Veeam Agent for Linux
Changed block tracking considerations
Veeam Agent for Linux leverages its own veeamsnap kernel module to enable snapshots and changed block tracking of volumes. However, the driver’s maps of changed blocks is not stored on the corresponding volumes, it’s only available in RAM. Thus, after rebooting the Linux computer, these maps are lost and the next incremental backup will have to re-create them by reading all data of each volume again. This will most likely create higher cpu/disk load and longer backup duration than usual. The size of the incremental backup will not increase, as the newly created block maps will be compared against the previous backup’s metadata to make sure only changed blocks get transferred to the backup repository.
Creating Bare Metal Recovery Media
To perform a bare metal recovery, the required recovery medium cannot be created within the VBR console. Instead, you can either
- create the recovery media on the agent computer directly after installation, by following the instructions outlined here, or
- start the creation process on the agent computer by entering the agent’s UI and pressing
Mto get to the “Miscellaneous” submenu and select “Patch Recovery Media”, or - download a pre-built recovery ISO file from Veeam’s website: On this page, select your Linux distribution/architecture and you will find corresponding recovery media ISO files in the “Additional Downloads” section.
References
- Veeam Agent for Linux Solution Architecture
- Create Custom Veeam Recovery Media
- Veeam Agent for Linux Download Page
- Veeam Agent for Linux User Guide
- Veeam Agent Management Guide