In this new series of articles we’ll cover the installation and configuration of Veeam ONE. When it comes down to monitoring and real-time alerting this platform offers a very wide range of configurations and reports which cover not just the Backup Jobs details but also the Infrastructure underneath. This means with Veeam ONE we can monitor and get reports against Clusters of Virtualisation Hosts, Hypervisor configuration and settings, Virtual Machines, Storage and Network settings. By default it can operate with VMware vSphere and vCloud, Hyper-V Host, Cluster and SCVMM and last but not least with Veeam Backup & Replication and Enterprise Manager Servers.
This platform is pretty much comprehensive and works very closely with Veeam Backup & Replication. In fact the combination of these two solutions together form the Veeam Availability Suite.
As of the 21st of December 2017 Veeam as released amongst the other ones as well a big update for the Availability Suite to version 9.5 update 3.
There are plenty of new features for both Veeam Backup & Replication and Veeam ONE.
The purpose of this series is to go through the steps of showing the Veeam ONE capabilities including what’s new with the latest release.
In particular this series wants to cover:
- Initial deployment
- First configuration of Veeam ONE
- Adding the infrastructures to Monitor
- Update Veeam ONE to latest release
- Overview of Business View module
- Overview of Reporter module
- Maintenance tips for Veeam ONE deployments
Veeam ONE offers a very wide range of information and this is something I found useful also for a home lab. In fact we can leverage this solution not just to report on the virtual infrastructure. We can get useful information on the actual allocation of resources. We can understand how to use them and plan for the addition of new applications or even improve the actual configurations.
Another interesting use of Veeam ONE it is also the ability to run “What-if” scenarios. By mean of these scenarios we can simulate what will happen to our environment if we add or remove specific resources. For example what happens if I add or remove Hosts, VMs, or change resources like CPU, Memory or Disk? Let’s take out guesswork by simply simulating scenarios from our actual environment.
Wait is getting better! There are two versions: Enterprise that can be used as a full trial for 30 days and a Free version with no time limits!
As per usual I’ll leave this list of topics open so to expand more on specific topics. We are now ready to start with the first article on initial deployment.
Overview
Installing Veeam ONE it’s a very easy process. Everything happens through a wizard. First thing is to download the main ISO from the Veeam website. From this page we can download both the Enterprise and Free version. This article refers to the Enterprise version which we can use as a 30 days trial with no limitations.
Also another thing to note is that the screenshots in this article refer to version 9.5 update 1. At the time of writing the current version is 9.5 update 3. The steps are pretty much the same and also the GUI is pretty much consistent. I will then write a separate article showing the steps to upgrade to the latest version.
In terms of prerequisites they are very simple to satisfy. All we need is just a Windows OS either Virtual or Physical with a minimum of
- 4 CPU or more
- 8GB RAM
- 700 MB of disk space for the installation
These requirements are sufficient for an All-In-One installation which includes the Veeam ONE server and it’s components plus a SQL express Database part of the same ISO. Of course it is possible to point to a full SQL Server to create the Database.
As soon as we obtain the ISO file we can start the installation which will present the following splash screen. Let’s click on the main blue Install button. should we want to scale out the installation with Stand-alone components we can do so by using the Install buttons on the right. For example when working with RoBo environments and why not even on your laptop so you can check the status of the Virtual Infrastructure when at home!
Let’s make sure we start the installation with a user with Local Admin rights on the Server.
Let’s accepts the EULA agreement to continue.
If we have a licence we can specify this one here. This includes also NFR licenses for which Veeam offer keys on specific conditions. In alternative we can also use the Free functionalities with no time limit.
In the next step we can specify the installation mode. With advanced we can specify each setting. With typical a default All-In-One installation is performed. In my case I will go for the former as I want to point to a SQL Cluster I have available in my home lab.
The installer will now check the required and missing components. Primarily Windows Features and Roles that can be enabled or downloaded from the internet. Let’s click on Install to turn all green.
At this point we have the OK Go to proceed with the next step.
We can now specify the location where to install Veeam ONE. This is just for application. All the collected Data will go into the SQL Database by mean of organic collections from the Virtual Infrastructure.
At this point we can provide the credentials for the user that the installer will use to create the Database. So it is important from this perspective to ensure the following permissions:
- DBO rights on the VeeamOne Database (if pre-created) or grant the DBCreator role in SQL for this user
- Make sure this user has the Log-On as a Service Permission granted on both the SQL Server and the Veeam ONE Server itself.
For this particular installation I have decided to use the SQL Cluster I have available in my home lab. As an alternative the installer provides a SQL Express instance bundled with the installation ISO file. I would also strongly recommend to use the Windows mixed authentication as per screenshot below.
In this step we can define the ports to use or accept the default ones. They can also be changed after the installation. The communication with the other components like the Business View and Reporter is secured with a certificate. Should we use one already of course we can specify this one instead.
At this point we can also specify the location that Veeam ONE will use to temporarily cache data while working on the data it is collecting. Typically this can be on the same server. Ideally we can mount a fast storage like an SSD and point the cache folder to such location. Size wise a few gigabytes would be absolutely fine. To give an idea 1000 VMs can take up to 6 GB of disk size. As of 9.5 Update 3 the location can be changed also post installation.
In this step we define the Virtual Infrastructure we want to monitor. This includes VMware vSphere, vCenter and vCloud Director. In the case of Hyper-V this includes Standalone Hosts, Hyper-V Clusters and SCVMM Servers. Let’s skip it for now and add them later.
We are getting close to the end of the wizard. One last question is about the Deployment Type. Reason for this question is it will determine how Veeam ONE will operate during Data Collection from the environments. Again these can be changed later on. In addition from the main settings it is also possible to specify which Objects should be monitored and also for which counters. And we can also be that specific also based on Hypervisor type.
And finally we can review the main installation settings before amending the changes.
The installation process doesn’t take long. Generally speaking when choosing the SQL Express option this will add extra time just to install and start the SQL MSDE instance and create the VeeamOne Database. Whereas when pointing to an existing SQL instance the process completes faster.
And at this point we have the Veeam ONE Server successfully installed.
In the next articles we’ll review the initial configuration steps also making us acquainted with the solution and the main settings. And we’ll also add the Virtual Infrastructure so that Veeam ONE can start collecting the data for our alerts and Reports.
Feedback and comments are welcome and looking forward to the next steps.
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