How to Backup a Windows Failover Cluster with Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows

Failover Clusters, SQL Server Failover Cluster Instances, and SQL Always On Availability Groups

Create an Active Directory Protection Group Containing the Failover Cluster

1. Switch to the Inventory section within the Veeam Backup & Replication Console
2. Select the Physical Infrastructure node
3. In the ribbon, click Add Group
4. On the Type tab of the Wizard, select Microsoft Active Directory objects.
   
   
   
   
5. On the Active Directory tab, specify the domain name and account (if required) and select the Active Directory cluster object.
   
   
   
   Note: The AD cluster name can be found in Active Directory Users and Computers or Failover Cluster Manager.
   
   
   
   
   
6. On the Exclusions tab, ensure that none of the required hosts are excluded.
   
   
   
   
7. On the Credentials tab, specify the Master account used to connect to each member of the cluster. If needed, individual credentials may be assigned for particular machines.
   
   
   
   
8. On the Options tab, check the box to Install backup agent to install backup agents automatically during the rescan.
   Installation can be performed manually if required.
   
   
9. Proceed through the remaining tabs by clicking Next and then Finish.
10. After the protection group is created, a rescan will occur. During that rescan, the protection group will communicate with AD to identify the machines associated with the specified Failover Cluster and deploy the Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows software.
11. Once the rescan is completed, you should see the cluster and all child nodes under the protection group.
    
    NOTE: To avoid installation issues, ensure that all required network and DNS requirements are fulfilled. Various infrastructure changes may be required to grant that access: network configuration, firewall, and security software settings. For instance, if the cluster is deployed On Azure, it is vital to check that all the required ports are opened in the network interface settings - https://docs.microsoft.com/bs-latn-ba/azure/virtual-machines/windows/nsg-quickstart-portal.
    Specific fault tolerance configurations may have Azure load balancer deployed - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/load-balancer-ha-ports-overview, is so make sure that the corresponding rules are added to the load balancer configuration. Otherwise, part of the Veeam traffic will be dropped - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/configure-load-balancer-outbound-cli.
    

Configure the Failover Cluster backup job

1. Navigate to the Home section of the Veeam Backup & Replication Console
2. Click the Backup Job button in the ribbon
3. Select Backup > Windows computer.
   
   
4. On the Job Mode tab, select Failover cluster. 
   
   
   
   
5. On the Computers tab, click Add and select cluster object or the protection group containing the cluster.
   
   
   
   NOTE: each cluster node will consume a Server License host counter:
   
   
6. On the Guest Processing tab, Enable Application-Aware Processing.
   
   To enable SQL Transaction Log backup, click Advanced and configure it on the SQL tab.
   
   
   
   
7. Start the job. The cluster job will track node changes and perform log backup (if configured).