Active Backup for Business

Admin Guide for Virtual

Machines
Based on Active Backup for Business 2.5.0

Last updated: Jan 30, 2023

Table of Contents
Introduction 2
About this guide 2
Intended audience 2
What is Active Backup for Business? 2
Features and Management Tools 3
Backup and recovery features 3
Backup management 4
Planning and Preparation 5
Requirements 5
Considerations and limitations 6
Backup tips 7
Backup Configuration 9
VMware and Hyper-V backup 9
Create a backup task 10
Manage backup tasks 14
Restoration Guide 15
Recovery options 15
Instantly restore your virtual machine 16
Fully Restore your Virtual Machine 18
Instant Restore to Synology Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) 19
Guest OS Files (Windows / Linux) Restore 20
Best Practices 23
Maintain remote backup copies and relink 23
Learn more 25
Related articles 25
Software specs 25
Other resources 25

1
Introduction
About this guide
This guide will help you become familiarized with Active Backup for Business, walk you through
the initial setup of a backup task, and provide information on recovery.

Intended audience
This guide is intended for anyone who wants to start using Active Backup for Business to back up
their Microsoft Hyper-V or VMware vSphere virtual machines.

What is Active Backup for Business?

Synology's all-in-one commercial data protection solution, Active Backup for Business (ABB), is
based on the award-winning DSM operating system. ABB centralizes data protection across a
variety of IT environments, including virtual machines, physical servers, file servers, and personal
computers. Administrators can deploy their preferred protection plan single-handedly through
ABB's centralized admin console.
ABB also offers a wide range of backup options and restoration tools, as well as a number of
optional technical and safety features.

Why should you use Active Backup for Business?

Your one-stop-backup solution – Ensuring that everything in your backup environment is
compatible can be a challenge, especially with so many factors to consider. ABB simplifies
things by providing an all-in-one solution right on your Synology NAS.
Smart storage – ABB is designed with cross-platform, device, and version deduplication to
help reduce backup time and improve storage efficiency. (See applicable models).
Unrestricted expand-ability – Increasing your number of devices and data? No problem. With
ABB, you can protect an unlimited number of devices and data, license-free.
Centralized management – Remove the burden on IT workers of managing backup tasks and
devices across several platforms by using ABB's intuitive, web-based portal.
Integrated support – When something goes wrong, whether it's hardware or software-related,
Synology Technical Support is ready to help, reducing the time and effort needed when
looking for help from different providers.

2
Features and Management Tools
Backup and recovery features
Application-aware backup
Application-aware backup is a backup feature that helps to ensure that your application data is
consistent. Backups with application-aware backup enabled make it easier for application data to
be restored in the future by creating a snapshot of the application data when the backup is
performed.
This feature uses VMware Tools and Microsoft's Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) to make
sure that the backed up data of virtual machines remain consistent and to prevent data
inconsistencies from occurring when backing up actively used data.

Incremental backup
Incremental backup is a backup feature that reduces the amount of data transferred for each
backup, as well as the amount of duplicated data stored on your backup destinations. This is
done by tracking changes and only backing up modified or new data in between full backups. This
maximizes the number of available backup versions, minimizes the amount of storage used for
backup retention, and also saves time and bandwidth on the source device.
Changed Block Tracking (CBT) and Resilient Change Tracking (RCT) are VMware vSphere's and
Microsoft Hyper-V's native technology that track the blocks of a virtual machine disk that have
been changed since a certain point in time. With VMware vSphere CBT and Microsoft Hyper-V
RCT enabled, the amount of data transferred after the first full backup will be greatly reduced,
speeding up the backup process.
See How to enable CBT manually for a virtual machine for detailed setup instructions.

Data deduplication
Active Backup for Business detects and removes any data that are identical between different
files, versions, or devices when storing backups on Synology NAS. Built-in deduplication
technology can help cut back on storage use, especially when the devices share similar operating
systems, software applications, or files.
For more detailed information on data deduplication techniques and how deduplication is
calculated for ABB, refer to the Data Deduplication White Paper.

Built-in hypervisor
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Integration of ABB with Synology's built-in hypervisor, Synology Virtual Machine Manager
(VMM), powers two distinctive features of Active Backup for Business that enable efficient
recovery after a server crash: Backup Verification and Instant Restore.
Backup Verification
If Backup Verification is enabled, a scheduled trial run of the restoration will be performed in
VMM for a configured number of seconds. This process will be recorded into a video for your
reference, so you can confirm that the backed up data can be successfully restored in case of
sudden disaster.
Instant Restore
Instant Restore allows you to instantly restore servers and virtual machines backed up to ABB as
virtual machines in Synology VMM. You can use this feature to implement rapid recoveries while
continuing to use services in case of system crashes.

Backup management
Active Backup for Business Portal
The Active Backup for Business Portal is ABB's affiliated restoration portal. This portal allows
administrators and end users appointed by an administrator to access, browse, download, and
restore backed-up data.
This tool is automatically installed during the installation of the Active Backup for Business
package. Refer to the ABB Portal help article to learn more about how to navigate the portal,
perform restores, and for other settings.

4
Planning and Preparation
Requirements
See the full specifications for Active Backup for Business for detailed information.

NAS system requirements

See How to select a suitable NAS for running Active Backup for Business? for recommendations.
Item Requirements
DSM 7.0 and above (ABB 2.2.0 and above)
Operating system DSM 6.2 and above (ABB 2.1.0 and above)
DSM 6.1.7 and above (ABB 2.0.4 and above)
CPU architecture 64-bit x86 (x64)
System memory 4 GB RAM recommended for ideal backup performance
File system Btrfs

Supported systems
Backup type System / version
VMware free ESXi
VMware vSphere Essentials
VMware vSphere Essentials Plus
VMware vSphere Standard
Virtual VMware vSphere Advanced
machines VMware vSphere Enterprise
VMware vSphere Enterprise Plus (versions 5.0, 5.1, 5.5, 6.0, 6.5, 6.7, and
7.0)
Windows Server Hyper-V 2022
Windows Server Hyper-V 2019
Windows Server Hyper-V 2016

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For a full list of requirements for backups and restorations, refer to the Requirements and
Limitations.

Considerations and limitations

NAS
To maximize backup performance, avoid running too many packages at once in DSM.
To perform a backup task, there should be at least 8 GB of free space both on the backup
destination and on the volume where the package is installed.

Backup client (virtual machines)

VMware
Make sure that Secure Shell (SSH) service is enabled on the virtual machine.
To perform incremental backups, make sure that Changed Block Tracking (CBT) is enabled on
the virtual machine.
To perform application-aware backups, make sure that VMware Tools is properly installed on
the virtual machine.
To run a Pre-Freeze or Post-Thaw script on a backup task, make sure that VMware Tools is
properly installed on the virtual machine.
Hyper-V
Make sure that WinRM is enabled on the Hyper-V host.
Allow SMB connections through the firewall on the Hyper-V host.
If your Hyper-V host does not belong to a domain and you are using an account other than the
built-in administrator account, make sure that User Account Control (UAC) is disabled.

Network
If the hypervisor is behind a NAT, make sure that port forwarding rules are configured on it.
If the hypervisor is behind a firewall, make sure that backup services are allowed by the
firewall rules.
To perform operations successfully and enable communication between your Synology NAS
and virtual machines, make sure that the following TCP ports are opened:

Type TCP Port Details

Number

6
 vCenter
servers 443 Default port used for connections to VMware
ESXi infrastructure
VMware hosts
ESXi 902 Port used for transferring and moving data
hosts
Hyper-V 445 (SMB Port used for receiving and transferring data from
hosts port) Hyper-V to Synology NAS
SCVMM
Failover Port used for in-flight encryption when transferring
clusters 5986 and moving data
Hyper- Hyper-V
V hosts
SCVMM
Failover
clusters 5985 Port used for transferring and moving data
Hyper-V
hosts

Backup tips
For VMware vSphere: Make sure that the account you use to add VMware vSphere hypervisor
has either full administrative permissions (recommended) or these specific permissions.
For Hyper-V: Make sure that your virtual machine's system volume has at least 512 MB of free
space.
Antivirus software may interfere with API commands, which could result in backup failure. If a
backup fails, check the activity log of the hypervisor host's antivirus software for any errors.
To have new virtual machines automatically be added to the backup task, enable Auto
Discovery and select the folders, hosts, or datacenters where you want to enable it.
Make sure that the device that you want to back up is supported on your version of ABB.
Set up a Retention Policy for your backup tasks to delete older backup versions so your
backups don't take up too much space.
Configure a backup schedule to maintain regular backups of your data.

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Allow users access to the Active Backup for Business Portal so they can browse backups and
recover individual files or entire folders as needed.
Add a second layer of protection to your data by implementing the 3-2-1 backup rule (3
backups: 2 on different storage mediums and 1 offsite) using Hyper Backup or Snapshot
Replication.

8
Backup Configuration
The following sections provide instructions on creating and executing new backup tasks, and
configuring essential options and settings.

VMware and Hyper-V backup

Active Backup for Business allows you to create backup tasks that can be used to process one or
more of your virtual machines. You can either configure a backup task and run it immediately, or
save the task and run it later.

Before you start

Make sure that your virtual machines show up in Active Backup for Business > Virtual Machine >
VMware vSphere or Microsoft Hyper-V. If your device is not shown, use the following steps to
add the vCenter Server, vSphere Hypervisor (ESX / ESXi), or Hyper-V servers to your device.
1. Click Manage Hypervisor > Add.
2. Fill in the server address and account information.

Notes:
There must be at least 8 GB of free space on both the backup destination and on the
volume where the package is installed.
When using Active Backup for Business to back up Hyper-V, a data mover will be
installed on the Hyper-V host. Therefore, the host system's volume must have at least
512MB of free storage.
If your NAS cannot be accessed by the Hyper-V server directly, click Connection from
Hyper-V to Synology NAS to configure your network settings.
You can also edit or delete the vCenter Server, vSphere Hypervisor (ESX / ESXi), or Hyper-V
server in Manage Hypervisor:
Edit: Select existing servers to change the account names and passwords.
Delete: Delete servers that are no longer needed. If there are protected virtual machines in
current backup tasks, you need to delete those tasks before you can delete the servers.

Create a backup task

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Use one of the following methods to launch the Backup Wizard.
VMware vSphere
Go to Active Backup for Business > Virtual Machine > VMware vSphere and select one or
several virtual machines (Ctrl + left click). Click Create Task to launch the backup wizard.
Go to Active Backup for Business > Virtual Machine > Task List, and click Create > vSphere
task to launch the backup wizard.
Microsoft Hyper-V
Go to Active Backup for Business > Virtual Machine > Microsoft Hyper-V, and select one or
several virtual machines (Ctrl + left click). Click Create Task to launch the backup wizard.
Go to Active Backup for Business > Virtual Machine > Task List, and click Create > Hyper-V
task to launch the backup wizard.

Select a backup destination

1. Make sure that your backup destination is using a Btrfs file system. A shared folder named
"ActiveBackupforBusiness" is automatically created when you install Active Backup for
Business on your NAS.
2. Select a shared folder in the Btrfs file system as the backup destination.

Notes:
If you have already selected a virtual machine on the VMware vSphere or Microsoft
Hyper-V tab, the selected virtual machine will automatically be displayed in the wizard.

Task settings
You can enable compression and encryption for the backup destination. These settings
cannot be changed after the first backup task is created. If you want to use different settings
for future tasks, you will have to create a task for a new destination.
The Maximum quantity of concurrent backup device(s) depends on the RAM capacity.
You can enable Changed Block Tracking, application-aware backup, data transfer
compression, and data transfer encryption.
Since taking snapshots may require additional space on the host datastore, insufficient space
on the datastore may cause the suspension of virtual machines and thus data loss. With
source datastore usage detection enabled, backup tasks will only fail if the host datastore's
storage space is below the specified percentage.
You can select Backup Verification to implement scheduled trial runs of the restoration in
Virtual Machine Manager. The entire process will be recorded as a video for reference, so

10
that you can confirm that the backup can be successfully restored.
In Advanced settings, you can configure the script and other information for each virtual
machine.
1. Select one or multiple virtual machines for which you want to specify the script or
credentials.
2. Click Script to browse the script executed in the guest OS and specify the script
processing mode.
Successful script execution required to continue: The virtual machine backup
process will stop if the script fails to be executed.
Ignore script execution failure and continue VM backup: The virtual machine backup
process will continue even if the script fails to be executed.
3. In VMware vSphere: Click Credential to specify the username and password for virtual
machines.
4. In Microsoft Hyper-V: Click VM Information to configure the credentials, operating
system, and IP address for the virtual machine.

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 Notes:
Active Backup for Business 2.2.0 and above versions support the concurrent backup
of up to 50 personal computers, physical servers, and virtual machines. The actual
number varies by RAM capacity:
Less than 8 GB: 10
Between 8 GB and 32 GB: 30
More than 32 GB: 50
Application-aware backup uses Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) or
VMware Tools to make sure that the backed up data of Linux and Windows virtual
machines is consistent.
For VMware, make sure that you have the latest version of VMware Tools.
For Hyper-V, your virtual machine must support VSS and it must be enabled on the
target device.
Setting up the script and enabling the virtual machine script execution requires the
credentials of your virtual machine. An error message will be displayed if the
credentials are missing.
Synology Virtual Machine Manager must be installed to enable Backup Verification.
For VMware vSphere:
VMware Tools must be installed to execute a pre-post script.
If you are using a free version of an ESXi hypervisor, CBT must be manually
enabled. See How to enable CBT manually for a virtual machine for detailed
instructions.
Data transfer compression cannot be enabled on vSphere 5.1 or below.

Schedule backup tasks

Manual backup requires you to start each backup task manually.
Scheduled backups can be set to run on an hourly, daily, or weekly basis.
Configure Backup Windows allows you to specify time slots for when the backup task is
allowed to run. This is useful if you don't want tasks to run when your IT infrastructure is being
heavily used.

Select a retention policy

You can choose to store all versions of your backup, limit the number of stored versions, or
keep only certain versions according to a schedule.

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 You can choose to set rules for keeping backup versions, such as to retain the latest version
of each day, week, month, or year. You can edit the retention policy at Active Backup for
Business > Virtual Machine > Task List > select the task > Edit > Retention > Advanced
retention policy > Set Rules.
Selecting the Keep only the latest … versions option will store a set number of versions
regardless of the time intervals set. If more than one backup version exists within a certain
time range, only the latest one will be kept. For example, if you set a policy as Keep the latest
version of the day for "1" day for a backup task that will run every hour, only the version
backed up at 23:00 will be kept.
A version can meet more than one retention rule at a time. For example, a version can be
retained by the weekly retention rule and daily retention rule at the same time. Advanced
retention policy employs the Long-Term Retention Policy (GFS).

Configure privilege settings

Select the users or groups to whom you want to grant privileges for performing Guest OS Files
(Windows / Linux) Restore and browsing backup versions of the task. To ensure that only eligible
users will be able to restore backed-up files and versions, you can configure privilege settings
both during and after the creation of the backup task.

13
 Notes:
Only users belonging to the administrators group are allowed to perform Instant
Restore and Full Virtual Machine Restore. Other users who are enabled in this step
can only perform Guest Files (Windows / Linux) Restore via the Active Backup for
Business Portal.

Apply settings
1. Confirm your backup settings and click Apply. A pop-up window will appear.
2. Click Yes if you would like to run the backup immediately. If you want to run the task later on,
go to the Task List, select the task, and click Back up.

Manage backup tasks

All existing tasks are displayed under Active Backup for Business > Virtual Machine > Task List.

Edit or delete backup tasks

To edit tasks individually or several tasks simultaneously, go to Active Backup for Business >
Virtual Machine > Task List, select one or several tasks (Ctrl + left click), and click Edit.
To delete backup tasks, select one or more tasks in the corresponding task list. Once you confirm
the action, all backed up data will be removed along with the backup task.

Details
To view information on the Status and Logs for your task, such as the source, execution time,
duration, and log time of the backups, select your task and click Details.

Versions
To view information about backed up versions, such as the status and time of creation, select
your task and click Version. You can also click the folder icon to browse your backed-up data and
the live video of the backup if Backup Verification is enabled.

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Restoration Guide
Active Backup for Business offers several methods to restore backups of your virtual machines.
Which method is best for your case depends on a number of factors, which will be referenced in
this section.

Recovery options
The following methods are available for virtual machine restoration:
Granular (file or folder-level) restore: Choose a backup version, select files or folders for
recovery in the Active Backup for Business Portal and automatically restore them to their
original location, or download the data to a different device or location. You can also assign
end users restore or download permissions via Control Panel in DSM.
Instant Restore: Restart a virtual machine directly from a compressed and deduplicated
backup file to minimize the downtime of the virtual machine. Instant Restore to VMware or
Hyper-V can restart a virtual machine within seconds, but has limited I/O performance.
Full Virtual Machine Restore: Restore an entire virtual machine from a backup file to its latest
state or a previous point in time if the primary virtual machine fails. This method requires more
time and resources, but has full I/O disk performance.
Instant Restore to Synology Virtual Machine Manager: Instantly restart a virtual machine from
a backup file in Synology VMM.
Refer to the following table for a comparison of different recovery methods:

Item Full Restore Instant Restore Instant Restore to Instant Restore

to VMware Hyper-V to VMM
RTO Long RTO Short RTO Short RTO Short RTO
I/O Full disk Limited disk Limited disk Full disk (NAS)
performance
Service VMware or VMware Hyper-V NAS
location Hyper-V
Backup data VMware or
storage Hyper-V NAS NAS NAS
location

15
 Post- No further action Need to Need to export and Need to migrate
restoration required if migrate back to import back to the back to the
requirements restoring to the the production production site to production site
production site site to finalize finalize to finalize

Notes:
All changes made during Instant Restore are automatically stored on your Synology
NAS. Make sure that there is enough space on your Synology NAS for this.
For Instant Restore to VMware vSphere: To finalize the process, you must migrate the
instantly restored virtual machine back to the production site. You can either migrate
or clone the virtual machine to the hypervisor where you want it to run. We
recommend that you first shut down the virtual machine in case any data
inconsistencies result from the cloning process. Migration of VMs requires an eligible
vCenter or Storage vMotion license. Refer to Migrate VM for further information.

Instantly restore your virtual machine

Launch the Instant Restore Wizard
With Instant Restore to VMware and Instant Restore to Hyper-V you can launch the restore
wizard to restore a virtual machine to its most recent state or to any available restore point
through the following methods.
VMware vSphere
Go to Active Backup for Business > Virtual Machine > VMware vSphere, select the virtual
machine you want to restore, click Restore to launch the restore wizard, and select Restore to
VMware vSphere and Instant Restore.
Go to Active Backup for Business > Virtual Machine > Task List, select the backup task you
want to restore, click Restore to launch the restore wizard, and select Restore to VMware
vSphere and Instant Restore.

Notes:
Make sure that the hypervisor is authorized to access and mount the backup
destination (shared folder).

Microsoft Hyper-V
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 Go to Active Backup for Business > Virtual Machine > Microsoft Hyper-V, select the virtual
machine you want to restore, click Restore to launch the restore wizard, and select Restore to
Microsoft Hyper-V and Instant Restore.
Go to Active Backup for Business > Virtual Machine > Task List, select the backup task you
want to restore, click Restore to launch the restore wizard, and select Restore to Microsoft
Hyper-V and Instant Restore.

Notes:
Make sure that the hypervisor is authorized to access and mount the iSCSI target on
your Synology NAS. When performing Instant Restore to Hyper-V, a backup image will
be cloned to a temporary iSCSI target on your Synology NAS. Then, the hypervisor will
mount the iSCSI target.
iSCSI Initiator Service must be enabled on the source server for the system to
perform Instant Restore to Hyper-V.

Select virtual machines and restore points

Select the virtual machines that you want to restore and choose their restore points.

Select restore mode

Restore to the original location: Restore the selected virtual machine to its original location,
while keeping its original name and settings and minimizing the chance of input errors by
users. This option instantly unregisters and replaces the original virtual machine on the
production site.
Restore to a new location, or with different settings: Customize the destination and settings
for the restored virtual machine.

Configure restore settings

If you select Restore to the original location, you will be directed to the summary page of the
restore wizard.
If you select Restore to a new location, or with different settings, you will need to specify the
name and select a folder, hypervisor, resource pool, and network to restore the virtual machine.
Changes made during Instant Restore will be stored on your Synology NAS.
For Instant Restore to VMware, you can also select the datastore when executing virtual machine
migration.

Apply and Restore

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A summary of the restoration will be shown. Once you have confirmed the information to be
restored, click Done. You will then be automatically directed to Restore Status to monitor the
restoration progress.
For Instant Restore to VMware, click the Migrate VM button to finalize the process.
Enable Power on VM automatically after restoration to immediately run the restored virtual
machine. If you are performing Instant Restore for testing purposes, we recommend you to keep
this option disabled, and to manually disconnect the initial virtual machine from the production
network to avoid any conflicts.

Fully Restore your Virtual Machine

Launch the Full VM Restore Wizard
Use one of the following methods to launch the restore wizard to restore virtual machines to their
most recent state or to any available restore point through full VM restore.
VMware vSphere
Go to Active Backup for Business > Virtual Machine > VMware vSphere, select the virtual
machine that you want to restore, and click Restore to launch the restore wizard. Click
Restore to VMware vSphere, and click Next. Then, select Full Virtual Machine Restore.
Go to Active Backup for Business > Virtual Machine > Task List, select the backup task that
you want to restore, and click Restore to launch the restore wizard. Click Restore to VMware
vSphere, and click Next. Then, select Full Virtual Machine Restore.
Microsoft Hyper-V
Go to Active Backup for Business > Virtual Machine > Microsoft Hyper-V, select the virtual
machine that you want to restore, and click Restore to launch the restore wizard. Click
Restore to Microsoft Hyper-V, and click Next. Then, select Full Virtual Machine Restore.
Go to Active Backup for Business > Virtual Machine > Task List, select the backup task you
want to restore, and click Restore to launch the restore wizard. Click Restore to Microsoft
Hyper-V, and click Next. Then, select Full Virtual Machine Restore.

Select virtual machines and restore point

Select the virtual machines that you want to restore and a restore point for each.

Select restore mode

Restore to the original location: Restore the selected virtual machine to its original location,
with its original name and settings. This option minimizes the chance of user input error and
18
 will un-register and replace the original virtual machine at the production site.
Restore to a new location, or with different settings: This option allows you to customize the
destination and settings of the restored virtual machine.

Configure restore settings

If you choose Restore to the original location, this step will be skipped.
For users who choose Restore to a new location, or with different settings, you will need to
specify a name, and select a folder, hypervisor, datastore, resource pool, and network to run the
restored virtual machine.

Apply and Restore

A summary of the restoration will be shown. Once you have confirmed the information to be
restored, click Done. You will then be automatically directed to Restore Status to monitor the
restoration progress.
Enable Power on VM automatically after restoration to immediately run the restored virtual
machine. If you are performing Full VM Restore for testing purposes, it is recommended to keep
this option disabled, and to manually disconnect the initial virtual machine from the production
network and connect it to an isolated non-production network to avoid any conflicts.

Instant Restore to Synology Virtual Machine Manager

(VMM)
The integration of Active Backup for Business with Synology Virtual Machine Manager
(VMM) provides users with an alternative solution for disaster recovery, browsing and restoring
application data, and upgrading test environments. This section provides you with the
prerequisites and instructions for instantly restoring your backed up device via Synology VMM.
Refer to the Virtual Machine Manager product specifications for more information on the
limitations, features, and other details.

Launch Synology VMM Wizard

VMware vSphere
Go to Active Backup for Business > Virtual Machine > VMware vSphere and select the virtual
machine that you want to restore. Click Restore to launch the restore wizard, and select
Instant Restore to Synology Virtual Machine Manager (VMM).
Go to Active Backup for Business > Virtual Machine > Task List and select the backup task
you want to restore. Click Restore to launch the restore wizard, and select Instant Restore to

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 Synology Virtual Machine Manager (VMM).
Microsoft Hyper-V
Go to Active Backup for Business > Virtual Machine > Microsoft Hyper-V and select the
virtual machine that you want to restore. Click Restore to launch the restore wizard, and
select Instant Restore to Synology Virtual Machine Manager (VMM).
Go to Active Backup for Business > Virtual Machine > Task List and select the backup task
you want to restore. Click Restore to launch the restore wizard, and select Instant Restore to
Synology Virtual Machine Manager (VMM).

Select virtual machine and restore point

Select the virtual machine that you want to instantly restore via Synology Virtual Machine
Manager (VMM) and select a restore point.

Notes:
Only one virtual machine in each backup task can be instantly restored on Synology
VMM at a time. You cannot select multiple virtual machines and run them at the same
time.

Configure virtual machine settings

Once you have selected a virtual machine and restore point, you will need to configure its settings
in the Synology VMM wizard.

Apply and restore

After you have configured the settings, click Done. The backed up virtual machine will be
imported to Synology VMM and you can power on the virtual machine in the Synology VMM
console.

Guest OS Files (Windows / Linux) Restore

Guest OS files restore allows users to restore only specific files instead of a whole virtual
machine. Guest OS files can be restored via the Active Backup for Business Portal, which is
automatically installed with Active Backup for Business.

20
 Notes:
VMware Tools is required to be installed to restore guest OS files.
Supported file systems for Windows / Linux:
Windows: NTFS, FAT32
Linux: NTFS, FAT32, EXT3, EXT4

Launch a guest file restore portal

VMware vSphere
Go to Active Backup for Business > Virtual Machine > VMware vSphere, select the virtual
machine that you want to restore, and click Restore to launch the restore wizard. Select a
restore point, and on the next page, click on the link to Active Backup for Business Portal.
Go to Active Backup for Business > Virtual Machine > Task List, select the backup task you
want to restore, and click Restore to launch the restore wizard. Select a restore point, and on
the next page, click on the link to Active Backup for Business Portal.
Microsoft Hyper-V
Go to Active Backup for Business > Virtual Machine > Microsoft Hyper-V, select the virtual
machine that you want to restore, and click Restore to launch the restore wizard. Select a

21
 restore point, and on the next page, click on the link to Active Backup for Business Portal.
Go to Active Backup for Business > Virtual Machine > Task List, select the backup task you
want to restore, and click Restore to launch the restore wizard. Select a restore point, and on
the next page, click on the link to Active Backup for Business Portal.

Recover individual files

1. In Active Backup for Business Portal, under View role at the top of the page, make sure that
you're using an account with the appropriate privileges.
2. Under Task, confirm the source device to which or from which you want to restore files.
3. Select the folders or files that you want to restore.
4. Use the slider at the bottom of the page to select a backup version from which you wish to
restore folders or files, then click through the folder structure in the file explorer to select the
directory or file.

5. Click Restore and provide your Guest OS (Windows / Linux) login details in the pop-up
window. In the For duplicate data field, you can select whether you want to Overwrite or
Skip files that have the same name in the target directory. Click Next.
6. Choose the destination to which you want to restore your files, then click Apply.
You can view the progress of the restoration by clicking the Restore Task icon in the upper right-
hand corner.

You can also download the files via your local browser by selecting the files and clicking
Download.

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Best Practices
The following sections provide recommendations for how you can protect your backup data
against loss by creating remote backup copies and relinking.

Maintain remote backup copies and relink

Active Backup for Business safely stores backup data from all of your devices on your Synology
NAS. However, issues that occur on one device can affect an entire infrastructure.
Natural disaster, theft, or network issues can prevent you from retrieving your data or slow down
the recovery process. Therefore, we strongly recommend you to keep remote copies of all of your
backups on a different device and in a different location.
Keep in mind that you should always maintain three copies of your data (the original copy, a
backup, and a copy of that backup in a different location). This is referred to as the 3-2-1 backup
strategy. To make things easy, Synology NAS has everything you need to implement this strategy.

Create remote copies

The following two DSM applications can be used to copy your Active Backup for Business data
and configurations from Synology NAS to other devices or the public cloud.
Snapshot Replication: This option is recommended if you have access to a secondary
Synology NAS. You can replicate your ABB data and settings to another Synology NAS and
quickly restart all of your ABB tasks on that device.
Hyper Backup: This option allows you to back up your ABB data and settings to other
locations, such as portable drives, file servers, and public cloud storage. However, recovery
requires you to first restore the backup to a functioning Synology NAS before relinking and
restarting ABB tasks.

Relink
After creating a replication or backup task, it is important to make sure that you can successfully
restore or relink your existing Active Backup for Business tasks and backup data, whether they
exist on a secondary NAS, in public clouds, or other storage media.
For detailed instructions on how to back up and relink your Active Backup for Business data using
Snapshot Replication and Hyper Backup, refer to the following tutorial:
How do I back up and relink Active Backup for Business data to a destination Synology NAS?
Make sure that your Synology NAS has 64-bit processors, is running DSM 6.1.7 or above, is
running Active Backup for Business 2.0.4 or above, and has the necessary packages installed.
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See the Environment section in the tutorial for more details.

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Learn more
Related articles
Frequently asked questions about Active Backup for Business
How do I select a suitable NAS for running Active Backup for Business?
What VMware vSphere permissions are required for Active Backup for Business to back up
and restore virtual machines?
How do I migrate an instantly restored virtual machine to its original virtualization platform?
How can I restore entire device backups from Active Backup for Business in Virtual Machine
Manager?
How many devices can I back up concurrently with Active Backup for Business?

Software specs
Refer to the Active Backup for Business software specifications to learn more about the package's
features, components, and limitations.

Other resources
For more step-by-step tutorials and visual information, feel free to also check out Synology's
YouTube channel. There, you can find related videos by searching for "Active Backup for
Business".
You can also find admin guides, brochures, technical specifications, user guides, white papers
and more for Active Backup for Business in Synology Documentation.

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