Overview
Azure Stack HCI is a hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) solution that hosts Windows and Linux VMs or containerized workloads and their storage. An Azure Stack HCI system consists of a server or a cluster of servers running the Azure Stack HCI operating system and connected to Azure.
Druva supports the backup and restore of Hyper-V Virtual machines that are hosted on Azure HCI operating systems. For more information, please refer to the Azure Stack HCI solution overview [External link to Microsoft documentation].
This article outlines the workflow steps to configure Hyper-V hosts on Azure Stack HCI. To see the list of Azure Stack HCI versions that Druva supports, see System requirements.
Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC) Policy for Azure Stack HCI
Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC) is a security feature that controls and manages the applications and the code that runs on your Windows devices. WDAC enforces policies that are designed to ensure that only trusted and approved applications run on your devices while unauthorized and potentially malicious software is prevented from running.
By default, Azure Stack HCI OS 23H2 (version 25398.x) has Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC) enabled and running in the enforcement mode.
To allow third-party non-Microsoft signed software to run on Azure Stack HCI nodes, a WDAC supplemental policy provided by the third-party software vendor must be installed.
For more information, please refer to the Understand Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC) policy rules and file rules [External link to Microsoft documentation].
Deploy backup Hyper-V hosts on Azure Stack HCI
Step 3: Configure virtual machine for backup
Prerequisites to back up Hyper-V hosts on Azure Stack HCI
Before setting up Druva to back up your Hyper-V hosts on Azure Stack HCI, review the following requirements to prepare the host for backup:
Ensure that you log in as an administrator to the Hyper-V host that you want to back up.
Ensure that you won't need to move the virtual machine back to a Hyper-V host that runs a previous version of Windows Server.
📝 NoteVirtual machine backups with Volume Shadow Copy Service is not applicable on Azure hosts with the Azure Stack HCI v23H2 (version 25398.x) operating system. For more information, see System Requirements for Hyper-V.
Ensure that you enable the Hyper-V role on the host.
Ensure that Druva service is running as administrator.
📝 NoteThe administrator can be a service account or Local System Admin. The service account should be a part of the Administrator group.
If you are installing and activating the agents on clustered hosts and you are using a domain user, ensure that the domain user can start or stop services on the host.
Ensure that the English language pack is installed on the Hyper-V hosts with a certified operating system that is localized to a language other than English. If the English language pack is not installed, the Management Console is unable to list the number of virtual machines running on the host. To add the English language pack on Windows, see Available Language Packs for Windows. [External link to Microsoft documentation]. Ensure that the Hyper-V host is restarted after you add the English language pack to it.
Install the agent and register a Hyper-V host
Install and activate the Enterprise Workloads agent and register the Hyper-V host to establish a connection between the Druva Cloud and the agent. For more information, see Install the agent and register a Hyper-V host.
Configure virtual machine for backup
After registering your Hyper-V host, Druva discovers all the virtual machines running on it. You can now select the virtual machine that you want to configure for backup. For more information, see Configure virtual machines for backup.