Restore Vizioncore vRanger backups via the OS

The Development VMware ESX server at my company is an IBM 366 with a SCSI attached EXP400 external disk pack. This system arrived in the UK from a company site on the west coast of the US via a stop at the company HQ on the east coast of the US. To say that the hardware had been shunted from pillar to post would be a minor understatement.

We are using Vizioncore vRanger to back up the VMs on both this Development box and the Production VMware ESX server.

Just recently, the RAID 5 array on the EXP400 dropped 6 disks(out of 9)! Why it did this is a different story. Here I'll recount how we recovered from this.

There were a couple of VMs we had to get back online quickly. No problem, we had vRanger backing them up.

Ah! Now, well there was a problem. The backups were very successful, but for some reason we're still investigating, vRanger refused point blank to recover to the Production system.

However, we had access to the backup via the Windows OS. A quick google discovered this thread on the Vizioncore support site.

Restoring a VMWare machine from the '.tvzc' files of vRanger :
1.) Download FileZipper : http://www.vizioncore.com/Downloads/ProductSupport/vcbrestore.zip
2.) Download BSDTar: http://www.vizioncore.com/Downloads/ProductSupport/bsdtar.zip
3.) Install BSDTar (the zipfile contains an installable .exe)
4.) Extract the desired files :
FileZipper.exe -D -I "filename.tvzc" -O - | "c:\Program Files\GnuWin32\bin\bsdtar.exe" xzvf -
5.) Ensure file permissions are correct - I have cygwin installed on my PC, which can be invaluable!
6.) remove the .vzsnp extension from the end of files.
7) Within Virtual Center Server:

• use Browse datastore on the Production Server's storage
• Upload the restored files to the Production ESX server
• select the .vmf file and Add to Inventory

8.) Start up the VM.

Bob's your parental sibling, of the usually male variety.

Vizioncore vRanger Configuration Take 2

You should be thinking about backup even before you start creating Virtual Machines. This is perhaps obvious. Although, it is still possible to defer that decision by using traditional "in VM" solutions.

One of the features of ESX is that you can have a display name for a VM in the GUI which bares no relation to the names of the files. Now the name for the files of the VMs are taken at the time of creation from the XXX form. By default this is also the display name used within the GUI. The display name can be changed later. To change the filenames used, requires that the VM is stopped and all the files and the directory used are modified. And modified correctly!

Now it is possible to use a wide range of characters in the name of a VM, e.g. this is legal:


Legal, but not sensible.

Whilst ESX has no problem with filenames with non-alphanumeric characters, both vRanger and VCB do. They will both fail to back up a VM with the name indicated. That may suggest something about how both utilities are architected, or perhaps the APIs they are utilizing. It doesn't matter. You have to deal with it.

When you create a VM, give it a sensible, simple but meaningful alphanumeric name. Afterwards you can choose rename from the right mouse button menu and change the display name to include whitespace and other characters.


Ensure that you have modified the System Resource Reservation parameters, which reserves resources for the backup process to utilize.


Foreach ESX Server:
On the Configuration-> Ststem Resource Reservation->Simple Tab, set
CPU : 1500Mhz
Memory : 800MB


The Simple setting equates to the host->system setting under the Advanced tab!

After changing these settings, it is necessary to reboot the ESX server, before they take effect. Consequently, if you can it is sensible to set this all up before you start serving Virtual Machines.

Then

1. Verify that the ssh client service has been enabled on the ESX hosts to be backed up.
2. Enter all ESX hosts into Ranger by IP or FQDN.
3. Create a backup user on the ESX hosts. N.B. root ssh access is required for vmfs --> vmfs backups & restores.
4. To verify correct configuration, it is recommended that initial attempts should be undertaken using Ranger's legacy mode.

Vizioncore vRanger configuration

Ensure that you have modified the System Resource Reservation parameters, which reserves resources for the backup process to utilize.


Foreach ESX Server:
On the Configuration-> Ststem Resource Reservation->Simple Tab, set
CPU : 1500Mhz
Memory : 800MB


The Simple setting equates to the host->system setting under the Advanced tab!

After changing these settings, it is necessary to reboot the ESX server, before they take effect. Consequently, it is a good idea to set this all up before you start serving Virtual Machines.

Then

1. Verify that the ssh client service has been enabled on the ESX hosts to be backed up.
2. Enter all ESX hosts into Ranger by IP or FQDN.
3. Create a backup user on the ESX hosts. N.B. root ssh access is required for vmfs --> vmfs backups & restores.
4. To verify correct configuration, it is recommended that initial attempts should be undertaken using Ranger's legacy mode.

The Incremental Cost of a VMware Licence

A VMware Infrastructure 3 Enterprise licence for 2 processors costs £2948.00.
Gold Support for for the same costs £619.46

However, at least at my company, there is additional software used in the VMware deployment. So the incremental cost of a VMware license isn't just £3567.46

Veeam Reporter is used for Infrastructure Reporting, which costs $150, which includes the first years support charge. An additional year's support is $25.

Vizioncore vCharter is used for Consolodated Performance Monitoring. vCharter costs £169.00 per CPU/year incl 1 year support.

VMware Consolodated Backup & Vizioncore vRanger Pro are used for Virtual Machine Backup. VCB is part and parcel of the VI 3 Enterprise Licence. vRanger costs £279.00 per CPU.

All that comes to £523.00, making a grand total of £4090.46.

Obviously specific prices are only correct at time of going to press and where foreign companies were involved probably subject to the vagaries of exchange rate movements! However, the general point that your costs are not only limited to the cost of the VMware licence remains.

N.B. all prices in this blog are quoted without VAT - UK Sales tax.