Veeam Cookbook
The Veeam Cookbook Series
A simple step by step no frills approach to achieving your goal
Recipe: Deploying the Veeam Software Appliance (Linux)
Expected deliverables:
A fully installed, working Veeam Backup & Replication server running on the pre-hardened Veeam Software Appliance (Rocky Linux), ready to deliver backups and restores.
Time to complete: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- Server (Virtual or Physical) with 6 Cores, 16GB Ram, and two disks of at least 256GB each.
- The Veeam Software Appliance ISO downloaded and available to the target machine (always use the most recent installation media from the Veeam website).
- For paid versions please have your license file located within easy reach.
Before you start:
The Veeam Software Appliance is a pre-hardened, Linux-based (Rocky Linux) alternative to the Microsoft Windows installation. It can be deployed from an ISO image (this recipe) or from an OVA. During setup you will create two accounts: a Host Administrator account and a Security Officer account. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is mandatory, so have a mobile authenticator app (TOTP) ready.
Assumptions:
You are performing a fresh installation on a dedicated machine. A fresh install wipes any existing data on the target disks.
Method:
- Attach the Veeam Software Appliance ISO to the machine and power it on.
- In the Boot Manager, select the drive where the ISO is mounted and press [Enter].
- In the installation menu, select Veeam Backup & Replication and press [Enter].
- In the installation menu, select Install and press [Enter]. Confirm when prompted, as this wipes the target disks. Wait for the installation to complete and for the appliance to reboot into the Initial Configuration wizard.
- At the License step, read and accept the License Agreements.
- At the Hostname step, specify the hostname for the appliance.
- At the Network step, review the network configuration and adjust if required, otherwise keep the default (DHCP).
- At the Time step, review the time zone and NTP servers, adjust if required.
- At the Host Administrator step:
- Set the password for the default veeamadmin account
- Then complete the mandatory MFA enrollment: scan the on-screen QR code (or enter the code) in your authenticator app, then enter the one-time password to finish.
- At the Security Officer step, set the password for the default veeamso account.
- If you do not want to configure the security officer account, select Skip setting up Security Officer. This account can’t be enabled later, and it will require the VSA to be reinstalled.
- At the Summary step, review the configuration and select Finish. Wait for the configuration to apply.
- Open a browser to https://[appliance-address] and log in with the Host Administrator (veeamadmin) account.
- Install your license when prompted (paid versions). The appliance is now ready for use.
Links to Resources: