Commvault

Features

Owned by Carl Brault (Unlicensed)
Last updated: Nov 30, 2021 by tdopko@commvault.com (Unlicensed)
7 min read

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Once the Core Setup is complete, you now begin to add and configure features. Features provide tools that let you seamlessly perform day-to-day tasks such as, monitoring backup infrastructure, performing the backup and recovery of laptops, desktop computers, servers and virtual machines, and protecting cloud applications such as Google and Salesforce. Features are published to end-users or system administrators granularly using Commvault® software role-based security.




Virtualization Feature

The Virtualization feature provides a simplified management interface for administrators to conduct day-to-day operations to configure, protect and recover virtual machines using the Virtual Server Agent (VSA).

Use the Commvault Command Center's Virtualization dashboard to check the status of hypervisors, such as VMware® or Hyper-V®. This view shows information specifically tailored for Virtualization jobs. From here you can check the number of Hypervisors in your environment and the number of VMs protected. The virtualization dashboard also includes backup job summaries with details such as how many jobs were completed, failed or killed.

As of Service Pack 22, the virtualization feature provides tools to manage virtual machine protection for the following hypervisors:

  • Alibaba Cloud
  • Amazon
  • Citrix Xen
  • Docker
  • Google Cloud Platform
  • Huawei FusionCompute
  • Microsoft Azure
  • Microsoft Azure Stack
  • Microsoft Hyper-V
  • Nutanix Acropolis Hypervisor (AHV)
  • Kubernetes
  • OpenStack
  • Oracle Cloud Classic
  • Oracle Cloud Infrastructure
  • Oracle VM
  • Red Hat OpenShift
  • Red Hat Virtualization (RHV)
  • vCloud Director

VMware (vCenter or ESX server)

Hypervisors and subclients can be configured directly from the Commvault Command CenterTM.
During the initial configuration, a backup plan can be created. Otherwise, the system uses the default plan. The plan dictates when VMs are backed up and where the data is stored. Additional backup plans can later be defined.




To configure the virtualization feature

1 - From the Commvault Command CenterTM sidebar, click Guided setup.

2 - Locate the Virtualization section and click on tile to start configuration.



3 - The feature uses the plan created during the Core setup by default.

4 - An additional plan can be created and used instead.



5 - Select the desired hypervisor.

6 - Provide the FQDN name of the vCenter server or host.

7 - Provide the desired client name to display in the console.

8 - Provide credentials with required permissions.

9 - Provide the list of VSA access nodes to use.

10 - Click Save to continue.



11 - Provide a name for the VM group.

12 - Select the virtual machines to protect.

13 - Use the drop-down arrow to display a list of backup plans to associate with this VM Group.

14 - Click Finish to complete.



File Servers Feature

The file servers feature provides tools to manage UNIX and Windows servers protection. Once the Commvault Command CenterTM core setup is complete, the file servers feature can be configured. Clients and subclients are configured directly from the Commvault Command CenterTM.


Commvault® software provides the following features so that you can efficiently manage your data protection:

  • Job monitoring
  • Alerts
  • Events
  • Resource reports


During configuration, a backup plan can be created. Otherwise, the system uses the default plan. The plan to defines protection settings, such as the backup destination to receive data, as well as the retention of the data.




To configure the file server feature

1 - From the Commvault Command CenterTM sidebar, click Guided setup.

2 - Locate the File server and click on tile to start configuration.



3 - The feature uses the plan created during the Core setup by default.

4 - An additional plan can be created and used instead.



5 - Provide a name to the plan.

6 - Continue with the default Backup destination or click the link to change the storage and set its retention.

7 - Define the frequency of data protection jobs.

8 - The window during which backups can be modified by clicking the link.

Full Backup Window – Only applies to full backup jobs

Backup Window – Applies to any other backup type (i.e. incremental, differentials, etc.)



9 - This section defines what gets protected on the server.

10 - Select the platform to define settings.

11 - The entire server is protected by default. Click Add to define custom contents.

12 - There are no filters applied to backups by default. Click Add to filter specific files or folders for servers that will use this plan. If you need to exclude a list of files across the organization, create and apply global filters at the CommCell® or Server group level.



13 - For Windows operating systems, System State is protected by default, but could be skipped or protected during full backups only.

14 - Click on Save to continue.



15 - Check to allow overriding options on derived plans.

16 - Click Save to create the plan.



17 - Enter fully qualified server name and click “+’ to add to list.

18 - Enter a user account and password with permissions to install software on the servers.

19 - User the drop-down button to display list of Server plans.

20 - If a reboot is required and this option is not engaged, then all software will not be installed on those servers.

21 - Click Save of complete.



Databases Feature

As of Feature Release 22, the Databases feature provides tools to manage databases protection for the following vendors:

  • Oracle
  • Oracle RAC
  • Cassandra
  • DB2
  • Documentum
  • Greenplum
  • Microsoft SQL
  • SAP HANA
  • SAP MaxDB
  • Sybase
  • PostgreSQL
  • MySQL
  • Splunk
  • Cloud Databases

Once the Commvault Command CenterTM Core Setup is complete, the databases feature can be configured. Database instances and subclients can be configured directly from the Commvault Command CenterTM.

During configuration, a backup plan can be created. Otherwise, the system uses the default plan. The plan dictates when databases are backed up and where the data is stored. Additional backup plans can later be defined.




To configure the databases feature

1 - From the Commvault Command CenterTM sidebar, click Guided setup.

2 - Locate the Databases tile and click it.



3 - If a default backup plan is available, the system uses it.

4 - Click to create an additional plan if needed.



5 - Click on drop-down button to display and select the database engine.

6 - Select the platform hosting the database.

7 - Provide the server’s FQDN or IP address.

8 - Provide credentials with administrative privileges on the server.

9 - Click on drop-down button to display and select a backup plan.

10 - Click Add button to continue. A task is created to install the database agent to the defined server.



Laptop Feature

The laptop feature provides tools to manage end-users' laptop and desktop protection.
Once the Commvault Command CenterTM core setup is complete, the laptop feature can be configured. Clients and subclients can be configured prior to the Commvault Command CenterTM configuration, or configured directly from the Commvault Command CenterTM. During configuration, some information must be provided, as follows:

  • The Domain Name Server information.
  • The users, user groups or email addresses of users for which data will be protected.
  • The Commvault gateway computer used to conduct backups of remote or mobile users.




To configure the laptop feature

1 - From the Commvault Command CenterTM sidebar, click Guided setup.

2 - To configure the Laptop feature, locate the Laptop tile and click it.



3 - Provide a name for the backup plan.

4 - Use the drop-down menu to select the storage to receive the backup data.

5 - Define the frequency at which backups are conducted.

6 - Click each platform tab to define the content to protect.

7 - The default content to protect can be modified if needed.

8 - Check to allow to override when creating derived plans.

9 - Click on Save to create plan.



10 - Select a backup plan.

11 - Enter Users to protect by typing either the username, user group or email address.

12 - Click on Save to continue. By default an email will be sent to all selected.



13 - Provide the FQDN name and display client name of the DMZ machine used as a gateway to receive laptop backups.

14 - Click on Save to complete.


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