Evaluating Data Protection Manager in System Center 2016 by Using a Preconfigured VHD
Microsoft Corporation
Published: September 22, 2016
Applies To
System Center 2016
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Revision History
Release Date / ChangesSeptember 22, 2016 / Original release of this guide.
Contents
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Revision History
Evaluating Data Protection Manager in System Center 2016 by Using a Preconfigured VHD
Evaluating DPM by Using a Preconfigured VHD topics
How to Prepare a Computer to Host the DPM Virtual Machine
How to Create the Virtual Machine to Run DPM
How to Configure DPM on the Virtual Machine
Evaluating Data Protection Manager in System Center 2016 by Using a Preconfigured VHD
This document describes how to use a preconfigured virtual hard disk (VHD) to create a virtual machine that runs System Center 2016 Data Protection Manager so that you can evaluate the features of DPM. For more information about the features of DPM, see Overview of DPM Features.
All of the software that is necessary for this evaluation is included in the VHD.
Important
The software that is included on this preconfigured VHD is intended for evaluation and deployment planning purposes only.
Note the following:
The evaluation version of DPM expires 180 days after installation.
The evaluation version of SQL Server expires 180 days after installation.
You cannot use the evaluation version of SQL Server in a production environment.
The evaluation version of Windows Server® 2016 Datacenter expires 180 days after installation. Also, you must activate the evaluation version within 30 days.
The evaluation versions of DPM, SQL Server, and Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter are in English only.
Evaluating DPM by Using a Preconfigured VHD topics
How to Prepare a Computer to Host the DPM Virtual Machine
Describes how to prepare a computer to host the virtual machine for DPM.
How to Create the Virtual Machine to Run DPM
Describes how to use Hyper-V Manager to create the virtual machine to run DPM.
How to Configure DPM on the Virtual Machine
Describes how to configure DPM on the virtual machine.
How to Prepare a Computer to Host the DPM Virtual Machine
You can use the following information to prepare a computer to host the Data Protection Manager (DPM) virtual machine.
The following are some recommendations and requirements for the computer that hosts the DPM virtual machine:
We recommend that you use a computer with a Dual-Core Pentium4, 2gigahertz (GHz) (x64) processor or greater.
We recommend that you have at least 30gigabytes (GB) of hard disk space available for the virtual machine. The virtual hard disk (VHD) is preconfigured with a dynamic VHD that can expand up to 40GB and initially is expanded to 15GB.
You must have at least 2GB of memory available for the virtual machine, but we recommend at least 4GB of memory.
To prepare the computer to host the DPM virtual machine, do the following:
Install and configure Windows Server2016 or Windows Server2012R2. Evaluation versions of these operating systems are available, for example, the evaluation version at Download Windows Server on the TechNet Evaluation Center.
If you want this server to be located in the same domain as the DPM virtual machine that you will create on the server, choose a domain with a name that does not contain a dot (.).
Install and configure the Hyper-V role in Windows Server2016 or Windows Server2012R2. For more information about configuring Hyper-V, see Install the Hyper-V Role and Configure a Virtual Machine.
You can use the following procedure to extract the DPM VHD file.
To extract the VHD file
- Download the self-extracting SC2016_ SCDPM_VHD.exe files and all the related .bin files to the computer that is running Hyper-V
3.For each self-extractive .exe file, complete the following steps:
a.Double-click the self-extracting file to begin the wizard that extracts the VHD file.
b.Click Next and then review the software license terms. If you accept the terms, click I accept the agreement, and then click Next.
c.Provide the folder location where you want to save the extracted VHD file, and then click Next.
d.To extract the VHD file, click Extract.
e.After the wizard finishes, click Finish. To confirm that the VHD file has been extracted, open the destination folder that you specified.
How to Create the Virtual Machine to Run DPM
You can use the following procedure to create the virtual machine to run Data Protection Manager (DPM) by using Hyper-V Manager.
Membership in the local Administrators group, or equivalent, on the computer that you are configuring is the minimum required to complete this procedure.
To create the virtual machine to run DPM
1.On the computer on which Hyper-V is installed, in Server Manager, click Tools, and then click Hyper-V Manager.2.In the Actions pane, click New, and then click Virtual Machine.
3.On the Before You Begin page, click Next.
4.On the Specify Name and Location page, in the Name box, type the name for the virtual machine. Determine where you want to store the virtual machine, and then click Next.
5.If your host system is running Windows Server2012, skip to the next step.
If your host system is running Windows Server2012R2, on the Specify Generation page, ensure that Generation 1 is selected, and then click Next.
6.On the Assign Memory page, specify the amount of memory to assign to the virtual machine, and then click Next.
Note
2048 megabytes (MB) of memory is the minimum that DPM requires, but at least 4096 MB of memory is recommended.
7.On the Configure Networking page, select the appropriate connection to use for the virtual machine, and then click Next.
8.On the Connect Virtual Hard Disk page, select Use an existing virtual hard disk, specify the location of the DPM VHD file, and then click Next.
9.On the Completing the New Virtual Machine Wizard page, click Finish to create the virtual machine.
10.Right-click the virtual machine that you just created, and then click Start. The virtual machine will start.
11.Right-click the virtual machine that you just created, and then click Connect.
12.On the region and language page, select the appropriate settings for Country or region, App language, and Keyboard layout, and then click Next.
13.On the Windows Product Key page, provide the key if available and click Next or click Skip.
14.On the Please read the license terms page, review the license agreement. If you agree with the terms, click I accept.
15.On the administrator account password page, enter and reenter a password for the built-in administrator account. Click Finish.
16.When the system prompts you to sign in, click Action, and then click Ctrl+Alt+Delete.
17.Enter the Administrator password that you have previously configured to log on to the virtual machine.
After the initial setup of Windows Server2012R2 finishes, do the following:
Perform any necessary network configuration, such as assigning a static IP address to the virtual machine.
Change the computer name of the virtual machine. The name of the computer cannot exceed 15 characters.
Join the virtual machine to an Active Directory domain. Choose a domain with a name that does not contain a dot (.).
Create a domain account for the DPM administrator, and add that account to the local Administrators group on the virtual machine.
Log on to the virtual machine using the account that you created for the DPM administrator.
Note
This evaluation VHD has a Remote Desktop setting of Don’t allow connections to this computer. To connect to this computer by using Remote Desktop, you must change that setting to allow remote connections.
How to Configure DPM on the Virtual Machine
You can use the following procedure to configure Data Protection Manager (DPM) on the virtual machine. After you complete this procedure, you will have DPM installed on the virtual machine.
Membership in the local Administrators group, or equivalent, on the computer that you are configuring is the minimum required to complete this procedure.
Important
Be sure you are logged in using a domain account before you start these procedures.
To configure DPM on the virtual machine
1.If Server Manager is maximized, minimize it.2.On the desktop of the virtual machine, double-click System Center 2016 Data Protection Manager.
3.In the Data Protection Manager Mini-Setup Wizard, on the Welcome page, review the location of the various files for DPM, and then click Next.
4.On the Microsoft Software License Terms page, if you agree with the license terms, select I accept the license terms, and then click Next.
5.On the Product Registration page, provide the appropriate User name and Company, and then click Next.
Note
Because this is an evaluation version of SCDPM, there is no product key to enter.
6.On the Microsoft Update Opt-in page, select whether or not you want to use Microsoft Update, and then click Next.
7.On the Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) page, select either option, and then click Next.
8.On the Summary of Settings page, review your selections and do one of the following:
Click Back to change any selections.
Click Configure to install DPM.
After you click Configure, progress is displayed.
9.On the Confirmation page, click Close.
Note
If there is a problem with setup completing successfully, consult the log files in the %SYSTEMDRIVE%\ProgramData\Microsoft System Center 2012\DPM\DPMLogs folder. ProgramData is a hidden folder.
To open the DPM Administrator Console, on the desktop of the virtual machine, double-click the System Center 2016 Data Protection Manager icon.
If you are installing the VL version of DPM, you will also be prompted to enter the DPM keys during the setup process.
Release Notes for Data Protection Manager
The following release notes apply to System Center RTM - Data Protection Manager.Silent Installation of DPM with SQL Server 2008
Description: SCDPM 2016 RTM does not support silent install of DPM on SQL Server 2008.
Workaround: Deploy SC DPM 2016 RTM on a higher SQL Server version, or install using SC DPM 2016 Setup UI.
Hyper-V VMs are protected twice on VM upgrade
Description: If you upgrade your VM from Windows Server 2012 R2 to Windows Server 2016 to enable RCT, a new VM may be seen in the Create Protection Group Wizard, in addition to the old VM.
Workaround:Do not stop protection of the VMs which are not upgraded. After upgrade, create a new protection group and protect the VMs. This will protect the VMs through RCT. After this, stop protecting the older VMs.
Agent installation fails on Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2
Description: If you are trying to protect Windows Server 2008, or Windows Server 2008 R2, agent installation may fail.
Workaround: Upgrade the Windows Management Framework on the Production Server to 4.0. This can be downloaded from After the installation, agent installation should be successful.
Restoring a Hyper-V VM of older version leads to failure in creation of further recovery points.
Description: If you protect a Hyper-V VM of version 2012 R2, upgrade it to 2016 version, stop protecting it with retain data and protect it again, recovering a 2012 R2 copy at the original location may lead to failure of further backups.
Workaround: After recovery change the VM Version to 2016 followed by a Consistency Check.
Adding DPM Volumes without Drive Letters
Description: If you try to add a volume without access path/drive letter as valid volumes to storage, DPM does not add them, throwing an error.
Workaround: Assign drive letters to the volumes that are being added to DPM Storage.
Rescan of Large Scale Storage Configurations
Description: For large scale storage configurations, if you try to detect new volumes by doing a Rescan in “Disks Storage” in “Management” tab, DPM UI may seem to hang while it is re-scanning.
Workaround: Wait for the scan to complete. If required, another instance of DPM console can be used for other operations while first console completes rescan.
Secondary Protection of SQL DB with high Synchronization Frequency
Description: If a SQL Database is protected by primary DPM and secondary DPM with a high synchronization frequency (for example, primary = 15 mins, secondary = 1 hour), the backup jobs may fail with the following warning:
On Primary DPM Server: The job completed successfully with the following warning: The storage involving the current operation could not be read from or written to. (ID 40003)
On Secondary DPM Server: The job completed successfully with the following warning: The synchronization job failed due to an internal error. (ID 117)
Workaround: When no job is running on primary DPM, stop msdpm service by running
net stop msdpm
in command line with Administrator Privileges.
Then delete the file present in
<DPM install path>\DPM\Config\VolumeManagerState_<DPMServerName> folder.
CC onUpgrade of Primary and Secondary DPM Servers to DPM 2016
Description: After an upgrade of primary DPM and Secondary DPM from 2012 R2 to 2016. Consistency check jobs fail on secondary DPM.
Workaround:On the Secondary DPM Server, while Creating or Modifying a Protection Group, on the “Select Group Members” Screen, select the Primary DPM Server and click “Refresh”. After this Consistency Check jobs will succeed.
Search for Files/Folders during Recovery
Description: If you protect a file, folder, or volume using DPM 2016, and search for it in the recovery pane under “Files and Folders”, you may not get the relevant results.
Workaround: Browse through the Recovery Points to find the file, folder, or volume.
Protecting Hyper-V VMs with an ISO in DVD Drive
Description: If you protect a Hyper-V VM with an ISO in DVD drive, backups may fail with the following messages:
Initial Replica: DPM failed to communicate with [DPMServerName] because of a communication error with the protection agent. (ID 53 Details: Not implemented (0x80000001))
Subsequent Backups: An unexpected error occurred while the job was running. (ID 104 Details: Internal error code: 0x80990E54)
Workaround: Eject the ISO and trigger backup again.
Deleting Storage Volumes with backups
Description: If the backups of a data-source are stored on a volume, and the volume is deleted, the PG goes into an error state.
Workaround: Stop Protection of the affected data-sources with Delete Data option and protect the data-source again.
Concurrent Incremental and Tape Backups
Description: If you create a Policy that triggers Synchronization jobs and tape backup jobs at the same time on the same data source, Tape backup may fail sometimes.
Workaround: Retry the tape backup. To avoid this scenario, create the policy in such a way that incremental and tape backups don’t clash.
BMR Protection Failures
Description: If you try to protect BMR, it may fail with the message that the replica size is not sufficiently large.
Workaround: Use PowerShell to increase the replica size:
$dpm = Connect-DPMServer -DpmServerName <name of DPM>
$pg = Get-DPMProtectionGroup -DpmServerName <name of DPM>
$ds = Get-DPMDatasource -ProtectionGroup $pg[0] # choose the right PG here
$ds1 = $ds[0] # choose the right DS here
$dpm.Proxy.ResizeReplica($ds1.DatasourceId, $ds1.ReplicaSize * 2)
Re-protecting DPM DB after Upgrade to DPM 2016
Description: When you upgrade DPM2012 R2 to DPM 2016, DPM DB name can change in some scenarios.
Workaround: If you are protecting DPM DB, please ensure that you enable protection for new DPM DB. Protection for the old DPM DB can be removed once DPM upgrade is validated.
Recovering DPM DB of DPM Servers Upgraded to 2016 from Azure
Description: If your DPM installation's SQL server master database is backed up to Azure, and you upgrade to System Center DPM 2016, and then attempt to restore using an online recovery point, the recovery job will fail.
Workaround: To recover the master SQL database, you will need to recover the database as files using SQL Server.
Incorrect Space Usage Reported
Description: In “Disk Storage” in the “Management” tab, and while creating a Protetcion Group, the used space reported is may be underreported or over reported.
Workaround: There is no workaround for this. Overall space usage can found from the filesystem directly.
DPMSync after deletion/corruption of Modern DPM Storage Folders
Description: If the Modern DPM Storage folders are deleted/corrupted, running DPMSync.exe with ReallocateReplica fails with the following error:
The storage involving the current operation could not be read from or written to.
Workaround: No Workaround.
Excluded Hyper-V VHDs continue to be protected
Description: While protecting Hyper-V VMs, the VHDs excluded will continue to be protected.
Workaround: None.
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