hour time limit. To resolve this, a full backup is first created on local storage, then the backup file is transferred to the Backup Repository using external tools, and the backup file is used as a "seed" for a new backup chain.

Scenario 2: Backup Repository Change

The Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows backup job needs to be reconfigured to use a different Backup Repository, for example, due to the existing repository running out of space.

Scenario 2: Backup Repository Change

Example Environment Details

In this scenario, assume the following:

• The Veeam Agent backup job name is BackupJob1.
• The Veeam Agent backup created one full backup file you need to move to a new Veeam backup repository. In this case, a new backup job will create incremental backups for the full backup. If an initial backup job created a full backup file and several incremental backup files, you must move all the backup files to a new Veeam backup repository to continue the backup chain.
• The new Veeam backup repository stores backup files in the C:\Backup folder.
• The account name used to connect to the new Veeam backup repository is user1.
• The domain used to connect to the new Veeam backup repository is DOMAIN1.

Procedure

To replace the Veeam Backup & Replication repository, do the following:

1. Delete the existing Veeam Agent backup job as described in the Disabling and Removing Jobs section of the Veeam Backup & Replication User Guide.
2. 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. Browse to the C:\Backup folder on the Veeam backup repository.
4. In the C:\Backup folder, create new folders to get the following path: C:\Backup\DOMAIN1_user1\BackupJob1.
5. Move a full backup file to the C:\Backup\DOMAIN1_user1\BackupJob1 folder.
6. Rescan the Veeam Backup & Replication repository. To learn more, see the Rescanning Backup Repositories section of the Veeam Backup & Replication User Guide. As a result of rescanning:
   • If the backup file is not encrypted, the imported backup chain appears in the Backups > Disk (Imported) node.
   • If the backup file is encrypted, the imported backup chain appears in the Backups > Disk (Encrypted) node. In this case, you must decrypt the backup chain before proceeding to the next step. To learn more, see the Decrypting Data with Password section of the Veeam Backup & Replication User Guide.
7. Edit the Veeam Agent backup job:
   1. At the Name step of the wizard, set the same name for the backup job as was specified in the path to a full backup file (step 2).
   2. At the Destination step of the wizard, target the backup job at a new Veeam backup repository.
   3. At the Backup Repository step of the wizard, select a backup repository where you want to store backups in the Backup repository field.
   4. Click the Map backup link and select the backup file.
   5. At the Summary step of the wizard, ensure that the Run the job when I click Finish check box is NOT selected, and click Finish to save changes.
8. Check that the backup moved from the Backups > Disk (Imported) tab to the Backups > Disk tab on the Veeam Backup & Replication side.
9. Run the Veeam Agent backup job. The backup job will continue the backup chain: create an incremental backup for the full backup that was moved to the Veeam backup repository.

If the backup must be re-mapped again, delete new backups from disk in the Backups > Disk tab by clicking on Delete from disk, rescan the Veeam backup repository, and repeat the procedure.