Retrospect Virtual: Configuration and First Backup

Virtualization

Retrospect Virtual is a powerful tool to back up VMware and Hyper-V environments. Follow our video or step-by-step tutorial to walk through initial configuration and your first backup.

Video

Below is an 8-minute video covering initial configuration through first backup.

Step-by-Step Guide: User Setup

Following along with the video, we’re going to walk through the basic steps for setting up a backup with Retrospect Virtual. Please install the Retrospect Virtual Management Console first.

  1. Go to Retrospect Virtual Console in your browser.

    Virtual demo 1 dashboard

  2. Log in to Retrospect Virtual Console.

  3. Click "Users".

    Virtual demo 2 users

  4. Click on green plus button.

    Virtual demo 3 new user

  5. Fill out the details for the new user. Be sure to select "Paid User" under "Subscription Type", unless you are setting up a "Trial User". Trial users are suspended after the specified trial period.

  6. Under "Add New User", select "Retrospect Vritual Host Server User" under "Backup Client" and select the add-on modules you would like to include for this user. Plese note the quota as well, if you would like to increase it.

    Virtual demo 4 addon modules

  7. Click the green add button at the bottom right of the screen to save.

  8. You will see the user listed under "Manage Backup User". Click the green save button at the bottom right to save the configuration.

    Virtual demo 5 users

Step-by-Step Guide: Backup Setup

Now that the user is set up, we can set up the backup.

  1. Click the blue download button at the top left of the main screen to pick the platform you would like to protect.

    Virtual demo 1 dashboard

  2. Install the Retrospect Virtual Host Server software and launch the Host Server.

  3. Log in with the user account you just created.

    Virtual demo 6 host server

  4. Click "Backup Sets".

    Virtual demo 7 sets

  5. Click "Add new backup set".

    Virtual demo 8 new set

  6. Select the backup set type. In this case, it’s "VMware Backup". Type in your credentials for it.

    Virtual demo 9 vmware

  7. Select the guest to back up under "Backup Source".

    Virtual demo 10 guest

  8. Select the schedule.

    Virtual demo 11 schedule

  9. Select the destination.

    Virtual demo 12 destination

  10. Create a new destination pool.

    Virtual demo 13 destination pool

  11. Select the backup mode for the destination.

    Virtual demo 14 backup mode

  12. Enable "Granular Restore" for instant file-level restores. Note that compression and encryption are not available for backup sets with granular restore enabled.

    Virtual demo 15 granular restore

  13. Click "Next" and your backup set has been created. Click on "Backup Now" to start a backup immediately or wait for the scheduled backup.

    Virtual demo 16 done

Additional Information

For additional information about Retrospect Virtual, please see our documentation: Retrospect Virtual Documentation.

Last Update: November 18, 2019