Can I back up virtual machines that are hosted on an Azure Local instance?
Yes.
What types of deployments are available in Hyper-V?
You can deploy virtual machines that are hosted on Windows servers and Microsoft Azure Local.
I removed data from my disks to optimize storage I use on Druva. I haven't added a file but I see a considerable change in Source+Data. What does it mean?
Druva detects a change even if you remove data from your disks. For example, Druva backed up 100 GB of data from your virtual machine. Later on, you removed 25 GB of data and Druva runs another backup for your virtual machine. The Source+Change section shows 125 GB because Druva detects a 25 GB modification on the virtual machine. However, you are not charged for 125 GB. You are charged only for the storage you consume. The Source+Change only shows a chart that indicates the data modified on your server.
How do I configure Druva to use third party VSS providers?
From the command prompt, run the following command:
vssadmin list providers
💡 TipRunning this command displays a list of VSS providers, and the provider IDs.
Stop the Enterprise Workloads agent service.
Open the Phoenix.cfg (For agent version prior to 7.0.0) / Config.yaml or HyperVConfig.yaml (For agent version 7.0.0 and later) file in a text editor.
The Phoenix.cfg (For agent version prior to 7.0.0) and Config.yaml or HyperVConfig.yaml (For agent version 7.0.0 and later) file is available at the following location:
For agent version prior to 7.0.0
C:\ProgramData\Phoenix
For agent version 7.0.0 and laterC:\ProgramData\Druva\EnterpriseWorkloads\Config.yamlC:\ProgramData\Druva\EnterpriseWorkloads\hyperv\HyperVConfig.yaml
Add the
VSS_PROVIDER_ID_VOLUMESparameter, and set its value to reflect the drives for which you want the Enterprise Workloads agent to recognize the third-party VSS provider that you configured.
Use the following format:
VSS_PROVIDER_ID_VOLUMES = {"<Drive>": "{<Provider ID>}", "Drive": "{<Provider ID>}"}
For example, if you want to set VSS providers for C drive, E drive, and the cluster shared volume, the parameter looks like the following:VSS_PROVIDER_ID_VOLUMES = {
"C:\\" : "{b5946137-7b9f-4925-af80-51abd60b20d5}",
"E:\\" : "{24602736-bed9-4619-91b0-243447c6409c}",
"C:\\ClusterStorage\\Volume1\\" : "{b5946137-7b9f-4925-af80-51abd60b20d5}",
}
❗ ImportantFor a clustered shared volume, add a double backslash (\\) at the end of the UNC path that you specify (as shown in the example above).
Save the Phoenix.cfg (for agent version prior to 7.0.0) / Config.yaml or HyperVConfig.yaml (for agent version 7.0.0 and later) file.
Start the Enterprise Workloads agent service.
Why is complete disk image uploaded when backing up VMs with dynamic disk
This is an expected behavior, the backup mechanism for Hyper-V uses resilient change tracking (RCT) and only uploads the allocated data. The remaining sparse blocks get uploaded only for the first backup and do not consume any storage. The data displayed under Current source on the dashboard displays the maximum size of the disk.
How does backing up a VM configured with Dynamic disk affect credit consumption?
Druva uploads data after normalizing as per 1MB block-size, only the allocated disk size would consume credits and not the sparse blocks.
Does Hyper-V VM backup support Application-Aware Backups for SQL?
No, Application-Aware Backups for SQL are not supported in Hyper-V VM backups
When trying to re-register a Hyper-V host from the Management Console after it has been deleted, I get the error "Device already exists"? How can I resolve this issue?
To resolve this issue, restart the “Druva-EnterpriseWorkloads” service on the host machine. After the service restarts, try registering the host again.
Does Druva support cross-platform restores between VMware and Hyper-V environments?
No. Druva does not currently support cross-functional restores between different hypervisors. You cannot directly restore a backup taken from a VMware virtual machine onto a Hyper-V host, nor can you restore a Hyper-V backup onto a VMware ESXi host.
Why is cross-platform hypervisor restore unavailable?
This is a native product design limitation rather than a configuration error or software failure. VMware and Hyper-V utilize entirely different virtual disk formats (.vmdk vs. .vhdx), virtual hardware architectures, and integration tools (VMware Tools vs. Hyper-V Integration Services), which prevents direct cross-platform data restoration.
What alternative methods can I use if I need to migrate a VM from VMware to Hyper-V?
If you need to move a workload from a VMware environment to Hyper-V, you cannot use standard Druva backup recovery points to switch platforms. Instead, you must use standard industry migration methods, such as:
Utilizing standalone hypervisor conversion tools (for example, Microsoft Virtual Machine Converter or third-party V2V migration software).
Performing a file-level restore of the guest OS data from Druva into a newly created, blank Hyper-V virtual machine.
Can I submit a feature request to have this capability added to Druva?
Yes. If cross-platform hypervisor restore or V2V (Virtual-to-Virtual) recovery capabilities are critical for your environment, contact your Customer Success Manager (CSM) or Account Executive to submit a formal feature enhancement request to our Product Management team.
How can I protect my Hyper-V VMs if native DRaaS is not supported?
While automated cloud failover/DRaaS orchestrations are limited to VMware, you can still securely back up your Hyper-V environment using Druva's standard Enterprise Workloads protection. In a disaster recovery scenario, Hyper-V VMs can be restored as standard virtual machines back to an available Hyper-V host or alternate location using traditional restore workflows.
How can I request Hyper-V DRaaS support for future product releases?
If your organization requires this feature for business continuity planning, you can reach out to your Customer Success Manager (CSM) or Druva Sales Representative to submit or upvote a formal feature request.
Do daily Hyper-V backups of unchanged VMs increase storage consumption?
Daily backups of unchanged or low-change Hyper-V VMs typically add very little unique storage because Druva stores only incremental changes between backups.
However, retained recovery points continue to be tracked as part of the backup data set and contribute to overall storage usage based on the configured retention policy.
As a result, storage growth for low-change VMs is generally minimal, but retention settings can still impact total storage consumption over time.