Enterprise Workloads Editions: ✅ Business | ✅ Enterprise | ✅ Elite

Druva backs up virtual machines based on the schedule defined in the backup policy, or if a backup is triggered from the Management Console. The backup workflow is explained below:

Virtual machine backup workflow

Step	Operation
Step 1	Virtual machine backup request is initiated based on: Schedule defined in the backup policy. On-demand backup Druva forwards the backup request to the agent.
Step 2	Enterprise Workloads agent verifies that the VSS service is running. The Enterprise Workloads agent requests the VSS service to create a recovery point. If the VSS service is not running, Enterprise Workloads agent starts the VSS service and instructs VSS to create a recovery point. Druva recommends that you enable Backup (volume recovery point) under Hyper-V Integration Services. If the Backup (Volume recovery point) is enabled, the VSS service can create a recovery point without interrupting services on the virtual machine. Enterprise Workloads agent validates if recovery points are created successfully and initiates the backup job. For Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 host: If Druva is backing up virtual machines that are stored on a clustered shared volume, then Druva can backup only one virtual machine at a time. A hardware VSS provider is required if you want Druva to create recovery points for multiple virtual machines simultaneously on a single host and run parallel backup jobs. For information on how to configure Druva so that it can use third party VSS providers, see How do I configure Druva to use third party VSS providers?. 📝 Note Integration Services are available for virtual machines with Windows guest OS. However, Microsoft provides Integration Services for certain Linux distributions also. For more information, see: Backup (volume recovery point) under Integration Services [External link to Microsoft TechNet article] Supported Linux and FreeBSD virtual machines for Hyper-V on Windows [External link to Microsoft TechNet article] If integration services are not available for a virtual machine, Druva cannot take a recovery point and backup fails. On Windows Server 2016 or later, the Enterprise Workloads agent can back up virtual machines using the Resilient Change Tracking (RCT) feature if: The Enterprise Workloads agent installed on the host is 4.7.5 or later, and Virtual machine configuration version is 6.2 or later. If the virtual machine is hosted on a Hyper-V cluster, then the virtual machine cluster functional level must be level 9 or higher. The Enterprise Workloads agent can back up virtual machines using RCT on a Hyper-V host that meets the criteria above and: Efficiently keep a track of what has changed on a virtual machine between backup jobs Incremental backups will be faster 📝 Note The Enterprise Workloads agent can take virtual machine recovery points using the RCT feature if it is backing up virtual machines for the first time from a host that meets the criteria. The Enterprise Workloads agent continues to use VSS if recovery points of the virtual machines from a host exist that were created using VSS. However, if: VSS recovery points exist from a host that meets the criteria above, and You want subsequent backup jobs to use the RCT feature Upgrade the Enterprise Workloads agent on the host and change backup method to RCT.
Step 3	Druva determines the type of backup. If this is the first automatic backup, Druva performs a full backup. For all subsequent backups, Druva performs an incremental backup.
Step 4	Agent estimates the data for backup
Step 5	Agent backs up the data based on the VSS provided recovery point

Next steps

If you want to configure Druva for backup and restore, see

To learn more, see:

Hyper-V virtual machine backup and restore considerations

Prerequisites for Hyper-V virtual machines

About Hyper-V virtual machine restore

Reconfigure virtual machines configured for backup

Hyper-V errors