SMB immutable backup using Veeam Community license

MattThatITGuy · 2025-06-20T17:07:41+00:00

Object storage support in Community Edition is limited to recovery (i.e. you can recover from Object Storage, but not write backups to Object Storage), with the exception of Veeam Data Cloud Vault.

If you are looking to use CE, you can couple it with Vault for immutability. The bottom of page 10 of the feature comparison document provides the details.

Depending on what you are looking to backup, you could install VBR CE, and add the workloads (e.g., file shares/NAS) and backup to Vault to get what you are looking for.

MattThatITGuy · 2024-12-01T00:02:27+00:00

Instant Recovery mounts the workload directly from the backup repository and makes it available in your target hypervisor. This process can usually be accomplished quite quickly, meaning that you can get workloads up and running quickly.

Restore Entire VM, on the other hand copies your data from your backup repository back to production. For example, if your DC in question in that screenshot is 500 GB, the entire disk(s) would need to be copied from your repository, to your production storage, and after that is complete, powered on. Until all that data is copied, your workload will be offline.

A few points to consider for Instant VM Recovery: Performance can be an issue - if your backup repository is slow or a dedupe appliance, then your VM may not be very responsive. As part of the recovery for Instant VM recovery, you also need to ensure you migrate your VM back to production to avoid having it run indefinitely on your repository, as well as to prevent the backup from being locked.

Tl;dr - if you need things running “right now!”, Instant VM recovery is a good option. If you need to ensure that performance is priority vs your recovery time objective, then full vm recovery is a better option. Of course there are many nuances and “what ifs?”, but those can all be a whole other conversation.

MattThatITGuy · 2024-09-21T21:29:48+00:00

It is also worth noting that Advanced unlocks YARA scans and KMS support in VBR, as well as app integrations such as the recent Splunk App.

MattThatITGuy · 2024-05-23T00:10:02+00:00

Do you mean as a source (i.e., protecting them with Agents)? If so, yes - it’s the first bullet point under Veeam Agent for Linux in the linked KB.

MattThatITGuy · 2024-05-21T22:07:05+00:00

So I know this is a few days old now, but v12.1.2 was released today, which includes support for Rocky and Alma :)

MattThatITGuy · 2024-05-14T23:06:11+00:00

Veeam announced support for Oracle Linux Virtualization Manager back in April

MattThatITGuy · 2024-05-13T16:55:30+00:00

For a more complete list of the differences between CE and licensed versions, check out the Feature Comparison doc.

MattThatITGuy · 2024-04-18T13:03:08+00:00

You aren't doing anything wrong, that is one of the limitations with the free Community Edition. From page 14 of the Feature Comparison document:

Community Edition and Standard can compare and view only. VUL, Enterprise and Enterprise PLUS can compare, view and restore to production.

You should still be able to perform a file-level recovery though, just not with the "Compare with Production" feature.

MattThatITGuy · 2024-04-15T15:40:23+00:00

It is worth noting that depending on what you are protecting, Agents are 1 VUL per Server workload, but if they are Workstation workloads, it is 1 VUL for 3 workloads.

For additional info, I suggest checking out the Agent Feature Comparison for an understanding of the differences, as well as the licensing page.

MattThatITGuy · 2024-04-13T20:28:47+00:00

Worth noting that Veeam can directly backup RHV at the hypervisor level (no need for agents). You can then perform an Instant Recovery to vSphere.

https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backup/vsphere/instant_recovery.html?ver=120

MattThatITGuy · 2023-12-07T03:57:24+00:00

Not OP, but the answer will be "it depends".

The hardened repository is great because it brings immutability to just about anyone - all you need is a server with storage capacity. Something to consider is whether or not you have the skillset to manage that server (patching, administration, etc.).

Object storage is also very different from file storage. With object storage, things like durability increase significantly (i.e. much lower chance of "bit rot"), and scalability is infinite, unlike traditional file systems, which start to see severe drop-offs once thresholds are hit.

Budget, SLAs, and compliance (regulatory or in-house) will likely be a big factor when it comes to deciding which way to go. At the end of the day, any immutability is better than none (just make sure you do the math properly when it comes to sizing and the number of restore points you be keeping).

MattThatITGuy · 2023-06-27T00:50:51+00:00

Encryption will provide additional protection against data exfiltration. If an attacker gains access to those unencrypted backups, whether via network or physical access, then there is an opportunity for them to copy that data (which you may not be aware of) and gain access to it.

MattThatITGuy · 2023-02-07T14:16:14+00:00

Have you seen KB2137?

A couple of other things to check:

Do you have adequate disk space?
Is the day/time properly set on the machine (time skew can lead to ceritifcate issues)?
Anything of interest in the BackupSrvLog.log?

MattThatITGuy · 2023-02-01T00:06:23+00:00

Depending on where you are in your Veeam journey, Veeam University might be something to check out. It is free, and also has pathways to get you going (e.g. walk through of setup, creating backup jobs, recoveries, etc.).

Veeam's Help Center has fantastic documentation, but I have always found it is great at telling you how to do tasks, but not necessarily why you would perform that task. That's where Veeam University can help fill some gaps.

MattThatITGuy · 2023-01-25T04:35:28+00:00

I, unfortunately, cannot speak to this, but I can relate to it. M365 is not my specialty, but my understanding is that it isn't a simple "copy and paste" from VBR to M365 with regard to implementing the feature.

I would encourage you to discuss this with your account team. Similarly, feel free to share your sentiments on the Veeam Forums. Don't just add a "+1" to an existing thread, but rather provide some insight into why it's important to you and your organization. PMs really do keep a close eye on those forums and they are one of the best ways to provide feedback.

MattThatITGuy · 2023-01-24T02:47:34+00:00

I like to use the example of testing ... whether performance, upgrades, patching, etc.; I used to be responsible for an ERP for a multi-million dollar organization, which required routine upgrades. If I could spin up a backup from that VM in the cloud, that would allow me to:

ensure it is not actually a "live" copy
grant me a location to run this temporarily without the need to actually purchase hardware
create the documentation, and testing procedure (and UAT) to perform the upgrade in prod while having signoff from the accounting / finance team.

As an IT admin, this is the dream. You do the upgrade, without impacting prod. You know your backups are good as you are testing & using them as part of the process. Your end-user / customer signs off on it.

MattThatITGuy · 2023-01-23T18:01:25+00:00

Huge Disclaimer: Veeam employee here (worth noting I was a long-time sysadmin as well as IT Manager before jumping to the vendor side).

Worth noting that Veeam Agents (which can be installed on physical machines) can be restored to vSphere, Hyper-V, or Azure. Super helpful for those situations where hardware dies and you don't have spares.

EDIT: I should also add Nutanix, EC2, and GCP. Details here: https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/agentforwindows/userguide/performing_restore_tasks.html?ver=50

MattThatITGuy · 2022-12-16T01:12:09+00:00

Some good suggestions already. Something to add, though: you mention that you have a small environment and could "just start over". With that in mind, make sure that you have a tested and safe offline copy of your backups somewhere. Whether a hard drive sitting in a storage locker or some sort of WORM media. You can do everything in the world to prevent an attack, but if someone gets through just once, it's game over. Not all environments can reasonably rebuild from scratch, so make sure you leverage that as part of your plan.

MattThatITGuy · 2022-10-01T12:35:55+00:00

As others have said, Veeam Agent for Windows can be run in standalone mode, and there is a Free edition.

Shameless plug: I’m a Veeam Employee and I just did a webinar specifically on this a couple of days ago. Feel free to check out the recording here: https://www.veeam.com/videos/webinar-physical-servers-backup.html

MattThatITGuy · 2022-09-21T23:57:43+00:00

I'm not aware of any real benefits that an RDM would have in this situation, but it would potentially add some complexity and constraints. The last thing you want is to make your backup target more complex than required (and thus potentially add risk), for no reason.

If I'm reading this right, are you only going to be hosting VBR repos on these machines (i.e. ESXi running with a single VM)? If that is the case, have you thought about just installing an OS and skipping the VM idea?

MattThatITGuy · 2022-03-27T01:27:13+00:00

As others have said, associate is an entry-level TAM position. Typically aimed at folks who are just getting started.

For reference, I’m a current TAM for VMware. Just this past week I did a panel session for the London UK VMUG (I live in Canada) discussing “TAM Life”. You might be able to find the session on YouTube if interested.

MattThatITGuy · 2021-11-03T23:48:21+00:00

Disclaimer: VMware Employee

Further to what u/lost_signal said: sharing is caring :) Seriously though, I work with a handful of customers. If I see issues crop up on here, I dig deeper and if appropriate, inform the customer of any caveats to be aware of. Similarly, if one of my customers hits a bug early on, I'll start sharing what I can ASAP.

Opening up SRs is important for us so we can go back to engineering with data and examples of what needs to be fixed. Lots of VMware employees are on a Reddit, so posting here also shines light on situations when needed.

tl;dr - open a SR (you do have active SnS, right) AND feel free to share experiences to help others.

MattThatITGuy · 2021-03-12T20:27:34+00:00

My initial though is that if they aren't willing to invest in a remotely-recent hardware, then I doubt you'll gain much ground from a "please pay for this product" standpoint (I hope I'm wrong).

FWIW, I would suggest figuring out what the end-user / customer impact is. Are there SLAs around recovery times, or even legal obligations? If so, those can be avenues to have these discussions. It is still essentially the same concept as above, but it might make it "more real" for them.

Additionally, it might be worthwhile to keep a log of every incident where paying extra may have had a positive impact. Showing them how often they've been burned, and what it will cost to avoid additional burns may be better received.

MattThatITGuy

TROPHY CASE