Prerequisites

Before configuring the application backup, ensure that the requirements listed below are met.

To check the VSS writers state, use the vssadmin list writers command.

Common requirements

For Microsoft SQL Server, ensure that:

• At least one Microsoft SQL Server instance is started.
• SQL Server Browser Service and TCP/IP protocol are enabled. For instructions on how to start SQL Server Browser Service, refer to: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms189093.aspx. You can enable the TCP/IP protocol by using a similar procedure.
• The SQL writer for VSS is turned on.

For Microsoft Exchange Server, ensure that:

• The Microsoft Exchange Information Store service is started.
• Windows PowerShell is installed. For Exchange 2010 or later, the Windows PowerShell version must be at least 2.0.
• Microsoft .NET Framework is installed.

  For Exchange 2007, the Microsoft .NET Framework version must be at least 2.0.

  For Exchange 2010 or later, the Microsoft .NET Framework version must be at least 3.5.

• The Exchange writer for VSS is turned on.

On a domain controller, ensure that:

• The Active Directory writer for VSS is turned on.

When creating a backup plan, ensure that:

• For physical machines, the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) backup option is enabled.
• For virtual machines, the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) for virtual machines backup option is enabled.

Additional requirements for application-aware backups

When creating a backup plan, ensure that Entire machine is selected for backup.

If the applications run on virtual machines that are backed up by Agent for VMware, ensure that:

• The virtual machines being backed up meet the requirements for application-consistent quiescing listed in the following VMware knowledge base article: https://code.vmware.com/doc/preview?id=4076#https://vdc-repo.vmware.com/vmwb-repository/dcr-public/17aee92f-6920-4675-b03c-8c85de455bb3/5e2b0233-eea0-44c6-84aa-0d3a5aefe1a1/doc/vddkBkupVadp.9.6.html
• VMware Tools is installed and up-to-date on the machines.
• User Account Control (UAC) is disabled on the machines. If you do not want to disable UAC, you must provide the credentials of a built-in domain administrator (DOMAIN\Administrator) when enabling application backup.