Using Symantec Backup Exec™ Management Plug-in for VMware®

by alefesta

Lately I’ve been involved in the as beta tester by Symantec  for their “BackupExec 2010 plugin for vmware”. The idea behind this plugin is to provide end user the capability to monitor the status of their “protected” VM directly from the Vsphere console.

The Backup Exec Management Plug-in for VMware lets administrators use the vSphere client application to monitor the backup jobs that run on virtual machines. The Plug-in provides:

  • The backup status of the virtual machines and the details of past and future backups
  • The option to exclude virtual machines from backup jobs directly inside the vSphere client application
  • Support for both VMWare vCenter and ESX hosts.

The plugin is available at the Symantec website http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH144754, once downloaded the installation process is quite simple:

Simply Double click on the  BEVMPlugin.msi file  on a computer that run VMware Vsphere client , if instead or other than on your management station you desire to register the plugin with VMware vCenter Server just follow these easy steps:

Before start  ensure that:

  • The following files are in the same directory as the RegisterBEVMPlugin.exe file:
    • Vim25Service2005.dll
    • Vim25Service2005.XmlSerializers.dll
    • RegisterBEVMPlugin.exe.config
    • Microsoft .Net version 2.0 is installed on the computer.

Once you’ve satisfied the requirements than, from the vCenter Server:

  1. Open a command prompt.
  2. Run the following command:

RegisterBEVMPlugin -r -s <vCenter-ip> -n <username> -p <password> -m <msipath>

Where, web server is the name or IP address of the Web server on which the BE VMware Plug-in is published. In case the web server is configured on a non-default port, the port number should be explicitly specified in the link.

Last but no least remember  to ensure that the installer (msi file) is shared on a Web server and the msi path includes the   msi file name.

Once the plugin is installed just log on  to the Vsphere client , you should see the Symantec BackupExec tab, in case you don’t see it, just do:

  1. From the Vsphere Console click on the Menu “Plug-ins”
  2. Click on the  the “configure Symantec Backup Exec Management Pugin for VMware” (Or click on “manage plug-ins” and registed the Backup Exec Pugin).
  3. Then from the plugin tab simply enter your credential to log on to the BackupExec media server where the VM jobs reside.

Once the plugin is connected to the Media Server you will see the status of your protected VM and will be able to view the log of every single job.

For those who are not sure how to protect a VM through Backup Exec 2010 or 2010 R2 I suggest you to follow the article:

“Best practices for Backup Exec 2010 Agent for VMware Virtual Infrastructure” (http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=HOWTO21769).