In this final part of the article series dedicated to immutability, this article shows the most important bits when it comes down to hardening the security on the linux servers hosting the immutable backups. So how is it possible for bad actors (users and apps) to prevent linux delete immutable files? Primarily connectivity and permissions. From a connectivity perspective the first and most obvious is to disable SSH access. Otherwise this could let unauthorised access from unsolicited or compromised accounts. Ideally the servers should be secured in a locked down server room. The only access a ..read more

The first article and video in the series were showing the steps about preparing a linux ubuntu machine for a Veeam XFS Repository to serve immutable backups. In this second part the video covers the actual steps of making the linux machine “Veeam ready” by adding this one as a Managed Veeam Server. In practical terms what this part does is to make sure the minimum prerequisites are up and running. Essentially the SSH service to install the components and the Perl modules. It is important to notice that the SSH is initially required for the first deployment. At a later stage the best practice ..read more

Immutable backups are among the most effective protections available against the increasing and targeted cyber attacks. To a point where some of these specialise in deleting also the backup files along with encrypting the live production data with a custom key. Unfortunately not all victims from ransomware attacks managed to get their data back even after paying for the ransom. Even worsts some of the victims have been hit multiple times. The purpose of this article is to present a quick way to deploy a linux ubuntu setup that can be used to prepare a Veeam Hardened Repository. Veeam Hardened ..read more

As of Sept 2021 VMware released a very important patch update for the vCenter bringing this to VMware VCSA 7.0U2d release. This release includes lots of security fixes as highlighted in the VMware Security Solutions and Advisory VMSA-2021-0020.1 The list of security fixes is very long and some of these are also classified with a critical impact level: vCenter Server file upload vulnerability (CVE-2021-22005) vCenter Server local privilege escalation vulnerability (CVE-2021-21991) vCenter Server reverse proxy bypass vulnerability (CVE-2021-22006) vCenter server unauthenticated API endpoint vul ..read more

The management of a Veeam Backup Nutanix job is available in both Veeam Backup and Veeam AHV Proxy consoled. In this case the article is focusing on the Proxy web console as part of the article series dedicated at the version 2.0 and above of the Veeam Plugin for Nutanix. The screenshots refer to version 2.0 and at the time of writing version 2.1 has added improvements and some changes as already covered in the previous article. Whereas the version 2.0 uses Network Port 8100, as of version 2.1 the Proxy web console now uses Port 443. Veeam Plugin leverages the latest Nutanix APIs and no additi ..read more

Veeam Backup Nutanix Proxy deployment is available in two modes. And this is one of the many features introduced with the release v2.0. First step is install the plugin as explored in the previous article. Next step consists in using the wizard to either Deploy a new Proxy or connect to an existing one. This article covers both methods. There is really no preferred method. The easier one is the default “Deploy new Proxy” option where the wizard takes care of all the steps. Including the actual creation of the Proxy. The other method allows to connect to an existing Proxy installed manually. Pr ..read more

This new article series focuses on the latest Veeam Backup Nutanix install and configuration to protect Nutanix AHV workloads. Even though the screenshots show the version 2.0, at the time of writing the latest version is Veeam Backup for Nutanix 2.1 and resembles the very same user experience with the install process. In addition, the latest version Veeam Backup for Nutanix 2.1 is compatible with the latest version of Veeam v11. Existing version on 2.0 will be automatically upgraded to the latest version. What’s new with the latest Veeam Backup Nutanix install of the plugin? First of all is t ..read more

What happens when one of the RAID disks fails? Well first a bit of disappointment and then yes, what about the data? Luckily recovering from a Synology disk fail on the RAID couldn’t be any easier and the entire process if wizard driven. Including the default “beeping” as soon as one of the disks have crashed and the performance on the RAID are degraded. All in all this set of drives have been purchased about 5 years ago and this is the first one failing. Well at the time of writing this article other two drives failed and have been already replaced. So out of the initial 4 only one is standin ..read more

It might happen to forget and maybe oversee the notification about the expiry date for the root account or the user account used to login to the vSphere Client and VMware Appliance Management console. So what do when it’s too late and VMware VCSA root password is expired? Not to worry the actual procedure to recover and update with a new password is very simple. It is important to note the steps below refer to an expired password rather then a lost password. In this case the procedure is different and requires different steps by mounting the boot environment in read/write mode and update the p ..read more

Recently Veeam made the white paper VBO v5 available for download from the official website. It is updated to reflect the latest features and enhancements shipping with Veeam Backup for Microsoft Office 365 (VBO). Most notably the extended support to protect and recover Microsoft Teams along with Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive and OneNote. It is worth mentioning the VBO works with latest Microsoft APIs and requires no agents install for any on-premises or cloud instances. It has the ability to run anywhere, in any cloud and still backup to any location on-premises and the cloud. The white pape ..read more