Acronis Certified Engineer Backup 12.5 Training Guide (EN) PDF

Acronis® Certified Engineer
Backup
Training & Certification
This training guide is bound to the Acronis Backup® and Acronis Backup
Cloud® product portfolio.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL OF THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS MANUAL
AND ANY ADDITIONAL TRAINING MATERIALS PROVIDED TO YOU ARE CONSIDERED COPYRIGHT
MATERIALS OWNED BY ACRONIS THIS MANUAL AND ANY DOCUMENTATION YOU RECEIVE MAY NOT
BE REPRODUCED OR USED IN ANY OTHER WAY WITHOUT THE EXPRESS WRITTEN CONSENT OF
ACRONIS.
ACRONIS, ACRONIS ACADEMY, ACRONIS BACKUP, ACRONIS BACKUP CLOUD, ACRONIS DISASTER
RECOVERY, ACRONIS DISASTER RECOVERY CLOUD, ACRONIS FILES, ACRONIS FILES CLOUD, ACRONIS
NOTARY, ACRONIS NOTARY CLOUD, ACRONIS DATA CLOUD, ACRONIS CYBER CLOUD, ACRONIS
STORAGE, ACRONIS CYBER INFRASTRUCTURE AND ACRONIS SOFTWARE DEFINED INFRASTRUCTURE
ARE TRADEMARKS OF ACRONIS.
MICROSOFT WINDOWS, AZURE, WINDOWS AZURE PACK, HYPER-V, EXCHANGE, SQL, SHAREPOINT,
ACTIVE DIRECTORY AND OFFICE 365 ARE REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OF MICROSOFT CORPORATION
IN THE UNITED STATES AND OTHER COUNTRIES. LINUX IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF THE LINUX
FOUNDATION. VMWARE VSPHERE, VCENTER, ESX AND ESXI ARE REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OF
VMWARE, INC. CITRIX XENSERVER IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF CITRIX SYSTEMS, INC. RED HAT
VIRTUALIZATION AND RED HAT ENTERPRISE LINUX ARE REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OF RED HAT, INC.
ORACLE VIRTUAL MACHINE SERVER AND ORACLE DATABASE ARE REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OF
ORACLE CORPORATION. PARALLELS SERVER BARE METAL IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF
PARALLELS INTERNATIONAL GMBH. NUTANIX AHV VIRTUALIZATION IS A TRADEMARK OF NUTANIX
INC. ODIN SERVICE AUTOMATION IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF INGRAM MICRO INC. APPLE
MAC, APP STORE, IOS, IPHONE, IPAD AND OS X ARE REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OF APPLE, INC.
GOOGLE, GOOGLE PLAY, ANDROID, GOOGLE CLOUD PLATFORM ARE REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OF
GOOGLE, LLC. AMAZON S3 AND AMAZON EC2 ARE REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OF AMAZON.COM,
INC. OPENSTACK SWIFT IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF OPENSTACK FOUNDATION. OTHER
COMPANY AND PRODUCT NAMES MAY BE TRADEMARKS OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS.
THIS TRAINING MATERIAL IS DESIGNED TO SUPPORT AN INSTRUCTOR-LED TRAINING COURSE AND IS
INTENDED TO BE USED FOR REFERENCE PURPOSES IN CONJUNCTION WITH THAT COURSE. USE OF
THIS TRAINING MATERIAL FOR SELF-STUDY WITHOUT ATTENDING AN ACRONIS AUTHORIZED
TRAINING COURSE IS NOT RECOMMENDED.
Acronis Certified Engineer Backup Training & Certification
Training Guide Contents

1 Course Introduction ......................................................................................... 15
1.1 Course Opening Brief ................................................................................................................. 17
Course Goal .............................................................................................................................. 17
Introductions ............................................................................................................................ 17
General Administration ............................................................................................................ 17
Course Information .................................................................................................................. 18
Course Modules ....................................................................................................................... 18

1.2 Acronis Backup Overview........................................................................................................... 19
Acronis Hybrid Cloud Architecture .......................................................................................... 19
Acronis Backup .............................................................................................................................. 21
Acronis Backup Comparison .......................................................................................................... 22
Acronis Backup Features ............................................................................................................... 23
Acronis Backup Licensing ............................................................................................................... 25

1.3 Acronis Backup Cloud Overview ................................................................................................ 33
Acronis Data Cloud ......................................................................................................................... 33
Acronis Backup Cloud .................................................................................................................... 33
Acronis Backup Cloud Features ..................................................................................................... 36
Acronis Backup Cloud Implementations ........................................................................................ 37
Acronis Backup Cloud Business Model .......................................................................................... 38
2 Understanding Acronis Backup ........................................................................ 39

2.1 Acronis Backup Components & Implementations ..................................................................... 41
3-Tier Architecture ................................................................................................................... 41
List of Components .................................................................................................................. 42
Acronis Backup – On-Premise Management ................................................................................. 46
Acronis Backup – Cloud-based Management ................................................................................ 47
Acronis Backup Cloud .................................................................................................................... 48
Acronis Backup Cloud Implementation Models ............................................................................ 49

2.2 Storing Backups .......................................................................................................................... 51
Backup Locations ..................................................................................................................... 51
Training Guide Contents 3

Supported File Systems ............................................................................................................ 52
New Backup Archive Format: TIBX ................................................................................................ 53
Tape Support ................................................................................................................................. 55
Acronis Storage Node .................................................................................................................... 57
Acronis Data centers ................................................................................................................ 58
Hyperscale Cloud Storage .............................................................................................................. 59
Cloud Storage Implementations .............................................................................................. 60
Acronis Cyber Infrastructure .................................................................................................... 60
Acronis Cyber Infrastructure Features ..................................................................................... 61
Software-Defined Storage Scenarios ....................................................................................... 63
Acronis Cyber Infrastructure Use Cases ................................................................................... 64
Hardware Requirements .......................................................................................................... 68
Acronis Cyber Infrastructure Licensing .................................................................................... 69

2.3 Acronis Data Cloud 3rd Party Integrations.................................................................................. 70
Integration via RESTful API and APS .............................................................................................. 70
Supported Platforms ...................................................................................................................... 70

2.4 Navigating the Consoles ............................................................................................................. 71
Acronis Data Cloud Management Portal and Service Consoles .................................................... 71
Acronis Backup Service/Management Server Console ............................................................ 72
Acronis Backup On-Premise Management Server Console ........................................................... 72

2.5 Backup, Recovery & Other Operations ...................................................................................... 73
Backup Operations – Agent Based Backup .............................................................................. 73
Backup Operations – Agentless Backup ................................................................................... 74
Backup Operations – Off-Load Backup .................................................................................... 75
Backup Operations – Online Recovery .................................................................................... 76
Backup Operations – Bare Metal Recovery ............................................................................. 77
Backup Operations – Remote Bare Metal Recovery ..................................................................... 78
Snapshot Technologies ............................................................................................................ 79
Backup Process ........................................................................................................................ 79
SAN Storage Snapshot ................................................................................................................... 81
4 Training Guide Contents

Acronis Active Protection™ ...................................................................................................... 82
Deduplication ................................................................................................................................ 84
Acronis Storage Node Cataloging .................................................................................................. 85
Acronis Notary ............................................................................................................................... 86
3 Acronis Backup Setup & Installation ................................................................ 87

3.1 Onboarding Acronis Data Cloud ................................................................................................. 89
Getting Started With Acronis Data Cloud ...................................................................................... 89
Acronis Data Cloud Onboarding Steps ........................................................................................... 89
Acronis Data Cloud Login ............................................................................................................... 90
Acronis Data Cloud Tenants & Accounts ....................................................................................... 91
Acronis Data Cloud Services & Offerings ....................................................................................... 94
Creating a New Tenant .................................................................................................................. 95
Creating a New User ...................................................................................................................... 99
Account Activation Email ............................................................................................................. 101

3.2 Onboarding Acronis Backup ..................................................................................................... 102
Types of Management ................................................................................................................. 102
Acronis Backup Onboarding Steps ............................................................................................... 102
Registering Product Keys ............................................................................................................. 103
Choosing Type of Management ................................................................................................... 104
Cloud Console .............................................................................................................................. 105
Acronis Backup Download Page .................................................................................................. 106

3.3 Installing Components ............................................................................................................. 107
Understanding Component Installation ................................................................................ 107
Supported Environments ....................................................................................................... 107
Component Installation Cheat Sheet ..................................................................................... 111
Required Linux Packages ........................................................................................................ 114
Installing Windows Management Server ..................................................................................... 116
Installing Storage Node ................................................................................................................ 119
Installing Catalog Service ............................................................................................................. 119
Windows Post Installation Checklist ............................................................................................ 120

Installing Linux Management Server ........................................................................................... 122
Linux Post-Installation Checklist .................................................................................................. 124
Logging In To The Backup Console .............................................................................................. 125
Acronis Backup – Add Machines .................................................................................................. 125
Acronis Backup Cloud – Add Machines ........................................................................................ 126
Adding Machines ................................................................................................................... 126
Local Installation – Installing Agents ...................................................................................... 130
Remote Installation for On-Premise ............................................................................................ 138
Deploying Agents Through Group Policy ............................................................................... 143
Updating Agents .................................................................................................................... 144
Uninstalling ............................................................................................................................ 144

3.4 Lab Exercise 1 ........................................................................................................................... 146
4 Acronis Backup Management ........................................................................ 147

4.1 Configuring Acronis Data Cloud ............................................................................................... 149
Operations with Tenants & Accounts .......................................................................................... 149
Managing Tenants ....................................................................................................................... 152

4.2 Acronis Backup Management .................................................................................................. 166
Acronis Backup License Management ......................................................................................... 166
Acronis Backup System Settings .................................................................................................. 169
Acronis Backup Administrators & Units ...................................................................................... 171
Acronis Backup Monitoring & Reporting ..................................................................................... 173
Acronis Backup Alerts .................................................................................................................. 177
Acronis Backup Activities ............................................................................................................. 178

4.3 Lab Exercise 2 ........................................................................................................................... 179
5 Backup Operations......................................................................................... 181

5.1 Backup Plans ............................................................................................................................ 183
What is a Backup Plan ............................................................................................................ 183

5.2 Planning for Backup ................................................................................................................. 184
How to Plan for Backup ......................................................................................................... 184
Protecting Applications .......................................................................................................... 185

Protecting VMs and Virtualization Hosts ............................................................................... 187
Protecting Office 365 ............................................................................................................. 188
Protecting Mobile Devices ..................................................................................................... 191
Protecting Websites ..................................................................................................................... 192
Deciding What to Back Up ..................................................................................................... 193

5.3 Configuring Backup Plans ......................................................................................................... 195
How To Configure Backup Plans ............................................................................................ 195
What To Back Up ................................................................................................................... 197
Selecting Data To Be Backed Up ............................................................................................ 198
Where To Back Up ................................................................................................................. 201
Secure Zone ........................................................................................................................... 202
Managed Locations ...................................................................................................................... 202
Schedule ................................................................................................................................ 204
Types of Backup ..................................................................................................................... 209
How Long To Keep (Cleanup) ................................................................................................. 210
Encryption .............................................................................................................................. 212
Notarization ................................................................................................................................. 213
Conversion to Virtual Machine .................................................................................................... 214
Replication ............................................................................................................................. 215

5.4 Creating the Backup Plan ......................................................................................................... 216
Backup Plan Cheat Sheet ....................................................................................................... 216
Creating a Backup Plan .......................................................................................................... 218
Device Groups .............................................................................................................................. 221
Operations with Backup Plan ................................................................................................. 223
Browsing Backups .................................................................................................................. 224

5.5 Backup Options ........................................................................................................................ 225
Understanding Backup Options ............................................................................................. 225

5.6 Other Operations ..................................................................................................................... 246
Protecting Against Ransomware ............................................................................................ 246
Off-Host Data Processing ............................................................................................................. 248

Creating a Replication Plan .......................................................................................................... 249
Creating a Validation Plan ........................................................................................................... 250
Creating a Cleanup Plan ............................................................................................................... 252
Creating a Conversion to VM Plan ............................................................................................... 253

5.7 Physical Data Shipping & and Large Scale Recovery ................................................................ 254
Understanding Physical Data Shipping & Large Scale Recovery .................................................. 254
Recommendations for Setting Up PDS/LSR Service ..................................................................... 258
Installing IS/LSR Tool .................................................................................................................... 259

5.8 Lab Exercise 3 ........................................................................................................................... 262
6 Recovery Operations...................................................................................... 263

6.1 Recovery Tasks ......................................................................................................................... 265
What is a Recovery Task ........................................................................................................ 265

6.2 Planning for Recovery .............................................................................................................. 266
How to Plan for Recovery ...................................................................................................... 266
What Can Be Recovered ........................................................................................................ 266
Recovering Applications ......................................................................................................... 267
Recovering Windows Azure and Amazon EC2 VMs ............................................................... 270
Using Acronis Instant Restore ................................................................................................ 270
Using VM Replication ............................................................................................................. 271
Migration ............................................................................................................................... 271

6.3 Configuring Recovery Tasks ..................................................................................................... 272
How to Configure Recovery Tasks ......................................................................................... 272
Recovery Methods ................................................................................................................. 272
Recovery Point ....................................................................................................................... 274
What to Recover .................................................................................................................... 274
Where to Recover .................................................................................................................. 275

6.4 Acronis Bootable Media a.k.a. Rescue Media.......................................................................... 277
Understanding Acronis Bootable Media ................................................................................ 277
Creating Acronis Bootable Media .......................................................................................... 277
Acronis Bootable Media Advanced Functions ............................................................................. 279

6.5 Creating the Recovery Task ...................................................................................................... 281
Recovery Cheat Sheet ............................................................................................................ 281
Recovery via Backup Console ................................................................................................ 282
Recovery via Bootable Media ................................................................................................ 283
Recovery via Download Files ................................................................................................. 285
Recovering as Virtual Machine .............................................................................................. 286
Universal Restore ................................................................................................................... 288
Recovering Files ..................................................................................................................... 290
Recovering ESXi Configuration ............................................................................................... 290
Run as VM (Acronis Instant Restore™) .................................................................................. 291
VM Replication ....................................................................................................................... 293

6.6 Recovery Options ..................................................................................................................... 296
Understanding Recovery Options .......................................................................................... 296

6.7 Lab Exercise 4 ........................................................................................................................... 310
7 Disaster Recovery Operations ........................................................................ 311

7.1 Acronis Disaster Recovery Cloud Overview ............................................................................. 313
Acronis Disaster Recovery Cloud ................................................................................................. 313
Acronis Disaster Recovery Add-On .............................................................................................. 314
Supported Platforms .............................................................................................................. 314
Acronis Disaster Recovery Cloud Service Options ....................................................................... 316
Acronis Disaster Recovery Cloud Business Model ....................................................................... 317
Acronis Disaster Recovery Add-On License ................................................................................. 317

7.2 Understanding Acronis Disaster Recovery ............................................................................... 318
Disaster Recovery Operations ................................................................................................ 318
Typical Disaster Recovery Workflow ..................................................................................... 319
Supported Environments ....................................................................................................... 321
VPN Connection ..................................................................................................................... 321
Installing VPN Appliance ........................................................................................................ 322
Installing OpenVPN Client ...................................................................................................... 324

7.3 Using Acronis Disaster Recovery Cloud ................................................................................... 326

Recovery Server ..................................................................................................................... 326
Primary Server ....................................................................................................................... 334
Backing Up Cloud Servers ...................................................................................................... 336
Runbooks ............................................................................................................................... 337
8 Acronis Backup Troubleshooting .................................................................... 343

8.1 Acronis Backup Troubleshooting Steps.................................................................................... 345
General Troubleshooting Steps ............................................................................................. 345

8.2 Acronis Support Resources ...................................................................................................... 346
Acronis Backup Documentation ............................................................................................ 346
Acronis Knowledge Base ........................................................................................................ 347
Acronis Support Forums ........................................................................................................ 349

8.3 Collecting System Information and Logs.................................................................................. 350
Collecting System Information ............................................................................................... 350
Collecting Logs ............................................................................................................................. 351

8.4 Troubleshooting Tools ............................................................................................................. 353
General Troubleshooting Tools .............................................................................................. 353
Connection Verification Tool ................................................................................................. 355
Scheduler Manager ................................................................................................................ 355
Acronis VSS Doctor ................................................................................................................. 357
VSSADMIN .............................................................................................................................. 358
DiskShadow Tool .................................................................................................................... 359
Process Monitor Utility .......................................................................................................... 360
Wireshark/tcpdump ............................................................................................................... 362
ProcDump .............................................................................................................................. 364
Strace .................................................................................................................................... 366
OS X Dump File ....................................................................................................................... 367

8.5 Acronis Troubleshooting Guides .............................................................................................. 368
Agent Installation Issues ........................................................................................................ 368
Connectivity Issues ................................................................................................................ 368
Backup Console Issues ........................................................................................................... 369

Backup & Snapshot Issues ..................................................................................................... 370
VM Backup Issues .................................................................................................................. 370
Application Backup Issues ...................................................................................................... 371
Recovery Issues ...................................................................................................................... 371
Hardware Detection Issues .................................................................................................... 372
Other Issues ........................................................................................................................... 372
FAQs .................................................................................................................................... 373

8.6 Acronis Customer Service & Support ....................................................................................... 374
Understanding Acronis Customer Support ............................................................................ 374
Contacting Customer Service & Support: .............................................................................. 375
Information Required to Open Support Case ........................................................................ 376
9 Appendix ....................................................................................................... 377

9.1 Protecting Oracle Database ................................................................................................ 377
Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 377
Backup and recovery methods ............................................................................................................. 377
Supported Operating Systems .............................................................................................................. 380
Supported Oracle Database versions ................................................................................................... 381
Prerequisites ......................................................................................................................................... 381
Installation ............................................................................................................................................ 381
Backup .................................................................................................................................................. 384
Recovery ............................................................................................................................................... 387
9.2 Sizing and Migration Tools ................................................................................................. 391

Acronis Migration Tool ......................................................................................................................... 391
Resource Usage Calculator ................................................................................................................... 393
9.3 Tape Sets ............................................................................................................................. 393

Goal ....................................................................................................................................................... 393
How it works ......................................................................................................................................... 393
Creating tape sets – Method 1 ............................................................................................................. 394
Creating tape sets - way 2..................................................................................................................... 394
Table of parameters for tape sets ........................................................................................................ 396
Table of tape set templates available from UI ..................................................................................... 397
Examples ............................................................................................................................................... 397

9.4 Mass Deployment & Update of Agents for Windows ........................................................ 401
Prepare a list of machines where Agent for Windows should be installed .......................................... 401
Mass deployment ................................................................................................................................. 401
Mass update or upgrade....................................................................................................................... 401
9.5 Mounting volumes from a backup ..................................................................................... 402

Requirements ....................................................................................................................................... 402
To mount a volume from a backup ...................................................................................................... 403
To unmount a volume .......................................................................................................................... 403
9.6 Useful KB articles ........................................................................................................... 404

Acronis Backup 12.5.............................................................................................................................. 404
Acronis Backup Cloud ........................................................................................................................... 404

Typographical Conventions
The following typographical conventions are used:
monospace Filenames, path names, command names: the Acronis folder
monospace bold User entry, what the user types: type acrocmd help and press Enter
Boldface Minor headings, Graphical User Interface items: The Tools menu
Italic Titles and emphasis: SNAPAPI
Bold Italic Sub-headings: Subscription License
<placeholder> Placeholders: <simple_file_name>.tib
Borders Notes
How to navigate the different sections of this training guide:

Sections relating to Acronis Backup only:
Sections relating to Acronis Data Cloud/Acronis Backup Cloud:
Sections relating to Acronis Data Cloud/Acronis Disaster Recovery Cloud:
Sections relating to both Acronis Backup and Acronis Backup Cloud:
Sections relating to both Acronis Backup and Acronis Disaster Recovery Cloud:


1 Course Introduction
What is this module about?
In this module, you will be introduced to the Acronis® Certified Engineer Backup (ACE) training and
certification course, which covers both Acronis Backup and Acronis Backup Cloud. You will learn
about the main features of Acronis Backup and Acronis Backup Cloud, available licensing options and
implementation models.
What you should be able to do after this module?

1. Describe the main features, common terms and business model of Acronis Backup and
Acronis Backup Cloud
2. List the licenses available for Acronis Backup and make suitable recommendations
3. List the implementation models available for Acronis Backup Cloud and make suitable
recommendations
How long will this module take?

Lesson: 1 hour
Lab: none
Course Introduction 15
List of topics for this module:

1. Course Opening Brief
 Course Goal  Course Information
 Introductions  Course Modules
 General Administration
2. Acronis Backup Overview
 Acronis Hybrid Cloud Architecture  Acronis Backup Features
 Acronis Backup  Acronis Backup Licensing
 Acronis Backup Comparison
3. Acronis Backup Cloud Overview
 Acronis Data Cloud  Acronis Backup Cloud
Implementations
 Acronis Backup Cloud
 Acronis Backup Cloud Business Model
 Acronis Backup Cloud Features
1.1 Course Opening Brief

Course Goal
The goal of this course is as follows:

“To provide learners with the knowledge and skills necessary to plan, implement, configure and
operate Acronis® Backup and Acronis Backup Cloud in on-premise, cloud-only or hybrid
environments”
Note: In this document as well as in the slides used for this course, Acronis Backup refers to both
Acronis Backup and Acronis Backup Cloud unless otherwise specified.
Introductions
Trainer will conduct introductions:
• Trainer self-introduction
• Student self-introductions
General Administration
Class-related
• Attendance; to be recorded every day
• Class duration; dates, start and end times
• Break-time and meal time; length of break-times and meal time
• Courseware; printed manual and required electronic files
• Evaluation; to be completed online before the start of the exam
Facilities-related
• Facility house rules; rules and regulations to abide by for use of the facility
• Travel and transport; closest metro station, bus stations, taxi queues, etc. around the facility
• Rest rooms; location of rest rooms
• Smokers; smoking locations and any restrictions
• Site emergency procedures; what to do in case of fire, earthquake or other emergencies
Note: If there are any further administrative questions, please feel free to ask the instructor after this
slide.
Course Information
The ACE Backup course is a 2-day instructor-led training and certification course with lab practical
and demos that is designed to instruct technical professionals on Acronis Backup and Acronis Backup
Cloud planning, implementations, configurations and day-to-day operations.
Towards the end of the 2-day course, you will be required to attempt and pass an online exam in
order to gain accreditation as an Acronis Certified Engineer (ACE).
Note: Results will be shown immediately at the end of the online exam and successful entrants will
be able to download their electronic certificates from the exam server.
Course Modules
This course consists of the following modules:
1. Course Introduction
2. Understanding Acronis Backup
3. Acronis Backup Setup and Installation
4. Configuring Acronis Backup
5. Backup Operations
6. Recovery Operations
7. Disaster Recovery Operations
8. Acronis Backup Troubleshooting
Note: The modules to be covered will be spread out across 2 days with time allocated towards the
end of the 2nd day for attempting the exam.
1.2 Acronis Backup Overview

Acronis Hybrid Cloud Architecture
Modern IT is rapidly evolving – 86 percent of companies use cloud technologies and almost 70
percent of the workforce is mobile. As a result, IT environments are becoming even more complex,
putting pressure on limited IT resources as businesses depend on data and IT systems more than
ever. IT disruption or loss of data leads to significant financial loss– unproductive employees,
dissatisfied clients, lost sales and additional costs. With the volume of data exploding and the IT
landscape evolving to hybrid cloud environments, protecting data on-premise, in the cloud and on all
devices is the only way to ensure business continuity.
To that end, Acronis created a Hybrid Cloud Architecture – an evolution for current and future data
protection solutions by Acronis that strives to provide Any Management, Any Protection, Any
Workload, Any Storage, Any Deployment and Any Recovery.
Any Management
Acronis solutions comes with management software that can be deployed and controlled
independently, thereby enabling control of data protection by the customer, service provider,
vendor, partner or a third party from public, partner and private cloud as well as from customer
premises.
Any Protection
Acronis solutions includes Backup, Storage, Disaster Recovery, Files Sync & Share, Notary/ASign, and
Ransomware protection capabilities for complete protection.
Any Workload
Acronis solutions covers any workload – on-premise, in private or public cloud, on mobile devices, in
applications and files as well as in physical and virtual environments.
Any Storage
Acronis solutions can work with a variety of storages including traditional storage like disks and
tapes, NAS and SAN as well as with partner, private, public and Acronis Cloud.
Any Deployment
Acronis solutions can be installed on-premise and in partner, private, public and Acronis Cloud.
Any Recovery
Acronis solutions supports recovery and migration of physical, virtual, mobile, applications, files and
cloud workloads.
Acronis Backup
Acronis Backup Standard and Advanced is the world’s easiest and fastest data protection solution for
businesses of all sizes and data on-premises, remote, in private and public cloud and on mobile
devices.
For Microsoft®
Windows Azure VMs, Windows Server and PC OS, Microsoft Exchange, SQL, SharePoint and Active
Directory, Microsoft Hyper-V VMs and hosts and Microsoft Office 365
For Amazon®
Amazon EC2 VMs
For Linux
Linux servers using popular distros such as Red Hat®, Oracle®, CentOS, Fedora, Ubuntu®, SUSE,
Debian, etc.
For Apple®
Macintosh® OS X laptops and desktops, iOS iPhones and iPads
For Android™:
Android mobile phones and tablets
For VMware®
VMware vSphere ESXi virtual machines and hosts
For Oracle®
Oracle VM Server VMs and Oracle databases
For other virtualization platforms
Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization, Linux KVM, Citrix® XenServer and Nutanix AHV
Acronis Backup is designed to be:
• Easy – Install in 3 clicks, on-premise and end-user site components can be installed in as little
as 3 clicks
• Complete – Protect 21 platforms, the most comprehensive range of platforms supported in a

single data protection solution
• Safe – Defend from ransomware with Acronis Active Protection™
• Fast – Achieve RTO of 15 seconds, with Acronis Instant Restore™, Windows and Linux systems
can be recovered in 15 seconds
• Reliable – 500,000 businesses, more than 500,000 business and 5M consumers use Acronis
solutions with more than 5,000 PB of data protected
Acronis Backup Comparison

Acronis Backup has 2 editions, Standard and Advanced which caters to customers with environments
of different sizes and complexity.
For small environments
Acronis Backup 12.5 Standard is designed for small environments of up to 10 machines or less.
• Integrates all the functionalities of our previous products, Acronis Backup 11.7 and Acronis
Backup 12 as well as providing ransomware protection with Acronis Active Protection
• Customers have a choice of cloud-based management or on-premise management and both
choices comes with centralized management, application-aware backup and recovery for
Microsoft applications and support for VMware and Hyper-V VMs and hosts
For mid to large-sized environments
Acronis Backup 12.5 Advanced is designed for mid-sized environments of 100-1000 users and large
environments of more than 1000 users.
• Admin Roles for delegating groups of machines for backup to different administrators
• Acronis Instant Restore for reducing RTOs to 15 seconds in optimized setups
• Has support for more virtualization platforms such as Citrix® XenServer, Red Hat Enterprise
Virtualization, Oracle VM Server, Linux KVM and Nutanix AHV (KVM-based)
• Contains latest Acronis innovations such as Acronis Notary™ and ASign™ which leverage
blockchain technology for authenticating and e-signing backed up files
• Comes with tape support and deduplication for managing large amounts of data
Both Acronis Backup Standard and Advanced are sold as subscription or perpetual licenses to
channel and end-customers and depending on the license purchased; end-customers have a choice
of cloud-based or on-premise deployment and management depending on their business needs.
Acronis Backup Features
Acronis Backup provides the following key features:

• Complete Business Protection: Protect entire hybrid cloud infrastructure including physical
systems, virtual hypervisors and VMs, cloud applications, user desktops and laptops and
mobile devices
• World’s Fastest Recovery: Reduce RTOs to seconds with Acronis Instant Restore™, which
starts your Windows or Linux backup directly from backup storage as a VMware or Hyper-V
VM — no data movement or standby hardware required
• Flexible Storage Options: Increase business resiliency by storing your backups in up to five
locations, including local disks, NAS, SAN, tape, as well as proven and secure Acronis Cloud
Storage
• Easy, Scalable Management: Reduce IT workload and overhead with a touch-friendly, web-
based management console for backup and recovery of all workloads and data
• Innovative Data Protection: Safeguard your systems from ransomware attacks with Acronis
Active Protection™, the only backup technology that detects and prevents unauthorized
encryption of files and backups
Acronis Backup Licensing

Acronis Backup is licensed per protected system, virtualization host or Office 365 seat and is
available as Standard or Advanced editions with subscription and perpetual licensing.
• Subscription license: 1, 2 or 3 years subscription available. Includes support and maintenance
for the term of the subscription. Product is disabled upon subscription expiry
• Perpetual license: One-time purchase. Includes support and maintenance for the 1st year,
subsequent year(s) renewable. Product can be used perpetually
• Support (AAP – Acronis Advantage Premier) includes 24x7 technical assistance via email,
phone and chat in English and select other languages as well as upgrade protection – upgrade
to new major versions for free
Besides regular licenses, there are 2 add-ons available:
• Acronis Cloud Storage Add-on: Enables backup to Acronis Cloud and is mandatory for certain
types of backup such as mobile device backup, enabling Cloud-To-Cloud (C2C) backup for
Office 365 and enabling Acronis Disaster Recovery Add-on
• Acronis Disaster Recovery Add-on: Enables cloud-based disaster recovery for Acronis Backup
Licenses can be purchased in the follow ways:
• Per Unit: Licenses are purchased as individual units of specific types of licenses, e.g., 3 x
Acronis Backup Advanced Server Subscription License, 1 Year or 50 x Acronis Backup 12.5
Standard Workstation License incl. AAP ESD (AAP – Acronis Advantage Premier, ESD –
Electronic Software Download)
• Per Pack: Licenses are purchased as a mix of different types of licenses, e.g., Acronis Backup
Advanced Office 365 Pack Subscription License 5 seats, 1 Year which includes 1 x Acronis
Backup Advanced Office 365 Subscription License, 5 seats + 1 x Acronis Cloud Storage
Subscription License, 50GB, 1 Year license
Acronis Backup 12.5 Standard Licenses

Solution License Type Licenses
Acronis Backup 12.5 Subscription License Per physical machine or cloud instance
Standard 1, 2, 3 years ‒ Acronis Backup Standard Workstation
subscription ‒ Acronis Backup Standard Server
Complete protection for small
business environments of up to Includes support and ‒ Acronis Backup Standard Server Essentials
10 machines or less maintenance for term
Per virtual host
of subscription
Includes Acronis Active ‒ Acronis Backup Standard Virtual Host
On-premise or Cloud
Protection™, centralized Per 5, 25, 100 Office 365 seats
management
management and application-
‒ Acronis Backup Standard Office 365
aware backup for Microsoft
applications
Perpetual License Per physical machine or cloud instance
No Acronis Instant Restore™, Includes support and ‒ Acronis Backup 12.5 Standard Workstation
Acronis Notary™, application- maintenance for 1st ‒ Acronis Backup 12.5 Standard Server
aware backup for Oracle year, subsequent
database, clustered ‒ Acronis Backup 12.5 Standard Server
year(s) renewable
Exchange/SQL backup, tape Essentials
On-premise
support, deduplication and Per virtual host
management only
features for managing large ‒ Acronis Backup 12.5 Standard Virtual Host
numbers of machines such as
admin roles & delegation
Licensing
• Acronis Backup Standard Workstation: 1 license per one physical machine (on-premise) or
cloud instance with Windows desktop OS or Mac OS X
• Acronis Backup Standard Server: 1 license per one physical machine (on-premise) or cloud
instance with Windows Server or Linux OS
• Acronis Backup Standard Windows Server Essentials: 1 license per one physical machine (on-
premise) or cloud instance with Windows Server Essentials or Windows Small Business Server
OS
• Acronis Backup Standard Virtual Host: 1 license per one virtual (physical) host with VMware
or Hyper-V hypervisor
• Acronis Backup Standard Office 365: Per 5, 25 or 100 Office 365 seats license, mix and match
to obtain desired total number of licenses, e.g., customer can purchase 2 x 5 seats + 2 x 25
seats for total of 60 seats
Acronis Backup 12.5 Advanced Licenses

Acronis Backup 12.5 Subscription License Per physical machine or cloud instance
Advanced 1, 2, 3 years ‒ Acronis Backup Advanced Workstation
subscription ‒ Acronis Backup Advanced Server
Complete protection for mid-
size business environment of Includes support and Per virtual host
100-1000 users maintenance for term
‒ Acronis Backup Advanced Virtual Host
of subscription
Point solution for ROBO, Per 5, 25, 100 Office 365 seats
On-premise or Cloud
departments, projects, and ‒ Acronis Backup Advanced Office 365
management
mobile workforce in an
enterprise business
environment of 1000 users or Perpetual License Per physical machine or cloud instance
more Includes support and ‒ Acronis Backup 12.5 Advanced Workstation
maintenance for 1st ‒ Acronis Backup 12.5 Advanced Server
Includes all Acronis Backup
year, subsequent
Standard features as well as Per virtual host
year(s) renewable
Acronis Instant Restore™, ‒ Acronis Backup 12.5 Advanced Virtual Host
Acronis Notary™, application- On-premise
management only
aware backup for Oracle
database, clustered
Exchange/SQL backup, tape
support, deduplication and
features for managing large
numbers of machines
Licensing
• Acronis Backup Advanced Workstation: 1 license per one physical machine (on-premise) or
cloud instance with Windows desktop OS or Mac OS X
• Acronis Backup Advanced Server: 1 license per one physical machine (on-premise) or cloud
instance with Windows Server or Linux OS
• Acronis Backup Advanced Virtual Host: 1 license per one virtual (physical) host with
VMware, Hyper-V, Citrix XenServer, Red Hat Virtualization, Linux KVM, Oracle VM Server or
Nutanix AHV hypervisor
• Acronis Backup Advanced Office 365: Per 5, 25 or 100 Office 365 seats license, mix and
match to obtain desired total number of licenses, e.g., customer can purchase 2 x 5 seats + 2
x 25 seats for total of 60 seats
Acronis Backup for Office 365 Packs

Acronis Backup for Office Subscription License Per Pack

365 Packs 1, 2, 3 years ‒ Acronis Backup Standard Office 365 Pack:
subscription  5 seats
Acronis Backup Standard or
Advanced Office 365 Includes support and  50 GB of Acronis Cloud Storage
subscription licenses bundled maintenance for term
‒ Acronis Backup Advanced Office 365 Pack:
with Acronis Cloud Storage of subscription
 5 seats
Enables small businesses to  50 GB of Acronis Cloud Storage
quickly and easily backup their
Office 365 user mailboxes,
OneDrive and SharePoint sites
to cloud
Licensing
• Acronis Backup Standard Office 365 Pack: 1 x Acronis Backup Standard Office 365, 5 seats
subscription license + 1 x Acronis Cloud Storage, 50 GB subscription license
• Acronis Backup Advanced Office 365 Pack: 1 x Acronis Backup Advanced Office 365, 5 seats
subscription license + 1 x Acronis Cloud Storage, 50 GB subscription license
Acronis Cloud Storage Add-on

Acronis Cloud Storage Add-on can be used for storing backups of machines on-premise, in remote
locations, in private and public clouds and of mobile devices to Acronis Cloud.
Cloud Storage add-on subscriptions are optional except when backing up mobile devices, performing
Cloud-to-Cloud (C2C) backup of Office 365 and enabling Acronis Disaster Recovery Add-on as they
require cloud storage in order to function.
Cloud Storage add-on subscriptions are volume subscriptions that allows storing of backups from
multiple machines as long as the capacity has not been exceeded and it can be used for all business
products including older versions of Acronis Backup such as Acronis Backup Advanced 11.7.
Acronis Cloud Storage Subscription License Per cloud storage capacity*

Add-on 1, 2, 3 years ‒ Acronis Cloud Storage 250 GB
subscription ‒ Acronis Cloud Storage 500 GB
Enables secure, off-site backup
for reliable data protection and Includes support and ‒ Acronis Cloud Storage 1 TB
cold disaster recovery maintenance for term
‒ Acronis Cloud Storage 2 TB
of subscription
Required for mobile device ‒ Acronis Cloud Storage 3 TB
backup, C2C backup of Office ‒ Acronis Cloud Storage 4 TB
365 and Acronis Disaster
‒ Acronis Cloud Storage 5 TB
Recovery Add-on
*All other licenses are discontinued, existing customers will
renew to new subscription licenses
Licensing
• Acronis Cloud Storage 250 GB to 5 TB subscriptions: Each subscription allows the customer
to use up to the allotted amount of cloud storage for storing backups
• Additional capacity can be purchased from a reseller and registered in your Acronis web
account. Upon registration, you will have the choice of selecting the option to increase your
storage capacity. Once selected, the expiration date will be recalculated taking into account
your existing capacity and time remaining
 E.g., Original: 1TB, 100 days remaining + New: 2TB, 365 days =
((1TB*100)+(2TB*365))/3TB = (100+730)/3 = 277 days (decimals are rounded up) of 3TB
capacity
• Similarly, the subscription can be extended/renewed by purchasing the same capacity from a
reseller and registering it in your Acronis web account. Upon registration, you will have the
choice of selecting the option to extend your subscription period. Once selected, the
expiration date will be recalculated taking into account your existing time remaining
 E.g., Original: 1TB, 100 days remaining + New: 1TB, 365 days = (100+365) = 465 days.
Acronis Disaster Recovery Add-on

Acronis Disaster Recovery Add-on enables effortless cloud-based disaster recovery for Acronis
Backup. It enables running of VMs in Acronis Cloud as failover for critical workloads or as part of a
production infrastructure, e.g., running 1 or more nodes in Acronis Cloud as part of a cluster or on its
own.
Acronis Disaster Recovery Add-on requires cloud-based management, i.e., works with Acronis
Backup subscription licenses and backups stored on Acronis Cloud Storage.
Acronis Disaster Recovery Subscription License Per Pack

Add-on 1, 2, 3 years ‒ Acronis Disaster Recovery Add-on Pack:
subscription  500 GB of Acronis Cloud Storage
Effortless cloud-based disaster
recovery for Acronis Backup Includes support and  250 GB of Acronis Disaster Recovery
maintenance for term Storage
Enables running of VMs in
of subscription
Acronis Cloud as failover for  500 Acronis Disaster Recovery Compute
critical workloads or as part of Points
production infrastructure, e.g., Separate licenses:
running nodes in Acronis Cloud ‒ Acronis Disaster Recovery Storage:
as part of a cluster
 250 GB | 500 GB | 1 TB | 2 TB | 3 TB | 4
Requires cloud-based TB | 5TB
management (Acronis Backup ‒ Acronis Disaster Recovery Compute Points
subscription licenses) and
 500 | 1000 | 2000 | 3000 | 5000
backups stored on Acronis
Cloud Storage ‒ Acronis Disaster Recovery IP Address
 1 public IP address per subscription
Licensing
• To enable Acronis Disaster Recovery Add-on, Acronis Cloud Storage, Acronis Disaster
Recovery Storage and Acronis Disaster Recovery Compute Points subscriptions are required:
 Acronis Cloud Storage is used to store backups that can be used for Acronis Disaster
Recovery
 Acronis Disaster Recovery Storage is used to store the VMs that can be created from
backups stored in Acronis Cloud Storage or from templates
 Acronis Disaster Recovery Computer Points is used for running Acronis Disaster Recovery
VMs. The amount of Acronis Disaster Recovery Compute Points consumed per hour
depends on the vCPU and RAM configuration (template-based) of the Acronis Disaster
Recovery VMs
• Customers can choose to purchase the Acronis Disaster Recovery Add-on Pack if they do not
have an existing Acronis Cloud Storage subscription to quickly get started or purchase Acronis
Disaster Recovery Storage and Acronis Disaster Recovery Compute Points separately if they
have an existing Acronis Cloud Storage subscription to start using Acronis Disaster Recovery
Add-on.
• Acronis Disaster Recovery IP Address subscriptions are optional, required only when 1 or
more Acronis Disaster Recovery VMs needs a public IP in order to be accessible from the
Internet
Acronis Backup Supported Platforms and Trial Mode

The following are supported platforms for the different types of licenses:
• Workstation: Windows PC, Mac
• Server: Window Server and PC, Linux
• Server Essentials: Windows Server Essentials, Foundation, Windows Small Business Server
• Virtual Host: VMware, Hyper-V, Citrix XenServer, Linux KVM, Red Hat Virtualization, Nutanix
AHV, Oracle VM Server
• Office 365: Microsoft Office 365
• Cloud Storage Add-on: Acronis Data Centers
• Cloud Storage Add-on: Acronis Data Centers
Simplified licensing
Workstation, Server and Server Essentials licenses are licensed by the number of physical machines
on-premise or cloud instance in Microsoft Azure or Amazon EC2 to be protected.
Virtual Host licenses are license by the number of virtual host on-premise with unlimited VMs and
sockets for each host.
Server, Server Essentials and Virtual Host licenses includes support for application-aware backup of
Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft SQL, Microsoft SharePoint and Microsoft Active Directory.
Advanced Server and Virtual Host licenses also includes support for application-aware backup of
Oracle Databases.
All-inclusive trial
To start a trial:
1. Register for the trial from the Acronis website, i.e., create an Acronis web account
2. Download the Acronis Backup installer
3. Install Acronis Backup and select to start a trial.
Acronis Backup trial mode:
• Fully functional for 30 days
• Includes Advanced features
• Includes 1 TB of Acronis Cloud Storage
• Includes 1 TB of Acronis Disaster Recovery Storage and 100 Acronis Disaster Recovery
Compute Points which is enough to run 3 x F3 server configuration Acronis Disaster Recovery
VM for 8 hours
Acronis Backup trial can be activated to full version without need for re-installation by registering
and adding purchased licenses.
Standard
Windows
Standard Standard Standard Server Standard Advanced Advanced Advanced Advanced
License Server Workstation Virtual Host Essentials Office 365 Server Workstation Virtual Host Office 365
Supported Windows Windows PC VMware Windows Microsoft Windows Windows PC VMware Microsoft
platforms Server Mac Hyper-V Server Office 365 Server Mac Hyper-V Office 365
Linux Essentials, Linux XenServer
Foundatio
n Linux KVM
Small RHEV
Business Oracle VM
Server Server
Local Disks,
NAS, SAN ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
storage
Acronis Cloud
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Storage
Centralized
touch-
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
friendly web
console
Acronis
Active ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Protection™
Acronis
Instant ● ● ● ●
Restore
Shared
Backup Plans
● ● ● ●
Acronis
● ● ● ●
Notary™
Administrator
roles and ● ● ● ●
delegations
Advanced
Reporting
● ● ● ●
Tape drives,
autoloaders,
libraries
● ● ● ●
support
Centralized
disk storage ● ● ● ●
deduplication
1.3 Acronis Backup Cloud Overview

Acronis Data Cloud
Acronis Data Cloud is a single solution for offering multiple modern data protection services such as
Backup, Disaster Recovery, Anti-Ransomware Protection, File Sync & Share, Files Notarization, E-
Signature and Storage-as-a-Service by Service Providers to their partners and end-customers.
Find new customers, increase reliability and security of data protection as well as increase customer
retention with in-demand “add-on” services. With no upfront costs, pay-as-you-go licensing model,
flexible pricing models and a wide range of supported 3rd party Professional Services Automation
(PSA) and Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) tools, it is easy to integrate Acronis Data
Cloud into your business.
Acronis Backup Cloud is a fast, powerful, hybrid cloud backup-as-a-service solution for Service
Providers to meet the data protection needs of their customer. It can enlarge the services portfolio
of Service Providers and be used to provide customized backup services for their customers.
For Microsoft®
Windows Azure VMs, Windows Server and PC OS, Microsoft Exchange, SQL, SharePoint and Active
Directory, Microsoft Hyper-V VMs and hosts and Microsoft Office 365 mailboxes
For Amazon®
Amazon EC2 VMs
For Linux
Linux servers using popular distros such as Red Hat®, CentOS, Fedora, Ubuntu®, SUSE, Debian, etc.
For Apple®
Macintosh® OS X PCs, iOS iPhones and iPads
For Android™:
Android mobile devices
For VMware®
VMware vSphere ESXi virtual machines and hosts
For Oracle®
Oracle VM Server
For other virtualization platforms
Red Hat Virtualization, Linux KVM, Citrix® XenServer, Virtuozzo and Nutanix AHV
Acronis Backup Cloud is designed to be:
• Fast – Minimal setup required for rapid time to market
• Easy – Integrate easily with Odin, Windows Azure Pack, ConnectWise and other automation
platforms
• Complete – Protect 16 platforms including physical, virtual, cloud, applications and mobile
• Flexible – Service Providers can leverage on Acronis Backup Cloud to provide managed or self-
service backup services
• Reliable – 500,000 businesses, more than 500,000 business and 5M consumers use Acronis
solutions with more than 5,000 PB of data protected
Target Segment
• Acronis Backup Cloud is designed for Service Providers such as Managed Service Providers,
SaaS and IaaS providers, Hosters and Telcos that focus on providing IT and related services to
customers
• It integrates all the functionality of our previous product Acronis Backup Cloud 5.0 with
improvements to the multi-tiered, multi-tenancy architecture, more rebranding and
customization options and more automation integration support with new vendors added
regularly
• Sold as pay-per-use consumption to Service Providers and Service Providers in turn are free
to decide on the pricing for their customers
• Consumption can be based on per GB of backed up data stored on local and cloud storage
and/or per device
• Service Providers has a choice of 3 implementation models, Acronis Hosted, Hybrid and SP
Hosted, for deploying Acronis Backup Cloud
Acronis Backup Cloud Features
Acronis Backup Cloud provides the following key features:

• Complete Business Protection: Protect entire hybrid cloud infrastructure including physical
systems, virtual hypervisors and VMs, cloud applications, user desktops and laptops and
mobile devices
• World’s Fastest Recovery: Reduce RTOs to seconds with Acronis Instant Restore™, which
starts your Windows or Linux backup directly from backup storage as a VMware or Hyper-V
VM — no data movement or standby hardware required
• Flexible Storage Options: Increase business resiliency for customers by enabling local and
cloud backups to Acronis or Service Provider data center
• Easy, Scalable Management: Reduce IT workload and overhead with a touch-friendly, web-
based management console for backup and recovery of all workloads and data
• Innovative Data Protection: Leverage on Acronis innovations for data protection and scalable
cloud storage such as Acronis Cyber Infrastructure with Cloud RAID™
Acronis Backup Cloud Implementations

There are 3 types of implementation model available for Service Providers to choose from depending
on their available cloud infrastructure when onboarding Acronis Backup Cloud.
• No cloud infrastructure: No available servers and storage for hosting Acronis Backup Cloud
management and customers’ data
• With cloud storage: available storage for hosting customers’ data but no available servers for
hosting Acronis Backup Cloud management
• With cloud infrastructure: Available servers and storage for hosting Acronis Backup Cloud
management and customers’ data
Acronis Backup Cloud can work with cloud infrastructure (servers and/or storage) hosted in a data
center, colo or within a Service Provider’s premises.
Partner Type Implementation Details
‒ Partner gets SaaS platform that can be rebranded and used

for offering managed or self-service backup to end-
Service Providers customers and resellers
With no cloud Acronis-Hosted ‒ Acronis Backup Cloud management and cloud storage
infrastructure hosted by Acronis, partner provides value-added services
‒ No infrastructure/hardware investment required = zero
capital expenses

customers and resellers
Service Providers
Hybrid ‒ Acronis Backup Cloud management hosted by Acronis,
With cloud storage
cloud storage hosted by partner
‒ Choice of using own cloud storage or 3rd party cloud such as
Azure and Amazon S3

Service Providers customers and resellers
With cloud SP Hosted ‒ Acronis Backup Cloud management and cloud storage
infrastructure hosted by partner
‒ Engage Acronis Professional Services for design,
implementation and deployment
Note: For Acronis Backup Cloud – Hybrid model, Service Providers can choose to setup the cloud
storage for Acronis Backup Cloud on their own or engage professional services from Acronis.
For Acronis Backup Cloud – SP hosted model, engaging professional services from Acronis is
mandatory.
Acronis Backup Cloud Business Model

Service Provider signs a Service Provider Agreement with an Acronis Cloud Reseller to get started.
End-user pricing is set by the Service Provider and Service Provider is billed monthly based on total
consumption across all Acronis Data Cloud services.
Service Provider can sign-up multiple “tiers” of resellers and multiple direct end-customers.
Service Providers will also have to complete Support training (provided by Acronis)
http://kb.acronis.com/msptraining in order to qualify for support.
2 Understanding Acronis Backup

In this module, you will learn about the software components, basic operating concepts and
technologies of Acronis Backup and Acronis Backup Cloud.

1. Explain the construction of the 3-Tier Architecture and how it can be used to for deploying
Acronis Backup and Acronis Backup Cloud components
2. Describe the function of each component
3. Describe how Acronis Backup and Acronis Backup Cloud can be deployed
4. Describe the types of storage supported by Acronis Backup
5. Describe the options available for implementing partner cloud storage for Acronis Backup
Cloud
6. Describe the automation integration available for Acronis Backup Cloud
7. Navigate the Backup Console
8. Explain how backup, recovery, Acronis Active Protection, and deduplication are performed

Lesson: 1 hour 30 minutes
Lab: none
Understanding Acronis Backup 39


1. Acronis Backup Components & Implementations
 3-Tier Architecture  Acronis Backup – Cloud-based
Management
 List of Components
 Acronis Backup Cloud
 Acronis Backup – On-Premise
Management  Acronis Backup Cloud
Implementations
2. Storing Backups
 Backup Locations  Acronis Cyber Infrastructure
 Supported File Systems  Acronis Cyber Infrastructure Features
 New Backup Archive Format: TIBX  Software-Defined Storage Scenarios
 Tape Support  Acronis Cyber Infrastructure Use
Cases
 Acronis Cyber Infrastructure Node
 Hardware Requirements
 Acronis Data centers
 Acronis Cyber Infrastructure Licensing
 Hyperscale Cloud Storage
 Cloud Storage Implementations
3. Acronis Backup Cloud 3rd Party Integrations
 Integration via RESTful API and APS  Supported Platforms
4. Navigating The Consoles
 Acronis Data Cloud Management  Acronis Backup On-Premise
Portal & Service Consoles Management Server Console
 Acronis Backup Service/Management
Server Console
5. Backup, Recovery and Other Operations
 Backup Operation – Agent Based  Snapshot Technologies
Backup  Backup Process
 Backup Operation – Agentless Backup
 SAN Storage Snapshot
 Backup Operation – Off-Load Backup  Acronis Active Protection
 Recovery Operations – Online  Deduplication
Recovery
 Acronis Storage Node Cataloging
 Recovery Operations – Bare Metal
Recovery  Acronis Notary
 Recovery Operations – Remote BMR

2.1 Acronis Backup Components & Implementations

3-Tier Architecture
Acronis Backup and Acronis Backup Cloud components are based on a 3 tier architecture designed
for scalability, reliability and performance.
Data Source
The Data Source tier represents machines and devices with user and system data to be backed up
and protected. These could be physical and virtual servers, virtualization hosts, cloud services such
as Microsoft Office 365 mail, business applications such as Microsoft Exchange, SQL, SharePoint,
Active Directory and Oracle database, and endpoint devices such as PCs, Mac and mobile devices.
They can be located on-premise, at remote sites and in private or public clouds. To protect these
machines and devices, install the appropriate Agent for the target machine or device.
Management
The Management tier represents management of the Data Source tier. In order to configure,
operate and manage the Agent(s) installed on 1 or more machines and devices, the Backup Console
is required. The Backup Console is web-based and is used to connect to a Management Server
installed on-premise or in the cloud.
Data Repository
The Data Repository tier represents the storage used to store backups from managed machines.
Backups can be stored on many different types of storages such as local disks, removable disks,
network/NFS shares, SANs, NASs, SFTP servers, tapes and Acronis Cloud. For Acronis Backup Cloud,
Service Providers on Hybrid and SP Hosted implementation model can use Acronis Cyber
Infrastructure software to setup cloud storage to store backups from their customers.

List of Components
The following is a list of components for each Tier.
Type Components
Data Source ‒ Agent for Windows ‒ Agent for Office 365

Install on machine or ‒ Agent for Linux ‒ Agent for Exchange
device to be backed up. ‒ Agent for Mac ‒ Agent for SQL
Supports physical,
‒ Agent for VMware (Windows) ‒ Agent for Active Directory
virtual, cloud,
‒ Agent for VMware (Virtual ‒ Agent for Oracle
applications and user
Appliance) ‒ Mobile app for iOS
devices (PC, Mac, iOS,
Android) ‒ Agent for Hyper-V ‒ Mobile app for Android
‒ Agent for Virtuozzo
Management
Install on-premise or use
cloud-based ‒ Web-based Backup Console
management hosted in ‒ Management Server
Acronis or partner data
center
Storage Acronis Backup Acronis Backup Cloud

Store data on-premise or ‒ Local, Network, Cloud, SFTP, Tape ‒ Acronis Cyber Infrastructure 2.x
on cloud storage ‒ Acronis Storage Node (ASN)
provided by Acronis or
Service Provider
Ancillary ‒ Bootable Media ‒ Acronis Backup Appliance

Additional components ‒ Bootable Media Builder ‒ Acronis Monitoring Service
to enable additional ‒ Backup Monitor ‒ Components for Remote
features Installation
‒ Command-Line Tool
‒ Acronis SharePoint Explorer ‒ Catalog Service
‒ PXE Service
All-in-One VMware ‒ CentOS

Appliance ‒ Management Server
Virtual appliance (.zip ‒ Agent for Linux
archive) for installing
‒ Agent for VMware (Linux)
Linux-based
Management Server on
VMware vSphere ESXi
host
Management Server
‒ SQLite (built-in, by default)
Database

Database for storing ‒ Microsoft SQL Server 2012 or later

management data (external, customize install
settings)
Data Source Components

The following is a description of each Data Source tier component:
• Agent for Windows, Agent for Linux, Agent for Mac
 Enables agent-based backup and recovery of entire machine, disks/volumes and files and
folders on physical and virtual machines running the respective OS
• Agent for VMware, Agent for Hyper-V
 Enables agentless application-aware backup and recovery of entire VMs, disks/volumes
and files and folders in the VMs on the respective virtualization platforms
• Agent for Virtuozzo
 Enables agentless backup and recovery of Virtuozzo virtual machines and containers
• Agent for Office 365
 Enables backup and recovery of Microsoft Office 365 mailboxes
• Agent for Exchange, Agent for SQL, Agent for Active Directory
 Enables agent-based application-aware, database and for Microsoft Exchange, mailbox-
level backup and granular recovery of physical and virtual machines with the respective
applications
• Agent for Oracle
 Enables agent-based application-aware backup and recovery of Oracle databases on
Windows and Linux OS
• Mobile App for iOS, Android
 Enables backup and recovery of personal data on iOS and Android mobile devices
Management and Storage Components

The following is a description of each Management and Storage tier component:
• Web-Based Backup Console
 Web-based (via browser) user interface for connecting to cloud-based or on-premise
Management Server for centralized management
• Management Server
 Cloud-based or on-premise single point of entry to the entire backup infrastructure, used
for centralized management of multiple managed machines
• Cloud, Local, Network, SFTP, Tape and Acronis Storage Node

 Backups can be stored on cloud storage hosted in Acronis or partner data center or on-
premise on local disks, network (SMB and NFS) storage, SFTP, tape and storage locations
managed by Acronis Storage Node
• Acronis Cyber Infrastructure 2.x
 Proprietary software-defined storage, compute and networking software provided by
Acronis to Service Providers on Hybrid or SP Hosted implementation model for setting up
cloud storage for Acronis Backup Cloud
Ancillary Components
The following is a description of each Ancillary component:
• Bootable Media
 ISO file containing bootable image for booting up physical and virtual machines for Bare
Metal Restore and Universal Restore
• Bootable Media Builder
 Tool for creating bootable media, only available with on-premise Acronis Backup
deployments
• Backup Monitor
 Enables user to monitor backup status from the system tray or menu bar, available for
Windows and Mac OS
• Command-Line Tool
 Provides command-line interface for scripting and batch processing
• Acronis SharePoint Explorer (ASPE)
 Enables granular recovery of SharePoint application items such as sites, libraries and
documents from application aware backups of SharePoint SQL database servers
• Acronis Backup Appliance
 Also known as All-in-One VMware Appliance (OVF), Acronis Backup Appliance is a CentOS
virtual machine pre-installed with Management Server, Agent for Linux and Agent for
VMware (Linux) to enable easy and fast deployment of the components needed for
centralized management and backup of VMware vSphere environments
• Acronis Monitoring Service
 Enables widget-based Dashboard and Reporting functionality in the Management Server
• Components for Remote Installation
 Saves agent installation packages to a local folder on the Management Server
• Catalog Service
 Enables cataloguing of backups on Storage Nodes
• PXE Server
 Enables booting machines into bootable media through the network

All-in-One VMware Appliance

The following is a description of the components in the All-in-One VMware Appliance:
• CentOS
 Linux OS with Acronis Backup components (see below) pre-installed
• Management Server
 Used for centralized management of multiple managed machines
• Agent for Linux
 Enables backup and recovery of the CentOS used for the appliance
• Agent for VMware (Linux)
 Enables agentless application-aware backup and recovery of the VMs on the VMware ESXi
host where the appliance is installed on as well as the ESXi configuration
Management Server Database

The following is a description of each Management Server database:
• SQLite
 Built-in database for storing management data, supports up to 1000 registered machines
• Microsoft SQL Server 2012 or later
 External database for storing management data, supports up to 2000 registered machines

Acronis Backup – On-Premise Management
For Acronis Backup on-premise management, the defining characteristic is that the Management
Server is installed on-premise on a suitable physical or virtual machine, depending on the available
infrastructure. Once the Management Server is installed, the administrator can then login to the
Management Server via a web-browser to access the Backup Console and deploy the remaining
components such as install Agents on machines to be backed up and configure backup to local,
network or cloud storage.
Data Sources
Install the required Agents to perform backup, recovery and migration on local, remote, cloud
machines, applications and mobile devices.
Management
Connect using a web-browser to the on-premise Management Server to configure and manage
backups for all managed machines.
Storage
Backups can be stored on Acronis cloud storage (requires a valid Acronis Cloud Storage subscription),
local disks, network storage, tape and managed locations on Storage Nodes with deduplication
(optional).

Acronis Backup – Cloud-based Management
For Acronis Backup cloud-based management, the defining characteristic is that the Management
Server is in Acronis Cloud. There is no need to install a Management Server on-premise. A customer
simply login to the Backup Console at http://cloud.acronis.com using their Acronis web account
credentials that was used to register Acronis Backup licenses. Once logged in, an administrator can
deploy the remaining components such as installing Agents on machines to be backed up and
configure backup to local, network or cloud storage.
Data Sources
Management
Connect using a web-browser to the cloud-based Management Server to configure and manage
Storage
Backups can be stored on Acronis cloud storage (requires a valid Acronis Cloud Storage subscription),
local disks, network storage, tape and managed locations on Storage Nodes with deduplication
(optional).

For Acronis Backup Cloud, depending on the implementation model, the Management Server will
reside in Acronis Cloud or Service Provider Cloud. A Service Provider on Hybrid or SP Hosted model
will have to setup the necessary cloud infrastructure for their chosen implementation model prior to
providing backup services to their customers. For Service Providers on Acronis Hosted model, no
cloud infrastructure setup is required since they will be using Acronis cloud management and storage
and they can provide backup services to their customers once they have received their Acronis
Backup Cloud account credentials. The remaining components can be deployed by the customer (for
self-service backup) or by the Service Provider (for managed backup).
Data Sources
Management
Connect using a web-browser to the cloud-based Management Server to configure and manage
Storage
Backups can be stored on Acronis and/or Service Provider cloud storage, local disks and network
storage.

Acronis Backup Cloud Implementation Models

The following describes in detail, the differences between each implementation model.
Acronis Backup Cloud – Acronis Hosted
• Both management and cloud storage are hosted in Acronis data centers. No cloud
infrastructure setup required. Backup configurations and cloud backups will be stored in
Acronis data centers
• After signing up for Acronis Backup Cloud from an Acronis authorized Cloud Reseller or
authorized partner, Service Providers will receive their own account to login to Acronis
Backup Cloud and they will then be able to configure the required Group(s) and Account(s)
for their customer(s)
• Thereafter, depending on whether the Service Provider is providing managed or self-service

backup, customer account login details may have to be sent to the customer in order for
them to login and install Agents on machines and devices in their end-user site(s)
Acronis Backup Cloud – Hybrid
• Management hosted in Acronis data centers, cloud storage hosted by Service Provider. Cloud
storage setup required. Backup configurations will be stored in Acronis data centers, cloud
backups will be stored in Service Provider cloud storage
authorized partner, Service Providers will receive their own account to login to Acronis
Backup Cloud. They will then have to setup cloud storage to be able to store backups from
their customers if they are providing cloud backup services. Alternatively, they can use
Acronis cloud storage (for a higher fee). Once cloud storage is setup, they can start to
configure Group(s) and Account(s) for their customers


Acronis Backup Cloud – SP Hosted
• Both management and storage hosted by Service Provider. Cloud management and storage
setup required. Backup configurations and cloud backups will be stored in Service Provider
cloud infrastructure
authorized partner, Service Providers will have to setup both cloud management and cloud
storage to be able to offer backup services to their customers. This will require engaging
professional services from Acronis to setup and certify the Acronis Backup Cloud
infrastructure in the Service Provider’s data center. Once the cloud management and cloud
storage has been setup, they can start to configure Group(s) and Account(s) for their
customers.


2.2 Storing Backups

Backup Locations
Backups from Acronis Backup and Acronis Backup Cloud can be stored on the following:
• Cloud Storage: Acronis data center or Service Provider cloud storage (Acronis Backup Cloud
only)
• Local folder: Local disks, removable media such as USB flash drives
• Secure Zone: Secure partition on a local disk accessible by Acronis software only
• Network folder: SMB/CIFS/DFS shares, NFS folders (Linux and Mac OS X only)
• SFTP: Secure FTP
• Storage Node: Acronis Backup Advanced only, storage location managed by an Acronis Cyber
Infrastructure Node, can be local disk, network folder or tape
• Tape: Tape device directly connected to the local machine or managed by Acronis Cyber
Infrastructure Node
• Acronis Cyber Infrastructure: Software-defined storage with data redundancy and automatic
self-healing that can be configured as a gateway for storing backups in Microsoft Azure or in
one of a variety of storage solutions compatible with S3 or Swift, can also be used with NFS
back-end
• Defined by a script: Available for machines running Windows, store each machine’s backup
in a folder defined by a script (JScript or VBScript). Refer to the Help file for more information.

Supported File Systems

An Agent can back up supported file systems that is accessible from the operating system where the
Agent is installed. For example, Agent for Windows can back up and recover an ext4 file system if the
corresponding driver is installed in Windows.
The following table summarizes the file systems that can be backed up and recovered. The
limitations apply to both the Agents and Bootable Media.
Supported By
Linux- Win-PE
File System Agents based based Mac Limitations of File System
FAT16/32   
‒ No limitations
   ‒ For APFS, disk

NTFS All agents
configuration should be re-
created manually when
ext2/ext3/ext4  
recovering to a non-original
machine or bare-metal
HFS+/APFS Agent for Mac 
JFS 
‒ Files cannot be excluded
from a disk backup
ResierFS3 Agent for Linux 
ResierFS4 
‒ Files cannot be excluded
from a disk backup
ReFS   
‒ Volumes cannot be resized
All Agents
during a recovery
XFS   
Linux Swap Agent for Linux  ‒ No limitations
The software automatically switches to the sector-by-sector mode when backing up drives with
unrecognized or unsupported file systems. A sector-by-sector backup is possible for any file system
that:
• is block-based
• spans a single disk
• has a standard MBR/GPT partitioning scheme
If the file system does not meet these requirements, the backup fails.

New Backup Archive Format: TIBX

A new backup file format, .TIBX, also known as Version 12 is available in Acronis Backup 12.5. It is
used in Acronis Backup 12.5, Acronis Backup Cloud 7.7 and Acronis True Image 2019.
Benefits:
• Fast backup & restore: Faster backup and recovery speeds compared to TIB (Version 11) and
faster browsing and search for files in backups
• Reliable: Built-in consistency verification with ability to survive power failures during backup
jobs and backup job resumption
• Scalable: Scales to billions of files and 100+ TB archive size
• Cost-effective: In-archive deduplication reduces backup file size and increase memory
efficiency for deduplication
• Universal: Single format for any type of data, backup type and storage
Improvements:
• ~2.5x faster backup and ~2 to 5x faster to restore encrypted archives from cloud
• Improved backup reliability with new transactional approach to changes in backed up data
• Improved compression resulting in ~20% smaller backup files size on average
• Smaller backup size with the new in-archive deduplication – blocks similar to ones that are
already present in the backup archive would not be backed up
• Sparse support - ability to mark blocks in file as free allowing OS to allocate them for other
files
• Lower RAM and CPU consumption
Depending on the backup destination, the default backup format will be as follows:
• TIBX, also known as Version 12 backup format will be used if there’s no existing archive in the
backup destination
• Version 11 (.TIB) will be used if there’s an existing archive in the backup destination and
when deduplication and encryption is enabled for a managed location
File System Always Incremental (Single-File) Other Backup Schemes
Version 11 Multiple .tib files and one .xml metadata

One .tib file and one .xml metadata file
backup format file
Version 12 One .tibx file per backup chain (a full or differential backup and all incremental backups
backup format that depend on it)
TIBX Limitations
Common limitations of new backup format:
• No conversion/export from legacy to new backup format

• Recovery option > Recover mount point targets not supported

• No user interaction shown for destination errors during file recovery, i.e., file is locked on
destination or destination is full
Bootable Media limitations:
• File backup will be in Version 11 backup format
• On Linux media, file backups cannot be recovered to NTFS volumes

Tape Support
Acronis Backup 12.5 Advanced includes native tape management functionality:

• Supports external SCSI devices such as Fiber Channel, SAS, iSCSI and USB interfaces,
recognition of IDE, SATA and FireWire connected devices is not guaranteed
Tape devices are managed through Acronis Removable Storage Management service (ARSM) and
this service is installed when installing Agent for Windows, Agent for Linux and Storage Node.
Information about tapes and their contents is stored in a Tape Management database on the
machine attached to the tape device:
• Windows XP/2003:
%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application
Data\Acronis\BackupAndRecovery\ARSM\Database
• Windows Vista and later:
%PROGRAMDATA%\Acronis\BackupAndRecovery\ARSM\Database
• Linux:
/var/lib/Acronis/BackupAndRecovery/ARSM/Database
Tape Management database can be relocated to a different volume or disk if it grows too big. Refer
to the Help file for more information.
Tape Operations
The following are possible operations with Tape:
• Automatic tape device detection: Tape devices attached to a machine with agent installed will
be automatically detected
• Inventorying: Typically the 1st operation performed before tapes can be used for backups,
detects tapes loaded into a tape device by scanning for barcodes and tape contents on
individual tapes and placing them into Tape Pools

• Rescanning: Used for updating the Tape Management Database on backups stored on tapes
within a Tape Pool, used when recovering from tapes from bootable media or when moving
tapes between managed machines or ASNs
• Other operations: Moving tapes to another slot/drive, renaming, erasing, ejecting and
removing
Note: It is important to perform inventorying when adding or removing tapes from a tape device,
when moving tapes to or from a pool or if unsure of available tapes to ensure that backups will
not fail due to lack of tapes in expected slots.
Tape Pools
Tapes are organized into Tape Pools, which are logical groups of tapes:
• Free Tapes: Empty tapes or tapes explicitly moved from other pools (to be overwritten)
• Imported tapes: Tapes that were written by Acronis Backup from a different Agent or Storage
Node
• Unrecognized tapes: Tapes that were written by 3rd party applications
• Acronis: Default pool for backup, tapes have to be moved from other pools to this pool when
selecting this pool for backup
• Custom: Additional pools can be created to have separate groups of tapes for backup, e.g.,
separating backups from different departments of the company or from different machines
Only Acronis and Custom tape pools can be selected as backup locations and within a pool, tapes
can be further organized into Tape sets (via Backup options) for specific handling such as “store
Monday’s backups on Tape 1, Tue on Tape 2, etc”
Tape Support Limitations

The following are not supported:
• Tape devices are not available when machine is booted from 32-bit Linux-based bootable
media
• Deduplication and encryption (use backup encryption instead) are not available when
configuring tape as a managed location via ASN
• Always Incremental backup scheme is not available when backing up to tapes due to no
consolidation on tapes
• Backup of Microsoft Office 365 and Microsoft Exchange mailboxes to tapes is not supported
• Application-aware backups of physical and virtual machines to tapes is not supported
• Simultaneously writing a backup to multiple tapes or multiple backups through the same tape
drive to the same tape is not supported
• Linear Tape File System (LTFS) formatted tapes are not supported

Acronis Storage Node
Acronis Storage Node is a server used for managing backup locations for advanced functionality:
• Enables deduplication (for supported storage locations)
• Enables multiple machines to back up to locally attached tape device
• Enables encryption which applies another layer of encryption on top of backup encryption
• Cataloging can be enabled if Cataloging Service is installed
Managed locations, also known as managed vaults in Acronis Backup 11.7 Advanced, can be created
on the following types of storage:
• Local folder: On a HDD local to the Storage Node or locally attached SAN storage
• Network folder: SMB/CIFS share or NAS
• Tape: On a locally attached tape device as Tape Pools
Storage Nodes are designed to be highly scalable:
• Multple Storage Nodes (up to 50) can be setup to create multiple managed locations (up to
20 per Storage Node)
Storage Nodes must be registered to the Management Server before it can be used:
• Register the Storage Node to the Management Server during installation
• Register using Register Agent Tool at C:\Program
Files\Acronis\RegisterAgentTool> with register_agent.exe asn register
register localhost command
• Acronis Backup 11.7 Storage Nodes can be upgraded to Acronis Backup 12.5 Storage Nodes,
v11.7 agents will continue to backup to managed locations after upgrade

Acronis Data centers
Acronis runs a global network of cloud data centers, providing a broad range of data protection
services and solutions. Acronis Backup Cloud Service Providers can leverage on our data centers to
start offering backup services with minimal hassles and rapid time to market.
Acronis currently has 14 data centers and it takes approximately 4 weeks to launch a new one.
The locations and coverage of our data centers are as follows:
• Americas: Boston MA, St. Louis MO, Dallas TX, Ashburn VA
• UK: London
• Europe & Africa: Strasbourg, France
• Germany: Frankfurt, Cologne
• Switzerland: Lupfig
• Russia & CIS: Moscow, Russia
• Asia: Singapore
• Japan: Tokyo, Nagano
• Australia: Sydney
Acronis Backup customers with cloud storage subscriptions will have their cloud backups directed to
the data center responsible for coverage of their region or country. Similarly, for Acronis Backup
Cloud, Service Providers will be provisioned cloud storage in the data center responsible for
coverage of their region or country.
Note: More information on Acronis Data centers can be found in the Acronis website:
https://www.acronis.com/en-us/cloud/data-centers/

Hyperscale Cloud Storage

For Acronis Backup Cloud, besides Acronis Data Centers, Service Providers can choose Google Cloud
Platform and Microsoft Azure cloud storage as storage targets for their customers.
Pricing (Per GB) remains the same regardless of whether Acronis Data Center, Google Cloud Platform
or Microsoft Azure is used
Operation Geography Region Location
Google Cloud Platform Americas northamerica-northeast1 Montreal, Canada
Americas us-west1 The Dallas, OR USA
Europe europe-west2 London, UK
Microsoft Azure Americas US-Central Iowa
Europe EU-North Dublin
More regions and locations will be added in the future.

Cloud Storage Implementations

Service Providers on Acronis Hosted implementation model can leverage on Acronis Data Centers
worldwide for Acronis Data Cloud services.
Service Providers on Hybrid implementation model will be required to setup cloud storage using
Acronis Cyber Infrastructure software:
• Acronis Cyber Infrastructure 2.x: Enables software-defined storage, compute and networking
on industry-standard hardware
• Use of Acronis Cyber Infrastructure software as software-defined storage for storing Acronis
Backup Cloud data is free-of-charge, other usage is chargeable, e.g., storing Acronis Files
Cloud data or as block, object or file storage
• Compute (virtualization) and software-defined networking (SDN) functionality currently
available as Technical Preview
Acronis Cyber Infrastructure
Universal Cyber Infrastructure for Service Providers and Enterprises:

• Universal – Covers all use-case and scenarios with one solution
• Safe – Acronis CloudRAID™, AES-256 bit encryption of data at rest and Acronis Notary™
• Fast & Scalable – 5 times faster storage than Ceph and other SDS products and scalable from
terabytes to tens of petabytes
• Efficient – Smart automation, rapid GUI management and support for industry-standard
hardware
• Cost-efficient – Flexible licensing including a pay-as-you-go model for Service Providers
• Proven – More than 7 years in production storing 200+ PB of data from 125, 000 servers, PCs
and mobile devices

Virtualization and Software-Defined Networking:

• Benefit from enterprise-ready high-performance and high-availability virtual machines with
VXLAN isolated networking and distributed virtual switching technology
• Run Windows servers as guests in a virtual environment with high-performance drivers that
ensure top-speed performance
Universal Software-Defined Storage:
• Protect against hardware failure with manageable redundancy with support for block, file
and object storage
• Leverage Acronis Backup Gateway for flexible archive storage
Simplified Management:
• Use one management console for all infrastructure services
• Streamline admin with help from the built-in Prometheus engine and Grafana dashboards
with a modern alert system
Acronis Cyber Infrastructure Features
Virtualization:
• High-performance and high availability hyper-converged computing
• Full lifecycle control over your VMs
• Advanced Windows guest support
Software-Defined Networking
• Full virtual private networking and virtual distributed switching
• Built-in firewall management for infrastructure components
Software-Defined Storage
• Acronis Backup Gateway allows seamless integration with Acronis Backup products
• Supports block, file and object workloads
• Foundation for Acronis Data Cloud

Management & Monitoring

• All details about nodes, disks, network, latency, performance, storage and compute services
with intuitive interface
• Built-in Prometheus and Grafana tools
High Availability
• Reboot-less update with ReadyKernel™
• No downtime while rolling out upgrades
• Upgrade hypervisor without shooting down or migrating VMs
Industry-standard Hardware
• HDD/SSD storage support
• All-Flash storage support
• Industry-standard hardware
• You control your cost per GB
Highly reliable
• Protects against component failure and data corruption with hot, warm, and cold data using
Acronis CloudRAID
• Eliminates service downtime while rolling out upgrades for system software
Efficient
• Provides an attractive price point and flexible licensing to accommodate each customer’s
specific business requirements
• Works with industry standard hardware to further lower costs
Universal
• Unites virtualization, software-defined network, block, file and object storage in a scalable
solution that runs on one cluster
• Supports hyper-converged and hyper-scale implementations

Easy to use
• Delivers a secure web management interface with role-based access and detailed
performance data
• Ensures system upgrades with just one click and no impact on production
Great performance
• Offers five-times faster storage than Ceph
• Scales to tens of petabytes
• Supports SSD caching, All-Flash configurations and RDMA/InfiniBand for better performance
Innovative Cyber Protection
• Authenticates data with integrated, blockchain-based Acronis Notary
• Encrypts data at rest using AES-256 bit encryption
• Optimized for Acronis Data Cloud suite
Software-Defined Storage Scenarios

Installs on bare metal (commodity server hardware), type of hardware (for desired performance and
storage capacity) can be customized based on usage:
Types of Usage
Archiving/Backup Object Store/S3 High-Performance General Purpose/Files

Storage Best storage for Acronis Storage Storage
Serves as destination for Files Cloud Highly efficient and fast Optimized to deliver
Acronis Backup Cloud Notarizes objects with block storage for high- exceptional performance
and Acronis Backup 12.5 Acronis Notary with performance tasks even for pattial file
U2 backups blockchain technology Highly available and updates
Store data on-premise in Build your own AWS S3- secure iSCSI access Support all modern NFS
Acronis Cyber compatible cloud Ideal for critical VMs and standards: NFS v.4 &
Infrastructure cluster or storage for applications databases v4.1, pNFS
on NAS and cloud services with Control permissions with
Replicate backup data to scalability to billions of Kerberos and LDAP
public clouds such as objects
AWS and Azure Active-Active Geo-
Replicate data to Replication for S3 data
another data center to between data centers to
ensure additional provide additional level
security of data protection

Acronis Cyber Infrastructure Use Cases

Hyper-Converged Systems
Build staging and development environments with ease:

• High-performance and high-availability virtualization technology
• Fast and simple installation with no need for professional services
• Single point of administration, monitoring, and control for network, storage, and virtual
infrastructure
• Highly available storage and compute resources that protect systems from node failure
• Software-Defined Network for secure and isolated networking with VXLAN encapsulation
based on distributed virtual-switching technology
• Full virtual machines lifecycle control
• Advanced Windows guest support with high performance drivers that ensure top-speed
• Set storage policies and redundancy options per VM
• Multi-tenant architecture ensures security by segregating consumption of system resources
by multiple users and requests
• Easy integration with third-party systems via open standard API
• Efficient resource management - so heavy demands on system components don’t slowdown
individual workloads

Archiving/Backup/Cold Storage
Backup destination for Acronis Backup and Acronis Backup Cloud:

• Uses industry-standard hardware and manageable redundancy options
• Adds an additional layer of data protection with geo-replication to another datacenter
• Eliminates service interruptions with ability to change or upgrade hosts or disks on live
production systems
• Provides an easy-to-use interface with a single-pane-of-glass management console
• Allows replicating of backup data to cloud services and store backups on NAS via NFS
protocol using Acronis Backup Gateway
• Encrypts data at rest
• Support for Google Cloud Storage, Microsoft Azure and AWS
• Connect remote iSCSI SAN as disk to Storage node
S3 Object Storage

Build your own Amazon S3-compatible storage cloud:

• Works with Acronis Files Cloud and Acronis Files Advanced
• Stores data as objects in an unstructured, unlimited repository
• Compatible with most S3 applications out of the box
• Extends metadata (object info) for cataloguing
• Hosts static webpages
• Verifies authenticity of objects with Acronis Notary with blockchain-based immutable logging
• Enables choice to build own storage on-premise, off-premise or use hybrid cloud Storage as a
Service (STaaS)
• Provides Active-Active geo-replication for S3 data between datacenters with full data
consistency and collision resolution
High Performance/Hot Storage
Highly efficient, fast block storage for hot data:

• Highly available and secure iSCSI/Fiber Channel access
• Ideal for storing critical databases and Microsoft Hyper-V and VMware vSphere data
• Includes SSD caching for improved performance
• Includes auto-tiering and load balancing
• Provides high-performance erasure encoding for fault-tolerance
• Provides fast path support for all Flash systems
• Provides lower latency and decreases CPU load with RDMA/InfiniBand usage

General Purpose/File Storage
Affordable and fully manageable file shares via NFS protocol:

• Provides optimized file storage for better performance, even for partial file updates
• Stores any type of corporate data
• Works via object store and scales to billions of entries
• Includes an organized file archive to store older files
• Scales up and scales out; start small and grow as your business grows
• Provides easy-to-use, automated cluster infrastructure management
• Supports all modern NFS standards including NFS v4, NFS v4.1 and pNFS

Hardware Requirements
Type Minimal Recommended
Node running Management + Storage or Storage only clusters (same as 2.4)
‒ Dual-core CPU ‒ Intel Xeon E5-2620V2 or faster; at least one CPU core per 8 HDDs
Hardware ‒ 4 GB RAM ‒ 16GB ECC or more, plus 0.5GB ECC per each HDD
‒ 3 disks, 100 GB ‒ 3 disks, 100+ GB
Node running Management + Storage + Compute
‒ Intel Xeon CPU with 32 or more logical cores with Intel VT

‒ 16 cores CPU
hardware virtualization extensions enabled
Hardware ‒ 32 GB RAM
‒ 64+ GB RAM
‒ 3 disks, 100 GB
‒ 3 disks, 100+ GB
Node running Storage + Compute or Compute only
‒ Intel Xeon CPU with 32 or more logical cores with Intel VT

‒ Quad-core CPU
hardware virtualization extensions enabled
Hardware ‒ 8 GB RAM
‒ 64+ GB
‒ 3 disks, 100 GB
‒ 3 disks+, 100+ GB
Network Requirements:
• 2 or more network adapters with 1GbE (min) or 10 GbE (recommended) required for each
node
Other recommendations:
• At least 3 nodes required for a production environment (or to test all features)
• More nodes = better performance
• For storage, more disks can be added to a node to increase capacity and recommended to
use SSD for metadata and caching to improve performance
• For compute, recommended to have same CPU model for each node to avoid VM live
migration issues
Note: There is a performance calculator for sizing Acronis Cyber Infrastructure on the Acronis
website: https://www.acronis.com/en-sg/business/hyper-converged-
infrastructure/performance-calculator/

Acronis Cyber Infrastructure Licensing

Acronis Cyber Infrastructure is licensed as follows:
 PAYG/SPLA for Service Providers with SP agreement:
 Monthly billing based on average storage space used for the month according to usage
statistics from Acronis Cyber Infrastructure web management console
• Subscription licensing for Enterprise customers:
 Annual subscription (1-5 years, renewable) with choice of 10, 50, 100, 500 and 1000TB of
storage capacity, mix and match for desired total capacity to be licensed
• Perpetual license for Enterprise customers:
 1-time purchase (includes 1st year maintenance and support, renewable) with choice of
10, 50, 100, 500 and 1000TB of storage capacity, mix and match for desired total capacity
to be licensed
All feature sets included, no need for add-on licensing.

2.3 Acronis Data Cloud 3rd Party Integrations

Integration via RESTful API and APS
Acronis Data Cloud provides automation integration via packages and plugins for various
management platforms. Integration packages and plugins are based on either RESTful API or APS
(Application Packaging Standard). Examples include Odin Service Automation via APS and Windows
Azure Pack via RESTful API.
RESTful API is a web service that use Representational State Transfer (REST) stateless software
architecture. This architecture allows exposing system resources to provide different kinds of
applications with data formatted in a standard way, e.g. in HTTP format. It is often used to integrate
cloud-based applications together.
Application Packaging Standard (APS) is a cloud-ready set of specifications for provisioning,
managing, and integrating cloud applications and services. It is an open standard that allows
Independent Software Vendors and Service Providers selling their products and services using a
common platform.
Operations possible include but are not limited to:
• Selling customized services based on Acronis Backup Cloud, Acronis Files Cloud and Acronis
Disaster Recovery Cloud in addition to other cloud services such as hosting, connectivity, SaaS
and IaaS
• Automating billing, customer provisioning and endpoint service management via existing web
portals and tenant webpages
Supported Platforms
Acronis Backup Cloud supports the following automation integrations:
Note: More information on how to enable integration for the various supported platforms can be
found in the Acronis website Support > Documentation section: http://www.acronis.com/en-
us/support/documentation/

2.4 Navigating the Consoles

Acronis Data Cloud Management Portal and Service Consoles
Acronis Data Cloud uses a web-based UI for configurations and management. The Management
Portal is used for managing tenants, user accounts, services and offering. Service consoles such as
the Backup & Disaster Recovery or File Sync & Share console is used for configuring and managing
individual services. Depending on the type of account used for login, you will be offered a selector or
be directed immediately to the Management Portal or 1 of the service consoles.
In the Management Portal, administration of Acronis Data Cloud tenants a.k.a. Clients and Users can
be performed. The Management Portal is also available for Acronis Backup 12.5 cloud-based
management.

Acronis Backup Service/Management Server Console
In the Backup & Disaster Recovery service console (also used for Acronis Backup cloud
management), Add new machines as well as backup and recovery operations can be configured.
Acronis Backup On-Premise Management Server Console
For Acronis Backup on-premise Management Server, the console is similar to Acronis Backup Cloud
except that there are more Main Menu items for on-premise only features such as off-host backup
processing in Plans and admin roles in Settings.

2.5 Backup, Recovery & Other Operations

Backup Operations – Agent Based Backup
Agent-based backup refers to performing a backup via an Agent that is installed on the target
physical or virtual machine. This enables live backup of the entire machine (can be application–
aware), 1 or more disks and volumes, 1 or more files and folders and application items from
supported applications such as Microsoft Exchange, SQL and Active Directory.
To configure backups, access to the Backup Console is required. Once the user logs in to the Backup
Console via a Web Browser, they will be connected to the Management Server and can browse for
the machine to backup. Backup is configured via Backup Plans, which specifies how a backup is to be
performed and can be applied to more than 1 machine if desired. Backups can be stored on local,
network or cloud storage. Once the Backup Plan is configured, the Agent will initiate the backup
operation based on the schedule and settings configured in the Backup Plan.
Terminology to be familiar with:
• Managed Machine: physical or virtual machine with Agent(s) installed
• Backup Plan: set of rules that specifies how the data on a machine will be backed up
• Task: a specific action that is a part of the backup plan
• Archive: a set of backup files (.TIBX or .TIB) created and maintained by a backup plan

Backup Operations – Agentless Backup
Agentless backup, also known as hypervisor-level backup, refers to performing a backup via a single
Agent that is installed on the same or separate hypervisor. This enables live backup of 1 or more
virtual machines at once without the need for installing Agents in each and every virtual machine to
be backed up.
Backups are configured in a similar manner to Agent-based backup.

Backup Operations – Off-Load Backup
Off-Load backup refers to performing a backup via an Agent that resides on a separate machine or
host, i.e., offloading the backup to a different hardware. This enables live backup of 1 or more virtual
machines at once using the resources of the separate machine or host.
Backups are configured in a similar manner to Agent-based backup.

Backup Operations – Online Recovery
Online recovery refers to performing a recovery via an Agent while the target machine is online. This
enables live recovery of the entire machine, 1 or more disks and volumes, 1 or more files and folders
and application items from application-aware and database-level backups.
To configure recovery, access to the Backup Console is required. Once the user logs in to the Backup
Console via a Web Browser, they will be connected to the Management Server and can browse for
the machine or data to recover. Recovery is configured via Recovery Tasks, which specifies how a
recovery is to be performed. Once the Recovery Task is configured, the Agent will initiate the
recovery operation based on the settings configured in the Recovery Task.

Backup Operations – Bare Metal Recovery
Bare Metal Recovery (BMR) refers to performing a recovery via a Bootable Media on a physical or
virtual machine without first having to install any OS or software. Data is recovered directly from the
backup archive to the target machine’s disks. This enables recovery of entire physical and virtual
machines in situations when an irrecoverable software or hardware failure occurs on the original
machine as well as P2P, P2V, V2V and V2P migrations.
To perform BMR, an Acronis Bootable Media or Mac Rescue Media is required. The Acronis Bootable
Media contains boot-up routines (either Linux or WinPE-based) for booting up the machine used as
well as an Agent, Media UI and command-line. The machine used for recovery is booted up using the
bootable media and once the Agent is running, Recovery Tasks can be configured. Agent will initiate
the recovery operation immediately based on the settings configured in the Recovery Task.

Backup Operations – Remote Bare Metal Recovery
Remote Bare Metal Recovery (BMR) refers to connecting to a machine booted up via Bootable Media
from the Management Server and remotely configuring the recovery. This enables an Administrator
to remotely manage the BMR as well as capture all logs generated for audit purposes as normally
logs generated during BMR are not saved and will be lost once the machine is rebooted.
Recovery is configured in a similar manner to online recovery.

Snapshot Technologies
Acronis Backup and Acronis Backup Cloud Agents performs disk-imaging backup of physical and
virtual machines by leveraging on various snapshot technologies.
Hardware and software snapshot technologies are available and the technologies used depending
the backup source:
• Windows and Hyper-V: Microsoft VSS (Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Shadow Provider)
• Linux: Acronis Snap API (Acronis Snapshot Technology)
• VMware vSphere: VADP (VMware vStorage API for Data Protection) or SAN storage
snapshots (NetApp SANs only)
• Hardware storage devices that comes with Microsoft VSS enabled:: Hardware snapshots
Backup Process
To perform a backup, user creates Backup Plan and the Backup Plan script is deployed to the target
computer’s scheduler. Agent starts the backup process according to the schedule in the script:
1. Runs Pre commands, if any are configured
2. Initiates snapshot technology and disk volume(s) are quiesced
3. Runs Pre-data capture commands, if any are configured
4. Freeze all disk I/O and takes snapshot of all disk blocks to be backed up
5. Unfreeze all disk I/O, runs Post-data capture command if any are configured
6. Disk volume(s) are unquiesced
7. Starts copying data to the backup file with reference to snapshot
8. Completes backup and performs cataloging and validation, replication, retention if any are
configured
9. Runs Post commands, if any are configured
10. Agent ends the backup process

Note: Quiescing is the action of completing all operations and flushing all buffers to disk. This is to
ensure that all relevant data is written to disk to prepare for snapshot and backup. When disk
volume(s) are unquiesced, read/write operations will continue as per normal with the
exception that if there’s modification to disk blocks yet to be backed up to backup archive, the
modification will be cached in buffer (free space) until the disk block is backed up to backup
archive. Only then will the modification happen.
Backups created with snapshot technologies will be crash-consistent:
• Snapshot will be taken at the exact same time of data (disk blocks) to be backed up on 1 or
more disk volumes; backed up data will be at the same point-in-time and will be consistent
upon recovery
• Sufficient for systems without database application(s)
Backups created on Windows/Hyper-V will be application-consistent:
• Microsoft VSS will quiesce all VSS-aware databases on the system prior to taking a snapshot,
results in consistent databases that’s usable upon recovery
• If there’s non VSS-aware databases on the system, they have to be manually quiesced or
there’s a risk of them being inconsistent and unusable upon recovery
• Similarly for Linux/Mac, if there’s database applications on the system, they have to be
manually quiesced or there’s a risk of them being inconsistent and unusable upon recovery
To manually quiesce databases, use Backup option > Pre/Post data capture command to insert
commands for quiescing/resuming the database.
On Windows/Hyper-V, Microsoft VSS have to be functional in order for backup to be successful:
• Use vssadmin list writers to check status of writers of VSS-aware databases to
identify if there’s any issues with VSS
• Download and run Acronis VSS Doctor (free) to diagnose and resolve VSS issues
It is recommend to have 20% or more free space per volume to be backed up for storing snapshots
and other meta-data during backup. Otherwise, the system may slow down or backup may fail if free
space runs out.
Note: For Windows, free space on each volume is used for creating ShadowStorage to store Shadows
when VSS is used. If ShadowStorage is not pre-defined for the volume, it is temporarily created
during shadow copy (backup) on the same volume. VSSADMIN and DiskShadow utility
available in Windows can be used to check, configure and even move ShadowStorage to a
different volume. Refer to the following Microsoft documentation to find out more.
VSSADMIN: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc754968(v=ws.11).aspx
DiskShadow: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc772172(v=ws.11).aspx

SAN Storage Snapshot

SAN Storage snapshot-based backup is available in Acronis Backup 12.5 Advanced for NetApp SANs,
other SANs vendors will be supported in future updates:
• Targeted at SANs attached to VMware ESXi hosts and used for hosting production VMs with
critical, highly-loaded services
• Reduces snapshot lifetime, i.e., extra load on the host for backup, from length of backup (via
VADP) to minutes (via SAN hardware snapshots) by backing up directly from hardware
snapshot
• Enables off-host backup: backup directly from SAN storage, bypassing hypervisor host
• Supported for agentless backup of VMware vSphere VMs using Agent for VMware (Windows)
only, virtual appliance not supported (natural limitation)
• Currently supported for NFS and iSCSI connected SANs, Fiber Channel in future updates
Requirements
• SAN storage used must be configured as NFS or iSCSI datastore
• SAN must run Data ONTAP 8.1 or later in the Clustered Data ONTAP (cDOT) mode, 7-mode is
not supported
• In NetApp OnCommand System Manager, Snapshot copies > Configure > Make Snapshot
directory (.snapshot) visible must be enabled
• For NFS datastore, access to NFS shares from Windows NFSv3 clients must be enabled on the
Storage Virtual Machine (SVM) that was specified when creating the datastore
• For iSCSI datastore, in the NetApp OnCommand System Manager, Disable Space Reservation
must be enabled for the iSCSI LUN where the datastore is located
• iSCSI Initiator or NFS client must be installed and enabled for the Windows machine where
Agent for VMware (Windows) is installed
How it works:
1. SAN storage has to be added to the Management Server via Settings > SAN Storage and
Backup option > Backup from SAN snapshot has to be enabled in the Backup Plan
2. When performing backup, Agent for VMware analyzes the VM and its virtual disks to locate
them on the SAN
3. VMware snapshot of the VM is created
4. SAN storage snapshot of the VM is created using native SAN snapshot capabilities
5. VMware snapshot is deleted
6. VM data is read directly from SAN storage using the same protocol used for connecting to the
SAN (NFS or iSCSI) for creating the backup
7. SAN storage snapshot is deleted after backup is completed

Acronis Active Protection™
Acronis Active Protection protects a system from a specific type of malicious software known as
ransomware, which encrypts files and demands a ransom for the encryption key.
• Available for machines running Windows Vista/Windows 2008 and later
• Monitor running processes on protected machines using behavioral heuristics to compare
against machine-learning models trained in Acronis Cloud AI infrastructure to recognize
ransomware types and suspicious behavior
• When a 3rd party process tries to encrypt files, Active Protection generates an alert and
performs additional actions if configured
• In addition, prevents unauthorized changes to Acronis software processes, registry records,
executable and configuration files and MBR
How Active Protection Works
Active Protection Driver and Service will be installed together with Agent for Windows.
When Active Protection Plan is applied, Driver will be enabled and Service will be started.
Driver: Analyze file content and type before and after a change, if content type is changed – suspect
in-place encryption.
Service: When consecutive suspicious changes occur – trigger alert, takes configured action in Active
Protection Plan such as generate an alert, stop the process and recover encrypted files from cache.

Enabling Active Protection

Enabled via Active Protection Plan from Management Server:
• Active Protection Plan is universal, i.e., 1 plan only and changes in the Active Protection plan
affects all machines with Active Protection enabled
• Enabling Active Protection on a machine starts the Active Protection service
• Active Protection driver will then monitor file changes performed by unsigned processes
• Self-protection allows only Acronis-signed processes to modify backup archives (TIB/TIBX)
and backup configurations
Active Protection New Features

1. Protect NFS and SMB shares:
 Monitors attempts to encrypt data stored on mounted network folders, stops it and
automatically recover data (if Revert from cache is used)
2. Scans external drives and removable devices when they are plugged in:
 Scans added devices to prevent ransomware infiltration into protected machines
 Types of devices: USB flash drives, External USB HDD drives, Memory cards, Photo, Video
and other devices if they are mounted as a volume
3. Selectively allows processes that are allowed to modify backup files for better control, e.g.,
allowing file explorer to move backup files between folders
4. Illicit Cryptomining Protection
 AI and ML-based detection and stopping of cryptomining malware

Deduplication
Acronis Backup 12.5 Advanced supports deduplication for managed locations (requires ASN):
• Minimizes storage used for backups by detecting duplicate data and storing it only once
• Most effective when performed on backups of multiple machines with similar data
Performed as variable block-level source and target deduplication:
• Source deduplication: Agent calculates a hash (checksum) for each block of data to be backed
up and queries Storage Node to determine if it’s a duplicate; sends hashes if duplicate, sends
data block if unique
• Target deduplication: Storage Node compiles unique hashes into deduplication database and
checks against this database when queried by Agents; stores hashes in backup archive, stores
data blocks from agents in a temporary file and subsequently indexes and stores
“consolidated“ unique data blocks in deduplication store
Storage Node will perform indexing after backup is complete:
1. Unique data blocks sent by 1 or more agents are stored temporarily in a file known as Local
Data Store (1 LDS per backup) which allows for parallel processing
2. Indexing will check all LDS and move consolidated unique data blocks to deduplication
datastore
3. Deduplication database will be updated accordingly with new hashes* (links and offsets)
4. All LDS will be deleted after indexing is complete
Deduplication can only be enabled for local and network managed location, tape is not supported
and backup archives in a deduplicating managed location contains only hashes and should not be
directly copied from the folder.
Factors that affect deduplication performance:

The following are factors that will impact deduplication performance, i.e., speed of backup and
recovery from deduped managed location:
• Speed of access to deduplication database
• RAM capacity of Storage Node
• Number of managed locations with deduplication enabled
Note: For optimal performance for deduplication, refer to Deduplication best practices in the Help
file.

Acronis Storage Node Cataloging

Data catalog allows an Organization Administrator to search across all managed locations (requires
Acronis Storage Node) for desired data for recovery
At least 1 Catalog Service must be installed and registered with the Management Server for Catalog
to be available
Limitations:
• Supported only for disk-level and file-level backups of physical and virtual machines to
managed locations
• Data from encrypted backups, encrypted managed locations, tape devices, cloud storage and
previous versions of Acronis Backup will not be cataloged

Acronis Notary
Notarization enables verification of a file as authentic and unchanged since it was last backed up
Available for file-level backups:
• Hash codes are calculated for backed-up files which is stored in the backup as well as sent to
the Acronis Notary service
• Acronis Notary service will then save the hashes to the Etherium blockchain database
• To verify file authenticity, agent calculates the hash of the file being verified and compares it
against the hash stored in the backup. At the same time, agent sends the hash to the Acronis
Notary service for comparison against the Etherium blockchain
• If either comparison fails, file is considered not authentic; if successful, file authenticity is
guaranteed
Note: Files with digital signatures are not notarized since it is redundant. Notarized files can also be
independently verified (without going through Acronis) against the Etherium blockchain.

3 Acronis Backup Setup & Installation

In this module, you will learn about how to setup and install Acronis Backup and Acronis Backup
Cloud components.

1. Describe the steps for onboarding Acronis Backup Cloud for a Service Provider
2. Setup Acronis Backup Cloud Groups and Accounts
3. Describe the difference between Acronis Backup on-premise and cloud deployments
4. Describe the steps for deploying Acronis Backup on-premise and cloud-only management
5. List the installable components for Acronis Backup and Acronis Backup Cloud
6. List the requirements and supported environments for Acronis Backup and Acronis Backup
Cloud components
7. Install Acronis Backup on-premise Management Server
8. Install/Add Acronis Backup and Acronis Backup Cloud Agents via local, remote and Group
Policy installation

Lesson: 2 hours
Lab: 15 minutes
Acronis Backup Setup & Installation 87


1. Onboarding Acronis Data Cloud
 Getting Started with Acronis Data  Acronis Data Cloud Services &
Cloud Offerings
 Acronis Data Cloud Onboarding Steps  Creating a New Tenant
 Acronis Data Cloud Login  Creating a New User
 Acronis Data Cloud Tenants &  Account Activation Email
Accounts
2. Onboarding Acronis Backup
 Types of Management  Choosing Type of Management
 Acronis Backup Onboarding Steps  Cloud Console
 Registering Product Keys  Acronis Backup Download Page
3. Installing Components
 Understanding Component  Logging In To The Backup Console
Installation  Acronis Backup – Add Machines
 Supported Environments  Acronis Backup Cloud - Add Machines
 Component Installation Cheat Sheet  Adding Machines
 Required Linux Packages  Local Installation – Installing Agents
 Installing Windows Management  Local Installation – Installing Mobile
Server Apps
 Installing Storage Node  Remote Installation for On-Premise
 Installing Catalog Service
 Deploying Agents Through Group
 Windows Post-Installation Checklist Policy
 Installing Linux Management Server  Updating Agents
 Linux Post-Installation Checklist  Uninstalling
 Lab Exercise 1: Setting Up Acronis Backup Cloud, Installing Acronis Backup On-Premise
Management Server

3.1 Onboarding Acronis Data Cloud

Getting Started With Acronis Data Cloud
Service Providers can setup and customize Acronis Data Cloud to suit their needs
• Account and service configuration can be performed through the Acronis Data Cloud
Management Portal
If automation integration is required, 1 or more of the following is required:
• Obtain and install the Acronis Data Cloud package/module from the respective vendor sites
(such as APPSTANDARD or WHMCS marketplace)
• Configure integration settings in Acronis Data Cloud management console
• Obtain RESTful API access and documentation from Acronis Data Cloud management console
for customized integration
Note: Instructions for downloading and setting up automation integration can be found in the
Acronis website Support > Documentation section. Some examples:
Odin Service Automation APS 2.0 Deployment Guide:
http://download.acronis.com/pdf/Odin_Service_Automation_APS_2_0_Deployment_Guide_en
-US.pdf
Windows Azure Pack Integration Manual:
http://download.acronis.com/pdf/Windows_Azure_Pack_Integration_Manual_en-US.pdf
WHMCS Integration Manual:
http://download.acronis.com/pdf/WHMCS_Integration_Manual_en-US.pdf
Acronis Data Cloud Onboarding Steps
To onboard Acronis Data Cloud, follow the steps below:
1. Service Provider signs SP agreement with an Acronis authorized Cloud Reseller or Service
Provider

2. Choose an Acronis Backup Cloud implementation model:
 For Hybrid or SP Hosted model, the Service Provider will have to setup cloud storage
and/or cloud management
3. Cloud Reseller or Acronis will provide an Acronis Data Cloud Administrator account to the
Service Provider
4. Login to the Management Portal using the Administrator account credentials provided
 Rebrand UI and links as per corporate preferences if desired
5. Add Tenants and Accounts for customers and/or resellers
 If you are providing self-service services, send the Administrator account details to the
customer
6. Provision service and install software components where necessary
7. Configure service and/or software components
8. Enable Scheduled Usage Report
9. Monitor usage
10. Bill customers and/or resellers
Acronis Data Cloud Login

1. Acronis will send an email invite to new Service Providers to activate their Administrator
account
•
2. After activation, the administrator will be directed to the Acronis Data Cloud Management
Portal where tenant management and other settings are available
3. Initial login to Acronis Data Cloud will always be from the account activation link in an
invitation email
4. Subsequent logins can be made from the URL: https://cloud.acronis.com

Acronis Data Cloud Tenants & Accounts
In Acronis Data Cloud, entities that have a relationship with the Service Provider (such as a reseller or
end-customer) are represented by the resource type known as tenants, which are managed from the
Clients tab.
Each tenant can have 1 or more user account for access to services and for service administration
and are managed from the Users tab
All tenant types with the exception of Customer, can be nested to create a hierarchy so as to match
business, organization or relationship structure
Types of Tenants
The following are the types of tenants available in Acronis Data Cloud:

Partner
Represents a reseller that resells services, can create/nest Partner, Customer and Folder tenants
Customer
Represents an end-customer company that uses services, can create/nest Unit tenants
Unit
Represents a sub-unit of an end-user company such as a department, location or group of devices,
can create/nest other Unit tenants
Folder
Special tenant type used for differentiating between different service offerings or for grouping
tenants with similar characteristics together, can create/nest Partner, Customer and Folder tenants
Types of Account
There are 2 types of account:

 Administrator: Access to Management Portal and have administrator role in all configured
services

 User: No access to Management Portal, access to services and role in services defined by an
Administrator
Accounts are created within a tenant:
 Each Customer tenant must have at least 1 Administrator account for service configuration
and software installation purposes
 Administrator(s) can create and manage tenants and accounts on or below their level in the
hierarchy
 Administrators at Customer and higher levels can limit access to their groups by clearing the
Allow administrators from parent tenants to manage this tenant check box in Settings >
Security tab
The following table summarizes the operations that can be performed by Administrator and User
accounts:
Customer and Unit Partner and Folder

Operation Users Administrator Administrator
Create tenants No Yes Yes
Create accounts No Yes Yes
Download and install the Yes Yes No1

software
Manage and Use services Yes Yes Yes
Create reports about the No Yes Yes

service usage
Configure branding No No Yes

1 Partner group Administrator account credentials cannot be used for these types of operations. IN
these situations, Partner Administrator can create a Customer Administrator account as a
surrogate.

Acronis Data Cloud Services & Offerings
The following Services are available in Acronis Data Cloud:

 Backup & Disaster Recovery
 Files Sync & Share
 Acronis Cyber Infrastructure SPLA
 Physical Data Shipping
 Notary
Depending on geography (i.e., Acronis Data Center service availability) and settings made by parent
tenant, some services may not be available.
Services can be customized as offerings, which are sets of services, and service features that can be
offered to tenants.
Offering defines what services and features will be available and shown in the Management Portal
and services consoles to tenants and their end-users. Offering can be customized for each tenant
during and after tenant creation.
Folders can be used as an easy way to differentiate between different offerings for different groups
of tenants, e.g., Folders can be created for Customers purchasing different service packages
Quotas can be configured for each Service to further refine the offering.
Note: There is an Acronis KB that list the services available in each of the Acronis Data Centers:
https://kb.acronis.com/servicesbydc

Creating a New Tenant
1. Navigate to the tenant in which the new tenant is to be created

2. Click on the + New button and select the tenant type, Customer | Partner | Folder | Unit, to
create
3. Next, in the step-by-step wizard, complete each section accordingly:
 Provide general information: Name, Mode (Customer only) and Language
 Select services: Select the services to be enabled
 Configure services: Select the service features to be enabled
 Create administrator: Email and Login, Language, First and Last name
4. Click on Done when complete

Provide General Information
Provide general information section is used to specify basic information about the tenant:
 Name has to be unique
 Mode (Customer only) is used to select whether the tenant will be using the services in Trial
or Production mode
Trial mode usage is not counted towards a Service Provider’s billable consumption
Tenants in Trial mode will be switched to Production mode after 1 full month
 Language can be changed if desired to change the default language of notifications, reports
and software that will be used for the tenant
Select Services
Select services section allows enabling/disabling 1 or more services of the offering for the tenant:
• To enable/disable a service, toggle the switch for the service

• For Backup & Disaster Recovery, there is an additional checkbox to enable/disable Disaster
Recovery
• Disabled services will be hidden from the tenant
• Service selection can be modified after initial tenant creation (except for Storage selection for
Customer tenant)
Configure Services
Configure services section allows customization of the features of each service:

 To switch between services, click on the tab for the service
 To disable a feature, uncheck the corresponding checkbox
 Quotas may be set for each feature if desired
 Certain features have storage selection; for Partner and Folder tenants, multiple storages can
be selected; for Customer tenants, only 1 storage per service can be selected and cannot be
changed once the customer starts using them
 Settings can be modified after initial tenant creation

Configure Quotas
Quotas can be set for each service option in Configure services:

For Partner and Folder tenants:
 Quota setting available
 Quotas are “soft”; when Quota is exceeded, email notification will be sent to Administrators
of parent and own tenant, service option will continue to function without any restrictions
For Customer tenants:
 Quota and Overage setting available with Overage being the amount that can be exceeded
from the Quota
 Quota are “hard”; when Quota is exceeded, email notification will be sent to Administrators
of parent and own tenant, when Overage is exceeded, corresponding option will be restricted
Create Administrator
Optionally, an Administrator account can be created when creating a new Tenant:

 Email address can be used as login id and for email notification
 To specify a login id other than email address, uncheck Use email address as login and
specify a unique login id

 Optionally, fill in the First and Last name of the person that is going to use the account
For more fine-grained settings when creating a user account, add accounts from + New button
instead.
Creating a New User
1. Navigate to the tenant in which the new account is to be created

2. Click on the + New button and select User
3. Next, in the step-by-step wizard, complete each section accordingly:

 Provide general information: Email, Login ID and Language, Mode (Customer only) and
Language
 Services and roles: Administrator (Partner/Folder only) , Company Administrator, Backup

& Disaster Recovery, File Sync & Share
4. Click on Create when complete
Configure Services and Roles
When creating accounts in Customer tenants, the Service that the account will have access to can be
selected as well as the role in the Service:
 By default, the Company Administrator checkbox is checked which allows access the
Management Portal as well as to all Services as an Administrator
 Unchecking the Company Administrator checkbox changes the account into a User account
for Backup & Disaster Recovery service and allows the role to be selectable for File Sync &
Share service
 To remain as Administrator for File Sync & Share, leave on default which is Administrator +
User or select User to change the account into a User account

Account Activation Email
An activation email will be sent to the email address specified during account creation
Click on the Activate account button/link to go to the account activation page and enter a password
for the account
Thereafter, the user will be able to access the respective service console (Backup and Disaster
Recovery and/or File Sync & Share) and start to use the service
If a user forgets or losses their password, they can request to reset their password from their tenant
administrator

3.2 Onboarding Acronis Backup

Types of Management
Acronis Backup can be setup with on-premise management or cloud-based management, i.e., cloud
deployment that leverages on Acronis Backup Cloud infrastructure. Depending on the deployment
chosen, certain features are not applicable:
On-Premise Management Cloud Management
‒ On-premise Management Server ‒ Cloud-based Management Server

‒ Both subscription and perpetual licenses can be ‒ Only subscription license can be used
used ‒ Certain Advanced edition features are not
‒ All Advanced edition features available available such as application-aware backup for
‒ Upgrade from previous versions of Acronis Oracle database, clustered Exchange/SQL
Backup possible backup, tape support, deduplication, backup to
SFTP and off-host data processing
‒ Required for mobile device backup
‒ Required for C2C backup of Office 365
‒ Required for Acronis Disaster Recovery Add-on
Acronis Backup Onboarding Steps
To start onboarding Acronis Backup, follow the steps below:
1. Customer purchases and receives product key(s) via email
2. Customer to register product keys via Acronis website (requires Acronis web account)
3. After registering the keys, choose between On-Premise or Cloud management:

 For Cloud, select Open cloud console to login to the cloud-based Backup Console (Single
Sign-On)
 For On-Premise deployment, select Download on-premise installer to proceed to the

Acronis Backup download page
 Download the Windows or Linux installer from the Download page
 Ensure all requirements are met by the target computer on which to install the
Management Server
 Install Management Server on target computer
– Configure installation options, start and wait for the installation to complete
 Login to the on-premise Backup Console
 Add licenses to the Management Server
4. Install/Add Agents on machines and devices to be backed up
5. Configure and perform backups
Registering Product Keys

1. Upon purchase, customer will receive email with license certificate and product keys
2. Customer will have to create an Acronis account on the Acronis website
http://account.acronis.com and register their product key(s)

3. After registering, they will be able to:

 Download installation packages
 Login to cloud backup console
 Access product documentation
 Manage and purchase additional cloud storage
 Purchase additional subscription and perpetual licenses
 Purchase and register renewals for perpetual licenses
Choosing Type of Management
For subscription licenses:

• Both on-premise and cloud-based management available
For perpetual licenses:
• On-premise management only

For Acronis Backup Standard and Advanced licenses:

• Both on-premise and cloud-based management available
• Certain features only available with on-premise management and certain features requires
cloud management
For Mobile backup, C2C backup of O365, Acronis Disaster Recovery Add-on:
• Cloud-based management only
For cloud-based management, click on OPEN CLOUD CONSOLE:
• User will be re-directed to the cloud-based backup console and after accepting the EULA,
proceed to add machines to backup
For on-premise management, click on DOWNLOAD ON-PREMISE INSTALLER
• Users will be re-directed to the Acronis Backup download page to download the Windows or
Linux installer to install the on-premise Management Server
Cloud Console
• User will be re-directed to the backup console for cloud

• Login with Acronis account credentials (if required)
• Accept the EULA and Add machines to backup

Acronis Backup Download Page
• Users will be re-directed to the Acronis Backup download page

• Download the Windows or Linux installer to install the on-premise Management Server
• Login to the Backup Console for on-premise management server
• Add licenses and Add machines to backup

3.3 Installing Components

Understanding Component Installation
Acronis Backup and Acronis Backup Cloud uses similar Data Source components (Agents) for
performing backup and recovery.
• For Acronis Backup cloud-based management and Acronis Backup Cloud, installable
components can only be downloaded from the Add button on the Backup Console
• For Acronis Backup on-premise management, installable components can be downloaded
from the Acronis Backup download page or from the Add button on the Backup Console after
the on-premise Management Server has been installed
Supported environments are similar for both Acronis Backup and Acronis Backup Cloud
Supported Environments
The following table shows the supported environments for the various components.
Acronis Backup
Acronis
On- Backup
Component Prem Cloud Cloud Supported Environment
Windows OS from Windows Server 2008,

Windows 7 and above, x86 and x64, except for
Windows 8/8.1 RT editions and Windows Server
2016/2019 Nano Server installation
Management Server  Linux OS with kernel 2.6.23 and above, glibc 2.3.4
and above, x86 and x64, including Red Hat
Enterprise Linux, Ubuntu, Fedora, SUSE Linux
Enterprise Server, Debian, CentOS, Oracle Linux,
CloudLinux, ClearOS and ALT Linux
Windows Server 2008 (x64), Windows 7 and

Storage Node 
above
Windows OS from Windows Server 2003 SP1,

Windows XP Pro SP3 and above, x86 and x64,
Agent for Windows    except for Windows 8/8.1 RT editions and
Windows Server 2016/2019 Nano Server
installation
Linux OS with kernel 2.6.9 and above, glibc 2.3.4

and above, x86 and x64 including Red Hat
Agent for Linux    Enterprise Linux, Ubuntu, Fedora, SUSE Linux
Enterprise Server, Debian, CentOS, Oracle Linux,
CloudLinux, ClearOS and ALT Linux

Agent for Mac    OS X 10.9 and above, macOS 10.12 and above
Agent for VMware

 VMware ESXi 4.1 and above
(Virtual Appliance)
Windows OS supported by Agent for Windows

Agent for VMware except 32-bit Windows OS, Windows XP,
  
(Windows) Windows 2003/2003 R2 and Windows SBS
2003/2003 R2
Windows Server 2008 (x64), Windows 8/8.1 and

Agent for Hyper-V   
above with Hyper-V
Agent for Virtuozzo  Virtuozzo 6.0.10
Agent for Exchange    Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 and above
Agent for SQL    Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and above
Agent for Active Windows Server 2003 and above with Active
  
Directory Directory Domain Services
Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server

2012 R2
Agent for Oracle 
Linux kernel and distributions supported by Agent
for Linux
Windows Server 2008 (x64), Windows 8/8.1 and

above except for Windows 8/8.1 RT editions and
Agent for Office 365   
Windows Server 2016/2019 Nano Server
installation
Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 SP2,

SharePoint Explorer    Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 SP2 and
above
Oracle Database 11g and 12c (single-instance

Oracle Database 
configuration only)
iOS App   iOS 8 and above
Android App   Android 4.1 and above

The following table shows the supported environments for various virtualization platforms
supported by Acronis Backup and Acronis Backup Cloud.
Platform Supported Environment
VMware vSphere 4.1 and above, VMware vSphere Hypervisor (Free ESXi),
VMware
VMware Server, VMware Workstation, VMware ACE, VMware Player
Windows Server 2008 (x64) with Hyper-V and above, Windows 8/8.1 with
Hyper-V and above except for Windows Server 2016 Nano Server, Microsoft
Windows
Virtual PC 2004 and above, Windows Virtual PC, Microsoft Virtual Server
2005
Virtuozzo Virtuozzo 6.0.10
Citrix Citrix XenServer 4.1 and above (fully virtualized a.k.a HVM guests only)
Red Hat and Linux RHEV 2.2 and above, KVM
Parallels Parallels Workstation, Parallels Server 4 Bare Metal
Oracle Oracle VM Server 3.0 and above, Oracle VM VirtualBox 4.x
Nutanix Nutanix Acropolis Hypervisor (AHV) 20160925.x and above
Cloud instances Amazon EC2 instances and Azure virtual machines
The following table shows the supported networking, web-browsing and encryption environment.
Category Details
‒ 443 and 8443: Accessing cloud backup console, registering agents, downloading
files from cloud storage
‒ 5905 and 7770 – 7800: Communications between components
Network Ports ‒ 445 , 25001 and 43234 (Update 2 and above): For remote installation
(Inbound and ‒ 9850 and 9851: For command line (acrocmd) commands
Outbound) ‒ 44445 and 55556: For backup and recovery from Acronis Cloud Storage
‒ 9877: HTTP port for on-premise management server backup console
‒ 9876: Legacy port for communications between components
‒ 6109: For Active Protection
‒ Google Chrome 29 or above

‒ Mozilla Firefox 23 or above
Web Browsers
‒ Opera 16 or above
‒ Windows Internet Explorer 10 or above, Microsoft Edge 25 or above

‒ Safari 8 or above
‒ Microsoft BitLocker Drive Encryption

Encryption Software ‒ McAfee Endpoint Encryption
‒ PGP Whole Disk Encryption

Component Installation Cheat Sheet

The following table summarizes the component required to perform different types of backups.
Disk
What to back up What to install Where to install Space*
Disk, volumes and files on physical

Agent for Windows 850 MB
machines running Windows
Disk, volumes and files on physical On the machine that will be backed
Agent for Linux 720 MB
machines running Linux up
Disk, volumes and files on physical

Agent for Mac 500 MB
machines running OS X
Agent for VMware

On the ESXi host 6 GB
(Virtual Appliance)
VMware ESXi virtual machines and

On a Windows machine that has
ESXi host configurations
Agent for VMware network access to vCenter Server
320 MB
(Windows) and to the virtual machine
storage*
Hyper-V virtual machines Agent for Hyper-V On the Hyper-V host 320 MB
Virtuozzo virtual machines and Agent for

On the Virtuozzo host 500 MB
containers Virtuozzo
VMs hosted on Microsoft Azure
VMs hosted on Amazon EC2

Same as
The same as On the machine that will be backed
Citrix XenServer virtual machines** physical
physical machines* up
machines
RHEV virtual machines & KVM**
Oracle virtual machines**
On the machines running the

Mailbox role of Microsoft Exchange
Server
Agent for Windows If only mailbox backup is required,
Exchange databases and mailboxes 950 MB
+ Exchange agent can be installed on any
Windows with network access to
the machine running Client Access
role of Microsoft Exchange Server

Agent for Windows On the machine running Microsoft

SQL databases 950 MB
+ SQL SQL Server
Machines running Active Directory Agent for Windows

On the domain controller 950 MB
Domain Services + Active Directory
Agent for Office On a Windows machine that is

Office 365 Mailboxes 500 MB
365 connected to the Internet
Mobile devices running iOS Mobile app for iOS On the iOS mobile device 88 MB
Mobile app for

Mobile devices running iOS On the Android mobile device 30 MB
Android
SharePoint On the SharePoint recovery farm or

Recover SharePoint items 12 MB
Explorer Front-End and Database server
On a machine running Windows or

Enables users to monitor backups Backup Monitor 10 MB
OS X
Command-Line On a machine running Windows or

Provides command-line interface 550 MB
Tool Linux
For on-premise deployment, on a

1.7 GB
Manages Agents, provides web Management machine running Windows or
(Win) 0.6
interface for management Server* Linux. For cloud, no installation
GB (Lin)
required
On the machine running the

Monitoring Service Monitoring Service -
Management Server
Stores backup, required for

Storage Node On a machine running Windows 1.1 GB
cataloging and deduplication
Performs cataloging of backups on

Catalog Service On a machine running Windows -
Storage Nodes
Enables booting machines into

bootable media through the PXE Server On a machine running Windows -
network
Bootable Media On a machine running Windows or 200

Creates bootable media
Builder Linux MB**
Note: Typical RAM consumption is 350 MB above the OS and running applications with peak
consumption reaching 2GB depending on the amount and type of data being processed.

A VM is considered virtual if it is backed up by an external Agent. If Agent is installed in the

guest system, the backup and recovery operations are the same as with a physical machine.
However, the machine is counted as virtual when you set quotas for the number of machines.
With Acronis Backup Advanced Virtual Host licenses, these virtual machines are considered as
virtual (per host licensing is used). With an Acronis Backup Standard Virtual Host license, these
machines are considered physical (per machine licensing is used).
A management server with one registered machine consumes 200 MB of memory. Each newly
registered machines adds about 4 MB. Thus, a server with 100 registered machines consumes
approximately 600 MB above OS and running applications. Max. number of registered
machines is 900-1000 if using the embedded SQLite database. This limit can be overcome by
specifying an external Microsoft SQL Server instance during Management Server installation.
With an external SQL database, up to 4000 machines (Acronis Backup 12.5 Update 3.1) can be
registered without significant performance degradation.
Bootable media requires at least 1 GB of RAM

Required Linux Packages

To add the necessary modules to the Linux kernel, the Agent for Linux installer program needs the
following Linux packages:
• The package with kernel headers or sources. The package version must match the kernel
version.
• The GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) compiler system. The GCC version must be the one with
which the kernel was compiled.
• The Make tool.
• The Perl interpreter.
The names of these packages vary depending on your Linux distribution.
In Red Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS, and Fedora, the packages will normally be installed by the setup
program. In other distributions, you need to install the packages if they are not installed or do not
have the required versions.
To check whether the packages have already been installed, perform these steps:
1. Run the following command to find out the kernel version and the required GCC version:
cat /proc/version
This command returns lines similar to the following: Linux version 2.6.35.6 and gcc
version 4.5.1
2. Run the following command to check whether the Make tool and the GCC compiler are
installed:
make -v
gcc -v
For gcc, ensure that the version returned by the command is the same as in the gcc version in
step 1. For make, just ensure that the command runs.
3. Check whether the appropriate version of the packages for building kernel modules is
installed:
 In Red Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS, and Fedora, run the following command:
yum list installed | grep kernel-devel
 In Ubuntu, run the following commands:
dpkg --get-selections | grep linux-headers
dpkg --get-selections | grep linux-image
In either case, ensure that the package versions are the same as in Linux version in step 1.
4. Run the following command to check whether the Perl interpreter is installed:
perl --version
If you see the information about the Perl version, the interpreter is installed.
The following table lists how to install the required Linux packages in various Linux distributions.

Linux distribution Package names How to install
Red Hat Enterprise kernel-devel The setup program will download and install the packages
Linux gcc automatically by using your Red Hat subscription
make
perl Run the following command:

yum install perl
CentOS kernel-devel The setup program will download and install the packages
Fedora gcc automatically
make
perl Run the following command:

yum install perl
Ubuntu linux-headers Run the following commands

linux-image sudo apt-get update
gcc sudo apt-get install linux-headers-`uname -r`
make sudo apt-get install linux-image-`uname -r`
perl sudo apt-get install gcc-<package version>
sudo apt-get install make
sudo apt-get install perl

Installing Windows Management Server

Acronis Backup on-premise Management Server can be installed via web or full installer in Windows.
The installer also contains other Windows-based components such as Agent for Windows, Exchange,
Hyper-V, etc.
To install the Management Server, download and run the web or full installer. Upon running, the
installer will check if requirements are met for installing the Management Sever and various
Windows-based components, e.g., presence of Microsoft SQL for installing Agent for SQL
It will also check for existing components and if found, offer to Repair or Modify the existing
installation. Repair will reinstall all existing components found on the machine. Modify allows adding
or removing individual components from the machine.
To install the Management Server in Windows, do the following:
1. Login as an administrator and run the installer
2. [Optional] To change the language, click Setup language

3. Accept the terms of the license agreement
4. [Optional] Select to join the Acronis Customer Experience Program (ACEP)
5. Click Proceed

6. Select the one of the following:

 Install a backup agent and Acronis Backup Management Server: This will install the
Acronis Backup Management Server and all applicable Windows-based Agents
 Install a backup agent: This will install only applicable Windows-based Agents
7. [Optional] Click Customize installation settings to change installation settings
8. The following installation settings can be customized or left on defaults:

 What to install: Select components to install
 Installation path: Select a different installation folder

 Logon account for the agent service: Select to change to an existing user account as the
agent service logon account
 Logon account for the management server service: Select to change to an existing user
account as the management server service logon account
 HTTP port to open: Select a different HTTP port for web-based backup console access to
the on-premise management server
 TCP port for components: Select to use a different TCP port for components
communications with management server
9. Click Back to return to the previous screen or Install to start installation
10. Alternatively, click on Create .mst and .msi files for unattended installation to create the
files required for unattended installation
11. The following installation settings for unattended installation can be customized or left on
defaults:
 What to install: Select components to install for unattended installation
 Installation path: Select a different installation folder for unattended installation
12. Click Back to return to previous screen or Proceed to create the .mst and .msi files
13. Once all selections have been made, click on the Install Acronis Backup button to start
installation

14. Once the installation is complete, click CLOSE to close the installer and the default web
browser will be opened and directed to the address for the web console with the default
HTTP port 9877
 E.g. http://<management_server_add>:9877
Installing Storage Node

Before installing a Storage Node, ensure that the machine meets the necessary requirements:
• For deduplication, machine must meet RAM requirements and storage requirements, refer to
Deduplication best practices in the Help file for more information
• For cataloging of managed locations, the catalog service can be installed although it is
recommend to install the catalog service on a separate machine for better performance, refer
to Cataloging best practices in the Help file for more information
To install a Storage Node and/or Catalog Service, do the following:
1. Run the Windows installer, select Customize installation settings > What to install and select
Storage Node and/or Catalog Service
2. Next, specify the Management Server to register the component
3. Click Install to proceed
Installing Catalog Service

A single installation of the Catalog Service is sufficient to support multiple Storage Nodes unless
indexing or search performance degrades, i.e., if the cataloging is constantly running > 24hrs
System requirements for installing Catalog Service:

Category Minimum Recommended
Number of CPU cores 2 4 or more
RAM 8 GB 16 GB or more
HDD 7200 rpm HDD SSD
Network connection between Catalog Service machine and

100Mbps 1Gbps
Storage Node machine
Windows Post Installation Checklist

Acronis Backup and Acronis Backup Cloud components are installed as services on Windows
machines. During installation, besides installing the services, local User Accounts and Groups will also
be created for service logon and security purposes. Certain Rights and Permissions will also be
assigned to the User Accounts.
The following table summarizes the installed services, User Accounts created and User Rights
assigned.
Acronis Agent Services

Services Description User Account
Provides backup, recovery, replication, retention,

Acronis Managed Machine Service Local System
validation functionality
Legacy service that provided connectivity

Acronis Remote Agent Service Local System
between Acronis components
Acronis Scheduler2 Service Executes scheduled tasks on certain events Local System
Acronis VSS Provider Enables Acronis VSS Provider Local System
Acronis Active Protection Service Provides protection against ransomware Local System
Acronis Removable Storage

Manages tape devices Local System
Management Service
Tib Mounter Service Allows to mount and explore .tib files Local System
Enables users to monitor backups outside the

Backup Monitor (not a service) N/A
web interface

Acronis Management Server Services

Acronis Management Server AMS User or

Centralized management of Acronis Agents
Service existing user
Provides Acronis Management Server services

Acronis Service Manager Service Network Service
functionality
Communication between Agents and

Acronis ZeroMQ Gateway Service Network Service
Management Server
Legacy service that provides connectivity

Acronis Remote Agent Service Local System
between Acronis components
Acronis Scheduler2 Service Executes scheduled task on certain events Local System
Provides the dashboard and reporting

Acronis Monitoring Service Local System
functionality
Acronis Storage Node Services

ASN User or
Acronis Storage Node Service Manages operations in managed locations
existing user
Acronis Catalog Browser Service Display data stored in all managed locations Local System
Elasticsearch 2.4.0
Indexes backed up data and enables search Local System
(elasticsearch-service x64)
Note: Some services can spawn 1 or more child processes in order to perform their job. Refer to
Acronis KB: https://kb.acronis.com/content/60085 for more details.

Installing Linux Management Server

Acronis Backup on-premise Management Server can be installed via the full installer in Linux. The
installer also contains other Linux-based components such as Agent for Linux and Bootable Media
Builder.
Install the RPM Package Manager manually first before installing on a system that does not use RPM
Package Manager such as Ubuntu, by running the following command:
• apt-get install rpm
If Agent for Linux is to be installed together with the Management Server, ensure all required Linux
packages are or can be installed.
To install the Management Server in Linux, do the following:

1. As the root user, run the installer
 ./AcronisBackup_12_64-bit.x86_64

2. Accept the terms of the license agreement

3. [Optional] Select the components to be installed, by default the following are installed:
 Management Server
 Agent for Linux
 Bootable Media Builder
4. Specify the port that will be used by a web browser to access the management server, default
is 9877
5. Specify the port that will be used for communications between other components and the
management server, default is 7780
6. Click Next to start the installation
7. After the installation is complete, select Open web console

8. Click Exit and the default web browser will be opened and directed to the address for the
web-based backup console with the port 9877
 E.g. http://<management_server_add>:9877
Linux Post-Installation Checklist

Similar to Windows, Acronis Backup and Acronis Backup Cloud components are installed as services
on Linux machines together with daemons and new folders. The following table summarizes the
installed services.
Services User
(/etc/systemd/system) Description Account
/acronis_mms.service Enables backup and recovery on the machine
/acronis_agent.service Enables connectivity among Acronis components (legacy)
/acronis_schedule.service Provides scheduling for tasks of Acronis components
/acronis_rsm.service Manages tape devices
/acronis_ams.service Allows administrators to centrally manage backups

root
Provides Acronis Management Server services
/acronis_asm.service
functionality
Enables communications between Agents and

/acronis_zmqgw.service
Management Server
/acronis_license_service.service Enables Acronis license management
/acronis_web_service.service Provides web interface to Acronis components

Logging In To The Backup Console
To add machines for backup, login to the Backup Console:

• For Acronis Backup cloud-based management, login after adding and registering license keys
• For Acronis Backup on-premise deployment, login after installing the Management Server
• For Acronis Backup Cloud, login after creating the Administrator or User account for the
Customer group
Acronis Backup – Add Machines
Click on the ADD button to start adding machines to be backed up.

Acronis Backup Cloud – Add Machines
Similar to Acronis Backup, after logging in to the backup management console, click on ADD button
to start adding machines to be backed up.
Adding Machines
Installers for Agents for supported OS, virtualization platforms and applications can be downloaded
for local installation on machines to be backed up.

For Acronis Backup on-premise management with a Windows-based Management Server, Remote
Installation is also available in addition to downloading installers for local installation.
For Acronis Backup Cloud and Acronis Backup cloud-based management, once a device type is
selected, instructions for installing the Agent will be shown and download will start immediately. The
downloaded installer will usually be a 64-bit installer. To download 32-bit installers, cancel the
automatic download and click on the link for 32-bit installer that is shown as part of the instructions.
For Acronis Backup cloud deployment and Acronis Backup Cloud, ensure the following preparations
are made before starting Agent installation:
• Internet connectivity for target machines for Agent installation
• Allow inbound and outbound connections through firewalls and other network security
system such as proxy servers for TCP ports 443, 8443, 7770…7800 and 44445
• Configure HTTP proxy server settings for target machines for agent installation and
subsequent data transfer

For Acronis Backup on-premise deployment, ensure the following preparations are made before
starting Agent installation:
• On-premise Management Server (on a Windows or Linux machine) is installed
• Allow inbound and outbound connections through firewalls and other network security
systems similar to Acronis Backup cloud deployment
Proxy Server Settings

Agents can transfer data through a HTTP proxy server. Agent installation requires an Internet
connection. If a proxy server is configured in Windows (Control panel > Internet Options >
Connections), the setup program reads the proxy server settings from the registry and uses them
automatically. In Linux and OS X, you must specify the proxy settings before the installation.
Use the procedures below to specify the proxy settings before the agent installation or to change
them at a later time.
In Linux
1. Create the file /etc/Acronis/Global.config and open it in a text editor
2. Copy and paste the following lines into the file:
<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<registry name="Global">
<key name="HttpProxy">
<value name="Enabled" type="Tdword">"1"</value>
<value name="Host"
type="TString">"proxy.company.com"</value>
<value name="Port" type="Tdword">"443"</value>
</key>
</registry>
3. Replace proxy.company.com with your proxy server host name/IP address, and 443 with
the decimal value of the port number
4. Save the file
5. If the backup agent is not installed yet, you can now install it. Otherwise, as the root user,
restart the agent by executing the following command in any directory:
sudo service acronis_mms restart
In OS X
1. Create the file /Library/Application
Support/Acronis/Registry/Global.config and open it in a text editor, such as Text
Edit
<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<registry name="Global">
<key name="HttpProxy">

<value name="Enabled" type="Tdword">"1"</value>

<value name="Host"
type="TString">"proxy.company.com"</value>
<value name="Port" type="Tdword">"443"</value>
</key>
</registry>
3. Replace proxy.company.com with your proxy server host name/IP address, and 443 with
the decimal value of the port number
4. Save the file
5. If the backup agent is not installed yet, you can now install it. Otherwise, do the following to
restart the agent:
 Go to Applications > Utilities > Terminal
 Run the following commands:
sudo launchctl stop acronis_mms
sudo launchctl start acronis_mms
In Windows
1. Create a new text document and open it in a text editor, such as Notepad.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Acronis\Global\HttpProxy]
"Enabled"=dword:00000001
"Host"="proxy.company.com"
"Port"=dword:000001bb
3. Replace proxy.company.com with your proxy server host name/IP address, and 000001bb
with the hexadecimal value of the port number. E.g., 000001bb is port 443.
4. Save the document as proxy.reg.
5. Run the file as an Administrator.
6. Confirm that you want to edit the Windows registry.
7. If the backup agent is not installed yet, you can now install it. Otherwise, do the following to
restart the agent:
 In the Start menu, click Run, and then type: cmd
 Click OK.
 Run the following commands:
net stop mms
net start mms

Local Installation – Installing Agents

Installation on Windows
The following Agents are available for installation on Windows:
• Agent for Windows, Exchange, SQL, Active Directory, Office 365, VMware (Windows), Hyper-
V Agent for VMware (Windows), Agent for Hyper-V
Select the corresponding Window-based platform from the ADD menu or download the offline
installer (full installer) for Windows.
If installing on a domain controller, specify an existing user account for the Logon account for the
agent service via Customize installation settings. (For security reasons, the installer does not
automatically create new accounts on a domain controller)
To start installation, do the following:
1. Log on as an Administrator and run the installer
2. [Optional] To change the language, click Setup language

3. [On-premise] Select Install a backup agent (all applicable Agents will be installed) and specify
the hostname/IP address of the Management Server. Optionally, click on Customize
installation settings to change installation settings
4. [Cloud] Click on Install to install with default settings or Customize installation settings to
change defaults

5. Start the installation

6. [Cloud] After installation, click Register now and enter the credentials of the account to
which the machine will be assigned to
Installation on Linux
The following Agent is available for installation on Linux:
• Agent for Linux
Select Linux from the ADD menu to download the 64-bit installer. To download the 32-bit installer
instead, cancel the automatic download and click on the link for the 32-bit installer in the
instructions shown after clicking ADD.
Ensure necessary Linux packages are installed on the target machines prior to installing Agents.
1. As the root user, run the installer
 ./AcronisBackup_12_64-bit.x86_64 or
 ./AcronisBackup_12_32-bit.i686

2. Click on Next
3. [On-premise] Clear the Acronis Backup Management Server checkbox and click Next to
specify the hostname/IP address of the Management Server
4. [Cloud] Specify the credentials of the account to which the machine will be assigned to
5. Click Next to start the installation

Installation on Mac
The following Agent is available for installation on Mac:
• Agent for Mac
Select Mac from the ADD menu to download the installer.
1. Run the installer (.dmg) and wait for the OS to mount the installation disk image
2. Double-click Install.pkg
3. Once the installer starts, click on Continue and if prompted, provide administrator credentials
4. [Optional] Click Change Install Location to change installation path
5. [Cloud] Specify the credentials of the account to which the machine should be assigned

6. Click Install to start installation
Installation on VMware
The following Agents are available for Acronis Backup on-premise deployments:
• Agent for VMware (Virtual Appliance), Agent for VMware (Windows)
The following Agent is available for Acronis Backup cloud deployment and Acronis Backup Cloud:
• Agent for VMware (Windows)
Agent for VMware (Virtual Appliance) can be installed by deploying as an OVF template locally or via
remote installation (preferred).
Agent for VMware (Windows) can be installed locally via the Windows installer or the ESXi web
installer.
To start Agent for VMware (Windows) installation, do the following:
1. Log on as an Administrator and run the installer
2. [On-premise] Select Install a backup agent and specify the hostname/IP address of the
Management Server. Then click on Customize installation settings and select Agent for
VMware (Windows) under What to install

3. [Cloud] Click on Install to install with default settings or Customize installation settings to
change defaults and enter the credentials of the account to which the machine will be
assigned to. Then specify the hostname/IP address and access credentials of the vCenter
Server or standalone ESXi host whose VMs will be backed up by the Agent
4. Start the installation
Installation on Mobile Device

The following mobile apps are available for mobile devices:
• Mobile app for iOS, Mobile app for Android
The mobile apps can be installed by searching and downloading the app from the respective App
Store.

For Acronis Backup, a valid Acronis Cloud Storage subscription license is required for backing up data
on mobile devices
1. Download and install the app

2. When the app is started for the 1st time, specify the credentials of the account to which the
mobile device will be assigned to

3. Once signed-in, the following settings can be configured:

 Continuous Backup: Select from On, Only when charging or Off
4. Backup Using: Select from Wi-Fi only or Wi-Fi and cellular connection
Remote Installation for On-Premise

Remote Installation of Agents is available for Acronis Backup on-premise deployments with a
Windows-based Management Server:
• Windows-based Agents such as Agent for Windows, Hyper-V, Exchange, etc.
• VMware agents such as Agent for VMware (Virtual Appliance) and Agent for VMware
(Windows)
Preparation for remote installation on Windows machines:
• Windows XP/Vista and later: Use simple file sharing or Use Sharing Wizard setting in Folder
options > View must be disabled
• UAC must be disabled if machine is not member of AD domain
• File and Printer Sharing must be enabled and TCP port 445 and 25001 must be opened for
remote installation and thereafter TCP port 9876 for component communications
Remote Installation – Installation on Windows

To start remote installation, do the following:
1. Click ADD and click on Windows or corresponding button for the Windows-based application
to backup
2. Depending on the selection, one of the following will be remotely installed:
 Agent for Windows
 Agent for Hyper-V
 Agent for Exchange + Agent for Windows
 Agent for SQL + Agent for Windows
 Agent for Active Directory + Agent for Windows

3. Specify the hostname/IP address and Administrator credentials for the target machine
4. Click ADD to start remote installation
Remote Installation – Installation on VMware

There are 3 methods for adding vCenter Server or standalone ESXi to the on-premise Management
Server in order to back up VMs and ESXi configurations:
• Deploying Agent for VMware (Virtual Appliance): Recommended in most cases, virtual
appliance will be deployed automatically to every host managed by vCenter or to the
standalone ESXi host
• Installing Agents for VMware (Windows): Used for off-loaded or LAN-free backup, Agent will
be deployed to the Windows machine specified for:
 Offloaded backup: Used if production ESXi are so heavily loaded that running virtual
appliance is not desirable
 LAN-free backup: Used if ESXi uses SAN attached storage, install the Agent on a Windows
machine attached to the same SAN and the Agent will be able to backup the VMs directly
from the storage
• Registering an already installed Agent for VMware: Used for adding a manually installed
Agent, an OVF deployed Agent or when setting up a new Management Server

For Deploying Agent for VMware (Virtual Appliance) method, do the following:
1. Click ADD and click on VMware ESXi
2. Select Deploy as virtual appliance to each host of a vCenter

3. Specify the hostname/IP address and access credentials of the vCenter Server or standalone
ESXi
4. Click Settings to customize the following:
 ESXi hosts to deploy to (only if vCenter Server was specified)
 Name of virtual appliance
 Datastore, resource pool or vApp to locate the appliance
 Network that the virtual appliance’s NIC will be connected to and network settings of the
appliance
It is important to verify the network settings to make sure that the virtual appliance will
be connected to the proper virtual network after installation
5. Click Deploy to start remote installation

For Installing Agents for VMware (Windows), do the following:

2. Select Remotely install on a machine running Windows

3. Specify the hostname/IP address and Administrator credentials of the Windows machine
and click Connect
ESXi the Agent for VMware (Windows) will be connected to after remote installation
5. Click Install to start remote installation

For Registering an already installed Agent for VMware method, do the following:
2. Select Register an already installed agent

3. To register an Agent for VMware (Windows), specify the address and Administrator
credentials of the Windows machine where the Agent is installed. To register an Agent for
VMware (Virtual Appliance), specify the address and access credentials for the vCenter Server
or standalone ESXi host where the appliance is connected to. The connection details can be
checked by opening a console to the virtual appliance from vSphere client. Click Connect
ESXi that will be backed up and click Connect
5. Click Register to register the Agent

Deploying Agents Through Group Policy

Windows-based Agents can be installed via Group Policy on machines that are members of an AD
domain
Requirements:
• AD domain with a domain controller running Windows Server 2003 or later
• User account that is a member of the Domain Admins group
• All agents for installation in Windows installer
Steps:
Create the .mst and .msi files for unattended installation via the installer and place them in a
shared folder
1. Log on as an Administrator on any machine in the domain
2. Create a shared folder that will contain the installation packages. Ensure that domain users
can access the shared folder—for example, by leaving the default sharing settings for
Everyone
3. Copy the Windows installer program to the folder you created
4. Start the installer program
5. Click Create .mst and .msi files for unattended installation
6. If prompted, specify the credentials of the account to which the machines should be assigned
7. Review or modify the installation settings that will be added to the .mst file
8. Click Generate
As a result, the .mst transform is generated and the .msi and .cab installation packages are
extracted to the folder you created. You can now move or delete the installer program .exe
file.
Create and configure the GPO for the OU containing the domain computers which will be installed
with the Windows-based Agents
1. Log on to the domain controller as a domain administrator; if the domain has more than one
domain controller, log on to any of them as a domain administrator
2. If you are planning to deploy the agent in an organizational unit, ensure that the
organizational unit exists in the domain. Otherwise, skip this step
3. In the Start menu, go to Administrative Tools, and then click Active Directory Users and
Computers (in Windows Server 2003) or Group Policy Management (in Windows Server 2008
and Windows Server 2012)
4. In Windows Server 2003:
 Right-click the name of the domain or organizational unit, and then click Properties. In
the dialog box, click the Group Policy tab, and then click New
In Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2012:

 Right-click the name of the domain or organizational unit, and then click Create a GPO in
this domain, and Link it here
5. Name the new Group Policy object Agent for Windows
6. Open the Agent for Windows Group Policy object for editing, as follows:
 In Windows Server 2003, click the Group Policy object, and then click Edit
 In Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2012, under Group Policy Objects, right-
click the Group Policy object, and then click Edit
7. In the Group Policy object editor snap-in, expand Computer Configuration
8. In Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008:
 Expand Software Settings
9. In Windows Server 2012:
 Expand Policies > Software Settings
10. Right-click Software installation, then New, and then click Package
11. Select the agent's .msi installation package in the shared folder that you previously created,
and then click Open
12. In the Deploy Software dialog box, click Advanced, and then click OK
13. On the Modifications tab, click Add, and then select the .mst transform that you previously
created
14. Click OK to close the Deploy Software dialog box
Updating Agents
For Acronis Backup on-premise deployments, update the Management Server and thereafter repeat
the agent installation locally or via remote installation.
For Acronis Backup cloud-deployments and Acronis Backup Cloud, Agents are updated as soon as a
new version is released unless the Agent Auto Update setting for the User Account which the
machines are assigned to is disabled.
To manually update multiple Agents for on-premise management:
1. Ensure Components for Remote Installation is installed on the Management Server
2. Click Settings > Agents, machines with outdated Agents will have an ! mark
3. Select the machines that you want to update, machines must be online
4. Click Update agent
The progress is shown in the status column for each machine.
Uninstalling
Uninstalling components such as Agents will not remove them from the Backup Console.

Deleting machines from the Backup Console will not uninstall the Agents from machines, they must
be manually uninstalled.
To uninstall, perform the following:
For Windows
1. Log on as an Administrator and go to Control Panel > Programs and Features to uninstall
Acronis Backup
2. As part of uninstallation, you can choose to select or clear the Remove the logs and
configuration settings check box
 Keeping the setting will enable the machine to be re-associated with existing backups and
backup plans when Agents are reinstalled
 Removing the setting will result in duplicates in the Backup Console upon re-installation
of Agents
For Linux
1. Log on as root and run
/usr/lib/Acronis/BackupAndRecovery/uninstall/uninstall
2. As part of uninstallation, you can choose to select or clear the Clean up all product traces
(Remove the product’s logs, tasks, vaults, and configuration settings) check box
3. Similar to Windows, keeping the setting will enable the machine to be re-associated and
removing the setting will result in duplicates upon re-installation of Agents
For Mac
In Mac, double-click the installation file (.dmg), wait for it to be mounted and double-click Uninstall.
If you do not want to reinstall the Agent again, go to the Backup Console and delete the machine.
Otherwise, leave the machine entry intact in Backup Console.
For VMware
1. Log on to vCenter Server or the standalone ESXi with vSphere Client, right-click on the virtual
appliance and select Delete from Disk
2. If the appliance is powered on, it must be powered off first
3. If locally attached storage is used as a backup destination and you wish to preserve the data,
edit the settings of the appliance and remove the disk with the storage from the appliance
prior to deleting it. The disk will remain in the datastore and can be attached to another
Agent for VMware (Virtual Appliance)

3.4 Lab Exercise 1

Number of scenarios: 2
1st scenario: Setting up Acronis Data Cloud

Assume that you are an administrator for a Service Provider that has signed up for Acronis Backup
Cloud Acronis Hosted model. You are required to login to the Management Portal and provision the
following:
• 1 x reseller partner with all services enabled
• 1 x folder with only Backup & Disaster Recovery service enabled
• 1 x direct customer in the newly created folder
Tasks required:
1. Login to the Acronis Data Cloud Management Portal using the account provided by the
instructor
2. Create a new Partner tenant for the reseller partner
3. Create an Administrator account for the newly created Partner
4. Create a Folder tenant with only Backup & Disaster Recovery service enabled
5. Drill down into the Folder and create a new Customer tenant for the direct customer
6. Create an Administrator account for the newly created Customer
7. Activate the Customer’s Administrator account
2nd scenario: Installing Acronis Backup on-premise Management Server

Assume that you are the administrator for a company that has just purchased Acronis Backup 12.5
for on-premise deployment. Prior to mass rollout, you want to install Acronis Backup in a Windows
virtual machine in order to verify your understanding of the setup process for the Acronis Backup on-
premise Management Server and Agent for Windows.
Tasks required:
1. Browse to the lab exercise folder where the Acronis Backup 12.5 Windows full installer is kept
2. Copy it to the lab VM
3. Run the installer and install Acronis Backup with default options
4. Wait for the installation to complete and login to the Backup Console
5. Verify that the lab virtual machine has been added to the Backup Management page

4 Acronis Backup Management

In this module, you will learn about how to configure available settings for Acronis Backup Cloud and
Acronis Backup.

1. Describe and perform the operations possible with Groups and Accounts
2. Describe the settings available in Partner and Customer Group Tabs
3. Configure Branding for a Partner Group
4. Describe and configure the Usage Reports available in Acronis Backup Cloud
5. Describe and perform license management in Acronis Backup on-premise deployments
6. Describe and configure Admin Roles and Groups in Acronis Backup Advanced
7. Describe and configure the widgets available for the Dashboard and Reports in Acronis
Backup Advanced
8. Describe the information available in Alerts view in the Backup Console
9. Describe the information available in Activities view in the Backup Console

Lesson: 2 hours
Lab: 15 minutes
Acronis Backup Management 147


1. Configuring Acronis Data Cloud
 Operations with Tenants & Accounts  Managing Tenants
2. Configuring Acronis Backup
 Acronis Backup License Management  Acronis Backup Monitoring &
Reporting
 Acronis Backup System Settings
 Acronis Backup Alerts
 Acronis Backup Administrators &
Units  Acronis Backup Activities
 Lab Exercise 2: Rebranding the UI and enabling the Scheduled Usage Report, Starting an
Acronis Backup trial

4.1 Configuring Acronis Data Cloud

Operations with Tenants & Accounts
Acronis Data Cloud’s multi-tier, multi-tenant architecture allows Administrator(s) at a parent tenant
to easily manage 1 or more child tenants:
 Basic operations for tenants:
 Manage Service, Go to, Configure, Disable/Enable, Show ID, Move, Convert to folder and
Delete
 Basic operations for accounts:
 Re-send activation email, Reset password, Disable/Enable and Delete
 Tabs (settings) available for Partner and Folder type tenants:
 Overview, Clients, Users, Reports, Audit Log and Settings
 Tabs (settings) available for Customer and User type tenants:
 Overview, Units, Users, Reports, Audit Log and Settings
Operations with tenants:

 Manage service:
 Switch to service console for selected service, e.g., Select Backup & Disaster Recovery to
go to the backup management console
 Go to a tenant:
 Switch to the selected tenant
 Configure:
 Show the Select services and Configure services menu
 Disable or Enable a tenant:

 Temporarily disable/enable selected tenant (affects all child tenants) and associated user
accounts
 Delete a tenant:
 Removes the tenant from Acronis Data Cloud (must be disabled prior to deleting),
operation is irreversible and takes effect immediately:
 All sub-tenants will be deleted
 All users with this tenant and all its sub-tenants will be deleted
 All services enabled within this tenant and all its sub-tenant will stop operating
 All service-related data (e.g., backups, synced files) of this tenant and all its sub-
tenants will be deleted
• Convert to folder/partner:
 Used for converting a Partner type tenant to a Folder type tenant and vice versa:
 Previously before Folder tenant type was available, Service Providers had to use Partner
tenant type for grouping purposes, this operation allows Service Providers to change
those Partner tenants to Folder tenants for proper organization
 Used purely for grouping purposes and doesn’t affect the users within the tenant and any
service-related data such as backups
• Show ID:
 Show the internal ID of a tenant, used for moving tenants
• Move a tenant:
 Move a child tenant to a different parent, e.g., transfer a customer to a different partner
 Restrictions:
 Partner/Folder type tenants can only be moved to other Partner/Folder type tenants
 Customer type tenants can only be moved to other Partner/Folder type tenants
 Tenants cannot be moved to its child tenant
 Unit tenants cannot be moved
 Tenants can only be moved if target parent tenant has the same or larger set of
service and offering as the original parent
 When moving a Customer tenant, all storages assigned to the Customer tenant in the
original parent must exist in the target parent tenant as Customer-related data cannot
be moved from 1 storage to another
Perform the following to move a tenant:

1. To move a tenant, select the target tenant and click on Show ID to view the Internal ID string
2. Copy the ID string and then select the tenant to be moved and click on Move
3. Paste the ID string in the Move…to field and click Move
Operations with accounts:

 Resend activation link for an account:
 Resend the activation email for a newly created account that has not been activated
 Reset password for an account:

 Send a password reset email to the email address specified for the account
 Disable or Enable an account:

 Temporarily disable/enable selected account, disabled account will not be able to login to
Acronis Data Cloud
 Delete an account:
 Removes the account from the tenant (must be disabled prior to deleting), operation is
irreversible and takes effect immediately:
 All backups of the machines associated with this user will be deleted
 All machines associated with this user will be unregistered
 All backup plans will be revoked from all machines associated with this user
 All File Sync & Share data that belongs to this user (e.g., files, folders) will be deleted
Managing Tenants
Overview > Usage Tab
Provides an overview of the service usage and enables accessing the respective service console:
 Backup & Disaster Recovery backup management console
 File Sync & Share Administrator and User mode console
 Physical Data Shipping tracking console
Depending on the offering configured by parent tenant, certain services may not be available.

Overview > Operations Tab

Dashboard that provides a number of customizable (WYSIWYG) widgets, updated in real time, that
gives an overview of operations related to the backup service.
By default, displays data for the tenant in which you are operating, i.e., currently selected tenant
(see breadcrumb):
 Displayed tenant can be changed for each widget by editing it
 Aggregated information about direct child Customer tenants of the selected tenant is also
shown
 Child Partners and their tenants are not shown, drill down to the child Partner to see its
Dashboard
Dashboard can be downloaded or send as email as .PDF and or .XLSX.
Client/Unit Tab

Allows Partner Administrator(s) to view and manage all child tenants:

 View usage of all child tenants
 Click on the row for the tenant to view and modify tenant properties:
 Services and offering
 General information
 Contact information
 Use Go to or click on the name of the child tenant to drill down and manage a child tenant’s
hierarchy:
 Allow administrators from parent tenants to manage this tenant setting must be
enabled in child tenant’s Security settings
 View and modify settings of entire hierarchy (all tenants and accounts) of child tenant
Users Tab

Allows Partner Administrator(s) to view and manage user accounts:

 View status of all user accounts belonging to the tenant
 Click on the row for the user account to view and modify account properties:
 General information
 Services and roles
 Settings
Reports > Usage Tab

There are 2 types of usage reports available in Acronis Data Cloud:

 Scheduled reports:
 Monthly report that is sent on the 2nd day of each month to all tenant Administrators
 Contains usage summary for the last full calendar month
 Level of detail can be selected, from Direct customers and partners to All customers and
partners (including account details)
 Custom reports:
 Ad-hoc report that is generated and sent immediately to the logged in Administrator
account
 Reporting period can be selected, from Current usage to Day-by-day for period where the
time period can be customized
 Level of detail can be selected, from Direct customers and partners to All customers and
partners (including account details)
Reports are sent as email with 2 attachments, a .csv and .html file.
Email body will include Date of report generation, Reporting period and Level of detail information.
Attachments will contain the following details:
 Tenant name, type and mode – trial or production
 Usage info such as number of devices (by type) backed up for Backup and Disaster Recovery
service or number of users for File Sync & Share service and amount of cloud storage used
 Cost of usage (based on SP agreement) for each billable service

Reports > Operations Tab

Operations report are widget-based similar to the Dashboard in Overview > Operations tab.

Several pre-defined Reports are available and more can be added

By default, all of the widgets in a Report show the summary information for the tenant in which you
are operating:
 Individual widgets can be configured to show information about a specific tenant instead of a
summary by clicking on the Edit button for the widget
 To configure all widgets at once to show information about a specific tenant, go to Settings
instead
 Reports can be downloaded or send as email immediately as .PDF and/or .XLSX
 Reports can also be scheduled to be sent as email (1 or more recipients) from Settings
Additionally, clicking on More actions enables the following:
 Clone: Create a copy of the Report
 Export: Export the Report as a .json file to be used subsequently for importing
 Dump data: Export report data as .csv file for further manipulation
 Delete report: Delete the selected Report
Audit Log

Audit Log provides a chronological record of the following events:

 Operations performed by users in the management portal
 System messages about reached quotas and quota usage
 Consists of Event name, Severity, Date, Object name, Tenant, Initiator, Initiator’s tenant
Audit Log shows events in the tenant in which you are operating as well as child tenants and you can
click on an event to view more information.
The log is cleaned up on a daily basis and events are removed after 180 days.
Events can be filtered by description, severity or date and can be searched by object, unit, initiator
and initiator’s unit.
Settings > Storage Tab

Shows all available cloud storage for all Services:

• Cloud storage can be inherited from parent tenant (if enabled in Configure services) as well
as from Acronis
• Add backup storage: Shows the download page for downloading the Acronis Cyber
Infrastructure ISO image. After setting up and registering Acronis Cyber Infrastructure to
Acronis Data Cloud, it will show up as Partner-owned storage and can be selected as cloud
storage for child tenants
• Links to Amazon and Azure marketplace for VM templates of Acronis Cyber Infrastructure’s
Acronis Backup Gateway are also available from the Add backup storage download page
• Add location: Used for creating 1 or more Locations, which are logical containers to group
partner-owned storage added by parent or own tenant. Locations will show up in child
tenants if enabled in Configure Services when creating/modifying a child tenant

Settings > Branding Tab
Allow Partner Administrator(s) to customize the user interface of the management portal and
service consoles to meet corporate branding preferences:
 Available for Partner and Folder tenant types and child tenants will inherit the branding
 Customer and Unit tenant types do not have Branding settings
 Branding items includes:
 Appearance: Service name, Logo and color scheme
 Documentation and Support: URLs for Home, Support, KB, Management Portal
administrator’s guide and help, Support phone number
 Legal: URLs for EULA and platform terms
 Upsell: URL for Buy button
 Mobile apps: URLs for Apple and Google app store
 Email server settings

Settings > Security Tab
Settings > Security tab allow Partner Administrator(s) to configure the following:
 Logon Control (disabled by default):
 Used to limit logon to the web interface to specific IP addresses
 Allowed IP addresses will typically be the external IP address of the organization, check
with ISP
 Recommended to verify settings using a dummy child tenant as setting the wrong IP
address will result in all user accounts being unable to login to the web interface
 Allow administrators from parent tenant to manage this tenant (enabled by default):
 Used to limit access to the tenant hierarchy by parent tenant

 If disabled, parent tenant Administrator(s) will not be able to drill down and view/modify
tenant hierarchy
 Parent can still modify tenant properties such as offerings as well as disable/enable and
delete the tenant
Settings > Integration Tab
Settings > Integration tab allow Partner Administrator(s) to configure integration with a variety of
3rd party Professional Services Automation (PSA) and Remote Monitoring and Management
(RMM) systems.
Depending on the 3rd party automation system selected, the user may be redirected to download
the required packages (for installation in the PSA or RMM system) or configure integration settings
from within the Integration tab.
For more information, visit the Acronis website Support section.

4.2 Acronis Backup Management

Acronis Backup License Management
For Acronis Backup on-premise management, subscription and perpetual licenses have to be added
to the on-premise Management Server in order to be able to start backing up machines with Agents
installed.
Login to the Backup Console and go to SETTINGS > Licenses:
• Add keys: Add subscription and perpetual license keys to the Management Server
• Buy now: Open the Acronis web page to buy from a reseller or online
• Start trial: Start a 30 day trial of Acronis Backup
• Sync: Sync subscription licenses to Acronis web account
For Acronis Backup cloud deployment, licenses will be automatically synced with registered licenses
in Acronis web account.

Adding Perpetual or Subscription License Keys to Management Server
After clicking on Add keys, copy and paste the license keys, one per line, into the box and click Add.
After adding the keys, a summary of the type and number of licenses will be shown on the Licenses
page.
Acronis Backup Trial
Click on Start trial to start an Acronis Backup trial. Login with credentials of an existing Acronis web
account or create a new account. The features of an Acronis Backup trial are as follows:
• Fully functional product for 30 days, Agents can be installed on unlimited number of
machines
• Free 30-day cloud storage subscription with 1TB cloud storage
• Free technical support during the trial

• Bootable media can only perform bare metal recovery to the same machine, Universal
Restore is disabled
• Direct upgrade to licensed product without having to reinstall, simply register purchased
licenses to Acronis web account and if required, add keys to on-premise Management Server

Acronis Backup System Settings
For Acronis Backup on-premise deployment, email settings can be configured from SETTINGS >
System settings
The following email servers are supported:

• Custom: SMTP server
• Gmail: Google web-based email
• Yahoo Mail: Yahoo web-based email
• Outlook.com: Microsoft Office 365 web-based email

Depending on the Email service selected, proceed to configure the email server settings accordingly.

Acronis Backup Administrators & Units
In Acronis Backup 12.5 Advanced, multiple administrators and units can be added in the on-premise
Management Server for managing groups of machines (for backup and recovery) and plans.
There are 2 types of administrators in the Management Server:
• Organization administrators: Top-level administrators

• Unit administrators: Administrators of child Units
By default, Acronis Centralized Admins and Administrators groups are added to the
Management Server as Organization administrators.
Other users and groups (local and domain) can be added as either Organization or Unit
administrators.
Note: When the Management Server is installed on a machine, a user group, Acronis Centralized
Admin is created. On a domain controller, the group is named DCNAME $ Acronis Centralized
Admin where DCNAME is the NETBIOS name of the domain controller. Thereafter, all members
of the Administrators group are added to the Acronis Centralized Admin group. On a domain
controller, the Administrators group itself is added to Acronis Centralized Admins group.
Organization is the built-in top-level tenant and all other tenants a.k.a Units will be created under it.
Units can be nested and are usually created to mimic the business or IT structure of the organization
so that administration can be easily delegated.
Users and groups (Local Users and Groups and Domain Users and Groups if in AD domain) can be
added as Unit administrator of 1 or more Units and can manage anything within their own as well as
all child Units.

However, Unit administrators cannot add other administrators or Units as only Organization
administrators can view the Settings > Administrators section. Hence only Organization
administrators can add/edit/remove units and administrators.
Note: Besides Settings > Administrators, there are other menus/actions that are only visible to
Organization Administrators such as License Management, Data Catalog, Active Protection
Plan and System Settings.
After creating Units and adding Unit or Organization administrators, Organization and Units can be
populated with machines by:
• An Organization or Unit administrator logging in to the Backup Console and selecting the
appropriate Unit (including Organization) before clicking Add and performing remote
installation. If there is only a single Unit, i.e., no other Units have been created, the Unit
selector will not be visible
• When installing Agents locally, the administrator provides their credential and the machine is
added to the Unit managed by the administrator. If the administrator manages multiple
Units, the installer prompts to choose a unit to which the machine will be added

Acronis Backup Monitoring & Reporting

Dashboard
The Dashboard can be used to monitor and display the state of the backup infrastructure in real-
time.
Currently only available for Acronis Backup on-premise management and will be available for cloud-
based management in future updates.
Level of functionality depends on Acronis Backup license:
• Acronis Backup Standard: Reports not available and limited functionality for Dashboard
• Acronis Backup Advanced: Reports available and full functionality for Dashboard
In order to show the Dashboard and Reports menus, installation of the Monitoring Service
component is required.
The following are operations available for Dashboards:
• Open full screen view which is useful for displaying the Dashboard on large screens
• Send as email as Excel or PDF file
• Download as Excel or PDF file

The Dashboard consists of a number of customizable widgets that are automatically refreshed every
2 minutes. Other widgets can be added and removed and there’s not limit to the number of widget
that can be added.
Widgets are WYSIWYG, i.e., they can be freely moved around and placed in any layout, and includes
1 or more filters to reflect different parts of the environment.
Widgets have clickable elements that enables investigation and troubleshooting of issues.
To add a widget, click on the Add widget button.
The following are the types of widgets that can be added:
• Pie Charts: Show Status, Storage or Activity Type

• Tables: Show Devices, Protected Devices, Locations Summary, Daily Activities, Alerts, Plans,
Backups, Licenses, Assigned Licenses, Tape Activities or Activities Summary
• Graphs: Monthly Storage Usage or Usage of Storages
• Bar Charts: Activities
• Lists: Active Alerts, Alerts Summary, No Recent Backups, Not Protected, Used Advanced
Licenses, Used Standard Licenses

Reports
Reports can be used to generate on-demand and scheduled reports about the state of the backup
infrastructure. Acronis Backup Advanced license is required as well as installation of the Monitoring
Service.
Reports are widget-based similar to Dashboards and can include any set of dashboard widgets. Pre-
defined and custom reports are available and reports can be sent via email and/or downloaded on a
schedule as Excel and/or PDF file.
The following are possible operations with reports:

• Open: Open a selected report for WYSIWYG editing
• Send Now: Send the selected report immediately via email
• Download: Download the selected report immediately
• Schedule: Allows sending and/or downloading of selected report on schedule

• Clone: Clone an existing report

• Export: Allows exporting of report structure as .json file in case of migration or reinstallation
of the Management Server
• Import: Allows importing of .json file for re-creating a report structure
• Rename: Rename selected report
• Delete: Delete selected report
The following are possible operations after opening a report:

• Add widget: Add widgets to customize a report
• Dump data: Save a dump of the report data as .csv file. Dump includes all of the report data
without any filtering for a custom time range
• Reporting Time Range: Select from 1, 7, 30 days as the time range for the report

Acronis Backup Alerts
Alerts have been improved to indicate not only backup status but other states (conditions/situations)
that might potentially cause data loss such as Active Protection service not working which is classed
as a Critical alert.
Alerts are classified into 3 levels of severity with respective symbols:
• Critical, Error and Warning, e.g., Backup is cancelled
Status of a machine will show the highest level severity for the machine if there’s more than 1 alert.
Additionally, the severity of an alert can be changed from its pre-defined severity:
• E.g., Backup status unknown which by default is a Warning can be changed to Critical if you
are only backing up mission critical servers and they should never go offline
To change the severity of an alert, edit the alerts.config file in the following locations with a text
editor:
• Windows: <installation path>\AMS\alerts.config where by default, Management
Server installation path is %ProgramFiles%\Acronis
• Linux: /usr/lib/Acronis/AMS/alerts.config
For more information, refer to the Help file.
An Alert can be cleared manually or automatically when the next backup with the same context is
started, as well as when the underlying context has changed, e.g., machine removed from
Management Server.
An Administrator should take all remedial actions necessary to resolve the Alert.

Acronis Backup Activities
Activities menu will show a consolidated view of all backup and recovery related activities from all
machines registered on the Management Server.
List of activities can be searched and filtered as well as sorted.
With introduction of multiple Management Server Administrators and Units, Activities will also show
the account that started the activity to enable tracking and auditing.
There is a Collect system information option at the bottom of the Activities page. It can be used to
collect local system information of the on-premise Management Server, which can be used for
troubleshooting and sending to Acronis Customer Service and Support for analysis.

4.3 Lab Exercise 2

1st scenario: Rebranding the UI & enabling the Scheduled Usage Report
Cloud Acronis Hosted model. You are required to change the Branding options to reflect your
company’s corporate identity as well as enable the Scheduled Usage Report so that you can track the
consumption of your reseller partner and direct customer.
Tasks required:
1. Login to the Acronis Data Cloud Management Portal using the account provided by the
instructor
2. Click on the Branding tab for your tenant
3. Change the Logo, Color scheme and links to suit your preference
4. Reload the webpage to view the changes
5. Click on Reports and enable Scheduled reports and keep Level of detail setting on Direct
customers and partners.
2nd scenario: Starting an Acronis Backup trial

for on-premise deployment. In order to start testing backup and recovery after installing the
Management Server and Agent, you have to activate the trial for Acronis Backup.
Tasks required:
1. Login to the Backup Console
2. Click on Settings > Licenses
3. Click on Start trial and fill in your Acronis account credentials. It is recommended to use your
personal Acronis account to start the trial. If you do not have a personal Acronis account, you
can sign up for one from the Start trial page pane.


5 Backup Operations
In this module, you will learn how to plan for and configure backup and related operations for
Acronis Backup and Acronis Backup Cloud as well as understand how to setup Physical Data Shipping
and Large Scale Recovery for Acronis Backup Cloud.

1. Describe how to protect physical and virtual machines, applications, virtualization hosts,
Microsoft Office 365 and mobile devices
2. Describe and configure the settings available in a Backup Plan
3. Describe the Backup Schemes available and types of backups
4. Describe custom Device Groups and how to use them for group backup
5. Describe and configure Active Protection Plan
6. Describe and configure off-host data processing plans
7. Describe how Physical Data Shipping and Large Scale Recovery works
8. Setup Initial Seed/Large Scale Recovery service as a Service Provider offering such services
9. Install the Physical Data Shipping/Large Scale Recovery tool

Lesson: 2 hour 30 minutes
Lab: 15 minutes
Backup Operations 181


1. Backup Plans
 What is a Backup Plan
2. Planning for Backup
 How to Plan for Backup  Protecting Office 365 Mailboxes
 Protecting Applications  Protecting Mobile Devices
 Protecting VMs and Virtualization  Protecting Websites
Hosts  Deciding What to Back Up
3. Configuring Backup Plans
 How to Configure Backup Plans  Types of Backup
 What to back up  How Long To Keep (Cleanup)
 Selecting Data To Be Backup Up  Replication
 Where To Back Up  Encryption
 Secure Zone  Notarization
 Managed Locations  Conversion to Virtual Machine
 Schedule  Replication
4. Creating the Backup Plan
 Backup Plan Cheat Sheet  Creating a Dynamic Custom Group
 Creating a Backup Plan  Operations with Backup Plan
 Device Groups  Browsing Backups
 Creating a Static Custom Group
5. Backup Options
 Understanding Backup Options
6. Other Operations
 Protecting Against Ransomware  Creating a Validation Plan
 Off-Host Data Processing  Creating a Cleanup Plan
 Creating a Replication Plan  Creating a Conversion to VM Plan
7. Physical Data Shipping and Large Scale Recovery
 Understanding Physical Data Shipping  Recommendations for Setting Up
& Large Scale Recovery PDS/LSR Service
 Installing IS/LSR Tool
 Lab Exercise 3: Creating a file-level backup, Creating a disk-level backup
182 Backup Operations

5.1 Backup Plans

What is a Backup Plan
Backups in Acronis Backup and Acronis Backup Cloud are created via Backup Plans. A backup plan is
a set of rules that specify how the selected data will be protected on a machine.
A backup plan can be applied to multiple machines at the time of its creation or later. When applied
to a machine, the backup plan is registered on the Management Server and the backup script is
deployed to the Agent. After the script is deployed, the Agent will execute it according to the
schedule.

5.2 Planning for Backup

How to Plan for Backup
When planning for backup, you need to understand your data environment and what needs to be
backed up, e.g., for recovery and/or for archival purposes:
• Entire machine/disks/volumes/VMs or individual files/folders/databases?
• Application-aware backup and need for granular recovery?
• Regulatory/audit compliance? Legal obligations?
• Size of data and length of backup window?
Thereafter determine the backup strategy (retention period and replication?) and most suitable type
of storage for storing and retrieving the backup
• D2D2D (local or network folder) or D2D2C
• Local, network storage and/or cloud? Staging to cloud for replication or archival?
Afterwards, determine the Recovery Point Objective (RPO) and Recovery Time Objective (RTO) for
each service/system to be backed up.
• RPO or frequency of backup is determined based on maximum acceptable loss of data in case
of a service disruption or outage
• RTO or maximum time allowed for recovery is determined based on avoiding unacceptable
consequences associated with a service disruption or outage
To keep things simple, you can use revenue or cost per hour as a guide. If you want to be more
comprehensive, other factors can be considered such as type of workload, size of data and rate of
change of data
One of the best practices for backup is to have multiple versions of your backup, i.e., follow the 3-2-1
rule. This will allow you to:
• Eliminate single point of failure
• Leverage on different types of storage for maximizing capacity and performance vs. price
When implementing the 3-2-1 rule, it is important that you align with backup needs (recovery or
archival), backup strategy and RTO/RPO requirements to maximize utility and ROI.
Finally, to have a holistic approach to data protection, formulate and document a disaster recovery
plan for each service and an overall business continuity plan. Test and review often to ensure that
your data protection is up to date.

Protecting Applications
For Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft SQL servers, they can be protected in 2 ways:
• Database backup: File-level backup of the database and associated metadata
• Application-aware backup: Disk-level backup that collects associated metadata
Both database and application-aware backups can be used for:
• Recover database to live application
• Recover database as files
• Granular recovery of application items
• For Microsoft Exchange 2010 SP1 and above, Mailbox backup is also possible, backed up
mailboxes and mailbox items can be used to recover to live Exchange Server
For SharePoint farms:
• Back up all of the database servers with application-aware backup
• Back up all of the unique front-end servers and application servers with disk-level backup
• Backups of all servers should be performed using the same schedule
For domain controllers, application-aware backup can be used and if a domain controller contains
more than 1 domain controller, the backed up AD databases can be manually restored (non-
authoritative restore) and USN rollback will not occur.
For Oracle Databases on Windows and Linux:
 Application-aware backup: Disk-level backup of the entire server and associated application
metadata
 Oracle database and OS must be installed on file systems supported by Acronis Backup
• Database backup: File-level backup (a.k.a. RMAN backup) of the Oracle database and
Archived Logs with RMAN scripts (provided and installed together with Agent for Oracle on
Windows/Linux)
 RMAN scripts are provided and parameters in the scripts can be customized
 In Windows: %ProgramFiles%\Acronis\Oracle
 In Linux: /usr/lib/Acronis/Oracle
• Refer to http://dl2.acronis.com/u/pdf/AcronisBackup_12.5_OracleBackup_whitepaper.pdf or
Appendix for details
• Oracle database on raw partitions and Oracle Automatic Storage Management (ASM)
volumes can be backed up
Comparison of application-aware and database backup of Oracle Databases:
Comparison Server Backup Database Backup
RTO in case of entire server failure Less More

Run as virtual Oracle Server (Run as

Yes, on ESXi or Hyper-V hosts No
VM)
Support for raw partitions/ASM No Yes
Support for databases spread over

Yes Yes
several volumes
Backup is fully configured in the Necessary to configure separate

Ease of use GUI, knowledge of RMAN not backup plans for full backup of
necessary database and archive logs
Pre-requisites:
For Microsoft SQL, ensure that:
• At least 1 Microsoft SQL server instance is started
• SQL Server Browser Service and TCP/IP protocol is enabled
• SQL writer for VSS is turned on
For Microsoft Exchange, ensure that:
• Microsoft Exchange Information Store is started
• Windows PowerShell is installed, for Exchange 2010 and above, PowerShell must be at least
v2.0
• Microsoft .NET framework is installed: For Exchange 2007, .NET must be at least v2.0, for
Exchange 2010 and later, .NET must be at least v3.5
• Exchange writer for VSS is turned on
On a domain controller, ensure that:
• Active Directory writer for VSS is turned on
For Oracle Database:
 On Windows, Oracle VSS writer must be installed (happens by default for supported Oracle
versions) and backup option, Volume Shadow Copy Service is enabled
 On Linux, Backup option, Multi-volume snapshot is enabled
Additionally, for application-aware backup, when creating a backup plan, ensure that for What to
back up, Entire machine is selected as Application backup section will only show up if Entire
machine is selected for backup.
For database backup, select the desired database or folder to be backed up from Devices >
Microsoft Exchange/SQL/Oracle.
Application-aware and database backup requires either:
• For agent-based/guest-level backup of physical machines/virtual machines:

 Agent for Windows/Linux + Agent for Exchange/SQL/Active Directory/Oracle is installed

on the physical or virtual machine
• For agentless backup of VMware VMs:
 Agent for VMware (Virtual Appliance or Windows) is installed for the ESXi host with VMs
to be backed up
 VMs have to meet the requirements for application-consistent quiescing (refer to
VMware KB: https://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-
60/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.vmware.vddk.pg.doc%2FvddkBkupVadp.9.6.html)
 VMware Tools is installed and up-to-date
 UAC has to be disabled on Windows-based VMs, if not, a built-in domain administrator
credentials have to be specified when enabling application backup
Exchange and SQL transaction logs are truncated after each successful backup
Note: Microsoft SQL Server does not allow log truncation for databases that do not have native full
backups. Therefore, create a native SQL full backup of the database at least once in order for
Acronis Backup to be able to truncate SQL logs after application-aware or database backup.
See http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms187510.aspx for more information.
Exchange Cluster Support

• DAG is supported for Exchange Server 2010 and above, other clustering configurations are
not supported
• Agent for Windows + Agent for Exchange must be installed on each node of the Exchange
cluster
• Configure Backup option > Cluster backup mode
SQL cluster support:

• AAG is supported for SQL Server 2012 and above, other cluster configurations are not
supported
• Agent for Windows + Agent for SQL must be installed on each node of the WSFC cluster
• Configure Backup option > Cluster backup mode
Protecting VMs and Virtualization Hosts

For VMware:
In addition to being able to backup ESXI VMs, ESXi configuration can also be backed up which allows
recovery of an ESXi host to bare metal. Backup of ESXi configuration includes:
• Bootloader and boot bank partitions of the host
• Host state (configuration of virtual networking and storage, SSL keys, server network settings
and local user information)
• Extensions and patches installed or staged on the host

• Log files
Pre-requisites:
• SSH must be enabled in the Security Profile of the ESXi host configuration
• Password for the “root” account on the ESXi host to be backed up
For Hyper-V:
In addition to backing up Hyper-V VMs, the entire Hyper-V server (including VMs) can be backed up
with Agent for Windows via disk-level backup:
• Requires Hyper-V Integration Services to be installed and updated on the VMs
• Hyper-V VSS writers must be working (check using vssadmin list writers)
For Citrix, REHV, Linux KVM, Parallels, Oracle VMs

VMs can be backed up from inside guest OS (agent-based/guest-level backup) the same as physical
machines
For Windows Azure and Amazon EC2:

Azure and EC2 VMs can be backed up with Agent for Windows/Linux. Backup (and recovery)
operations are the same as physical machines
Protecting Office 365


Microsoft Office 365 can be backed up as follows:

• Using Local Agent:
 Install Agent for Office 365 on a Windows machine
 Supports backup of Office 365 Exchange Online mailboxes to local, network and cloud
storage
• Using Cloud Agent:
 No installation required, add Microsoft Office 365 for Business from Add button in cloud
console, Agent is deployed in Acronis Cloud
 Supports backup of Office 365 Exchange Online mailboxes, OneDrive for Business and
SharePoint Online sites
• Requires Global Administrator role credentials
Feature Local Agent Cloud Agent
Exchange Online: user, shared, and

group mailboxes
OneDrive: user files and folders
Data items that can be backed Exchange Online: user and shared
up mailboxes SharePoint Online: classic site
collections, group (team) sites,
communication sites, individual
data items
Backup of archive mailboxes

No Yes
(In-Place Archive)
Backup Schedule User-defined Once a day (cannot be changed)
Cloud Storage, local folder,

Backup Locations Cloud Storage only
network folder
Yes, by applying a backup plan to

Automatic Protection of new
No the All users, All groups or All sites
Office 365 users, groups, sites
groups
Protecting more than one

No Yes
O365 organization
Granular recovery Yes Yes
Recovery to another user

Yes Yes
within one organization
Recovery to another
No Yes
organization
Recovery to an on-premise
No No
Microsoft Exchange Server

Protecting more than one

No Yes
O365 organization
Limitation:
• Automatic creation of users, groups or sites during recovery is not possible, e.g., to recover a
deleted SharePoint Online site, first create a new site manually and then specify it as the
target site during a recovery
Protecting Mobile Devices
What can be backed up:

• Contacts
• Photos
• Videos
• Calendars
• Text messages (Android only)
• Reminders (iOS only)
Mobile devices can be backed up to cloud storage only. If SD card is present, data stored on the card
is backed up as well. Backed up data can be accessed and transferred to any mobile device with the
app installed.

When the app is opened, a summary of data changes will be shown and a backup can be started
manually. For recovery, latest data can be recovered via the app while older versions can be
recovered as files from the Backup Console. Retention is not applied to mobile device backups; older
backups have to be manually deleted if storage quota is exceeded.
Protecting Websites
A website can be backed up via SFTP or SSH protocol, no Agent installation required. The following
content can be backed up:
• Website content files:
 All files accessible to the account specified for SFTP or SSH connection in the Backup Plan
• Linked databases (if any) hosted on MySQL servers:
 All databases accessible to the specified MySQL account in the Backup Plan
Both website content and databases (if any) should be backed up to enable consistent recovery
Limitations:
• Websites can only be backed up to cloud storage
• Each website must have its own Backup Plan (1 Backup Plan per 1 website) as a Backup Plan
cannot be applied to multiple websites
• Backup options are not applied

Deciding What to Back Up

What can be recovered depends on the type of backup created. Use the tables below to help
determine what to back up.
What to back up What can be recovered
‒ Entire machine
‒ 1 or more disks and volumes
‒ 1 or more files and folders
Entire machine
‒ 1 or more database to live Exchange/SQL server
‒ 1 or more Exchange/SQL databases as files
‒ Granular recovery to live Exchange/SQL server

Disks/volumes
Files/folders (physical machines only) ‒ 1 or more files and folders
ESXi configurations (ESXi hosts only) ‒ ESXi configuration to bare metal
‒ 1 or more website files and folder

Website (files and MySQL databases)
‒ 1 or more SQL (MySQL) databases
‒ 1 or more mailbox to live Exchange server

Exchange mailboxes
‒ Granular recovery to live Exchange
Office 365 mailboxes, OneDrive for ‒ Granular recovery to live application

Business and SharePoint Online sites ‒ Granular recovery as files

What can be recovered
From From From

Application database backup application-aware backup disk-level backup
‒ Database to live ‒ Entire machine ‒ Entire machine

Exchange ‒ Database to live
Microsoft ‒ Database as files Exchange
Exchange Server ‒ Granular recovery to ‒ Database as files
live Exchange ‒ Granular recovery to
live Exchange
‒ Database to live SQL ‒ Entire machine ‒ Entire machine

Microsoft instance ‒ Database to live SQL
SQL Server ‒ Database as files instance
‒ Database as files

instance ‒ Database to live SQL
Microsoft
‒ Database as files instance
SharePoint
‒ Granular recovery ‒ Database as files
database servers
using ASPE ‒ Granular recovery
using ASPE
Active Directory ‒ Entire machine

Domain Services

5.3 Configuring Backup Plans

How To Configure Backup Plans
Before configuring a Backup Plan, think about the following:

• Determine which are the machine(s) with data to be backed up
• Ensure backup destination has sufficient free space

Plan and decide:
• What to back up: Entire machines, disk/volumes, files/folders, ESXi configuration?

• Where to back up: Cloud, Local, Network storage? Physical Data Shipping?
• Schedule: Backup scheme – monthly, weekly, daily, hourly?
• How long to keep: Retention rule – By backup age, By number of copies?
• Replication: Enable replication? From where to where?
• Encryption: Turn on AES encryption for backups?
• Backup options: Email notification, Error handling, Pre/Post commands?

What To Back Up
Options available depends on the machine selected and installed Agent(s):

• Entire machine: All disks and volumes on the machine will be backed up with option of
enabling application-aware backups
• Disks/volumes: Enables 1 or more disks/volumes to be selected
• Files/folders: Enables 1 or more files/folders to be selected
• ESXi configuration: ESXi configuration will be backed up
• Exchange database: Enables 1 or more Exchange database to be selected
• SQL database: Enables 1 or more SQL database to be selected
• Exchange mailboxes: Enables 1 or more Exchange mailbox to be selected
• Office 365 mailboxes: Enables 1 or more Office 365 mailbox to be selected

When Entire machine is selected, APPLICATION BACKUP section becomes available.

Disabled by default, Enable to select desired application for application-aware backup:
• Additional credentials may be required
• Machine has to meet requirements for application-aware backups
• If any requirements are not met, error messages will be shown to assist in meeting the
requirements
Selecting Data To Be Backed Up

To backup certain types of data, select the machine from the appropriate built-in group.
What to back up Select machine from Required Agent Required Credentials
Entire machine
Agent for respective Administrator or root
Disks/volumes DEVICES > All devices
platform credentials
Files/folders
Agent for VMware

(Virtual Appliance) Credentials of the “root”
ESXi configuration DEVICES > All devices
Agent for VMware account on the ESXi host
(Windows)

Member in Exchange
Exchange databases DEVICES > Microsoft Agent for Windows + Administrators role group or
Exchange mailboxes Exchange Agent for Exchange Member in Organization
Management group
Credentials of an account
belonging to Backup Operators
DEVICES > Microsoft Agent for Windows + or Administrators group and
SQL databases
SQL Agent for SQL member of sysadmin role for
each SQL instance to be backed
up
Credentials of Global
Office 365 mailboxes DEVICES > Office 365 Agent for Office 365
Administrator for Office 365
For Disks/volumes and Files/folders, data to be backed up can be selected either Directly or by
Using policy rules:
• Directly: Tick items to be backed up, suitable for selecting multiple disparate items for
backup
• Using policy rules: Rules are available to select items to be backed, suitable for selecting
similar items across multiple machines for backup

For ESXi configuration, Exchange databases, SQL databases and Office 365 mailboxes, data to be
backed up can only be selected directly:
• Directly: Go to relevant DEVICE category, e.g., DEVICE > VMware > Hosts and clusters, and
tick items to be backed up
Select items directly:

• Disks/volumes: 1 or more disks or volumes can be selected
• Files/folders: 1 or more local or network files and folders can be selected
• ESXi configuration: 1 or more ESXi host can be selected
• Exchange database: 1 or more Exchange Storage groups or Databases can be selected
• SQL databases: 1 or more SQL Instances or databases can be selected
• Exchange mailboxes: 1 or more Exchange mailboxes can be selected
• Office 365 mailboxes: 1 or more Office 365 mailboxes can be selected
Using policy rules:

• Disks/volumes: Conditional rules such as [All volumes], [Fixed volumes] for volumes on SCSI,
ATAPI, ATA, SSA, SAS and SATA devices and on RAID arrays, [BOOT+SYSTEM] for system and
boot volumes, etc. and specific rules such as C:\, /dev/hda1, etc.
• Files/folders: Conditional rules such as [All Files], [All Profiles Folder] and
%PROGRAMFILES% and specific rules such as C:\Users, /home, or otherwise type in a
file/folder path such as /dev/hda1/file.txt
When a backup plan using policy rules is applied to multiple machines and no data matches at least 1
of the rules, backup will fail on that particular machine.

Where To Back Up
Cloud Storage
• Backups will be stored in Acronis or partner data center
Local folders
• Backups will be stored locally on the machine being backed up such as internal/external HDD
or removable media
Network folder and NFS folder
• Backups will be stored on SMB or NFS shares accessible from the machine being backed up
Storage Node
• Backups will be stored on managed locations
Secure Zone
• Backups will be stored in a secure partition on the local disk of the machine being backed up
SFTP
• Backups will be stored on a SFTP server
Tape
• Backups will be stored on tapes in a tape pool

Secure Zone
Secure Zone is a secure partition that can be created on a local disk of the machine being backed up:
• Offers a cost-effective and handy method for protecting data from software malfunction,
virus attack and human error
• Eliminates the need for a separate media or network connection to backup/recover data
• Can be used as a “staging” storage prior to replication of backups
Limitations:
• Cannot be created on a Mac
• Does not protect against physical failure of the local disk
• Does not support single-file backup format
To create a Secure Zone, perform the following steps:
• Go to Details > Create Secure Zone and click Select to select a local disk on which to create
the secure zone
• Enter the Secure Zone size or drag the slider
• [Optional] Enable Password protection switch and specify a password
• Click Create
Creating a Secure Zone will change the layout of the volumes on the disk and will require a reboot if
space is taken from existing volumes:
• Secure Zone will always be created at the end of the disk and unallocated space will be used if
any to create the new volume
• If there isn’t any unallocated space or if it’s insufficient, free space from existing volumes will
be taken instead to create the new volume resulting in existing volumes being resized
Managed Locations
To create a managed location, a Storage Node is required. Managed locations allows for the
following:
• Deduplication
• Encryption
• Cataloging (requires Catalog Service)
• Multiple machines to back up to a Tape device connected to a Storage Node

To create a managed location, do the following:

1. Click Storage Node
2. In Name, specify a unique name for the managed location
3. [Optional] If only 1 Storage Node is registered on the Management Server, skip this step.
Otherwise select the Storage Node that will manage the location
4. Enter the full path to the folder in the Path field
5. Click Done to allow the software to check the access to the specified folder
6. [Optional] Enable Deduplication and enter or browse to the path for the Deduplication
database
7. [Optional] Enable Encryption, enter the password (case-sensitive) and select the desired AES
encryption algorithm. Managed location encryption is transparent to end-users (Agents) and
any malefactor that tries to access the storage directly will not be able to decrypt the
contents without access to the Storage Node.
8. [Optional] If only 1 Catalog Service is registered with the Management Sever, skip this step.
Otherwise select the desired machine to catalog backups stored in the location
9. Click Done to create the managed location

Schedule
When backing up to cloud storage:

• Schedule by time: Choose from Hourly, Daily, Weekly, Monthly scheduling
• Schedule by events: Choose from an event to start the backup
• First backup will be full, subsequent backups will be incremental
When backing up to local storage:
• Choice of Backup scheme: Always incremental (single-file), Always full, Weekly full, Daily
incremental, Monthly full, Weekly differential, Daily incremental (GFS), Custom
• Schedule by time: Choose from Hourly, Daily, Weekly, Monthly scheduling or pre-defined,
depending on the backup scheme chosen
• Schedule by event: Choose from an event to start the backup
• Start conditions: Choose from available conditions

Backup schemes:
• Always incremental (single-file): First backup full, subsequent backups incremental, uses new
single-file format
• Always full: All backups are full
• Weekly full, daily incremental: Monday full (can be changed in Backup options), other days
incremental
• Monthly full, Weekly differential, Daily incremental (GFS): Mondays to Fridays incremental,
Saturdays differential, 1st day of the month full
• Custom: Specify schedules for full, incremental and differential backup
• For Acronis Backup 12.5 on-premise management, depending on backup location and
whether the location contains backup files from previous versions of Acronis Backup, backups
may be stored as Version 12 (.tibx) or Version 11 (.tib) backup format

Schedule by time:
• Monthly: Run on a monthly recurring basis with choice of selecting days of month or days of
week to perform backup
• Weekly: Run on a weekly recurring basis with choice of selecting days of week to perform
backup
• Daily: Run on a daily recurring basis with choice of selecting every day or Monday to Friday to
perform backup
• Hourly: Run on an hourly basis with choice of every x hours, range of time and days of week
to perform backup
• A date range can be specified for all of the above types of schedule

Schedule by events:
• Upon time since last backup: Specify time since completion of last successful backup within
the same backup plan
• When user logs on/logs off the system: By default, logging on/off of any user will initiate the
backup, can be changed to specific user account
• On system startup, on system shutdown: Backup will be initiated upon system
startup/shutdown
• On Windows Event Log event: Backup will be initiated upon specific Windows Event, Event
Log, Source, Type and ID can be configured

Start conditions:
• User is idle: When screen saver is active or when machine is locked
• Users logged off: Enables putting backup on hold until all users have logged off from the
machine
• Fits the time interval: Restricts backup to a specific interval
• Save battery power: Prevents a backup if the device is not connected to a power source
• Do not start when on metered connection: Prevents a backup if the device is connected to
the Internet using a connection that is set as metered in Windows
• Do not start when connected to the following Wi-Fi networks: Prevents a backup if the
device is connected to any of the specified wireless networks
• Check device IP address: Prevents a backup if any of the device IP addresses are within or
outside of the specified IP address range
• Backup options > Backup start conditions can be configured to further define behavior of
Start conditions such as, Wait until conditions from schedules are met, Start backup anyway
after x hours or Skip the scheduled backup
• If more than 1 condition is selected, all selected conditions must be met simultaneous before
backup will start

Types of Backup
Full Backup
Stores all data selected for the backup and forms the base for subsequent incremental and
differential backups.
Incremental Backup
Stores the changes to the data since the most recent backup.
Creates a “chain” of backups, requires the corresponding full + all subsequent incremental backups
to restore data.
Differential Backup
Stores changes to the data since the most recent full backup.
Creates “links” to the full backup, requires corresponding full + differential to restore data.

How Long To Keep (Cleanup)
By backup age (default):

• Specify how long to keep backups created by the backup plan
By number of backups:
• Specify the maximum number of copies to retain
By total size of backup:
• Specify maximum total size of backups to keep, not available with Always incremental (single-
file) backup scheme
Keep backup indefinitely:
• Do not delete backups
Start cleanup:
• After backup or Before backup

By Backup Age
For cleanup by backup age, by default, backups are grouped into monthly, weekly, daily and hourly
sets:
• Monthly set: 1st backup created after a month starts
• Weekly set: 1st backup created on the day specified in Backup option > Weekly backup which
by default is Monday
• Daily set: 1st backup created after a day starts
• Hourly set: 1st backup created after an hour starts
• E.g., Keep 6 months, 4 weeks, 7 days = keep 1st backup created every month for last 6
months including current month, keep Monday backup created every week for last 4 weeks
including current week, keep the 1st backup created every day for last 7 days including
current day
• If switched to single rule for all backup sets, backups will be retained based on Monthly, e.g.,
Keep 7 months = keep all backups created for last 7 months including current month
Depending on the backup format used, cleanup behavior will be different:
• For Version 11 backup format which stores backups as individual files – 1 .tib file for 1
backup, cleanup will delete outdated backups immediately unless there’s dependent
backups:
 Backup (typically a full backup) and subsequent dependent backups (incremental or
differential) will be marked for deletion as they become outdated and will be deleted at
once when there’s no more dependencies

 For single-file backups, backups are not deleted, instead the space taken up by outdated
backup data will be marked as free and will be overwritten by subsequent backups
• For Version 12 backup format which stores 1 chain of backup (full + all dependent
incremental or differential) as a single file – 1 .tibx for 1 chain, cleanup will mark space taken
up by outdated backup data as free (similar to single-file backups) if they reside in a single file
and delete the single file when all backups in the single file becomes outdated
The most recent backup will always be kept regardless of cleanup rules.
Backups stored on tapes that are marked for deletion are not deleted until the tape is overwritten,
after which the backup will become irretrievable.
Extra space for storage may have to be allocated as depending on cleanup behavior, outdated
backups may not be deleted immediately.
Encryption
Encryption can be enabled to encrypt backups created by a Backup Plan with AES encryption. Once
enabled, Encryption setting cannot be modified and a new Backup Plan has to be created to use
different encryption settings.
To enable, toggle the Encryption switch and specify a password and the AES algorithm to be used.

Notarization
Notarization can be enabled to notarize files being backed up.

Available for file-level backup only and not available when:
• Backup format is set to Version 11
• Backup destination is Secure Zone or a managed location with deduplication or encryption
enabled
To enable, toggle the Notarization switch.

Conversion to Virtual Machine
Disk-level backups can be converted into a virtual machine as part of a Backup Plan and conversion
can be configured after backup or after replication.
Requires Agent for VMware or Hyper-V and corresponding host:
• Agent for VMware/Hyper-V must be able to access the backup file, i.e., convert from backups
stored on network locations such as network folders and managed locations or on storage
local to the Agent
To enable, toggle the Conversion switch and choose to convert to VMware ESXi or Hyper-V VM and
specify the Host and other related settings such as Datastore path, Disk provisioning mode, etc.

Replication
Up to 4 locations for replication is available in a Backup Plan. If replication is enabled, backups will be
copied to the replication location after it appears in the previous location.
Backups can be replicated from:
• Local folder, network folder, Secure Zone, SFTP, managed locations
Backups can be replicated to:
• Local folder, network folder, cloud storage, SFTP, managed locations
Replication from cloud storage and from tape is not supported.
Each replication location have its own Cleanup and Convert to VM setting and data can be recovered
from any location as backups stored in each location is independent of other locations.

5.4 Creating the Backup Plan

Backup Plan Cheat Sheet
The following table summarizes the options and settings available for each section of the Backup
Plan.
ITEMS TO
BACK UP
Selection HOW LONG TO
WHAT TO BACK UP methods WHERE TO BACK UP SCHEDULE KEEP
Cloud
Local folder
Network folder
Direct selection
Disks/volumes SFTP server* Always
Policy rules incremental
(physical machines) NFS*
File filters (single-file)*
Secure Zone*
Always full
Managed location*
Weekly full, daily
Tape device*
incremental
Monthly full,
Cloud
Weekly
Local folder
differential, Daily
Network folder incremental (GFS)
Disks/volumes Policy rules
SFTP server* Custom (F-D-I) By backup age
(virtual machines) File filters
NFS* By number of
Managed location* backups
Tape device* By total size of
backups*
Cloud Keep indefinitely
Local folder
Network folder
Files Direct selection Always full
SFTP server*
(physical machines Policy rules Weekly full, daily
NFS*
only) File filters incremental
Secure Zone*
Monthly full,
Managed location*
Weekly
Tape device* differential, Daily
incremental (GFS)
Local folder
Custom (F-D-I)
Network folder
ESXi configuration Direct selection
SFTP server
NFS*

Exchange Databases Cloud

Always full By backup age
Local folder
Weekly full, daily By number of
Network folder
incremental backups
SQL Databases Managed location*
Custom (F-D-I) By total size of
Tape device backups*
Direct selection
Keep indefinitely
Exchange Mailboxes Cloud
Always
Local folder
incremental By number of
Network folder backups
Office 365 Mailboxes (Single-file)
Managed location* Keep indefinitely
* Certain limitations applies, refer to the Help file for more information

Creating a Backup Plan

1. Browse from available Device built-in groups to locate the machine, Exchange database
(including DAG), Exchange mailbox, SQL database (including AAG) or Office 365 mailbox to
backup
2. Select the desired device and click Backup
3. Select WHAT TO BACK UP and optionally, APPLICATION BACK UP

4. Select WHERE TO BACK UP and specify the backup destination
5. Select SCHEDULE and specify the backup schedule
6. Select HOW LOG TO KEEP and specify desired retention
7. Optionally enable and specify the following:
 ENCRYPTION
 NOTARIZATION
 CONVERT TO VM
8. Replication to 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th location
9. Click Create

10. After the Backup Plan is created, you can see when is the next backup as well as manually
start the backup by clicking on RUN NOW and optionally select to run Full, Incremental,
Differential backup (if configured in the backup plan)
Existing Backup Plan

When selecting a device without any applied Backup Plan or when creating a new Backup Plan,
existing Backup Plans (for other devices if any) will be shown
These plans can be selected and applied to the device easily and rapidly with minimal modifications

Device Groups
Device groups are designed for convenient management of large numbers of machines registered on
the Management Server.
Management Server comes with the following built-in groups:
• Once a machine is added/registered to the Management Server, it will appear in the built-in
group(s) that correspond to its type, e.g., Exchange server will appear in the Devices >
Microsoft Exchange built-in group
Besides built-in groups, administrators can create custom groups:
• Groups that are manually created within a built-in group and can be nested
• Used for grouping similar machines of the same type for backup
• A machine can be a member of more than 1 custom group
Types of custom groups:

• Static groups: Contains machines that were manually added to them, membership never
changes unless explicitly added or removed from the group
• Dynamic groups: Contains machines added automatically according to the search criteria
specified when creating the group, membership updated automatically based on machines
that meet the criteria
Backup Plans can be applied to a group:
• New devices added to the group “gains” applied plans
• Devices “loses” applied plans when removed from a group but retains plans that were
applied specifically to the device
Creating a Static Custom Group

1. Click Devices and then select the built-in group which contains the machines for which to
create a group
2. Click on the gear icon next to the group and select New group or click on + New Group
3. Specify the name and optionally enter a description

4. Click OK
5. After the group has been created, machines can be added to the group by clicking on Add
devices when the group is selected
6. Backup plan(s) can be applied to the group by clicking on Group Backup when the group is
selected
Creating a Dynamic Custom Group
1. Click Devices and then select the built-in group which contains the machines for which to
create a group

2. Search for machines using the Search field, multiple search criteria and operators can be
used. Refer to the Help file for more information
3. Click Save as next to the search field
4. Specify the group name and optionally enter a description
5. Click OK
6. Backup plan(s) can be applied to the group by clicking on Group Backup when the group is
selected
Operations with Backup Plan
The following are operations possible with Backup Plans:

• Edit: Modify existing options and settings in the backup plan
• Rename: Modify the existing name of the backup plan
• Revoke: Remove the backup plan from a machine
• Delete: Revoke and remove the backup plan from the Backup Console

Browsing Backups
Backups can be browsed from the Backups menu. All locations currently in use by all backup plans
will be shown.
New locations can be added by selecting Add location. When adding a location, machine to browse
from can be specified in order to ensure that a specific machine (with appropriate agents installed) is
used to access the location, e.g., using a machine with Agent for SQL to browse backups of SQL
datbases
Operations possible:
• Show backups > Recover… and Run as VM: Recovery tasks can be created from selected
backups
• Delete: Backups can be selected and deleted from the backup location

5.5 Backup Options

Understanding Backup Options
Backup options are settings that can modify the behavior of the Backup Plan.
Availability of Backup options depends on:
• The environment the Agent operates in (Windows, Linux, OSX)
• The type of data being backed up (disk, files, VMs, application data)
• The backup destination (cloud, local or network storage)
The following pages will describe the Backup options available.

Backup Consolidation
Effective for Always full; Weekly full, Daily incremental and Custom backup schemes
Preset: Disabled
Consolidation is the process of combining 2 or more subsequent backups into a single backup.
When disabled, backups are retained until all dependent backups becomes subject to deletion.
If enabled, a backup that should be deleted during cleanup is consolidated with the next dependent
backup (incremental or differential).

Backup Validation
Validation is an operation that checks the possibility of data recovery from a backup.
Preset: Disabled
If enabled, each backup created by the backup plan is validated immediately after creation:
• Validation calculates a checksum for every data block that can be recovered from the backup.
The only exception is file-level backups that are stored in cloud storage. These backups are
validated by checking the consistency of the metadata saved in the backup
• Validation is a time-consuming process and should only be enabled for compliance purposes

Change Block Tracking (CBT)
Effective for disk-level backups of VMs and physical machines running Windows.
Preset: Enabled
Determines whether to use Change Block Tracking (CBT) when performing an incremental or
differential backup.
CBT technology accelerates the backup process:
• Changes to the disk content are continuously tracked at the block level
• When a backup is started, the changes can be immediately saved to the backup

Compression Level
Defines the level of compression applied to the data being backed up.
Available levels: None, Normal, High, Maximum
Preset: Normal
Higher compression level means the backup process takes longer but resulting backup occupies less
space.
Optimal data compression level depends on the type of data being backed up, e.g., increasing
compression level has little effect on backups of compressed file types such as .jpg, .pdf or .mp3.

Email Notification
Enables setting up email notifications about Errors, Warnings and Successful backups.
Only available in on-premise deployments, for cloud deployment, email settings are configured per
account when an account is created.
Preset: Use the default settings
Either use default settings or override with custom values that will be specific for the current Backup
Plan only.

Error Handling
Enables specifying how to handle errors that might occur during backup.
Re-attempt, if an error occurs:
• Preset: Enabled, Number of attempts: 30 (300 for backup to cloud storage), Interval
between attempts: 30 seconds
• When recoverable error occurs, agent re-attempts to perform the unsuccessful operation,
attempts will be stopped as soon as the operation succeeds or if the number of specified
attempts are performed, which ever happens first
Do not show messages and dialogs while processing (silent mode):
• Preset: Enabled
• When enabled, agent will automatically handle situations requiring user interaction, if an
operation cannot continue without user interaction, it will fail
Ignore bad sector:
• Preset: Disabled
• When disabled, each time the agent comes across a bad sector, backup activity will be
assigned the interaction required status

Fast Incremental/Differential Backup
Effective for incremental and differential disk-level backup.

Preset: Enabled
Incremental or differential backup captures only data changes.
To speed up the backup process, the agent determines whether a file has changed or not by the file
size and date/time when the file was last modified.
Disable to force the agent to compare entire file contents to those stored in the backup.

File Filters
File filters defines which files and folders to skip during the backup process.
Available for both disk-level and file-level backup.
Enter criteria for Back up only files matching the following criteria or Do not back up files matching
the following criteria.
Criteria:
• Full path: Specify the full path to the file or folder, e.g., C:\Temp\File.tmp /home/user
• Name: Specify the name of the file or folder, e.g., Document.txt
• Wildcards can be used: (*) substitutes for any number of characters and (?) substitutes for 1
character, e.g., *.log or F???.log
2 other options are available:
• Exclude hidden files and folders: Files and folders which have the Hidden attribute will be
excluded
• Exclude system files and folders: Only effective for Windows-based machines, files and
folders which have the System attribute will be excluded

LVM Snapshotting
Effective only for physical machines for disk-level backup of volumes managed by Linux Logical
Volume Manager (LVM).
Preset: By the backup software
Defines how a snapshot of a logical volume is taken.
With default setting, snapshot data is kept mostly in RAM, backup is faster and unallocated space on
the volume group is not required.
Changed to By LVM, if experiencing problems with backing up logical volumes. Snapshot will be
stored on unallocated space of the volume group. However, if unallocated space is missing, snapshot
will be taken by backup software.

Multi-Volume Snapshot
Effective only for disk-level or file-level backups on Windows-based machines.

Preset: Enabled
Determines whether to take snapshot of multiple volumes at the same time or one by one.
When enabled, snapshots of all volumes being backed up are created simultaneously.
Leave on defaults to create a time-consistent backup of data spanning multiple volumes, e.g., for an
Oracle database.
Disable only for troubleshooting purposes.

Performance
Process priority:
• Defines the priority of the backup process in the OS
• Available settings: Low, Normal, High
• Preset: Low (in Windows, corresponds to Below Normal)
• Priority of a process determines the amount of CPU and system resources allocated to that
process, increasing priority might speed up the backup process but is dependent on overall
CPU usage and other factors like disk in/out speed and/or network traffic
Output speed during backup:
• Preset: Disabled
• Enable to limit the HDD write speed (when backing up to local folder) or speed of network
transfer when backing up to network or cloud

Pre/Post Commands
Enables defining commands to be automatically executed before and after the backup procedure.
Preset: No
Can be used for: deleting temporary files from the disk before backup, configure 3rd-party anti-virus
to be started before backup, selectively copy backups to another location, etc.
Enable to configure the desired command or batch file to run before/after the backup, interactive
commands are not supported.
Enable Fail the backup if the command execution fails if the command execution is critical to
operations.

Pre/Post Data Capture Commands
Enables defining commands to be automatically executed before and after data capture (snapshot).
Preset: No
Used for suspending and resuming non VSS-aware databases or applications so that data to be
backed up can be captured correctly by the snapshot.
Enable to configure the desired command or batch file to run before/after the snapshot, interactive
Enable Fail the backup if the command execution fails if the command execution is critical to
operations.

Scheduling
Defines whether backups start as scheduled or with a delay (for multiple machines) and how many
VMs are backed up simultaneously.
Preset: Distribute backup start times within a time windows, Maximum delay: 30 minutes:
• Backup of physical machines will start with a random delay from the scheduled time up to the
maximum delay specified.
Preset: Limit the number of simultaneously running backups by:
• Option only available when backup is applied to multiple VMs, default is 2, maximum value is
10

Sector-by-Sector Backup
Effective only for disk-level backup.

Preset: Disabled
Defines whether an exact copy of a disk or volume on a physical level is created.
If enabled, all disk or volume’s sectors will be backed up including unallocated space and those
sectors without data.
Resulting backup will be equal in size to the disk being backed up with compression.
Agent will automatically switch to sector-by-sector backup when backing up drives with
unrecognized or unsupported file systems.

Splitting
Effective for Always full, Weekly full, Daily incremental and Custom backup schemes.
Preset: Automatic
Enables selecting of how a backup can be split into multiple smaller files.
With default setting, backup file will be split if it exceeds the maximum file size supported by the file
system.
For smaller file sizes, select Fixed size and enter the desired file size.

Task Failure Handling
Determines agent behavior when execution of backup plan fails.

Preset: Restart a failed task: No
If enabled, agent will try to execute the backup again. Number of attempts and Interval between
attempts can be specified.
Agents stops trying once an attempt completes successfully or when the specified number of
attempts is performed, whichever comes first.

Volume Shadow-Copy Service (VSS)
Effective only for Windows-based machines.

Preset: Enabled, Automatically select snapshot provider
Defines whether VSS provider has to notify VSS-aware applications for quiescing and snapshot,
disable only for troubleshooting purposes.
Enable VSS full-backup:
• If enabled, logs of Microsoft Exchange Server (when not using Agent for Exchange) and of
other VSS-aware applications (except for Microsoft SQL) will be truncated after each
successful backup
• Leave option disabled if Agent for Exchange or 3rd party software is used for backing up
Exchange, if 3rd-party software is used for backing up SQL or if there’s a need to keep logs of
other VSS-aware applications

Weekly Backup
Determines which backup is considered “weekly” in retention rules

Preset: Monday
A “weekly” backup is the first backup created on the selected day of the week and will be a full
backup

Windows Event Log

Preset: Disabled
Defines whether the agent will log events of backup operations to the Application Event Log of the
Windows Event Log.
Event types to log can be selected.

5.6 Other Operations

Protecting Against Ransomware
Windows-based machines can be protected against ransomware by enabling the Active Protection
Plan for desired machines.
Only 1 Active Protection Plan is available, settings apply to all machines with the plan enabled.
To minimize resources consumed by the heuristic analysis and to eliminate false positives, the
following settings can be configured:
• Trusted processes: Processes* that are never considered ransomware
• Harmful processes: Processes* that are always considered ransomware
• Folder exclusions: Folders where file change will not be monitored
Applying Active Protection Plan
1. Select the machines for which you want to enable Active Protection
2. Click Active Protection

3. [Optional] Click Edit to modify the following settings:

 ACTION ON DETECTION: Select the action to perform when detecting ransomware
activity
 TRUSTED PROCESSES: Enter processes to be trusted
 HARMFUL PROCESSES: Enter processes that are always considered ransomware
 FOLDER EXCLUSION: Enter folders to be excluded
 SELF-PROTECTION: Enable/disable self-protection
4. Click Apply

Off-Host Data Processing
Most actions that are part of a Backup Plan are performed by the Agent that performs the backup
which might put additional workload on the machine.
Certain operations such as backup replication, validation, cleanup and conversion to VM can be
separated from a Backup Plan. This provides flexibility to:
• Choose another Agent for performing these operations
• Schedule these operations for off-peak hours to minimize network bandwidth consumption
• Shift these operations outside of business hours if setting up a dedicated agent is not feasible

Creating a Replication Plan
1. Select Plan > Backup Replication and click Create Plan

2. Click Agent to select the agent that will perform the replication, selected agent must have
access to source and destination locations
3. Click Items to replicate to specify the backup or the location to replication from
4. Click Destination to specify the location to replicate to
5. [Optional]: In How to replicate, select All backups, Only full backups, or Only the last backup
6. [Optional]: Click Schedule and specify the schedule for replication
7. [Optional]: Click Retention rules and specify the retention rules for the target location
8. If backups selected in Items to replicate are encrypted, enable Backup password and provide
the encryption password
9. [Optional]: To modify the plan options, click the gear icon
10. Click Create

Creating a Validation Plan

Validation is an operation that checks the possibility of data recovery from a backup and validation
of a backup location validates all backups stored in the location.
A Validation Plan offers 2 validation methods, if both methods are selected, the operations will be
performed simultaneously:
• Calculating a checksum for every data block saved in a backup: Calculates a checksum for
every data block that can be recovered from the backup
• Exception is file-level backups stored in cloud storage, these backups are validated by
checking consistency of meta-data saved in the backup
• Checksum validation is a time-consuming process and requires access to previously created
backups
• Running a virtual machine from a backup: Only available for disk-level backups and requires
Agent for VMware or Hyper-V and corresponding host
• Agents runs a VM from a backup and then connects to VMware Tools or Hyper-V Heartbeat
Service to ensure that the OS has started successfully
• If the connection fails, Agent attempts to reconnect every 2 minutes for 5 times and if non of
the attempts are successful, the validation fails
• If more than 1 Plan is scheduled at the same time, the Agent that performs the validation
runs 1 VM at a time and as soon as the validation results becomes clear, the Agent deletes
the VM and runs the next one

1. Select Plan > Validation and click Create Plan

access to target location and if performing Run as a virtual machine validation, must be Agent
for VMware or Hyper-V
3. Click Items to validate to specify the backup or the location to validate
4. [Optional]: In What to validate, select All backups, or Only the last backup
5. [Optional]: Click How to validate and toggle the switches for Checksum verification and/or
Run as a virtual machine
6. If Run as a virtual machine validation is enabled, specify the settings for running the VM such
as Target machine, Datastore or Path, etc.
7. [Optional]: Click Schedule and specify the schedule for the validation
8. If backups selected in Items to validate are encrypted, enable Backup password and provide
the password; encrypted backups with different passwords cannot be validated in a single
plan, create separate plans instead
9. [Optional]: Click the gear icon to modify plan options
10. Click Create

Creating a Cleanup Plan
1. Select Plan > Cleanup and click Create Plan

access to destination locations
3. Click Items to clean up to specify the backup or the location to perform cleanup
4. [Optional]: Click Schedule and specify the schedule for cleanup
5. [Optional]: Click Retention rules and specify the retention rules for the target location
6. If backups selected in Items to clean up are encrypted, enable Backup password and provide
8. Click Create

Creating a Conversion to VM Plan
1. Select Plan > Conversion to VM and click Create Plan

2. Click Convert to and select the type of VM, either VMware ESXi or Microsoft Hyper-V, to
convert to
3. Click Host and specify the target host and name for the converted VM
4. Click Agent and select the Agent that will perform the conversion, selected agent must have
access to target location and must be Agent for VMware or Hyper-V
5. Click Items to convert to specify the backup or the location to perform cleanup
6. Click Datastore or Path to select the storage for the converted VM
7. [Optional] Customize Disk provisioning mode and VM settings
8. [Optional]: Click Schedule and specify the schedule for conversion
9. If backups selected in Items to convert are encrypted, enable Backup password and provide
11. Click Create

5.7 Physical Data Shipping & and Large Scale Recovery

Understanding Physical Data Shipping & Large Scale Recovery
Physical Data Shipping (PDS) is available as a new service in Acronis Data Cloud 7.8.
Note: Check Acronis KB https://kb.acronis.com/servicesbydc for Acronis Data Center availability for
Physical Data Shipping service.
Physical Data Shipping is used for Initial Seeding (IS):
• Help customers transfer large amounts of data (initial full backup) to the cloud data center
using a hard drive which is shipped to the Acronis Data Center
• After the IS backup have been uploaded by data center personnel to cloud storage,
customers can continue with incremental backups
In addition, a shipping order for tracking the hard drive to be shipped can be created with the Order
Creation Tool which can be downloaded from the Acronis Data Cloud service console.

To obtain a copy of backups in cloud storage (which can be quite large) for local recovery, Large
Scale Recovery (LSR) can be used. For LSR, Service Providers can install the IS/LSR tool:
• Download the backups to hard drive and send it to the customer
• Customer can recover locally directly from the hard drive or copy it to local/network folder
Physical Data Shipping service is currently only available for Acronis-hosted Cloud Storage. For
partner-hosted cloud storage, Service Providers can provide IS/LSR service (install the IS/LSR tool)
separately. And currently, IS/LSR is supported for backups of Windows and Linux systems, Mac is not
supported.
Acronis Backup Cloud Acronis Data Cloud 7.8

Feature
7.7 and earlier Acronis-hosted storage Partner-hosted storage
Upload data to 1 1
Using IS/LSR tool Use PDS Service Using IS/LSR tool
Cloud
Download data 1 1 1
from Cloud Using IS/LSR tool Using IS/LSR tool Using IS/LSR tool
Shipping Order
Not supported Yes Not supported
Tracking
Available for
Not supported Yes N.A.
sale/resell
Supported Drive Types

Feature Server Backup Database Backup
USB Yes Yes Yes
HDD (SATA,eSATA) Yes Yes Yes
NAS Yes No No
Typical Physical Data Shipping workflow is as follows:

1. Creates a Physical Data Shipping backup on a local hard drive by enabling the Physical Data
Shipping Backup option after selecting cloud storage for Where to back up in the Backup
Plan
2. Create shipping order using the order creation tool for Windows and Linux
3. Package the hard drive according to the instructions in the documentation
4. Send the hard drive by a shipping carrier to the Acronis Data Center, order status can be
tracked in service console
5. Acronis Data Center personnel receives the drive and uploads the initial full backup to Acronis
Cloud Storage

6. Status updated in service console and backup can continue with incremental backups
7. If return option is enabled, hard drive will be sent back to originator
Typical Initial Seeding service workflow (for Service Providers) is as follows:
1. Customer purchases the service and receives the shipping address
2. Customer creates an Physical Data Shipping backup on a local hard drive by enabling the
Physical Data Shipping Backup option after selecting cloud storage for Where to back up in
the Backup Plan
3. Customer packs the hard drive and ships the package to the partner data center
4. Service Provider uploads the Physical Data Shipping backup to the cloud storage by using the
IS/LSR tool and notifies the user that the upload is complete
5. Service Provider sends the hard drive back to the end user or securely destroys the hard drive
Typical Large Scale Recovery workflow is as follows:
1. Customer purchases the service and provides LSR token to the partner
2. Partner downloads the Customer’s backup archives to HDD
3. Partner ships HDD to Customer
4. Customer recovers data locally from backup archives by connecting the HDD to the machine
to be recovered or by copying the backup archives to a network folder
IS/LSR tool supports uploading/downloading to/from Acronis-hosted cloud storage or partner-
hosted cloud storage based on Acronis Cyber Infrastructure.
To create a Physical Data Shipping Order:
1. Choose the shipping company to use to ship the hard drive(s)
2. Attach the drive(s) with the initial backup to a machine that has an Internet connection
3. Download and run the order creation tool on this machine

4. Sign-in with Customer or Partner tenant Administrator credentials
5. Select the drive(s) to add to the order and then click Next to view the shipping address
6. Go to the shipping company’s website to input this address to create a shipping label and
obtain a tracking number. If the drive(s) are to be returned, create a pre-paid shipment label
as well
7. If you have a return shipment label, select the I enclosed pre-paid return shipment label for
returning my drives checkbox
8. Create order

Recommendations for Setting Up PDS/LSR Service

The following are recommendations for Service Providers on how to setup a PDS/LSR service for
their customers.
How to setup the PDS/LSR service Customer questions
1. Decide on licensing and pricing. Note that there 1. How is the service licensed (per machine, per
is no record of IS/LSR orders in Acronis Backup account, per backup plan, per HDD…)?
Cloud if PDS service is not used 2. Where do I purchase the service?
2. Think of the shipping procedure. We 3. Where do I register the license key?
recommend Fedex, UPS or DHL as shipping
4. What are the requirements for the Physical Data
providers. Note that Customers may want their
Shipping HDD (interface, partitioning, file
hard drives back, so you would either need a
system)?
return shipping label from them or include
5. Can I send backups taken from a number of
return shipping costs in the price of the IS/LSR
machines on a single hard drive?
service
6. What shipping company do you recommend?
3. Decide on a notification service for the
Customers. Acronis Backup Cloud does not send 7. How do I create an Physical Data Shipping
notifications upon Physical Data Shipping backup?
backup creation or upload/download 8. How do I package the HDD for shipping?
completion 9. How do I track the IS process?
4. Allocate a machine for installing the IS/LSR tool. 10. Can I suspend the backup plan execution until
You need a Windows/Linux x64 machine with at the Physical Data Shipping backup is uploaded
least 2 GB of RAM and fast Internet connection (because the incremental backups produce
to Acronis-hosted cloud storage and/or your warnings)?
partner-hosted cloud storage
11. What if I make a mistake - can I cancel the IS
5. Decide on supported hard drive types. Most process?
Customers send the Physical Data Shipping
12. How do I request Large Scale Recovery?
backup on USB hard drives. If you want to
support more hard drive types, for example 13. Can I receive backups of several machines on a
SATA/eSATA, make sure the machine is properly single hard drive?
equipped for easy hard drive connection 14. Anything else I must be aware of? For example,
6. Install IS/LSR tool on the chosen machine if the machine is moved to a different backup
account, will I have to perform IS again?
7. Test the IS/LSR process: create an Physical Data
Shipping backup and upload it to the storage,
after creating a couple of incremental backups,
download the backup archive using the IS/LSR
tool
8. Prepare a step-by-step instruction for
Customers about using the service

Installing IS/LSR Tool

In Windows
1. 64-bit Windows required, download and run python3.5 installer:

 Select Install launcher for all users and Add python 3.5 to PATH and make sure the pip
tool is also installed
2. Click on Install Now to start installation and click Close when the installation is complete
3. Open the command prompt as Administrator and run the following commands:

 python -m pip install --upgrade pip

 pip3 install --upgrade colorama colorlog pyOpenSSL
 pip3 install --upgrade -i https://pypi.corp.acronis.com/simple fes
4. Download the IS/LSR tool from the following link and unpack it:
 https://kb.acronis.com/system/files/content/2016/08/56070/IS_LSR_Tool_Build32_Wind
ows.zip
5. Install the tool by running the .msi package
In Linux
1. 64-bit RPM-based Linux required, e.g., openSUSE or Fedora, make sure python3.5, python3-
colorama, python3-pyOpenSSL packages are installed:
 Open Terminal and run pip list, to check for installed components, the following
output should be shown:
...
colorama (x.x.x)
colorlog (x.x.x)
...
fes (x.x.x)
...
pip (x.x.x)
...
pyOpenSSL (x.x.x)
...
2. If packages are not installed, install python3.5 manually, install colorama and pyOpenSSL via
pip3
3. Download, unpack and install the IS/LSR tool from:
 https://kb.acronis.com/system/files/content/2016/08/ajax/IS_LSR_Tool_Build32_Linux.zi
p
4. On CentOS 7, do the following:
 Copy the following text to /etc/yum.repos.d/acronis-ius.repo (create the
acronis-ius.repo file if necessary):
[acronis-ius]
name=IUS repository mirror
baseurl=https://eu-repo.acronis.com/public/ius/
gpgcheck=0
enabled=1
 Then execute the following commands:
yum install libffi-devel gcc openssl-devel python35u-devel
pip3 install --upgrade -i https://pypi.corp.acronis.com/simple fes
pip3 install pyOpenSSL colorama colorlog
rpm --install --nodeps InitialSeedingTool64.rpm

Uploading an Physical Data Shipping Backup

1. Connect the HDD with the IS backup to the machine where the IS/LSR tool is installed
2. Start command prompt as Administrator or Terminal as root and go to the IS/LSR tool folder
3. Execute the following command to find the IS token of the backup:
 is_info <path_to_the_backup>
4. Run the following command to upload the backup:
 is_me
5. If there are several IS backups, point to a specific backup to avoid getting an error
6. Notify the Customer once the upload is complete
Downloading Backups for Large Scale Recovery

1. Note the machine token provided by the Customer which can be viewed in the machine’s
Overview
2. Open a command prompt or Terminal to the folder where the IS/LSR tool is installed and run
the following command:
 lsr_me --username <administrator_login> <token> <path>

where <administrator_logon> is the admin account username of the Customer
Group or a parent Group
<token> is the LSR token provided by the Customer
<path> is the folder to download the backup archives to
3. When prompted, specify the password for the admin account used and the download will
start. Take note that all archives will be downloaded
4. Pack the HDD and send to Customer once downloads are complete

5.8 Lab Exercise 3

1st scenario: Creating a file-level backup

Cloud Acronis Hosted model. You are required to help your customer configure a daily backup for
the C:\Users folder.
Tasks required:
1. Login to the Acronis Backup Cloud Backup Management Portal using the account provided by
the instructor
2. Click on the Customer group created in Lab 1 and switch to the Backup Service Console from
Overview > Manage Service
3. Click on the Windows VM and configure backup as follows:
 What to back up: Files and folders: C:\Users
 Where to back up: Cloud Storage
 Schedule: Daily, Monday to Friday at 10.00pm
 How long to keep: By number of copies: 5
 Replication: Disabled
 Encryption: Enabled, set a password and select AES256
4. Once the Backup Plan has been created, run it once manually to create a backup
2nd scenario: Creating a disk-level backup

for on-premise deployment. You want to create a disk-level backup for testing various methods of
recovery.
Tasks required:
2. Click on the Windows VM and configure backup as follows:
 What to back up: Disk and volumes: C:\
 Where to back up: Disk 2: \Backup Store folder\ (create a new virtual disk if disk 2 is not
present)
 Schedule: Always Incremental (single-file), Daily, Monday to Friday at 10.00pm
 How long to keep: By number of copies: 3
 Encryption: Disabled
3. Once the Backup Plan has been created, run it once manually to create a backup

6 Recovery Operations
In this module, you will learn how to recover data and entire machines from a backup and
understand the options and settings available

1. Describe what can be recovered from different types of backups
2. Describe how to recover to Windows Azure and Amazon EC2
3. Describe how Acronis Instant Restore and VM Replication works
4. Describe the various methods available for recovering entire machines, files/folders and
application items
5. Describe the use of and create Acronis Bootable Media
6. Perform recovery via Backup Console, Bootable Media and Download Files
7. Describe the use of and perform Universal Restore
8. Describe the Recovery options available

Lesson: 2 hours 30 minutes
Lab: 15 minutes
Recovery Operations 263


1. Recovery Tasks
 What is a Recovery Task
2. Planning for Recovery
 How to Plan for Recovery  Using Acronis Instant Restore
 What Can Be Recovered  Using VM Replication
 Recovering Applications  Migration
 Recovering Windows Azure and
Amazon EC2 VMs
3. Configuring Recovery Tasks
 How to Configure Recovery Tasks  What to Recover
 Recovery Methods  Where to Recover
 Recovery Point
4. Acronis Bootable Media a.k.a Rescue Media
 Understanding Acronis Bootable  Acronis Bootable Media Advanced
Media Functions
 Creating Acronis Bootable Media
5. Creating the Recovery Task
 Recovery Cheat Sheet  Apply Universal Restore
 Recovery via Backup Console  Recovering Files
 Recovery via Bootable Media  Recovering System State
 Recovery via Download Files  Recovering ESXi Configuration
 Recovering as Virtual Machine  Run as VM
 Universal Restore  VM Replication
6. Recovery Options
 Understanding Recovery Options
 Lab Exercise 4: Performing a file-level recovery, Performing a bare metal recovery

6.1 Recovery Tasks

What is a Recovery Task
Recovery in Acronis Backup and Acronis Backup Cloud are performed via recovery tasks. A recovery
task is a set of rules that specify what and how data will be restored on a given computer.
When created from the Backup Console, a recovery task is registered on the Management Server
and the recovery script is deployed to the Agent. After the script is deployed, Agent will execute it
immediately.
When created from bootable media, the recovery task is executed immediately by the bootable
version of the Agent.

6.2 Planning for Recovery

How to Plan for Recovery
When planning for recovery, you need to understand your outage and what needs to be recovered,
e.g., RTOs and RPOs? Impact on productivity, revenues, normal operations?
• Entire machine/disks/volumes/VMs or individual files/folders/databases?
• Granular recovery of application items?
• Is Acronis Universal Restore required?
• Can Acronis Instant Restore be used?
Thereafter, determine the backups available and the most suitable location for recovery:
• From local, network or cloud storage?
• Recover to physical, virtual or cloud?
• Follow and if necessary adapt disaster recovery plan and business continuity plans to perform
recovery
What Can Be Recovered

Depending on the type of backup created, 1 or more types of data can be recovered. The table
below summarizes the types of data that can be recovered from different types of backups.
What to back up What can be recovered
‒ Entire machine
Entire machine
‒ 1 or more database to live application server
‒ 1 or more databases as files
‒ Granular recovery to live application server

Disks/volumes
Files/folders (physical machines only) ‒ 1 or more files and folders
ESXi configurations (ESXi hosts only) ‒ ESXi configuration to bare metal
‒ 1 or more mailbox to live Exchange server

Exchange mailboxes
‒ Granular recovery to live application
‒ Granular recovery to live application

Office 365 mailboxes
‒ Granular recovery as files

What can be recovered
From From From

Application database backup application-aware backup disk-level backup
‒ Database to live ‒ Entire machine ‒ Entire machine

Exchange ‒ Database to live
Microsoft ‒ Database as files Exchange
Exchange Server ‒ Granular recovery to ‒ Database as files
live Exchange ‒ Granular recovery to
live Exchange

Microsoft instance ‒ Database to live SQL
SQL Server ‒ Database as files instance
‒ Database as files

instance ‒ Database to live SQL
Microsoft
‒ Database as files instance
SharePoint
‒ Granular recovery ‒ Database as files
database servers
using ASPE ‒ Granular recovery
using ASPE
Active Directory ‒ Entire machine

Domain Services
Recovering Applications
For Microsoft Exchange
Exchange databases can recovered from database or application-aware backup.
Mailbox and mailbox items can be recovered from database, application-aware and mailbox backups
for Microsoft Exchange 2010 SP1 and above.
Recovery can be performed to original or new Exchange sever of the same version and requires
Agent for Exchange or Agent for VMware (for VMware ESXi VMs)
Target Exchange Server and machine running the Agent must belong to the same AD forest and the
following items can be recovered:
• Database and database as file
• Mailbox and mailbox contents such as Emails, Email folders, Calendar events, etc
• When recovering an entire mailbox to existing mailbox, existing items with matching IDs are
overwritten and when recovering individual items, they will appear in the Recovered items
folder

• Mailbox being recovered from backup must have an associated user account in Active
Directory and the user account must be enabled
• Shared, room and equipment mailboxes can only be recovered if their associated user
accounts are disabled
• Mailboxes that do not meet the conditions above are skipped during recovery and Warning
status will be shown after recovery
• Exchange databases that have been recovered as files will be in a Dirty Shutdown state and
additional steps have to be taken to bring it to a Clean Shutdown state before it can be
mounted to an Exchange server
For Microsoft SQL:

SQL databases can recovered from database or application-aware backup.
Requires Agent for SQL, Agent for VMware can only recover database as files.
Recover database as files can be used to recover to a machine where no Agent is installed and
thereafter the database can be attached to the SQL instance
User databases can be recovered to same or higher version of Microsoft SQL, System databases can
only be recovered to the same version
State of the database can be specified during recovery:
• Ready to use [RESTORE WITH RECOVERY] (default): Database will be ready for use after
recovery and users will have full access. All uncommitted transactions of the recovered
database will be rolled back and additional transaction logs from native Microsoft SQL
backups cannot be applied
• Non-operational [RESTORE WITH NORECOVERY]: Database will be non-operational; users
will not have access. Uncommitted transactions will be kept. Additional transaction logs from
native Microsoft SQL backups can be applied to reach desired recovery point
• Read-only [RESTORE WITH STANDBY]: After recovery, users will have read-only access to the
database. All uncommitted transactions will be rolled back. Undo actions will be saved in a
temporary file so that recovery effects can be reverted. Mainly used to detect the point in
time when a SQL Server error occurred
Recovering System databases:
• All System databases of an instance are recovered at once and destination instance will be
restarted in single-user mode when the recovery starts and after recover completes, will be
restarted again in normal mode
• System databases are always recovered in the Ready to use state
• If Master database is recovered, database that are created after the backup (recovery point)
will not appear in the target instance, these databases have to be attached to the instance
manually in order for them to be operational again and databases that have been deleted
after the backup will appear as offline in the instance and have to be deleted manually by
using SQL Server Management Studio

For Oracle Databases;

Entire server can be recovered from application-aware backup:
 Oracle server can be recovered to point-in-time of backup and if archived logs are available
for the period after the backup, recovery to later state using RMAN is possible
Oracle databases can be recovered using:
 Oracle Explorer if server is operational, e.g., minor database corruption/loss or after
recovering entire server from application-aware backup, use Oracle Explorer to recover
Oracle data to latest state or earlier point-in-time
 RMAN scripts if database backup, a.k.a. RMAN backup, is available. Can be used to used to
recover new database to state of RMAN backup, existing database to state of RMAN backup,
control file recovery, custom point-in-time recovery
 File-level recovery of database backup a.k.a. RMAN backup, if database backup is corrupted
or when RMAN scripts recovery is required to recover Oracle database to previous point in
time, i.e., recover database backup followed by RMAN scripts to recover to custom point-in-
time
Recovering DAG (Exchange cluster) and AAG (SQL cluster)

Recovering DAG or AAG requires that the DAG or AAG is backed up (not individual databases or
items).
To recover, select the clustered database for recovery from the Backup menu. Target node for
recovery will be selected automatically by the Agent when creating the Recovery Task.
For DAG, after recovery is complete, manually configure or resume replication on the cluster.
For AAG, target database to be recovered (if live) must be excluded from the AAG prior to recovery,
as a database in an AAG cannot be overwritten.
For Microsoft Office 365:

Granular recovery can be performed from Office 365 backups:
• Mailboxes and mailbox items can be recovered to Office 365, on-premise Exchange Server1,
downloaded as files or sent as email as a form of recovery
• OneDrive content can be recovered to existing OneDrive, including Sharing permissions
recovery or download as files
• SharePoint Online sites can be recovered to existing site, as document library or single
document or download as files
Cross-user and cross-organization recovery is possible with Cloud-to-Cloud backup. For backups
created with local agent, cross-organization recovery is not supported.
Backed up Office 365 content can be previewed and browsed from the backup console. There is also
a comprehensive search function to allow searching by email subject, recipient, sender and date for
emails as well as using keywords.

Recovering Windows Azure and Amazon EC2 VMs

Recovery operations are the same as physical machines except that Azure and EC2 VMs cannot be
booted from Bootable Media, hence bare metal recovery is not possible, only recovery to existing or
new VM
There are 2 ways to recover:
• Recover to existing VM:
 Create new VM from image/template in Azure or EC2 with same disk configuration as
machine to be recovered and install Agent for Windows or Linux on the new VM
 Recover backed up machine as disk-level recovery to the new VM
• Import to Azure or EC2:
 Convert backup to VMware ESXi or Hyper-V VM and export the VM as OVA file or VHD
 Import into Azure or EC2 using the import function available for the respective platform
Using Acronis Instant Restore

Disk-level backups containing an OS can be Run as VM for quick recovery:
• Virtual disks emulated from backup and does not consume space on datastore, space is only
required to keep changes to emulated virtual disks
• Can be removed (all changes will be discarded) or converted to a regular VM without
downtime
• Retention rules cannot be applied to the backups as long as the temporary VM is running,
backups of original machine (if operational) will continue to run
Acronis Instant Restore can be used for:
• Disaster recovery
• Testing of backups
• Accessing application data
Pre-requisites:
At least 1 Agent for VMware or Agent for Hyper-V must be registered on the Management Server
Run as VM can work with backups stored on:
• Local storage: For backups of VMware and Hyper-V VMs
• Network folders and cloud storage: For backups of any physical or virtual machine, backups
must be accessible by Agent for VMware or Agent for Hyper-V, performance of Run as VM
from cloud storage will not be optimal due to lots of random-access reading
• Backups must contain entire machine or all volumes required for OS to start
• Backups of physical and virtual machines except for Virtuozzo containers can be used

Using VM Replication
VM Replication is only available for VMware ESXi VMs. It creates an exact copy or replica of a VM to
the same or another ESXi host which can be maintained in sync with the original VM.
Replication can be started manually or on schedule with the 1st replication being a full copy (similar
to full backup) and subsequent replications being incremental (performed with CBT unless disabled,
for fast replication).
Replication vs. Backup:

• Replica keeps only the latest state of a VM
• Replication will consume space on datastore whereas backups can be stored on other storage
• Powering on a replica is much faster than recovery and faster than Run as VM
Replica can be used for testing and failover/failback to/from local or remote site.
The following types of VMs cannot be replicated:
• Fault-tolerant VMs on ESXi 5.5 and lower
• Run as VM
• Replicas
Migration
Machines can be migrated by recovering its backup to another machine. Such recoveries can be
performed via Backup Console or Bootable Media. The following table shows the available recovery
(migration) destinations for different types of backed up machines.
Available recovery destinations
Backed up Physical Hyper-V Azure Virtuozzo Virtuozzo

machine machine ESXi VMs VMs VMs EC2 VMs VMs Containers
Physical machine     
VMware ESXi VMs      
Hyper-V VMs      
Virtuozzo VMs      
Virtuozzo

containers

6.3 Configuring Recovery Tasks

How to Configure Recovery Tasks
Plan and decide:
• Recovery method: Via Backup Console, Acronis Bootable Media or browsing cloud storage?
• Recovery point: Date and time to recover to?
• What to recover: Entire machine, 1 or more disks/volumes, 1 or more files/folders, 1 or more
databases or 1 or more application items?
• Where to recover: Original location, custom location?
• Recovery options: Validation, Error handling, File exclusions, etc.?
Create Acronis Bootable Media:
• Used for Bare Metal Recovery with/without Universal Restore
• Used for Apply Universal Restore
Recovery Methods
Using Backup Console
• Used for live recovery of entire machines, disk/volumes, files/folders and application data
when the original machine’s OS and Agent is functional.
• Backups can be recovered by browsing DEVICES or BACKUPS
Using Bootable Media

• Used for bare metal recovery (with/without Universal Restore) to original or another
machine when the original machine’s OS or hardware is inoperable

• Requires special bootable media with bootable version of Acronis Agent to boot up the target
machine in order to run the Agent
• Bootable Media ISO can be downloaded from Recovery menu or created via Bootable Media
Builder
Extract Files from Local Backup

• Used for browsing and extracting files and folders via File Explorer in Windows from backups
stored on local folders
• Browse to folder location where backups are stored and double-click on .TIBX or .TIB file
Download Files from Cloud Storage

• Used for browsing and downloading files from backups stored in cloud storage
• Download files from cloud storage can be accessed from Recovery > More ways to recover

Recovery Point
Recovery Point is the date and time to which the backed up data can be restored. Every recovery
point represents a backup. The data and time of the recovery point refers to the exact moment of
snapshot creation, i.e., when the backup task was started.
A lock symbol next to the recovery point means that the particular backup is encrypted with a
password.
What to Recover
What can be recovered depends on what was backed up:
• Disk-level backups allows recovery at lower levels such as individual volumes, 1 or more files
and folders
• If application-aware backup was performed, application items can be recovered from the
backup
• Certain types of backups contains only specific data such as ESXi configuration backup and
can only be used for specific recovery

What to recover can be specified after selecting a recovery point and clicking on RECOVER…
Alternatively, select RUN AS VM to perform Acronis Instant Restore on disk-level backups (requires
Agent for VMware or Agent for Hyper-V and respective virtualization host).
Where to Recover
Where to recover depends on the data being recovered:
• For disk-level backups (Entire machine, Disks/volumes), recovery can be to the same or
different machine as Physical machine or to new machine as Virtual machine, i.e., convert to
VM

• For file-level backups (files/folder, Exchange/SQL databases, Office 365 mailboxes) recovery
can be to Original location or Custom location

6.4 Acronis Bootable Media a.k.a. Rescue Media

Understanding Acronis Bootable Media
Acronis Bootable media is a ISO, CD, DVD, USB flash drive or other removable media that enables
booting up of a machine and running of an Agent without an OS.
There are 3 types of bootable media:
• Linux-based: Pre-packaged bootable media with drivers for booting up machines, used for
recovering Windows and Linux-based machines
• WinPE-based: Customizable bootable media with possibility of adding drivers for bootup
during media creation, used for recovering Windows-based machines
• Mac-based: Pre-packaged bootable media with drivers for booting up Macs, can be used for
recovering Mac-based machines
Creating Acronis Bootable Media

Downloading ISO for Linux-based media:
1. Select a Windows or Linux machine from DEVICES > All devices and click on Recovery > More
ways to recover…
2. Click DOWNLOAD ISO IMAGE to download the ISO file

3. Burn onto CD/DVD or use 3rd party tools to create bootable USB flash drive
4. Alternatively, the ISO file can be used directly by attaching it to a VM
Using Rescue Media Builder for Mac-based media:

1. Insert a CD/DVD or USB flash drive to the Mac
2. Go to Applications, search for and run the Rescue Media Builder
3. Select the desired removable media and click Create

Using Bootable Media Builder:
1. Run Bootable Media Builder and click Next

2. Select I will specify the key(s) manually or Create the media without specifying a license key
(Only recovery will be available)
3. Choose the Bootable media type: Default (Linux-based media), Windows PE or Windows PE
(64-bit). Windows PE requires relevant Windows Deployment Kit to be installed
4. Select the Acronis Backup Agent to place on the bootable media
5. [Optional] Specify the settings for Remote logon, Network and Proxy Sever
6. Select the media output: Acronis PXE Server, CD/DVD, USB flash drive, ISO, RIS Server, ZIP
file
7. Create the bootable media

Acronis Bootable Media Advanced Functions
In Acronis Backup 12.5 Advanced, Management Server can be used to connect to and register a
machine booted up from a bootable media.
Bootable media can also be automated with scripts to perform automatic backup and recovery from
cloud storage, bootable media and network share.

Requires bootable media created from Bootable Media Builder:

• During bootable media creation, bootable media can be configured to automatically register
to a specific Management Server upon startup (recommended) or manually after startup
during creation
• For manual registration, bootable media can be registered from the Management Server via
the Add > Register a machine booted from bootable media or from the bootable media via
the startup window or from Tools > Register media on the management server
• For automated recovery, select Use the following script when choosing components to be
placed on the bootable media and optionally specify the script parameters (refer to the Help
file for more information) located in:
• Window: %ProgramData%\Acronis\MediaBuilder\scripts\
• Linux: /var/lib/Acronis/MediaBuilder/scripts/
• Once the bootable media is booted up on a machine, depending on the script used, the
bootable media will proceed to perform backup or recovery to the destination

6.5 Creating the Recovery Task

Recovery Cheat Sheet
The following summarizes the recovery methods available for recovering different types of data.
Download Extract files

Using Backup Using Bootable from Cloud from local
Function Console Media Storage backups
Physical machine
 
(Win/Linux)
Physical machine (Mac) 
Virtual machine
 
(VMware/Hyper-V)
Virtual machine (Virtuozzo) 
ESXi configuration 
Files/folders    
SQL databases
Exchange databases

Exchange mailboxes
Office 365 mailboxes

Recovery via Backup Console

1. Select the desired machine from DEVICES and click on Recovery or select the desired backup
from BACKUPS and click Show backups
2. Select the desired Recovery Point from the list

3. Click on RECOVER… and select type of data to recover if necessary
4. Depending on type of data to recover, browse and specify (tick) 1 or more items to recover
5. Specify target location in RECOVER TO, TARGET MACHINE, and/or TARGET DATABASE if
prompted
6. [Optional] Specify Recovery options
7. Click START RECOVERY

Recovery via Bootable Media
1. Boot up the machine with the bootable media
2. Click Manage this machine locally or Rescue Bootable Media twice, depending on media
type
3. On the Welcome screen, click RECOVER
4. Click Select data and then click Browse
5. Specify the backup location and backup to recover from
6. Select the backup to recover from to view the contents (backed up disks and volumes) of the
backup
7. Select the disk(s) and/or volume(s) to be recovered

8. After selecting the disk(s) and/or volume(s) to be recovered, it will show up under What to
recover and will be automatically mapped to available disks on the target machine:
 [Optional] Click on Clear to change the disk mapping
 [Optional] Click on Properties to change the size of the volume after it has been
recovered
9. Start the recovery
10. [Optional]: After recovery is complete, perform Apply Universal Restore if recovering to
dissimilar hardware to enable bootability for the recovered OS

Recovery via Download Files

1. Select the desired machine with the data to recover from DEVICES and click on Recovery
2. Click More ways to recover… > Download files

3. Enter the credentials of the account to which the backed up machine was assigned
4. Select the Version or date and time of the backup to browse for files/folders to recover or
use search
5. Select (tick) the items to recover and click Download
6. If a single file is selected, it will be downloaded as is, otherwise the selected data will be
archived into a .zip file
7. Select the location to save to and click Save

Recovering as Virtual Machine

In Backup Console, disk-level backups (Entire machine, Disks/volumes) of physical machines can be
recovered to:
• Physical machine (original)
• Virtual machine (convert to VM)

• Agent will automatically map the disks from the backup to the target machine. Alternatively,
click DISK MAPING to manually map the disk(s) for recovery
• Recovery of OS requires a reboot and machine will come online automatically
If recovering to Virtual machine (convert to VM), requires Agent for VMware or Agent for Hyper-V:
• VMware ESXi or Hyper-V can be selected as the target machine and Datastore for ESXi or
Path for Hyper-V can be configured as well as VM SETTINGS such as Memory, Virtual
processors and Network adapters
The following settings are available when configuring recovery to virtual machine:

• By default, the same VM will be selected for recovery

• To change to a different VM (same or different platform), click TARGET MACHINE and select
VMware ESXi, Hyper-V or Virtuozzo, requires respective Agent
• Datastore and Path settings can be configured as well as Disk mapping and VM SETTINGS
• VM will be stopped during recovery and has to be manually started after recovery.
Alternatively, use Recovery options > VM power management to automatically start the VM

Universal Restore
Acronis Universal Restore is Acronis proprietary technology that allows:
• Bare metal recovery of Windows or Linux-based systems to dissimilar hardware
• P2P, P2V, P2C, V2V, V2P, V2C, C2C, C2P, C2V migrations
• Hardware independent deployment of supported OS
Included in bootable Agent as Apply Universal Restore which will perform Universal Restore
separately on recovered OS. It is also available as a tool which can be placed on a bootable media
separately. Universal Restore can be performed multiple times without having to perform recovery
repeatedly.
Universal Restore in Windows

Preparation:
To prepare for successful Universal Restore, standby drivers for new HDD controllers and chipset.
Driver files in .inf, .sys, .oem must be extracted from .exe, .cab, .zip and placed in suitable
repository. Additionally, check and make sure drivers are accessible in bootable environment.
Universal Restore works by swapping the HAL.dll, HDD controller and network adapter drivers in
the recovered OS to match the hardware of the machine used for recovery.Universal Restore will
scan in the following locations for suitable drivers:
• Windows default driver folder (usually WINDOWS/inf) with Automatic driver search
• Removable media if Search removable media setting is turned on
• Other folders such as network folders can be added using Add folder option
Mass storage drivers to install anyway:
Used when Automatic driver search cannot locate suitable drivers any of the locations that were
specified and if a specific mass storage controller such as RAID or fiber channel adapter is required
Be careful with specifying Mass storage drivers to install anyway as mistakes will render the
recovered OS inoperable and you will have to redo the bare metal recovery.
If Universal Restore cannot find a compatible driver in the specified locations, it will display a prompt
about the problem device; choose either to Ignore or Retry after adding drivers to specified
locations to be searched
Universal Restore in Linux

Universal Restore can be used for Linux OS with kernel version 2.6.8 or later. When working in Linux,
Universal Restore updates the initial RAM disk (initrd):
• Adds modules for new hardware to initrd
• Search for necessary modules in /lib/modules
• If required modules cannot be found, records the module’s name into the log
• Original initrd is not modified and a copy is saved to the same directory with the same
filename followed by _acronis_backup.img. It can be reverted to if necessary

• Universal Restore may modify the configuration of the GRUB loader to ensure system
bootability but will never modify the Linux kernel
Applying Universal Restore to Recovered Disk
1. Click Apply Universal Restore under Actions section of the Bootable Media
2. If recovered disk has several OS, click Select… and choose the OS to apply Universal Restore
to
3. [Optional] Click Add folder to add network folders to search for suitable drivers
4. [Optional] If specific mass storage drivers such as RAID is required, click Add driver and
browse to location where the drivers are located

Recovering Files
Files/folders can be recovered to:

• Original location
• Custom location (any other local or network folder)
If recovering to original location, the following options are available:
• Overwrite existing files
• Overwrite an existing file if it is older
• Do not overwrite existing files
Recovering ESXi Configuration
ESXi configuration can be recovered using Linux-based Bootable Media to bare metal. If original ESXi
host is still connected to vCenter Server, disconnect and remove original host before recovery to
avoid unexpected behaviors during recovery.
To keep the original host, add it back to vCenter after recovery

Run as VM (Acronis Instant Restore™)
1. Select the desired machine, click Recovery and select a recovery point or Select a recovery
point from BACKUPS
2. Click RUN AS VM
3. [Optional] Click Target machine to change VM type (ESXi or Hyper-V), the host and VM name
4. [Optional] Click Datastore or Path and select the desired storage for the VM, click VM
SETTINGS to change memory and network settings, click POWER STATE to select VM power
state upon run
5. Click RUN NOW

VM should appear in Backup Console, however, such VMs cannot be selected for backup. If
connection to backup location is lost, VM will become inaccessible or even corrupted.
When done, the following actions can be taken:
• Delete the VM: Select the VM from DEVICES menu and click Delete. VM will be removed
from Backup Console as well as from vSphere or Hyper-V inventory, all changes made to data
will be lost
• Finalize the VM: Only available for ESXi VM, select the VM from DEVICES and click Finalize,
optionally, specify a new name and disk provisioning mode (default is thin)
Finalize will recover all backup contents together with changes made to the datastore used for Run
as VM, i.e., convert to a regular VM.

VM Replication
1. Select the VM to replicate and click Replication to display the replication plan template
2. [Optional] To modify the replication plan name, click default name
3. Click Target machine and select the following:
 Select whether to create a new replica and select the ESXi host and specify the new
replica name or use an existing replica of the original machine. Click OK
 [Optional] Click Schedule to change the replication schedule or disable the schedule to
run manually
 [Optional] Click the gear icon to modify replication option

4. Click Apply
After the replica is created, the following actions can be performed:
• Testing a replica: Click Test replica and Start testing to power on the replica
 A replica can be selected for testing (powered on and connected to a network) to check if
its working properly
 When finished, click Stop Testing to power down the replica and resume replication

• Failover to a replica: Click Replica actions and Failover. Select whether to connect to network
and click Start
• A failover can be initiated with a replica if the original machine suffers an outage
• While the replica is in failover state, the following actions are available:
 Stop failover: Used when original machine is fixed, replica will be powered off and
replication will resume
 Perform permanent failover to replica: Removes the “replica” flag from the VM,
replication will no longer be possible
 Failback: Used when original machine is fixed and changes made to replica is to be
recovered to original VM. Once failback is complete, replica will be powered off and
replication will resume

6.6 Recovery Options

Understanding Recovery Options
Recovery options are settings that can modify the behavior of the Recovery Task.
Availability of Recovery options depends on:
• The environment the Agent performs the recovery in (Windows, Linux, OSX or bootable
media)
• The type of data being recovered (disk, files, VMs, application data)

Backup Validation
Validation is an operation that checks the possibility of data recovery from a backup.
Preset: Disabled
If enabled, backup to be used is validated prior to recovery:
• Validation calculates a checksum for every data block that can be recovered from the backup.
The only exception is file-level backups that are stored in cloud storage. These backups are
validated by checking the consistency of the metadata saved in the backup
• Validation is a time-consuming process and should only be enabled for compliance purposes

Date and Time for Files
Effective only when recovering files.

Preset: Disabled
Defines whether to recover the files’ data and time from the backup or assign the current date and
time to the recovered files.
If enabled, files will be assigned the current date and time.

Error Handling
Enables specifying how to handle errors that might occur during recovery.
Re-attempt, if an error occurs:
• Preset: Enabled, Number of attempts: 30 (300 for backup to cloud storage), Interval
between attempts: 30 seconds
• When recoverable error occurs, agent re-attempts to perform the unsuccessful operation,
attempts will be stopped as soon as the operation succeeds or if the number of specified
attempts are performed, which ever happens first
Do not show messages and dialogs while processing (silent mode):
• Preset: Enabled
• When enabled, agent will automatically handle situations requiring user interaction, if an
operation cannot continue without user interaction, it will fail

File Exclusions
Effective only when recovering files.

File exclusions filters defines which files and folders to skip during the recovery process.
Enter criteria for Do not recover files matching the following criteria.
Criteria:
• Full path: Specify the full path to the file or folder, e.g., C:\Temp\File.tmp /home/user
• Name: Specify the name of the file or folder, e.g., Document.txt
• Wildcards can be used: (*) substitutes for any number of characters and (?) substitutes for 1
character, e.g., *.log or F???.log

File-Level Security
Effective only for recovery from file-level backups of Windows files.

Preset: Enabled
Defines whether to recover NTFS permissions for files along with the files
Disable to let files inherit the NTFS permissions of the target folder to which they are recovered to

Flashback
Effective when recovery to VM is performed by Agent for VMware, Agent for Hyper-V or Agent for
Virtuozzo.
Preset: Enabled
Flashback technology accelerates recovery of VMs by recovering only the differences between the
backup and the target. Data is compared at the block level.

Full Path Recovery
Effective only when recovering data from file-level backup.

Preset: Disabled
If enabled, full path to the file will be recreated in the target location.

Mount Points
Effective only in Windows for recovering data from file-level backups.

Preset: Disabled
Enable option to recover files and folders that were stored on the mounted volumes and were
backed up with the enabled Mount points backup option.

Performance
Defines priority of recovery process in the OS.

Available settings: Low, Normal, High
Preset: Normal
Priority of a process determines the amount of CPU and system resources allocated to that process,
increasing priority might speed up the recovery process but is dependent on overall CPU usage and
other factors like disk in/out speed and/or network traffic.

Pre/Post Commands
Enables defining commands to be automatically executed before and after the recovery procedure.
Preset: No
Can be used for: Checkdisk command, configure 3rd party anti-virus to be started after recovery,
selectively copy files to another location, etc.
Enable to configure the desired command or batch file to run before/after the recovery, interactive
Post command will not be executed if recovery proceeds with a reboot.

SID Changing
Effective when recovering Windows 8.1/Windows 2012 R2 and earlier.

Not effective when recovery to a VM is performed by Agent for VMware or Agent for Hyper-V
Preset: Disabled
Generates unique security identifier (SID) for the recovered OS, only required to ensure operability
of 3rd party software that depends on SIDs.
Note: Microsoft does not officially support changing SIDs on deployed or recovered systems (Use at
own risk).

VM Power Management
Effective when recovery to VM is performed by Agent for VMware, Agent for Hyper-V or Agent for
Virtuozzo
Power off target virtual machine when starting recovery: Yes
• Recovery to existing VM is not possible if the VM is online, so machine is powered off
automatically as soon as the recovery starts. Users will be disconnected from the VM and any
unsaved data will be lost
Power on the target virtual machine when recovery is complete: No
• After a VM is recovered from a backup to another machine, there’s a chance the existing
machine’s replica will appear on the network. To be safe, power on the recovered VM
manually after taking necessary precautions

Windows Event Log

Preset: Disabled
Defines whether the agent will log events of backup operations to the Application Event Log of the
Windows Event Log.
Event types to log can be selected.

6.7 Lab Exercise 4

1st scenario: Performing a file-level recovery

Cloud Acronis Hosted model. You are required to help your customer recover a folder from a file-
level backup.
Tasks required:
1. Login to the Acronis Backup Cloud Backup Management Portal using the account provided by
the instructor
2. Click on the Customer group created in Lab 1 and switch to the Backup Service Console from
Overview > Manage Service
3. Click on the Windows VM and configure recovery as follows:
4. Select the most recent recovery point and click RECOVER FILES/FOLDERS
5. Browse and select a user folder (e.g., C:\Users\Administrator\) and click Recover
6. Leave Path setting on defaults and click START RECOVERY
2nd scenario: Performing a bare metal recovery

for on-premise deployment. You want to perform bare metal recovery using the disk-level backup
created in Lab 3
You want to create a disk-level backup for testing various methods of recovery.
Tasks required:
2. Click on the Windows VM and select Recover > More ways to recover
3. Click on DOWNLOAD ISO IMAGE to download the ISO image for Acronis Bootable Media
4. Copy the ISO image to the host machine and link it to the CD-ROM drive of the lab VM
5. Reboot the lab VM, modify the BIOS boot order so that CD-ROM drive is before HDD and boot
from the Acronis Bootable Media ISO
6. Once the Agent is started, configure recovery from the backup stored in Disk 2 to Disk 1 C:\
7. Start the recovery

7 Disaster Recovery Operations

In this module, you will learn how to perform disaster recovery with Acronis Disaster Recovery Cloud

1. Describe the offering items available for Acronis Disaster Recovery Cloud
2. Explain the use of Recovery and Primary Server
3. Setup site-to-site and point-to-site VPN connection for Acronis Disaster Recovery Cloud
4. List the requirements for creating a Recovery Server
5. Configure a Recovery Server
6. Perform Test Failover, Failover and Failback of a Recovery Server
7. Configure Primary Servers

Lesson: 2 hour
Lab: none
Disaster Recovery Operations 311


1. Acronis Disaster Recovery Cloud Overview
 Acronis Disaster Recovery Cloud  Acronis Disaster Recovery Cloud
Business Model
 Acronis Disaster Recovery Add-On
 Acronis Disaster Recovery Add-On
 Supported Platforms
License
 Acronis Disaster Recovery Cloud
Service Options
2. Understanding Acronis Disaster Recovery Cloud
 Disaster Recovery Operations  VPN Connection
 Typical Disaster Recovery Workflow  Installing VPN Appliance
 Supported Environments  Installing OpenVPN client
3. Using Acronis Disaster Recovery Cloud
 Recovery Server
 Primary Server
 Backing up Cloud Servers
 Runbooks

7.1 Acronis Disaster Recovery Cloud Overview

Acronis Disaster Recovery Cloud
Acronis Disaster Recovery Cloud is a turnkey, self-service solution, built on top of Acronis Backup
Cloud that lets Service Providers protect their customers’ critical workloads by instantly recovering
their critical IT systems, applications, and data by utilizing the Acronis cloud infrastructure.
The following are benefits of using Acronis Disaster Recovery Cloud:
1. Fastest way to revenue: Zero CAPEX and minimum training required so that Service Providers
can immediately start offering customized backup and disaster recovery services to their
customers
2. Disaster recovery in seconds: A few clicks to add and configure a cloud-based recovery server
saves time and effort when failures occur
3. Disaster recovery for any workload: Support for Windows, Linux, major hypervisors,
applications and virtual appliances
4. Complete business protection: All-in-one backup, disaster recovery and advanced
ransomware protection in a single platform for complete business protection

Acronis Disaster Recovery Add-On
Acronis Disaster Recovery Add-on leverage Acronis Disaster Recovery Cloud to enable cloud disaster
recovery when Acronis Backup cloud-based management is used. Customers can back up their
critical workloads to the cloud for quick failover as a cloud server when disaster strikes as well as
spin up cloud servers for production workloads, i.e., as part of a cluster.
The following are benefits of using Acronis Disaster Recovery Add-on:
1. Easy: Quick to deploy and easy to use with almost no training required to enable cloud
disaster recovery for any workload
2. Efficient: Affordable solution with no additional infrastructure investment required as all
compute and storage resources are provided for by Acronis
3. Secure: Certified Acronis Data Centers and secure storage ensures the safety and security of
all data stored in Acronis Cloud
Supported Platforms
Acronis Disaster Recovery Cloud supports the following platforms and use cases:

Physical and virtual machines

• Windows
• Linux
Virtualization platforms:
• VMware vSphere
• Microsoft Hyper-V
• Linux KVM
• Red Hat Virtualization
Application-aware backup and recovery:
• Microsoft Exchange
• Microsoft SQL
• Microsoft SharePoint
• Microsoft Active Directory
Cloud servers for real-time application replication:
• For applications with built-in replication like SQL AlwaysOn
• Microsoft SQL
• Microsoft SharePoint
• Microsoft Active Directory
Target Segment
• Similar to Acronis Backup Cloud, Acronis Disaster Recovery Cloud is designed for Service
Providers such as Managed Service Providers, SaaS and IaaS providers, Hosters and Telcos
that focus on providing IT and related services

• Being a part of Acronis Data Cloud, Service Providers can onboard Acronis Disaster Recovery
Cloud easily and enjoy the features that are an integral part of Acronis Data Cloud such as
multi-tiered, multi-tenant architecture, ability to rebrand and customize the service offering
and integration with a wide range of Remote Management and Monitoring (RMM)and
Professional Services Automation (PSA) tools
• Acronis Disaster Recovery Cloud is currently available as Acronis Hosted implementation
model with Hybrid and Service Provider-Hosted models to be made available in future
releases
• Sold as pay-per-use consumption to Service Providers and Service Providers in turn are free
to decide on the pricing for their customers
• Consumption is based on per GB of disaster recovery storage used for storing cloud server
a.k.a. VMs on demand as well as per compute points which represents the compute resources
used when cloud servers are spun up and running in Acronis Cloud
Acronis Disaster Recovery Cloud Service Options

Service Providers can customize Acronis Disaster Recovery Cloud via several service options to create
an offering that fit the needs of their customers as well as control their customers’ consumption.
Service Option When Enabled When Disabled
‒ Running cloud servers are

Disaster Recovery Storage powered off
(Billing Item) ‒ Cloud servers are deleted
‒ Cloud server can be powered
Overall storage space occupied by from storage
on
all cloud servers (active and ‒ Acronis Disaster Recovery
inactive) Cloud not available for the
tenant
Compute Points
‒ Running cloud servers are
(Billing Item)
‒ Powered off cloud servers can powered off
A unit of measurement to simplify
be started ‒ No possible to start any cloud
pricing and reporting for compute
servers
resources utilization
Public IP address
(Billing Item) ‒ Newly created cloud servers
‒ De-provision all allocated
Public IP addresses that can be can be accessible from
public IP addresses
added to cloud servers that Internet
require external access
Cloud Servers ‒ Running cloud servers are

‒ Cloud servers can be created
Number of DR cloud servers powered off

Internet Access
‒ Restore state of individual
Optional Internet access for cloud ‒ Disable Internet access for
“Internet access” setting for
servers through datacentre up- cloud servers
each cloud server
link
Acronis Disaster Recovery Cloud Business Model

Acronis Disaster Recovery Cloud allows Service Providers to provide Disaster Recovery as a Service to
their new and existing customers by simply enabling the respective Disaster Recovery Service
Offering options and it is a “natural” upsell from selling Backup as a Service from Acronis Backup
Cloud.
End-user pricing is set by the Service Provider and Service Provider is billed monthly based on total
consumption across all Acronis Data Cloud services.
Service Provider can sign-up multiple “tiers” of resellers and multiple direct end-customers.
Service Providers will also have to complete Support training (provided by Acronis)
http://kb.acronis.com/msptraining in order to qualify for support.
Acronis Disaster Recovery Add-On License

Acronis Backup 12.5 customers can use Acronis Disaster Recovery Cloud features by purchasing
Acronis Disaster Recovery Add-on licenses:
• Requires cloud-based management for configurations therefore only Acronis Backup
subscription licenses can be used with Acronis Disaster Recovery Add-on
• Backups must be stored on Acronis Cloud Storage

7.2 Understanding Acronis Disaster Recovery

Disaster Recovery Operations
Acronis Disaster Recovery Cloud main feature is to provide standby or always-on VMs that are
Acronis Disaster Recovery Cloud’s main feature is to provide standby or always-on VMs on-demand,
which are hosted in a private Cloud Recovery Site in Acronis Data centers.
There are 2 types of on-demand VMs available:
• Recovery Server: A standby VM that is created from an existing backup (recovery point)
stored on cloud storage that can be turned on when needed
• Primary Servers: An always-on VM that can be created from a template and kept constantly
running for production workloads, e.g., SQL Server AlwaysOn for replication and failover
Customers can back up their on-premise machines such as physical and virtual servers and
applications to the cloud and when failures or outages occur, failover to Recovery Servers to
minimize downtime and disruptions as well as have part of their production workload running in the
cloud for redundancy and failover purposes.
For provisioning and configurations, an Administrator role in the Customer tenant is required and
the administrator will have to provide instructions on how to access the Recovery or Primary servers
separately to users.
To connect to Recovery or Primary Servers from local network (production network), a VPN
connection is required. This ensures privacy and security as well as extends the local network
(production network) to the VMs in the Cloud Recovery Site and enables the VMs in the cloud
recovery site to be accessible via the Backup Console, RDP or SSH.
There are 2 types of VPN connection:
• Site-to-Site: Requires download and installation of VPN appliance on-premise and

deployment of VPN server (automatic) in Cloud Recovery site to create a Site-to-Site VPN
connection

• Point-to-Site: Requires prior setup of Site-to-Site VPN connection in order for the VPN Server
to obtain local network subnet info and thereafter, configuration of VPN Server login
credentials and installation of OpenVPN client(s) on desired computer(s) for 1 or more Point-
to-Site VPN connections
If Recovery and Primary Servers need to be accessible from the Internet, Public IP addresses can be
configured for each Recovery and Primary Server.
There are some limitations for Acronis Disaster Recovery Cloud:
• Disaster Recovery (Recovery Servers) are not supported for the following:
 Virtuozzo virtual machines and containers
 Apple Mac machines
 Linux machines with logical volumes (LVM) or volumes formatted with XFS file system
 Windows machines with dynamic disks
• Cloud servers are note encrypted
• A Recovery Server has only 1 network interface and if the original machine has multiple
network interfaces, only 1 is emulated
Typical Disaster Recovery Workflow
The typical workflow for using Acronis Disaster Recovery Cloud is as follows:
1. Service Provider enables Disaster Recovery service options for a tenant
2. Tenant proceeds to configure VPN connection:
 Download and install VPN appliance on-premise for site-to-site VPN connection
 Alternatively tenant can download and install OpenVPN client on specific machines for
point-to-site VPN connection

 After the VPN appliance is installed, register the VPN appliance to Acronis Disaster
Recovery Cloud
3. Tenant to choose to create Recovery or Primary Server(s) or both
4. Create a Primary Server to have a VM that’s always running in the cloud recovery site:
 Windows and Linux templates are available for creating Primary Server(s)
 After the Primary Server has been configured, power on the Primary Server and install
desired applications and configurations
5. Create a Recovery Server to have a VM on standby for rapid recovery in case of a failure or
outage:
 Before a Recovery Server can be created, a cloud backup of the machine to be protected
has to be created
 After a cloud backup has been created, a Recovery Server can be configured based on the
machine that was backed up
6. After the Recovery Server is created, it can be tested to ensure that it will work properly
when needed by performing a Test Failover:
 Test Failover can be performed based on any recovery point available
 Once started, the Recovery Server can connected to via Backup Console, RDP or SSH and
tested to check if it is functioning as desired
 After testing is complete, stop Test Failover
7. In case of failure or outage, perform a Failover for the Recovery Server to “take-over” from
the original machine:
 Failover can be performed based on any recovery point available
8. When the Recovery Server is no longer needed, perform a Failback to create a backup that
can be used for recovery to a physical or virtual machine:
 Once the backup is created, it can be used for bare metal recovery or online recovery to
the desired machine
 Once the recovery is successful, perform a Commit Failback to resume backup of the
recovered machine by Acronis Backup Cloud Agents

Supported Environments
Category Details
‒ CentOS 6.6 and above, Debian 9 and Ubuntu 16.04

Supported OS for ‒ Windows Server 2008/2008 R2 and above except for Windows Server 2016
Recovery Server Nano Server
‒ Windows Desktop OS not supported due to Microsoft product Terms
‒ VMware ESXi 5.1 and above

‒ Windows Server 2008 with Hyper-V and above except for Windows Server
2016 Nano Server
Supported
‒ Kernel-based Virtual Machines (KVM)
virtualization platforms
for Recovery Server ‒ Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization 3.6 and above and Red Hat Virtualization
4.0
‒ Citrix XenServer 6.5 and above
‒ Azure virtual machines
Supported ‒ VMware ESXi 5.1 and above

virtualization platforms ‒ Windows Server 2008 with Hyper-V and above except for Windows Server
for VPN appliance 2016 Nano Server
‒ 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM, 8 GB HDD

Requirements for VPN
appliance ‒ TCP 443 (outbound) for VPN connection, TCP 80 for automatic update of
appliance
VPN Connection
Before creating Recovery or Primary Servers, a Site-to-Site VPN connection to the Cloud Recovery
Site is required which uses the following components:
• VPN appliance: VMware ESXi or Hyper-V virtual appliance (choose 1) that can be downloaded
from the Cloud Recovery Site tab and installed on-premise
• VPN Server: VM in cloud recovery site which is automatically deployed when VPN connection
setup is first started
After a Site-to-Site VPN connection has been setup, if subsequently, the VPN Appliance or local
network is down, a Point-to-Site VPN connection to the Cloud Recovery Site can be used:
• Configure login credentials for the VPM and download OpenVPN configurations
• Install and configure OpenVPN client(s) on the machine(s) to be used to connect to the Cloud
Recovery Site

Installing VPN Appliance
To download and install the VPN appliance, do the following:

1. Go to Devices > Cloud recovery site and click on Start:
 VPN Server will be deployed
 The VPN Server is provided without additional charge and will be deleted after 7 days if
no Recovery or Primary Server is present in the cloud recovery site
2. Download the desired VPN appliance for on-premise installation
3. Install the appliance and connect it to the production network (local network):
 In vSphere, ensure that Promiscuous mode is enabled and set to Accept for all virtual
switches that connect the VPN appliance to the production network. To access this
setting, in vSphere Client, go to Summary > Network, select the switch > Edit settings… >
Security

 In Hyper-V, create a Generation 1 VM with 1024 MB of RAM. It is recommended to enable

Dynamic Memory for the VM. Once the VM is created, go to Settings > Hardware >
Network Adapter > Advanced Features and select Enable MAC address spoofing check
box
4. Power on the appliance
5. Open the appliance console and log on with username and password: admin | admin
6. [Optional] Change the password
7. [Optional] Change the network settings. You may want to assign a static IP address to the
appliance
8. Register the appliance to Acronis Disaster Recovery Cloud using the credentials of an
Administrator user account belonging to the Customer tenant
After the VPN appliance has been registered to Acronis Disaster Recovery Cloud, you can check the
status of the VPN connection:
 Go to Devices > Cloud recovery site and click on the VPN Settings link at the top of the page

 Ensure that both the VPN appliance and VPN server have the OK status
 Optionally, click on Test Connection to test the connectivity to the VPN server
The following operations are also available (click on the gear icon):
 VPN appliance: Disconnect
 VPN server: Download configuration for OpenVPN | Change credentials
VPN appliance will check for updates once a day and will automatically apply updates without
rebooting or stopping the VPN service.
Installing OpenVPN Client
To enable point-to-site connection in situations when the local network or VPN appliance is down,
the OpenVPN client can be used:

 Go to Devices > Cloud recovery site > VPN settings, click on the gear icon for the VPN server
and select Change credentials to enter a username and password for the VPN server to be
used with OpenVPN client
 Download and install the OpenVPN client (v2.4 and later supported) on the machine you
want to connect to the cloud recovery site
 Click on the gear icon for the VPN server and select Download configuration for OpenVPN
 Import the configuration into the OpenVPN client
 Initiate the VPN connection and enter the username and password previously configured for
the VPN server
Username and password for the VPN server can be changed:
 To comply an organization’s IT security policy requiring periodic password changes
 In order to restrict access to cloud recovery site for some users, e.g., former employees
OpenVPN configuration file can be re-generated:
 If VPN client certificate is about to expire
 There’s suspicion that the configuration file is compromised
 As soon as a new configuration file is generated, VPN connection via the previous
configuration file become impossible, therefore be sure to distribute the new file to users
who are allowed to use the point-to-site connection

7.3 Using Acronis Disaster Recovery Cloud

Recovery Server
Pre-requisites:
 A Backup Plan must be applied to the machine you want to protect:
 Backup the Entire Machine or only the disks/volumes required for booting up and
providing the necessary applications/services
 Cloud storage must be selected as a destination
 Backups cannot be encrypted
 Recommended to run the Backup Plan at least once to ensure that cloud backups are
successfully created
• VPN connection to the cloud recovery site must be setup
Operations available:
• Failover
• Test Failover
• Failback
• Cancel Failback
• Commit Failback
Recovery Server Configurations

To create a Recovery Server, do the following:

1. Select the machine you want to protect and click Disaster recovery
2. Click on Create recovery server button

3. Select the number of virtual cores and the size of RAM for the Recovery Server:
 Take note of the compute points shown when selecting the number of vCores and RAM
size, the number of compute points reflects the cost of running the Recovery Server per
hour
4. Specify the IP address the Recovery Server will have in the production network, defaults to
original machine IP address

5. [Optional] Select the Test IP address checkbox and specify the IP address:
 Select one of the proposed IP addresses or type in a different one
 Configuring a Test IP address allows connecting to the Recovery Server via RDP or SSH
during a Test Failover. If no Test IP address is configured, only Console connection will be
available during Test Failover
6. [Optional] Select the Internet access checkbox to enable the Recovery Server to be able to
access the Internet during a Failover or Test Failover
7. [Optional] Select the Public IP address checkbox:
 Public IP address will be shown after configuration is complete and the following ports are
open for inbound connections: TCP 80, 443, 8088, 8443 and UDP 1194. Contact the
support team to open other ports
 Having a public IP address makes the Recovery Server accessible from the Internet during
Failover or Test Failover. If no Public IP Address is configured, Recovery Server is only
accessible from production network (local network)
9. [Optional] Change the name of the Recovery Server
10. [Optional] Add a description for the Recovery Server
11. Click Done
Failover and Test Failover
Failover is the process of moving a workload from on-premise to the cloud:

• When initiated, the Recovery Server starts and is available from the production network
• All Backup Plans are revoked from the original machine and a new Backup Plan is
automatically created and applied to the Recovery Server to create backups for subsequent
Failback
• Once a Failover is initiated, the only way to exit the failover state is a Failback

Test Failover is the process of starting and testing the Recovery Server to check if it can be used in
the event of a real Failover:
• When initiated, the Recovery Server starts and is connected to an isolated test VLAN and
multiple servers can be tested at the same time to check their interaction
• Recovery Servers can communicate with each other using their production IP address but
cannot initiate TCP or UDP connections to machines on local network
Failover and Test Failover uses functionality similar to Acronis Instant Restore:
• For Failover, a VM is created based on Recovery Server configurations, linked to the selected
backup of the original machine and Finalized as soon as possible to achieve best possible
performance, i.e., similar to Run as VM + Finalize immediately after temporary VM is created
• For Test Failover, the VM is not finalized to minimize space consumption on Disaster
Recovery storage which may result in slower performance, i.e., Run as VM only
• Backup Agent(s) in the Recovery Server will be stopped to avoid undesired activity such as
starting a backup or reporting outdated statues to Acronis Backup Cloud
Network Connection and IP Address Translation during Failover and Test Failover
Failover mode: Recovery Server is connected to production network and assigned the production IP
address.
Test Failover mode: Recovery Server is connected to the isolated test network and assigned the
production IP address. However to access the Recovery Server, use the test IP address. VPN Sever
will replace the test IP address with the production IP address.
If the Recovery Server has a public IP address, it is translated to the production IP address in both
Failover and Test Failover modes

Test Failover
To perform a Test Failover, do the following:
1. In the Backup Console, select the original machine or select the Recovery Server you want to
test and click Test Failover
2. Select the recovery point and click Test Failover:
 When Recovery Server starts, its state changes to Testing Failover
3. Test the Recovery Server by using any of the following methods:
 In Backup Console, click Devices > Cloud recovery site, select the Recovery Server and
click Console
 Connect to the Recovery Server using RDP or SSH via the Test IP address from both inside
and outside (requires a point-to-site connection from machine with OpenVPN client
installed) the production network
 Run a script within the Recovery Server. The script may check the logon screen, whether
applications are started, the Internet connection and ability of other machines to connect
to the Recovery Server
 Use Teamviewer if the Recovery Server has access to the Internet and a public IP

4. When the testing is completing, click Stop testing in the Backup Console:
5. The Recovery Server will be stopped and all changes made will be lost
Failover
To perform Failover, do the following:
1. Ensure that the original machine is not available on the network
2. In the Backup Console, select the original machine or select the Recovery Server and click
Failover
3. Select the recovery point and click Failover:

 When Recovery Server starts, its state changes to Failover

4. Ensure that the Recovery Server is started by viewing its console:
 In Backup Console, click Devices > Cloud recovery site, select the Recovery Server and
click Console
 Ensure that the Recovery Server can be accessed using the production IP address
specified during configurations
Failback
Failback is the process of moving a workload from cloud back to on-premise:
• When initiated, the server being moved is unavailable
• The length of time required is approximately equal to the duration of a backup and
subsequent recovery of the server
To perform a Failover, do the following:
1. In the Backup Console, select the Recovery Server that is in Failover state and click Prepare
failback
 The Recovery Server will be stopped and backed up to cloud storage, wait for the backup
to complete
 After backup is complete, 2 actions becomes available, Cancel failback and Commit
failback
 Clicking Cancel failback will start the Recovery Server and failover will continue
2. Recover the server from the backup that was created:

 Perform bare-metal-recovery or online recovery via Backup Console if the target machine
is live
 For recovery via Backup Console, target machine must be registered for the same
account as the Recovery Server
 Ensure that the recovery is complete and that the recovered machine works properly
3. Return to the Recovery Server in the Backup Console and click Commit failback:
 The Recovery Server and recovery points becomes ready for the next failover
 To create new recovery points, apply a Backup Plan to the newly recovered server
Primary Server
Pre-requisites:
• VPN connection to the cloud recovery site must be setup
Operations with Primary Servers:
• Start or Stop the server
• Edit Primary Server settings
• Backup Primary Server using the pre-defined Backup Plan where only the Scheduling and
Retention rules can be changed, other sections/options are locked/not available
Primary Server Configurations

To create a Primary Server, do the following:

1. Go to Devices > Cloud recovery site and click New
2. Select a template for the new VM:

 Several templates for Windows and Linux are available
3. Select the number of virtual cores and the size of RAM for the Primary Server:
 Take note of the compute points shown when selecting the number of vCores and RAM
size, the number of compute points reflects the cost of running the Primary Server per
hour
4. Specify the IP address the Primary Server will have in the production network, defaults to the
first free IP address from the production network

5. [Optional] Select the Internet access checkbox to enable the Primary Server to be able to
access the Internet
6. [Optional] Select the Public IP address checkbox:
 Public IP address will be shown after configuration is complete and the following ports are
open for inbound connections: TCP 80, 443, 8088, 8443 and UDP 1194. Contact the
support team to open other ports
 Having a public IP address makes the Primary Server accessible from the Internet. If no
Public IP Address is configured, the Primary Server is only accessible from production
network (local network)
7. [Optional] Change the virtual disk size, and if more than 1 hard disk is required, click Add disk
and specify the new disk size
8. Enter the name of the Primary Server
9. [Optional] Add a description for the Primary Server
10. Click Done
Backing Up Cloud Servers

Recovery and Primary Servers are backed up by Agent for VMware which is installed in the cloud
recovery site.
There are certain limitations:
• Only possible backup location is cloud storage
• Backup Plans cannot be applied to multiple servers, each server must have its own Backup
Plan
• Only 1 Backup Plan can be applied to a cloud server
• Application-aware backup is not supported
• Encryption is not available
• Backup options are not available
For Primary Servers, when it’s deleted, its backups are also deleted
Recovery Servers are backed up only in the failover state and the backup will continue from the
backup sequence of the original server:
• After a Failback is performed, the original server will continue from the backup created
during Failback
• Backups can only be deleted manually or as a result of applying retention rules
• When a Recovery Server is deleted, its backups are always kept and has to be deleted
manually if necessary

Runbooks
A Runbook is a set of instructions for spinning up multiple cloud servers in a certain order:
• Automate failover of 1 or more Recovery Servers
• Automatically check the failover result by pinging the server IP and checking the connection
to the port you specify
• Set the sequence of operations for Primary Servers running distributed applications
• Include manual operations in the workflow
• Verify the integrity of your disaster recovery solution by executing runbook in Test mode
Multiple Runbooks can be created and Runbooks can be nested, i.e., using a Runbook to run other
Runbooks. To create a Runbook, select Disaster Recovery > Runbook.
Creating a Runbook

A Runbook can have 1 or more Steps that are executed consecutively and each Step can have 1 or
more Actions that are executed simultaneously.
Actions available:
• Failover server | Failback server
 Operations that can be performed with Recovery Servers
• Start server | Stop server
 Operations that can be performed with Recovery or Primary Servers

• Manual operation
 Add a text description for manual actions to be taken before proceeding with the next
step
• Execute runbook
 Allows other Runbooks to be nested, each Runbook can only be nested once

For Failover, Failback, Start and Stop server actions:

• Operation parameters:
 Continue if already done (enabled by default): Warning is shown if action has already
been performed and Runbook will continue on to the next Action/Step; if disabled,
operation and Runbook fails if action has already been performed
 Continue if failed: When enabled, warning is shown and Runbook continues, when
disabled operation and Runbook fails
• Completion checks (for Failover and Start server actions)
 Ping IP address: Ping the production IP address of the cloud server until the server replies
or the timeout expires, whichever comes first
 Connect to port (443 by default): Attempt to connect to the cloud server by using the
production IP address and port until the connection is established or the timeout expires
 Default timeout value is 10 minutes and can be changed

Once a Runbook has been created, the following operations are available:
• Execute | Edit | Clone | Delete
When executing a Runbook, Execution Parameters will be prompted for:
• Failover and failback mode:
 Choose whether to run a Test or Production failover
 Applies to all Failover and Failback actions in the Runbook
• Failover recovery point:
 Choose Most recent recovery point (default) or Closest before a specified data and time
(select a point in time in the past)
 If Closest before a specified data and time is selected, the Recovery Point closest before
the specified date and time will be selected for each cloud server in the Runbook
Stopping a Runbook execution:

• A Runbook can be stopped during its execution and all started Actions will be completed
except for those that require user interaction
A Runbook‘s execution history can be viewed to see if it is successful or not together with its start
and end date and time.

8 Acronis Backup Troubleshooting

In this module, you will learn how to perform simple troubleshooting for Acronis Backup and Acronis
Backup Cloud.

1. List the Acronis Support resources available
2. Search the Acronis KB effectively
3. Collect Acronis System Information
4. Describe troubleshooting tools available and when to use them
5. Perform simple troubleshooting for common issues in Acronis Backup and Acronis Backup
Cloud
6. Contact Acronis Customer Service & Support to open a support case

Lesson: 1 hour
Lab: none
Acronis Backup Troubleshooting 343


1. Acronis Backup Troubleshooting Steps
2. Acronis Support Resources
 Acronis Backup Documentation  Acronis Support Forums
 Acronis Knowledge Base
3. Acronis Backup Status, Logs & System Information
 Backup Console Agent Status  Collecting System Information
 Deciphering Error Messages
4. Troubleshooting Tools
 List of Application Processes  Process Monitor Utility
 Connection Verification Tool  Wireshark/tcpdump
 Scheduler Manager  ProcDump
 VSSADMIN  Strace
 DiskShadow Tool  OS X Dump File
5. Acronis Troubleshooting Guide
 Agent Installation Issues  Application Backup Issues
 Connectivity Issues  Recovery Issues
 Backup Console Issues  Hardware Detection Issues
 Backup & Snapshot Issues  Other Issues
 VM Backup Issues  Customer FAQ
6. Acronis Customer Service & Support
 Information Required to Open
Support Case

8.1 Acronis Backup Troubleshooting Steps

General Troubleshooting Steps
The following describes the steps for performing 1st level troubleshooting when encountering issues:
1. Find out exact software behavior or error message: Record/list exact behavior of the software
before, during and after the issue occurs and/or error messages shown in logs or dialog boxes
 Review User Guide and Knowledge Base to understand expected behavior: Review the
User Guide and relevant KB articles to understand what is the correct configuration and
expected behavior
2. Search the KB or Forum for known issues: Search through the Acronis KB and Forums for
known issues using the error codes or software behavior
 Review training materials for troubleshooting guidelines: Review the troubleshooting
guideline in this training material to prepare for troubleshooting
3. Troubleshoot using suggested tools: Use the appropriate tools to perform troubleshooting
 Try available solutions and workarounds: Try available solutions and suggestions and
workarounds if any
 Collect required logs and outputs from troubleshooting tools: Collect required logs and
outputs from troubleshooting tools for analysis and escalation to Acronis Customer
Service & Support
4. Reach out to Customer Service & Support: Go to the Acronis website and login to access
Customer Service & Support to log a support case and provide the necessary information
accordingly

8.2 Acronis Support Resources

Acronis Backup Documentation
The User Guide is the primary source of information for correct configurations and operations of the
software. In Acronis Backup Cloud, it can be found in Backup Console > About. In Acronis Backup, it
can be accessed from the Help button.
It is also available on Acronis website’s Support > Documentation page as both an online Web Help
and downloadable PDF. Other technical documentation such as 3rd party automation integration
references are also available on the same page.
Review the user guide to ensure that you have configured the software correctly for the task you
want to perform and understand what is the expected behavior.
Additionally, review the Product Update release notes in the Acronis website > Support tab to check
if there are newer builds of the software that may have enhancements and bug fixes which may
resolve the issue that you are facing.

Acronis Knowledge Base
Acronis Knowledge Base (KB) is source of official information on:

• Product functionality
• Product limitations and known issues/workarounds
• Product troubleshooting techniques and tools
• Product support information.
Acronis Backup articles are listed by topics at: https://kb.acronis.com/acronis-backup-12-5
Acronis Backup Cloud articles are listed by topic at: https://kb.acronis.com/acronis-backup-cloud
Troubleshooting articles for all Acronis products: https://kb.acronis.com/dst
Searching in Acronis KB
You can search the KB using keywords that describes the issue that you are facing which will return
all articles that contains the keyword used. However, since Acronis KB is a combined KB for all
Acronis products, the results returned might be cluttered with articles that are not directly relevant.
You can enhance your search by following a few simple rules:

• Use quotation marks:

“write error”
• “failed to read snapshot”
• Use the (-) and (+) sign to exclude or include additional terms
• “creating bootable media” –”mac”
• “shadow copy provider” +”fail”
• Use product filters

Acronis Support Forums
Acronis Support Forums is an open community where you can get in touch with:
• Acronis Customer Service & Support Team
• Acronis Development Team
• Acronis Forum MVPs and other Service Providers.
You will need an Acronis web account in order to post in the discussion boards.
For Acronis Backup-related discussions: https://forum.acronis.com/forum/acronis-business-
products-discussions/acronis-backup-125
For Acronis Backup Cloud-related discussions: https://forum.acronis.com/forum/solutions-service-
providers/acronis-backup-cloud-forum

8.3 Collecting System Information and Logs

Collecting System Information
Acronis System Information (also known as AcronisInfo) is a collection of diagnostic files and logs
that can be collected from a machine with an Agent or Management Server installed or from Acronis
Bootable Media.
There are 3 ways to collect System Information:

• From Activities > Collect system information on a machine with an Agent or Management
Server installed
• From Help > Collect system information from Acronis Bootable Media
• Using the standalone Acronisinfo utility. Download from https://kb.acronis.com/acroinfo for

Windows. For Linux, follow the instructions on https://kb.acronis.com/linuxreport
Save the resultant compressed archive (.zip or .tar.bz2). Take note that it may take some time
for the required information to be collected and that it can be very large in size.
Collecting Logs
There are 4 main logs in Acronis Backup 12.5:
• AMS logs: C:\ProgramData\Acronis\AMS\logs\ManagementServer.N.log
where N is the index number of the log with N=0 being the current log and older logs kept as
N>1 and as .gz file
 E.g.: Current log file: ManagementServer.1.log, older log file:
ManagementServer.1.log.gz
• MMS logs: C:\ProgramData\Acronis\BackupAndRecovery\MMS\mms.N.log
 E.g.: Current log file: mms.0.log, older log file: mms.1.log.gz
• ASN logs: C:\ProgramData\Acronis\BackupAndRecovery\ASN\logs\asn-
date&time.log

 E.g.: asn-2017-06-02-07-19-07-3232.log
• HAR logs: collected separately (https://kb.acronis.com/content/58514)
Analyzing Logs
To analyze AMS, MMS and ASN logs:
• Reproduce the issue and collect Acronis System Information, make sure to collect Acronis
System Information from all machines involved in the activity
• Open log files using an advanced text editor such as Notepad++
• Analyze logs:
 Trace level “Info”: Messages are informative only, can be ignored even if the word “error”
is present in the message
 Trace level “Warning”: Messages are useful for troubleshooting and localizing the issue
 Trace level “Error”: Possible core issue, pay close attention to the last message
 Trace level “Debug”: Debug messages
Example
I0XXXXXXX: Trace level “Info”, informative, sequence of events

W0XXXXXXX: Trace level “Warning”, potential contributory or resultant issue
E0XXXXXXX: Trace level “Error”, potential core issue, check the last message
D0XXXXXXX: Trace level “Debug”, debug messages

8.4 Troubleshooting Tools

General Troubleshooting Tools
The following table summarizes the application processes used by Acronis Backup and Acronis
Backup Cloud Agents and other services.
Linux & Mac

Windows Process Name Process Name Component Function
Backup, replication, restore,

service_process.exe service_process Agent
validation operations
Manages tasks and processes on

mms.exe mms Agent
the machine
schedule (Linux)
Executes scheduled tasks on
schedul2.exe schedwrapper Agent
certain events
(Mac)
Cron (Linux) schedhlp notifies about

schedhlp.exe launchd.plist Agent logon/logoff
(Mac) cron/launchd triggers scheduler
Provides connectivity with

agent.exe agent Agent
Management Console
Shows tray notifications about

mmsmonitor.exe - Tray Monitor
tasks and agent status
<backup_agent_[version]>.exe <package_name> Installer Installation
System
systeminfo.exe systeminfo Collects system information
Report
The following table summarizes the troubleshooting tools that can used and the Acronis KB link with
more information on how to use the tools effectively.
Size of
Tool When to collect How to collect Link log
AcronisInfo/ ‒ From Backup ~1MB

Any issue with
System Console http://kb.acronis.com/content/2707 to
Agent
Information ‒ Run tool 100MB
Connection ‒ Run tool and

Connectivity
Verification capture https://kb.acronis.com/content/47678 ~100KB
issues
Tool screenshot

‒ Run tool and

Scheduler Issues with work in CMD,
https://kb.acronis.com/content/1859 ~100KB
Manager scheduled tasks capture
screenshot
Acronis VSS http://www.acronis.com/en-

‒ Run tool ~5KB
Doctor Issues with VSS sg/personal/vss-diagnostic-free-tool/
snapshots:
‒ From CMD and
‒ Disk and file
capture
VSSADMIN backup https://kb.acronis.com/vsslog ~5KB
screenshot
‒ Application
‒ Run script
backup
‒ Hyper-V ‒ From CMD and
DiskShadow backup capture https://kb.acronis.com/content/45472 ~100KB
screenshot
‒ File access
~20MB
Process issues
https://kb.acronis.com/content/2295 to
Monitor ‒ Performance ‒ From UI 500MB
issues
‒ *.zip after
creating
~10MB
Wireshark/ Connectivity
https://kb.acronis.com/content/1763 to
tcpdump issues
500MB
~50MB
Procdump https://kb.acronis.com/content/27931 to
‒ From
500MB
‒ Crash CMD/Terminal
‒ Lockup ‒ *.zip after
~50MB
creating
Strace https://kb.acronis.com/content/37659 to
500MB

Connection Verification Tool
Connection Verification Tool is a Windows-based port checker by Acronis that verifies network
connectivity to Acronis cloud management and storage.
Used for:
• Connectivity issues (cloud-based Backup Console not accessible)
• Backup/restore to/from cloud failures (cloud storage not accessible)
• Backup/restore to/from cloud and network folder interruptions
Use the following instructions to collect Connection Verification Tool output:
1. Download Connection Verification Tool at https://kb.acronis.com/content/47678
2. Open Windows command-line and run these commands:
cd <path_to_folder>
msp_port_checker_en-US_x86.exe -u=<login> -p=<password>
where <login> is your Backup Account and <password> is the password for that Backup
Account
3. Check the output of the tool and see whether all hosts were successfully accessed. If any
problems are identified, the Connection Verification Tool will tell you which port to open
4. If you need to provide Connection Verification Tool output to Acronis Customer Service &
Support, create a screenshot of the screen
Scheduler Manager
Scheduler Manager is a command-line utility that allows you to manage scheduled tasks on
Windows and Linux.
It is included when Agent for Windows/Linux is installed or download from
https://kb.acronis.com/content/1859.
Used for:
• Monitoring scheduled tasks
• Detect unremoved deleted backup tasks
• Detect individual tasks that are not running
• Collect Scheduler log in case of an issue
Use the following instructions to collect Scheduler Manager log:

1. Locate and open the Scheduler Manager in the following locations:

\Program Files (x86)\Acronis\BackupAndRecovery – in Windows
/usr/sbin/ – in Linux
2. Open a command prompt in the Scheduler Manager location and run the following command
to enable logging:
set logflags support
3. Reproduce the issue and run the following command to stop logging:
set logflags 0
4. Run AcronisInfo utility/Collect system information to obtain the output
To manage scheduled tasks, use the following commands:
1. To get a list of scheduled tasks: get list
2. To delete all scheduled tasks: task zap

3. To run a task: task run

4. To delete a single task: task [task_number], task delete, e.g., task 1-12, task
delete
Scheduled tasks run on Mac in the following manner:

1. Launchd.plist is created for the task in /Library/LaunchDaemons/
E.g., com.acronis.3_1.plist where “3” is the scheduler task name
2. The created .plist is loaded into launchd.
To check that it is loaded, open Terminal and run: sudo launchctl list | grep
Acronis
3. After planned .plist time interval has passed, launchd triggers schedwrapper which starts
the task
Acronis VSS Doctor
Acronis VSS Doctor is a free tool for diagnosing and repairing Microsoft VSS issues
Used for:
• VSS writer failures
• Shadow Storage out of space
• VSS provider issues
• Snapshot issues (snapshot read error, snapshot creation error)
Use the following instructions to run Acronis VSS Doctor:

1. Download the tool at http://www.acronis.com/en-sg/personal/vss-diagnostic-free-tool/

2. Right-click on it and choose “Run as administrator”
3. The tool can be used for the following:
Diagnose and repair: Configuration and status of VSS-related services such as Microsoft
Volume Shadow Copy, COM+ Event System, VSS providers, access rights for VSS, VSS COM-
interface registration, configuration of VSS shadow storages and access rights for NTFS
volumes
Diagnose only: List of faulted VSS writers, free space available on disk, current I/O load of
disks, and list of VSS-related errors/warnings from Windows Event log
4. Diagnostic results can be saved as plain txt report for sending to Acronis Customer Service &
Support
VSSADMIN
VSSADMIN is a Windows command-line utility that can be used to view and work with Microsoft VSS
components on the machine such as providers, writers and shadowstorage and can help in snapshot
troubleshooting and analysis.

Used for:
• Shadow Storage out of space
• VSS provider issues
Use the following instructions to collect VSSADMIN output:
1. Download VSSADMIN batch file at https://kb.acronis.com/vsslog
2. Unzip the batch file, right-click on it and choose “Run as administrator”
3. When the tool finishes the job, locate the following text files:
C:\C:\vl_providers.txt
C:\vl_shadows.txt
C:\vl_shadowstorage.txt
C:\vl_volumes.txt
C:\vl_writers.txt
4. Put the resulting text files in .zip archive if you need to provide the output to Acronis
Customer Service & Support
DiskShadow Tool
DiskShadow is a Windows command-line utility that exposes the functionality provided by

the Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service and can help in snapshot troubleshooting and analysis.
DiskShadow is available in Windows 8 and Windows Server 2008 and above.
Used for:
• VSS provider failures
Use the following instructions to collect DiskShadow output:
1. Open Windows command prompt and run these commands:
C:\Users\administrator> DISKSHADOW
set context persistent
set verbose on
begin backup
add volume C: alias VolumeC provider <provider_id>
writer verify <writer_id>
Where <provider_id> is the VSS Provider and <writer_id> is the VSS Writer you would

like to troubleshoot. To view current list of registered providers/writers, run either list
providers or list writers command
create
2. Check the output of the tool and see whether all writers are working properly. If any errors
are identified, you have to troubleshoot that particular writer
3. If you need to provide DiskShadow output to Acronis Customer Service & Support, create a
screenshot of the screen. Try to submit an example of any provider/writer that works
properly along with the failing one
Note: Refer to https://kb.acronis.com/content/45472 for more information
Process Monitor Utility
Process Monitor is a Windows-based utility provided by Microsoft that shows real-time file system,
registry and process activities and can be used to track what processes are running and accessing
files and registry at moment of failure.
Used for:
• Process interruption
• System overload
• Issues with installation/uninstallation
• Locked file(s) and access denied errors
Use the following instructions to collect Process Monitor log:
1. Download Process Monitor from https://technet.microsoft.com/en-
us/sysinternals/processmonitor.aspx

2. Extract the tool and run it

3. Reproduce the issue without closing the tool. As the log file might be very large, it is
recommended to start the tool right before reproducing the issue and to stop it immediately
after you are done
4. Click File > Save and select Events to save > All events
5. Change the Path if desired and click OK
6. Place the resulting .pml file in a zip archive

Wireshark/tcpdump
Wireshark is a Windows and Mac-based network packet capture and analyzer tool that can capture
network traffic between network adapters and can help in network troubleshooting and analysis.
tcpdump is a similar tool that is Linux-based.
Used for:
• Connectivity issues (e.g., client is shown as offline while machine is live)

• Backup failures (cloud storage not accessible)

• Backup to cloud/network folder interruptions
Use the following instructions to collect Wireshark PCAP log:
1. Download Wireshark at https://www.wireshark.org/#download
2. Install and run the tool. Click on the Interface to capture to start capturing
3. Reproduce the issue without closing the tool. As the log file might be very large, it is
recommended to start the tool right before reproducing the issue and to stop it immediately
after you are done
4. Click on the Stop button to stop the capture and click on File > Save to save the capture file
Use filters to narrow your search, e.g.,:
• ip.addr/ip.dst/ip.src/tcp.port/udp.port: define IP and ports
• ==: equals, !=: not equal, &&: and, ||: or
Use the following instructions to collect tcpdump output on Linux:
1. Download the tcpdump utility from http://www.tcpdump.org/#latest-release and unpack to
a directory

2. Open a Terminal to the directory where tcpdump is unpacked and run the following
commands:
#chmod +x /tcpdump
#/tcpdump # /tcpdump -i eth0 -s 65536 -w /product.pcap &
Parameter –s should be set according to the desired packet size. If error “invalid snaplen”
appears, reduce the packet size, e.g., to 65000 and try again. Note that if packet size is too
small, (less than 1024), packets will be cut and log might not contain useful information
3. Reproduce the issue. Thereafter, stop tcpdump logging:
Find the process [pid]: # ps | grep “tcpdump”
Kill the process: # kill -9 [PID]
4. Place the collected .pcap file into a zip archive
ProcDump
ProcDump is a Windows-based command-line utility provided by Microsoft that can be used for
monitoring hung processes and unhandled exceptions and process crash dump creation.

Used for:
• Process interruption or hanging
• Process crashing
• System overload
Use the following instructions to collect ProcDump output:
1. Download ProcDump from https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/dd996900
2. Create a folder where the dumps will be stored and extract ProcDump to the folder
3. Open a Windows command prompt and run the following commands:
cd <path_to_folder>
procdump –e –w –ma <process_name or PID> in situations when the process is
crashing, this will create a full memory dump as soon as the process encounters unhandled
exception and crashes
or
procdump –ma <process_name or PID> in situations when the process is hanging, this
will create a full memory dump of the running process without killing it
4. Reproduce the issue
5. Place the resulting dump into a zip archive

Strace
Strace is a Linux-based monitoring tool that can be used for monitoring interactions between
processes and the Linux kernel.
Used for:
• System overload
Install Strace as follows:
1. Debian-based OS: apt-get install strace
2. SLES: yast –I strace
3. RHEL/CentOS: yum install strace
Depending on the environement, (Agent for Linux or bootable media) and the process (mms or
service_process), following the instructions in https://kb.acronis.com/content/37659 to collect
strace output

OS X Dump File
OS X collects most of the crash dumps, hang dumps, etc. automatically. These dumps reside in
• /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/
• ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/
Used for:
• System overload

8.5 Acronis Troubleshooting Guides

The following are troubleshooting guidelines for common issues faced with Acronis Backup and
Acronis Backup Cloud. The tables summarize the steps and information required if you have to
escalate to Acronis Customer Service & Support.
Agent Installation Issues

Possible Issues Troubleshooting Steps To Take Information To Escalate
Check connection to Management Server

User Account credentials using the Connection Verification Tool
are not accepted during Ensure all necessary ports are open and no
installation firewalls are blocking the connection
Check Backup Account login credentials
1. Screenshots and text of
Locate and analyze the installation log:
errors encountered
 Windows:
2. Installation log
C:\ProgramData\Acronis\InstallationLogs
3. Connection Verification
Installation fails with error  Linux: /var/log/trueimage-setup.log
Tool output
 Mac: /var/log/install.log
4. AcronisInfo/Collect
Collect and analyze process monitor log for system information
access denied errors on local files and registry
5. Process Monitor log
6. Procdump output – if
Check live_update_installer.exe is running
installer crashes/hangs
and files are downloaded to temp folder
7. User Account login
Web-triggered update fails Check for service_process lockup or crash
Ensure port 80 is open for download
Check MSI log in temp folder
Traces of other Acronis

Uninstall other Acronis product
product found
Connectivity Issues
Check connection to Management Server 1. Connection Verification

Backup to cloud storage is using the Connection Verification Tool Tool output
too slow or fails with Ensure all necessary ports are open and no 2. AcronisInfo/Collect
connection error firewalls are blocking the connection system information
Check Backup Account login credentials 3. User Account login
Credentials for the

Check connection to the network folder using 1. AcronisInfo/Collect
network folder are not
other applications, try pinging that computer system information
accepted

Unmount all mounted network shares from 2. Wireshark PCAP log

Backup to the network that computer 3. User Account login
folder is interrupted Update Samba if the network folder is on
NAS/Linux
Check that MMS service is running after

several minutes
Fail to connect to Managed Check MMS permissions:
Machine Service error after https://kb.acronis.com/content/56202 1. Process Monitor log
installation or after reboot Install agent from MSI then register it 2. User Account login
in Windows manually
Check overall WMI performance on the
machine
Backup Console Issues

Check the quotas set up for a particular user

and check for incomplete backup in Web 1. Administrator Account
Incorrect storage display or
Restore login
Storage overuse
https://kb.acronis.com/content/56376 2. User Group name and
Check the spam folder on receiver side Notification Settings for
that User Group in
Check the spam folder on receiver side Backup Console
Notifications and usage
Check SMTP settings and send a test 3. User Account login
reports not being delivered
notification
Computer does not appear Re-register the machine manually as per KB:
in Backup Console https://kb.acronis.com/content/55244
Computer is duplicated in Remove all entries with the same name and 1. AcronisInfo/Collect
Backup Console re-register the machine manually system information
2. Computer name
Machine is offline in Check that MMS service is running 3. User Account login
Backup Console or Check connection to cloud and follow
Incorrect machine status in instructions in KB:
Backup Console https://kb.acronis.com/content/57601
Retry in 10 minutes, regular maintenance runs

Backup Console is Tuesdays 7-8am CET 1. Connection Verification
unavailable or connection Login with another user account or to another Tool output
to console fails with error data center to localize the issue 2. User Account login
Inform Acronis Support about the issue

Backup & Snapshot Issues

File is skipped during Check if any software is locking the file system information
backup Enable file-level backup snapshot 2. Process Monitor log
Operation fails with 1. AcronisInfo/Collect

Check that local folder where backups reside
backup not found error system information
as well as backup files and .xml files were not
2. List of all files in the
moved or modified
local folder and .xml
Operation fails with Check HDD for corruption, bad sectors and file
files
backup corrupted error system errors
Make sure sufficient user privileges are

granted
VSS snapshot creation 1. AcronisInfo/Collect
Check HDD for corruption, bad sectors and file
error or snapshot read system information
system errors
error 2. VSSADMIN output
Localize the faulty VSS module with
DiskShadow 3. DiskShadow output
Check snapshot and shadow copy storage as 5. User Account login
Insufficient snapshot
per KB: https://kb.acronis.com/content/31418
storage space
& https://kb.acronis.com/content/8032
VM Backup Issues
Make sure sufficient user privileges are 1. Result of the vSphere

granted snapshot
VM snapshot failure or Check VSS with DiskShadow inside VM 2. VSS logs
snapshot read failure Run vSphere snapshot with quiesce/no 3. AcronisInfo/Collect
memory option as per KB: system information on
https://kb.acronis.com/content/45632 VM
Check for cloned/imported VMs with system information on
VMware VMs do not
duplicated UUID as per KB: host
appear in Backup Console
https://kb.acronis.com/content/38130 5. User Account login
Make sure sufficient user privileges are

VSS snapshot failure or 1. AcronisInfo/Collect
granted
clustered VM backup system information on
Check VSS with DiskShadow inside VM and on
failure VM
the host

Localize the faulty VSS module with 2. AcronisInfo/Collect

DiskShadow system information on
host
3. VSSADMIN output
4. DiskShadow output
Application Backup Issues

Make sure SQL instance and SQL Browser are 1. AcronisInfo/Collect

SQL instance not detected
running and TCP connections are allowed system information
SQL backup fails with
Give SQL Server admin privileges to MMS user 3. User Account login
access errors
Check that you can list Exchange databases

with PowerShell cmdlet:
Exchange database not
 get-mailboxdatabase 1. AcronisInfo/Collect
detected system information
Ensure Exchange cmdlets are enabled:
 add-pssnapin *exchange* 2. Process Monitor log
Exchange credentials not
Use FQDN credentials
accepted
Recovery Issues
Agent selected for recovery is offline

Recovery points are not
Select online agent that has access to backup
available
storage
Machine recovery is unavailable in Backup 1. AcronisInfo/Collect

Unable to recover Mac, no Console, create a bootable rescue media on system information
machine recovery option Mac and perform recovery with bootable from machine
media 2. AcronisInfo/Collect
system information
Bare metal recovery fails Try with latest build from bootable media
with cloud storage being Try a different bootable media 3. User Account login
unavailable Check Internet connectivity
Recovery to new physical Disk layout must be the same on target

or virtual machine with machine as in backup. Create correct disk

Agent gives error “failed to layout or boot with bootable media to modify
automatically map disks” disk layout during recovery
Hardware Detection Issues

Disks not detected by Reboot machine after installing Agent system information
Agent Repair Agent installation 2. Process Monitor log
system information on
bootable media
Disk/RAID arrays not system information on
detected or improperly Reach out to Acronis Support to add necessary machine where it is
detected by bootable drivers detected improperly
media 3. Screenshot or photo of
how it is detected
4. Name, model and
version of disk/RAID
array
Other Issues
Check for any 3rd party applications

interrupting operations (e.g., antivirus, 1. AcronisInfo/Collect
Process crashes or security or other backup software) system information
operation fails with error Identify the failing process, collect and analyze 2. Process Monitor log
“an underlying layer has process dump
disconnected from the 3. ProcDump output,
Stop the failing process Strace output or OS X
peer” or process hangs
 Windows: taskkill /pid <PID> /f dump file
 Linux & Mac: sudo kill PID
1. Scheduler Manager log

Use Scheduler Manager to check if the
Deleted or revoked backup 2. AcronisInfo/Collect
respective task is registered on the machine
plan continues to run system information
and delete it

Check local time on the machine

Scheduled tasks do not
Use Scheduler Manager to check that the
start or scheduled tasks
respective task is registered on the machine
start at incorrect time
Revoke and reapply the backup plan
Check web browser compatibility 1. HAR log

Disable ad-blockers (if any), try browsing with 2. AcronisInfo/Collect
Web console issues
Private Mode/Incognito Mode system information
Collect HAR log 3. User Account login
FAQs
Acronis KB contains a number of FAQs which canbe used to answer customer queries:
• Acronis Backup 12.5: https://kb.acronis.com/content/59470
• Acronis Backup 12.5 Licensing and Upgrade: https://kb.acronis.com/content/59467
• Acronis Backup Cloud: https://kb.acronis.com/content/49028
• Acronis Web Account: https://kb.acronis.com/content/49269

8.6 Acronis Customer Service & Support

Understanding Acronis Customer Support
Acronis Backup Customers and registered Acronis partners can contact Acronis Customer Service &
Support to submit support tickets:
• 24 x 7 email/phone/chat in English
• Requires a valid maintenance contract or purchase PPI (Pay Per Incident)
• Login to Acronis account https://account.acronis.com to contact support and track support
tickets
Acronis Backup Cloud customers of Service Providers should contact their Service Providers for any
assistance. Service Providers can get support from Acronis according to the following guidelines:
• http://www.acronis.com/en-us/support/serviceproviderguidelines/

Contacting Customer Service & Support:
1. Click on Contact Support on the Support page of the Acronis website
2. Select the type of issue

3. Login with your Acronis web account when prompted
4. Select a support option to submit a support ticket

Information Required to Open Support Case

Split different issues into separate requests (you will get a support case number for each request).
Follow the following steps:
Steps Required Information
‒ Explain the issue and symptoms in detail, attach screenshots/outputs of the

errors (if any), product build number, etc.
‒ Describe the desired behavior you expect from the product, provide steps
Define the issue
necessary to reproduce the issue
‒ Include detailed environment overview, e.g., OS, network settings, any recent
hardware changes, etc.
Supply necessary ‒ Attach logs from Agents and/or Management Server where applicable
logs and ‒ Attach system information from all computers involved
troubleshooting ‒ Attach any other logs and outputs according to the issue type and
tools output troubleshooting guidelines provided
‒ A – Critical
‒ B – High
‒ C – Normal
Define severity
‒ D – Low
‒ Acronis Support can change the severity of the incident if it was not set
reasonably

9 Appendix
9.1 Protecting Oracle Database
Introduction
More and more often, Oracle databases are used to run and support the most critical applications.
An enterprise database may be complex and difficult to administrate and protect, while having little
tolerance for downtime.
To address backup requirements for these databases, Oracle offers an integrated command-line
backup solution named Recovery Manager (or RMAN). RMAN contains all backup and recovery
functionality that is necessary for an Oracle environment of any complexity.
At the same time, RMAN lacks a GUI, has a steep learning curve, and requires an experienced
database administrator to configure and use correctly. It may be a challenge for smaller companies
that just have started using Oracle Database. RMAN is also limited in terms of storage that is
supported out of the box (a local folder or SMB share only), does not support complex storage
policies, and does not provide a simple disaster recovery scenario for the case when an entire Oracle
server fails.
Acronis Backup offers a solution for protecting Oracle Database data. This solution combines the full
power of Acronis Backup and RMAN in a package that is simple to use even for those who are not
versed in Oracle Database intricacies.
Backup and recovery methods

Backup methods
The solution provides two methods of protecting Oracle data. Both methods allow you to utilize the
backup management functionality: centralized management, replication, retention, email
notifications, and more.
Server backup
Back up an entire Oracle server, using application-aware backup to ensure the application-consistent
state of the Oracle database.
Benefits:
 Reduced RTO in case of the entire server failure
 Backup is fully configured in the graphical user interface. Oracle Recovery Manager (RMAN)
knowledge is not necessary
 Having a backup of the entire server, you can easily create a virtual machine that needs only
seconds to spin up and replace the original server
Limitations:
 The database must be stored on a regular file system supported by the backup software. Raw
partitions and Oracle Automatic Storage Management (ASM) volumes are not supported
Appendix 377
Database backup
Back up an Oracle database by using Oracle Recovery Manager (RMAN) to a local folder, and then
back up the resulting files to a different location, keeping only the latest RMAN backups in the local
folder. The solution provides RMAN scripts that can be automatically run before the file backup.
Thus, the entire procedure can be set up and executed within a single workflow without prior
knowledge of RMAN scripting.
Benefits:
 Support for databases stored on raw partitions or Oracle Automatic Storage Management
(ASM) volumes
Limitations:
 Longer RTO in case of entire server failure
Comparison
Server Backup Database Backup
RTO in case of entire server

Less More
failure
The capability to run a

Yes, ESXi or Hyper-V No
virtual Oracle server
Support for raw

No Yes
partitions/ASM
Support for database spread

Yes Yes
over several volumes
Ease of use Backup is fully configured in the Necessity to configure separate

graphical user interface. Knowledge of backup plans for full backup and
RMAN is not necessary. backup of archive log.
Common limitations
 Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC) are not supported
 Only single-instance database configurations are supported
 It is not possible to back up individual pluggable databases (PDB). They are backed up as part
of the container database (CDB)
 The database must be in the ARCHIVELOG mode (the NOARCHIVELOG flag is disabled)
A database in the NOARCHIVELOG mode can be backed up only in the closed state, while the
backup solution is aimed at backing up databases without a downtime. Trying to create a
disk-level backup will return a VSS error if an online database is in this mode, and RMAN
cannot be used either
378 Appendix
To avoid this error, stop and close the database with a pre-data capture command and
restart the database with a post-data capture command. You will be able to recover the
entire server but recovering via Oracle Explorer will not be available
Recovery methods
Server recovery
Recover the entire server to the point in time of backup creation. If you recover the server to bare
metal, Oracle Database will be recovered among other data and will be in a consistent state.
Benefits:
 The quickest and easiest disaster recovery method
 Allows physical-to-virtual migration (P2V) and other methods of replication or migrating your
Oracle server
 Oracle Recovery Manager (RMAN) knowledge is not necessary
Recovery by using Oracle Explorer

Recover datafiles to a point of time by using the Oracle Explorer tool provided with the solution. The
tool employs RMAN and combines a number of useful RMAN options in a convenient UI. By using the
tool, you can recover from both application-aware backups and database backups.
Benefits:
 Allows granular, point-in-time recovery of your Oracle data directly from application-aware
backups
 Oracle Recovery Manager (RMAN) knowledge is not necessary
Limitations:
 May require a two-step recovery process when used for database backups
Recovery by using scripts

Recover a database to the point in time of the latest backup from the locally stored RMAN backups.
The solution provides a RMAN script for this recovery. To recover to the point in time of a previous
RMAN backup, first recover this RMAN backup from a file-level backup, and then use scripts to
recover the database.
The same recovery operations can be performed with datafiles and the control file. The solution
provides separate scripts for these recovery operations.
Also, the solution provides separate scripts for recovering to a custom point in time. This point in
time can be specified by the exact date and time or by the System Change Number (SCN).
Benefits:
 It is possible to customize recovery for advanced scenarios
Limitations:
 A customization requires RMAN knowledge
 May require a two-step recovery operation
Appendix 379
Supported Operating Systems

Server backup
Windows Server 2008R2 – Standard, Enterprise, Data center, and Web editions (x86, x64)
Windows Server 2012R2 – Standard, Enterprise, Data center, and Web editions (x86, x64)
Linux - any kernel and distribution supported by Agent for Linux (listed below)
Database backup
Windows
Windows XP Professional SP3 (x86, x64)
Windows Server 2003 SP1/2003 R2 and later – Standard and Enterprise editions (x86, x64)
Windows Small Business Server 2003/2003 R2
Windows Vista – all editions
Windows Server 2008 – Standard, Enterprise, Data center, and Web editions (x86, x64)
Windows Small Business Server 2008
Windows 7 – all editions
Windows Server 2008 R2 – Standard, Enterprise, Data center, Foundation, and Web editions
Windows MultiPoint Server 2010/2011/2012
Windows Small Business Server 2011 – all editions
Windows 8/8.1 – all editions (x86, x64), except for the Windows RT editions
Windows Server 2012/2012 R2 – all editions
Windows Storage Server 2003/2008/2008 R2/2012/2012 R2/2016
Windows 10 – Home, Pro, Education, Enterprise, and IoT Enterprise editions
Windows Server 2016 – all installation options, except for Nano Server
Linux
Linux with kernel from 2.6.9 to 4.15 and glibc 2.3.4 or later
Various x86 and x86_64 Linux distributions, including:
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.x, 5.x, 6.x, 7.0, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 7.5
Ubuntu 9.10, 10.04, 10.10, 11.04, 11.10, 12.04, 12.10, 13.04, 13.10, 14.04, 14.10,
15.04, 15.10, 16.04, 16.10, 17.04, 17.10, 18.04
Fedora 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 and 11
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 – supported on file systems, except for Btrfs
Debian 4, 5, 6, 7.0, 7.2, 7.4, 7.5, 7.6, 7.7, 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 8.5, 8.6, 8.7, 8.8, 9.0,
9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.4
380 Appendix
CentOS 5.x, 6.x, 7, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4

Oracle Linux 5.x, 6.x, 7.0, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 7.5 – both Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel
and Red Hat Compatible Kernel
CloudLinux 5.x, 6.x, 7, 7.1
ClearOS 5.x, 6.x, 7, 7.1
ALT Linux 7.0
Before installing the product on a system that does not use RPM Package Manager, such as
an Ubuntu system, you need to install this manager manually; for example, by running the
following command (as the root user): apt-get install rpm
Supported Oracle Database versions

 Oracle Database version 11g, all editions
 Oracle Database version 12c, all editions
Only single-instance configurations are supported
Prerequisites
Common prerequisites
 An Advanced license must be assigned to the physical machine running Oracle Database. If
the machine is virtual and is backed up by Agent for VMware, an Advanced license must be
assigned to the ESXi host.
Prerequisites for application-aware backup of Windows machines

 Oracle VSS writer must be installed and working (this happens by default for supported
Oracle versions)
 Other prerequisites are described in the "Protecting Microsoft applications" > "Prerequisites"
section of the user documentation, under "Additional requirements for application-aware
backups".
Installation
Backup software components
To protect Oracle data, you need the following components:
 Management Server lets you centrally manage multiple machines: create backup plans,
monitor their execution, deploy agents, and more. It can be installed on a Windows or Linux
machine that has network access to all of the managed machines
To install the management server, proceed as described in the "Installing the management
server" section of the user documentation
 Agents are required to back up servers and databases
Appendix 381
 Agent for Windows or Agent for Linux (depending on the server operating system) and
Agent for Oracle must be installed on the physical machine running Oracle Database. 
 To protect a virtual server, you need Agent for VMware either installed on a machine
running Windows or deployed to your VMware ESX host
To install agents, proceed as described in the "Installing agents locally" section of the user
documentation
 Oracle Explorer is designed for granular recovery of Oracle data. This component is part of
Agent for Oracle.
Oracle RMAN integration scripts

The scripts are automatically installed with Agent for Oracle.
The scripts are installed to the following folder:
 In Windows: %ProgramFiles%\Acronis\Oracle
 In Linux: /usr/lib/Acronis/Oracle.
Later in this document, this folder is referred to as <scripts location folder>.
List of the scripts
The following table lists the scripts provided with the solution:
For Windows
Script name or Linux Description
main.py Windows, Linux The main script that performs all operations related to Oracle
backup and recovery. Not for independent use
main.cfg Windows, Linux The configuration file contains the database access parameters
and other parameters that are common for other scripts. This
is the only file that you may need to edit.
This file is located in the following folder:
 In Windows: %ProgramData%\Acronis\Oracle\Config
 In Linux: /var/lib/Acronis/Oracle/Config.
backup_full_pre.bat Windows Calls the main script to perform a full database backup by
RMAN
backup_full_pre.sh Linux
backup_incr_pre.bat Windows Calls the main script to perform an archived log backup by
RMAN
backup_incr_pre.sh Linux
restore_disaster.bat Windows Calls the main script to recover the entire database to the
latest available state
restore_disaster.sh Linux
382 Appendix
For Windows
Script name or Linux Description
restore_datafiles.bat Windows Calls the main script to recover datafiles to the latest available
state (complete recovery)
restore_datafiles.sh Linux
restore_controlfile.bat Windows Calls the main script to recover the control file to the latest
available state
restore_controlfile.sh Linux
restore_to-point-in- Windows Calls the main script to recover the database to a point in time
time.bat in the past (incomplete recovery). Such point in time is
specified by a date and time in the following format: yyyy-mm-
restore_to-point-in- Linux dd:hh24:mi:ss
time.sh
restore_to-scn.bat Windows Calls the main script to recover the database to a point in time
in the past (incomplete recovery). Such point in time is
restore_to-scn.sh Linux specified by a System Change Number
last_log.bat Windows Calls the main script to show its latest log
last_log.sh Linux
*.rman Windows, Linux RMAN scripts for various operations. Not for independent use
*.sql Windows, Linux SQL*Plus scripts for various operations. Not for independent
use
Other Windows, Linux Auxiliary scripts. Not for independent use
Configuration parameters
This section lists parameters that you can modify in the file main.cfg.
 BACKUP_DIR: the local folder where RMAN backups will be stored
The disk where you want to store RMAN backups must have free space enough for two
copies of the database
The default path is C:\local_rman_backups\ in Windows and
/tmp/local_rman_backups in Linux.
Note: In Windows, use double backslash characters instead of single ones. For example, the default
path is specified as C:\\local_rman_backups\\
 TARGET: connection string for the database
The default value is /. With this value, the script will log on to Oracle by using the operating
system authentication. In Windows, the script will use the account under which the agent
service runs. In Linux, the script will use the ORACLE_USER variable value (see later in this
Appendix 383
section). Both in Windows and in Linux, the account that you specify must have the SYSDBA
system privilege in Oracle
If you want to use database authentication, specify the connection string in the following
format: <username>/<password>[@<connection identifier>]
where,
 <username>/<password> are the credentials that the script will use to log on to
Oracle. This account must have the SYSDBA system privilege in Oracle
 <connection identifier> is an Oracle Net connect identifier. It can be a net service
name, a database service name, or a net service alias. The connect identifier is required in
Oracle Database Engine 12 to ensure that the connection string points to a container
database (CDB) rather than a pluggable database (PDB)
Example. If you want the script to connect with username HR to the database that has the
Oracle Net alias FLEETDB, type HR/password@FLEETDB as the TARGET parameter value
In Linux, you may need to additionally modify the following Oracle environment variables to reflect
the actual Oracle Database settings:
 ORACLE_BASE: the home directory for the Oracle software. The default value is
/u01/app/oracle. To learn the actual value, run the env | grep ORACLE_BASE
command under an account that has the SYSDBA system privilege in the Oracle Database
instance that you want to protect
 ORACLE_HOME: the subdirectory of the home directory where the database files are located.
The default value is /u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0.2/db_1/. To learn the actual
value, run the env | grep ORACLE_HOME command under an account that has the SYSDBA
system privilege in Oracle
 ORACLE_SID: the system identifier of the database. The default value is orcl. To learn the
actual value, run the env | grep ORACLE_SID command under an account that has the
SYSDBA system privilege in Oracle
 ORACLE_USER: the account that RMAN and SQL*Plus use to log on to Oracle when the
TARGET parameter value is / (see the TARGET parameter above). The default value is
oracle. The account that you specify here must have the SYSDBA system privilege in Oracle
 RMAN_PATH: the directory where RMAN is located.
The default value is $ORACLE_HOME/bin. To learn the actual value, run the which rman
command under an account that has the SYSDBA system privilege in Oracle. For example, if
the command output is /u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0.2/db_1/lib/rman, set
the RMAN_PATH value to $ORACLE_HOME/lib
Backup
Backing up an entire server
To back up a server where Oracle Database is installed, create an application-aware backup. Follow
the below guidelines:
384 Appendix
 Select the entire machine. Otherwise, you will not be able to create application-aware
backup
 Click Application backup and enable the Oracle Database switch
 In the backup options, do the following:
 Ensure that the Multi-volume snapshot option is enabled
 [Only for Windows] When backing up a physical server, ensure that the Volume Shadow
Copy Service option is enabled. Unless you have a reason to do otherwise, we
recommend that you keep the default value Automatically select snapshot provider
 [Only for Windows] When backing up a virtual server, ensure that the Volume Shadow
Copy Service (VSS) for virtual machines option is enabled
These settings will guarantee that the database is correctly frozen and flushed during the
snapshot creation. As a result, the backed-up application will be fully consistent.
For more information about how to back up, refer to the "Backup" section of the user
documentation.
Backing up an Oracle database

Preparation
Select the local folder that will store RMAN backups. The disk allocated for storing RMAN backups
must have free space enough for two copies of the database. Do not select the same disk as the one
where the database is located.
The default path is C:\local_rman_backups\ in Windows and /tmp/local_rman_backups in
Linux. To change this path, edit the BACKUP_DIR parameter value in the main.cfg file as described
in "Configuration parameters".
If the selected folder does not exist, create it. Ensure that the following users have the read
permission for this folder:
1. The account under which the agent service runs
2. The account under which Oracle instance service (OracleService<Database ID>) runs
3. The root user (only in Linux)
If necessary, change other script configuration parameters.
Creating backup plans
To back up an Oracle database, create one or two backup plans. One of them is mandatory, it will
first create a full RMAN backup, and then create a full backup of the resulting files to a different
location. The other one is optional, it will first create a RMAN backup of archived logs, and then
create an incremental backup of the resulting files to the same location and with the same backup
file name as the full backup. Use the second backup plan to back up archived logs more often than
the database.
A full RMAN backup must be created before backups of archived logs. Otherwise, you will not be
able to recover the database until the full backup is created. If, according to the schedule, the
incremental backup will run first, run the full backup manually before that.
Appendix 385
To create a backup plan for full backups

Follow the below guidelines:
 In What to back up, select Files/folders. Select the folder that will store the RMAN backups
 In Schedule > Backup scheme, select Always full or Custom
 Specify the backup schedule. If you have selected the Custom backup scheme, specify only
the full backup schedule here
We recommend that you create full backups once a week
 Click Backup file name, and then change the file name template. Do not use the [Plan ID]
and [Plan name] variables
Memorize or write down the template you specified because you will need to set the
same value in the second backup plan
 Click Pre/post commands
 Enable the Execute a command before the backup switch
 Specify the following settings
[In Windows]
 In Command, enter <scripts location folder>\backup_full_pre.bat
 In Working directory, enter <scripts location folder>
 [In Linux]
 In Command, enter /<scripts location folder>/backup_full_pre.sh
 In Working directory, enter /<scripts location folder>/
documentation.
To create a backup plan for archived log backups
Follow the below guidelines:
 In What to back up, select Files/folders. Select the folder that will store the RMAN backups
 In Where to back up, select the same backup location as for full backups
 In Schedule > Backup scheme, select Custom
 Change the backup schedule for full backups. Because full backups are not needed in this
case, the schedule must guarantee that full backups will never be done
We recommend that you change the schedule to On Windows Event Log event and leave
other parameters as they are
 Specify the backup schedule for incremental backups
We recommend that you create incremental backups on each day of week except for the day
you selected for full backups
386 Appendix

 Click Backup file name, and then specify the same file name template as for full backups
 Click Pre/post commands
 Enable the Execute a command before the backup switch
 Specify the following settings
[In Windows]
 In Command, enter <scripts location folder>\backup_incr_pre.bat
 In Working directory, enter <scripts location folder>
 [In Linux]
 In Command, enter /<scripts location folder>/backup_incr_pre.sh
 In Working directory, enter /<scripts location folder>/
documentation.
Recovery
Recovering an entire server
To recover a physical server that cannot boot, you need bootable media. Also, you can use bootable
media to recover a physical server to bare metal. If the operating system is up and running, you can
configure and start the recovery directly from the backup console.
To recover a server
1. Do one of the following:
 To recover a physical server from the backup console, proceed as described in the
"Recovering a machine" > "Physical machine" section of the user documentation
 To recover a virtual server, proceed as described in the "Recovering a machine" > "Virtual
machine" section of the user documentation
 To recover under the bootable media, proceed as described in the "Recovering a
machine" > "Recovering disks by using bootable media" section of the user
documentation
2. If archived logs are available for the period after the backup from which you have recovered
(for example, these logs can be stored on a separate undamaged volume or backed up
separately), recover them to the latest state by using RMAN, after recovering the server
Recovering Oracle databases by using Oracle Explorer

Oracle Explorer
Oracle Explorer can interact only with Agent for Oracle that is installed on the same server. If your
Oracle Database is running on a virtual machine, install Agent for Oracle inside this machine to use
Oracle Explorer.
Appendix 387
In Windows, Oracle Explorer is located in the folder

%ProgramFiles%\Acronis\OracleExplorer. To run the tool, you can also use the shortcut
created on the desktop after Agent for Oracle installation.
In Linux, run /usr/lib/Acronis/OracleExplorer/oracle_explorer.sh Oracle Explorer
recovers Oracle data in two steps. First, it restores the required Oracle files (datafiles, server
parameter file, control file, and archived logs) from the application-aware backup or from the
database backup. You can skip this step if these files are intact. Then, the tool calls an RMAN
recovery command that applies redo logs and performs other operations to make the database
consistent up to the desired state.
To recover Oracle data
1. Run Oracle Explorer
2. Select the backup location. If prompted, specify the user name and password for the location
3. Select the backup. If prompted, specify the password for the encrypted backup
4. Select the recovery point and the database to be recovered
5. Select Oracle files to be restored from the backup. Skip this step if the files are intact.
We recommend that you select tablespaces and archived logs. If you restore a control file,
you will have to make a new incarnation of the database. If you restore a server parameter
file, you will lose changes in the instance parameters that you have made after the backup. If
you select to restore archive logs, select the specific logs to be restored. Oracle files will
always be restored to the original location and will be overwritten
6. [Optional] Select recovery options:
 The point in time to which the database will be recovered
This can be either recovery to the latest available state (complete recovery) or recovery to
a point in time in the past (incomplete recovery). Such point in time is specified either by
the date and time from the interval between the recovery point selected earlier and the
current moment, or by a System Change Number
 Whether to open the database after the recovery
Leave the database closed if you plan to perform manual recovery operations by using
RMAN
 Whether to reset logs
This option should be used with caution because resetting redo logs creates a new
database incarnation, meaning that you might be limited in rolling back the database to
the previous incarnation
 The account under which the recovery will be performed
 You can also restore the database files without running an RMAN recovery operation, if
you plan to perform recovery later
Later in this section, a number of basic recovery scenarios is described, with the
recommended options you should select in each case
388 Appendix
Recovery to the latest state

Use this procedure if datafiles are lost or corrupted, or in case of another type of database failure. It
is assumed that the control file and the server parameter file are intact.
You can also use this scenario to bring the database to the latest state after recovering the entire
server from an older disk-level backup.
For this scenario, select Tablespaces and Archive logs as needed. In recovery options: select Recover
up to the latest available state, keep the Open database after recovery check box selected, and
keep the Reset logs check box cleared.
Recovery to an earlier point in time
Use this procedure when the database is operational but you want to roll it back to a previous state.
For this scenario, select Tablespaces and Archive logs as needed. In recovery options, select either
Recover to the point in time or Recover to System Change Number (SCN); specify the date and time
or SCN to which the database should be recovered; keep the Open database after recovery check
box selected; and select the Reset logs check box.
Recovering Oracle data by using scripts

Recovering a RMAN backup from a file-level backup
Perform this operation in the following cases:
 The latest RMAN backup has been lost or corrupted.
 You need to recover the database to a previous point in time
To recover a RMAN backup from a file-level backup
Proceed as described in the "Recovering files by using the web interface" section of the user
documentation.
Recovering Oracle data from a RMAN backup
Oracle database disaster recovery
Use this method if you need to recover the entire server or the disk where Oracle Database is
installed but you do not have a disk-level backup of it. This method makes the database consistent
up to the state of the RMAN backup.
To recover a database in case of disaster
1. Reinstall the operating system or take another server that is up and running. If the operating
system is intact, skip this step
2. Reinstall Oracle Database
3. Create a new database with the same name and in the same location as the one that you
need to recover
4. Recover the required RMAN backup from the file-level backup, as described earlier in this
section. If you recover from the latest RMAN backup and it is intact, skip this step
5. [In Windows] At the command prompt, type cd <scripts location folder>
[In Linux] In the terminal, type cd /<scripts location folder>
Appendix 389
6. Run restore_disaster.bat (in Windows) or restore_disaster.sh (in Linux).

Complete database recovery
Use this method if a database has failed or has been corrupted after the latest backup. This method
presumes that the control file and the server parameter file are intact.
To recover a database
3. [In Linux] In the terminal, type cd /<scripts location folder>
4. Run restore_datafiles.bat (in Windows) or restore_datafiles.sh (in Linux)
Control file recovery
Use this method if a control file has been lost or corrupted after the latest backup.
To recover a control file
3. Run restore_controlfile.bat (in Windows) or restore_controlfile.sh (in Linux)
4. Run a full backup
Recovering a control file resets logs therefore the next backup must be full
Recovery to a custom point in time (incomplete recovery)
Use this method to recover the database to a custom point in time. This point in time can be
specified in the following ways:
 By the exact date and time. The available range is between the moment of the RMAN backup
and the current moment
 By the System Change Number (SCN). The available range is between the value written in file
scn.in and the latest value available in archived logs
 File scn.in is stored in the folder where RMAN backups are located. Normally, the SCN in
this file reflects the point in time of the latest backup
To learn the latest SCN value from archived logs:
 At the command prompt (in Windows) or in the terminal (in Linux), type sqlplus / as
sysdba to log in to Oracle
 Type select max(next change#) -1 from v$archived_log;

To recover to a custom point in time
section. This will overwrite file scn.in
390 Appendix
If you recover from the latest RMAN backup and it is intact, skip this step
3. Do any of the following:
 To recover to a certain point in time, run restore_to-point-in-time.bat <point
in time> (in Windows) or restore_to-point-in-time.sh <point in time> (in
Linux)
Where <point in time> should be specified in the following format: yyyy-mm-
dd:hh24:mi:ss
 To recover to a certain SCN, run restore_to-scn.bat <SCN> (in Windows) or

restore_to-scn.sh <SCN> (in Linux).
 If the date and time (the SCN) is not specified, the recovery will be performed to the
moment of time determined by the SCN specified in the file scn.in
4. Run a full backup
Incomplete recovery resets logs, therefore the next backup must be full
9.2 Sizing and Migration Tools

Acronis Migration Tool
Acronis Migration Tool helps you migrate the backup infrastructure for VMware ESXi and Microsoft
Hyper-V virtual machines from Veeam Backup & Replication to Acronis Backup 12.5.
The tool reads information about the Veeam infrastructure from the Veeam database, emulates the
migration by trying to convert Veeam backup jobs to Acronis backup plans, displays the success or
failure in the UI, and creates a detailed report. If you are satisfied with the result, start the real
migration. The tool will deploy the Acronis Backup agents, create backup plans, and apply them to
the virtual machines that were protected by Veeam.
Supported backup software to migrate from:
 Veeam Backup and Replication 9.0
 Veeam Backup and Replication 9.5
Future versions of the tool will support migration from other backup software vendors.
Download at http://dl2.acronis.com/u/AcronisBackup12.5/Release/AcronisMigrationTool.msi
Step-by-step instructions
To migrate from Veeam Backup & Replication:
1. Install Acronis Backup Management Server on a machine running Windows or Linux.
2. Download and install the tool on a machine running Windows.
We recommend that you install the tool on the machine where the Veeam Backup &
Replication database is located, to simplify connection to the database.
Appendix 391
If the database is on a different machine, ensure that SQL Server Browser Service and the
TCP/IP protocol are enabled on that machine. For instructions on how to start SQL Server
Browser Service, refer to http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms189093.aspx. You can
enable the TCP/IP protocol by using a similar procedure.
3. Run the tool and provide a user name and password for connection to the Veeam Backup &
Replication database. You can choose between Windows authentication and SQL Server
authentication.
If the database is on a different machine, also provide the machine name or IP, the name of
the Microsoft SQL Server instance, and the name of the database.
The tool connects to the database and reads the Veeam Backup & Replication configuration
from it.
4. [Optional] If you want to use this configuration later, click Save hosts and jobs to file. Next
time when you start the tool, click Import hosts and jobs from file instead of connecting to
the database.
5. Provide a user name and a password for connection to the Acronis Backup Management
Server.
If the database is on a different machine, also provide the machine name or IP address.
The tool connects to the management server.
6. Enter the credentials for all entities used by Veeam Backup & Replication:
 vCenter Servers
 ESXi hosts
 Hyper-V hosts
 Network shares
During the migration, Agent for Hyper-V will be installed on each of the Hyper-V hosts. For
vCenter Servers and ESXi hosts, you can choose between installing Agent for VMware
(Windows) and using Agent for VMware that is already registered on the management
server.
When you click OK, the tool checks the connection to the machine or network share.
Once all of the credentials are verified, click Next. After you click Next, the tool starts
emulating the migration.
7. Wait for the emulation to complete, and then click Get detailed report. You will see problems
and workarounds, if any. If you are satisfied with the result, click Next.
8. The real migration begins. Wait for the migration to complete, and then click Get detailed
report. Check the migration results in both the report and the Acronis Backup console. Make
the settings omitted by the Migration Tool, or correct the settings, if necessary.
Limitations
The following options cannot be migrated:
392 Appendix
 Description of a backup job

 Backup of selected disks (the entire virtual machine will be backed up)
 Order of backing up virtual machines
 Reverse Incremental and Synthetic Full backups
 Schedule “After this job”
 Backup window
 Backup locations: Deduplicating storage appliance, Scale-out repository
 Backup of multiple virtual machines from a single volume snapshot
 Active full backup (maintenance of a full backup file in terms of removing deleted data,
defragmentation, and compacting)
 SNMP notifications about a backup job
 Running of scripts
 Storage optimization
 Transaction logs processing
 Encryption of backups. The encryption is always disabled in an imported backup plan, but you
can edit the plan to enable the encryption.
Resource Usage Calculator

Acronis Backup 12.5 Resource Usage Calculator (.xlsx) can be used as a guide for sizing of larger
environments as well as with estimating the storage requirements needed for desired retention
periods and time required to push this data thought the network.
Download at https://go.acronis.com/resource-usage-calculator
9.3 Tape Sets

Goal
Tape sets:
 provide great flexibility of tape media utilizing
 allow applying rules to define which tapes will be taken for a backup
 ensure optimal tape usage and improve automatic tape rotation as well as manual tape
management
How it works
A tape set is a subset of tapes in the tape pool.
A tape media that belong to a tape set can be taken for a backup only if this tape set is specified in
backup options of the executed backup plan. As a result, backups are not mixed on the same tape
Appendix 393
media if backups executed with different tape set options. Even if these backups are produced by
the same backup plan.
In general, a tape set is just a certain text string. You can create tape sets in one of these ways.
Creating tape sets – Method 1

Specify a tape set for any particular tape media in the pool using Tape Management. Then specify
the same tape set in the backup plan options. As a result, only the tape media that belong to this
tape set is taken for this backup plan. Once all tapes of the specified tape sets have been taken,
empty or ready to be re-used tapes are taken.
Creating tape sets - way 2

Alternatively, a tape set can be provided in a backup plan as a parameter, see list below. The
software reacts on this parameter and creates a tape set accordingly.
You can combine the parameters to fine-tune Acronis Backup 12 Advanced according to your goals.
For convenience, you can choose a template for tape sets in the backup plan settings:
394 Appendix
When a tape set has been specified in backup options, the software seeks the tape media of this
tape set. If it is not found in the backup location (pool), first an empty or a ready to be re-written
tape media that does not cvzxcvbelong to any other tape set is taken from the current tape pool, and
then a tape media regardless of tape set from the Free pool. The tape set from backup plan options
is assigned to this media automatically.
Appendix 395
Table of parameters for tape sets

Example of a Tape Set name
that will be shown in the
Parameter Syntax Description Tape management interface
[Resource Name] Enables a distinct tape sets for backed /mail.server.Win2012R2/

or up machines.
[Resource If the machine name is not specified
Name = %resource_name%] explicitly: [Resource Name], a separate
tape set will be created for each
machine in the backup plan.
You can specify the name of the
resource (machine) for which the tape
set will be allocated.
[Backup Type] Enables a distinct tape set for backup /full/, /inc/, /diff/
or type.
[Backup Type = %backup If backup type is not specified
type%] explicitly: [Backup Type],
a separate tape set will be created for
each backup type
[Resource Type] Enables a tape set for specified resource /Server/, /Workstation/,
or type. /ServerEssenials/,
If resource type is not specified /VM/, /VirtualHost/,
[Resource Type = %resource
explicitly: [Resource Type], /O365_mailbox/, /SQL/,
type%]
/Exchange/, /AD/, /SP/
each resource type.
[Day] Enables a distinct tape set for each day 01... 31

or of month. You can specify the exact
day(s) when to create a tape set.
[Day=10][Day=20]
[Weekday] Enables a distinct tape set for a day of /Sunday/, /Monday/, /Tuesday/,
or week. /Wednesday/, /Thursday/,
If a day of week is not specified /Friday/, /Saturday/
[Weekday = %weekday%]
explicitly: [Weekday],
each day of week.
[Month] Enables a distinct tape set for specified /January/, /February/, March/,
or month. /April/, /May/, June/, /July/,
If a month is not specified explicitly: /August/, /September/,
[Month = %month%]
[Month], /October/, /November/,
/December
396 Appendix
Example of a Tape Set name

that will be shown in the
Parameter Syntax Description Tape management interface

each month
[Year] Enables a distinct tape set for specified /2017/, /2018/,...

or year.
[Year = %year%] If a year is not specified explicitly:
[Year],
each year
Table of tape set templates available from UI

Use distinct tape set for each... Tape set format in backup plan
Backup Type [Backup Type]
Device Type [Resource Type]
Device Name [Resource Name]
Day in month [Day]
Day of the week [Weekday]
Month of the year [Month]
Year [Year]
Date [Year].[Month].[Day]
Note: Different backup plans adjusted to the same tape location (pool) can work with the same tape
set (if it is specified in backup settings). In order to use the same tape set template for two
backup plans and prevent mixing backups on tape media, you need to specify different
locations in these backup plans.
Examples
Prerequisites:
 Tape device is connected to the machine, which Agent or Storage Node installed
 Tape device is recognized by the software and inventoried
 Necessary tape locations are created
Appendix 397
Use case 1
You want to use distinct tapes for each day of week (separate tape(s) for Monday, Tuesday etc…).
Workflow:
1. Create a backup plan, choose tape location for backup
Make sure that the pool contains a number of tapes or it is allowed to take tapes from the
Free tapes pool
2. Go to Backup options, and then to Tapes
3. Mark the Use tape sets within a tape pool chosen for the backup plan check-box
4. In the drop-down list, choose Use distinct tape set for each: Day of the week
5. Once the backup plan is executed, the tapes taken for backup are assigned to the
corresponding tape set (Monday, Tuesday and so on)
6. You can check it in the Tape Management view: go to Settings > Tapes > Tape pools >Acronis
(or any other pool specified in your backup plan)
7. If the first backup is written to a tape marked with Monday tape set, after a week, the same
tape will be taken for backup (unless otherwise specified in the settings)
8. If there is not enough free space on the tape, another empty tape is taken.
9. For standalone drive: if the tape belonging to another tape set is inserted, the software asks
to insert the tape of the correct tape set or a new empty tape
Use case 2
You want to define a specific list of tapes (using barcodes) to be taken for a backup on the certain
weekday. The list is provided to a technician who has to insert a tape on a respective weekday.
Workflow:
1. Go to the Tape Management view: Settings > Tapes > Tape pools
2. Fill the pool that will be used for backup to tapes (move them from Free tapes pool)
3. Drill down to the pool, choose the first tape(s) that will be used for Monday backups
4. Click the Info button, click the link to add tape set, type in the text field – Monday, click Done
5. Perform the same operation for all necessary tapes – specify desired tape set name
(weekdays) for them
7. Go to Backup options > Tapes, choose a template for tape sets: Day of the week
8. Once the backup plan is executed, the tape belonging to the previously specified tape set
(Monday) will be taken for backup
Use case 3
You need to divide tapes with full backups from incremental and differential. Tapes with full backups
will be kept for long-term secure storage. Tapes with incremental and differential backups will be
permanently rotated and overwritten.
398 Appendix
Workflow:
2. Go to Backup options > Tapes, choose a template for tape sets: Backup type
3. Once the backup plan is executed, the tapes taken for backup will be assigned to the
corresponding tape set (full, inc or diff)
4. You can check it in the Tape Management view
5. Note: for GFS backup scheme, the tape set parameter [Backup Type] is enabled by default
Use case 4
You have heterogeneous environment with different machine types – Servers, Workstations, Virtual
Machines, Business Critical Applications. You want to write backups of different machines to
separate tapes.
Workflow:
1. Create a backup plan for multiple machines, choose tape location for backup
2. Go to Backup options > Tapes, choose a template for tape sets: Device type
3. Once the backup plan is executed, the different tapes will be taken for backup of each
different device type. Corresponding tape set will be assigned to the tapes taken for backup
4. You can check it in the Tape Management view
Use case 5
You want to keep only full backups of a specific (the most important) machine on a separate tape
media.
Workflow:
1. Create a backup plan that includes the machine whose backups you want to keep on a
separate tape (the backup plan can also include other machines); choose tape location for
backup
2. Go to Backup options > Tapes > Specify your custom rule for a tape set, type: [Resource
name =mail.server.Win2012R2][Backup Type = full]
3. Once the backup plan is executed, the separate tape will be taken for Full backups of the
specific machine, specified in the backup options/tape set
4. Backups of other types as well as all the other machines in the backup plan will be mixed up
on another tape without any tape sets
Use case 6
You prefer to specify your own tape set name with parameter (say, separate tape set for each
month). For example, the tape set can include information about a unit of your organization etc.
Workflow:
1. Create a backup plan of multiple machines, choose tape location for backup.
2. Go to Backup options > Tapes > Specify your custom rule for a tape set, type: Finance
team workstations, [Month]
Appendix 399
3. During backup plan execution, tapes taken for backup will be assigned to the following tape
sets:
 Finance team workstations, January
 Finance team workstations, February
 etc…
4. You can check and manage it in the Tape Management view
400 Appendix
9.4 Mass Deployment & Update of Agents for Windows

Note: Starting with Update 1, Acronis Backup 12.5 (both Standard and Advanced) provides a
convenient tool for remote installation and update of Windows Agents on multiple machines.
Prepare a list of machines where Agent for Windows should be installed

Create a .csv file containing hostnames or IP addresses and access credentials, one machine per line:
host1 user1 password1
For each of the machines, specify the credentials of an account with administrative privileges on that
machine.
If a password contains a comma or a blank space, this password should be taken into quotes (for
example, "pass w,ord").
For a machine that is a domain controller in an Active Directory domain, you must specify the name
of that domain together with the user name. For example: MyDomain\Administrator
Mass deployment
Note: Before you start deployment, make sure that target machines meet requirements for remote
installation (see the Help file for more information). Only Agent for Windows is installed on
target machines.
1. On the Windows machine where Acronis Management Server is located, open Command
Prompt and navigate to the C:\Program Files\Acronis\PyShell folder:
cd "C:\Program Files\Acronis\PyShell"
2. Issue:
python site-tools\agents.py -v -a <AMS_address> -p 9877 --username
<username> --password <password> -i --agents <list.csv>
where <AMS_address> is the hostname or the IP address of the machine with Acronis
Management Server
<username> is the name of the Acronis Management Server user and <password> is this
user's password
<list.txt> is the file containing the list of machines where Agent for Windows should be
installed
Mass update or upgrade

Note: All components installed on the target machines will be updated. The feature is available for
Windows machines only.
1. On the Windows machine where Acronis Management Server is located, open Command
Prompt and navigate to the C:\Program Files\Acronis\PyShell folder:
Appendix 401
cd "C:\Program Files\Acronis\PyShell"
2. Get list of machines existing on Acronis Management Server for update:

python site-tools\agents.py -a <AMS address> -p 9877 --username
<username> --password <password> -l –-dump <dump file>
where <AMS address> is the hostname or the IP address of the machine with Acronis
Management Server
user's password
<dump file> is the name and the location of the resulting dump file; if you do not specify it
manually, by default, the dump file named dump_agent.csv is placed to the current working
directory
3. Run update:
python site-tools\agents.py -v -a <AMS address> -p 9877 --username
<username> --password <password> -u --agents <list.csv>
where <AMS_address> is the hostname or the IP address of the machine with Acronis
Management Server
user's password
<list.csv> is the file containing the list of machines where Agent for Windows should be
updated
More information
Help:
python site-tools\agents.py --help
You can check the installation activity in the Activities tab: in the management console navigate to
Overview -> Activities.
9.5 Mounting volumes from a backup

Mounting volumes from a disk-level backup lets you access the volumes as though they were
physical disks. Volumes can be mounted in read-only or read-write mode.
Requirements
This functionality is available only in Windows by using File Explorer.
• Agent for Windows must be installed on the machine that performs the mount operation
• The backed-up file system must be supported by the Windows version that the machine is
running
• The backup must be stored in a local folder, on a network share (SMB/CIFS), or in the Secure
Zone
402 Appendix
To mount a volume from a backup

1. Browse to the backup location by using File Explorer
2. Double-click the backup file. The file names are based on the following template:
<machine name> - <backup plan GUID>
If the backup is encrypted, enter the encryption password. Otherwise, skip this step. File
Explorer displays the recovery points
Double-click the recovery point. File Explorer displays the backed-up volumes
Note: Double-click a volume to browse its content. You can copy files and folders from the backup to
any folder on the file system.
3. Right-click a volume to mount, and then click Mount in read-only mode
If the backup is stored on a network share, provide access credentials. Otherwise, skip this
step. The software mounts the selected volume. The first unused letter is assigned to the
volume
To unmount a volume
1. Browse to Computer (This PC in Windows 8.1 and later) by using File Explorer.
2. Right-click the mounted volume.
3. Click Unmount. The software unmounts the selected volume.
Appendix 403
9.6 Useful KB articles

Acronis Backup 12.5
59804: Acronis Backup 12.5 licensing
59801: Upgrade to Acronis Backup 12.5 Advanced
57721: Upgrade to Acronis Backup 12.5 Standard
59467: Acronis Backup 12.5: Licensing and Upgrade FAQ
59814: Acronis Backup 12.5 upgrade table
59696: Difference between Acronis Backup 12.5 Standard, Acronis Backup 12.5 Advanced and
Acronis True Image 2017
6031: List of support options for Acronis products
1689: Backup Archive Compatibility Across Different Product Versions

47189: Acronis Backup Cloud / Acronis Backup Service: Access Ports and Hostnames
60486: Acronis Backup Cloud API
59019: Acronis Backup Cloud Web Console icons reference
56070: Acronis Backup Cloud: Providing Physical Data Shipping and Large Scale Recovery Services
57604: Acronis Backup Cloud: Using Physical Data Shipping Service
57596: Acronis Backup Cloud: Web Restore Tool
56493: Acronis Backup Cloud and Acronis Backup 12: Preserving Original Machine ID When Re-
adding Deleted Machine
58136: Acronis Backup Cloud / Acronis Backup Service: Backing Up MySQL
404 Appendix

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Acronis® Certified Engineer

Training Guide Contents

Course Goal .............................................................................................................................. 17

General Administration ............................................................................................................ 17

Course Information .................................................................................................................. 18

Course Modules ....................................................................................................................... 18

Acronis Hybrid Cloud Architecture .......................................................................................... 19

Acronis Backup .............................................................................................................................. 21

Acronis Backup Comparison .......................................................................................................... 22

Acronis Backup Features ............................................................................................................... 23

Acronis Backup Licensing ............................................................................................................... 25

Acronis Data Cloud ......................................................................................................................... 33

Acronis Backup Cloud .................................................................................................................... 33

Acronis Backup Cloud Features ..................................................................................................... 36

Acronis Backup Cloud Implementations ........................................................................................ 37

Acronis Backup Cloud Business Model .......................................................................................... 38

2 Understanding Acronis Backup ........................................................................ 39

3-Tier Architecture ................................................................................................................... 41

List of Components .................................................................................................................. 42

Acronis Backup – On-Premise Management ................................................................................. 46

Acronis Backup – Cloud-based Management ................................................................................ 47

Acronis Backup Cloud .................................................................................................................... 48

Acronis Backup Cloud Implementation Models ............................................................................ 49

Backup Locations ..................................................................................................................... 51

Training Guide Contents 3

Supported File Systems ............................................................................................................ 52

New Backup Archive Format: TIBX ................................................................................................ 53

Tape Support ................................................................................................................................. 55

Acronis Storage Node .................................................................................................................... 57

Acronis Data centers ................................................................................................................ 58

Hyperscale Cloud Storage .............................................................................................................. 59

Cloud Storage Implementations .............................................................................................. 60

Acronis Cyber Infrastructure .................................................................................................... 60

Acronis Cyber Infrastructure Features ..................................................................................... 61

Software-Defined Storage Scenarios ....................................................................................... 63

Acronis Cyber Infrastructure Use Cases ................................................................................... 64

Hardware Requirements .......................................................................................................... 68

Acronis Cyber Infrastructure Licensing .................................................................................... 69

Integration via RESTful API and APS .............................................................................................. 70

Supported Platforms ...................................................................................................................... 70

Acronis Data Cloud Management Portal and Service Consoles .................................................... 71

Acronis Backup Service/Management Server Console ............................................................ 72

Acronis Backup On-Premise Management Server Console ........................................................... 72

Backup Operations – Agent Based Backup .............................................................................. 73

Backup Operations – Agentless Backup ................................................................................... 74

Backup Operations – Off-Load Backup .................................................................................... 75

Backup Operations – Online Recovery .................................................................................... 76

Backup Operations – Bare Metal Recovery ............................................................................. 77

Backup Operations – Remote Bare Metal Recovery ..................................................................... 78

Snapshot Technologies ............................................................................................................ 79

Backup Process ........................................................................................................................ 79

SAN Storage Snapshot ................................................................................................................... 81

4 Training Guide Contents

Acronis Active Protection™ ...................................................................................................... 82

Acronis Storage Node Cataloging .................................................................................................. 85

Acronis Notary ............................................................................................................................... 86

3 Acronis Backup Setup & Installation ................................................................ 87

Getting Started With Acronis Data Cloud ...................................................................................... 89

Acronis Data Cloud Onboarding Steps ........................................................................................... 89

Acronis Data Cloud Login ............................................................................................................... 90

Acronis Data Cloud Tenants & Accounts ....................................................................................... 91

Acronis Data Cloud Services & Offerings ....................................................................................... 94

Creating a New Tenant .................................................................................................................. 95