The Veeam Practical Guide Series

A simple step by step no frills approach to achieving your goal

Recipe: Installing Veeam Backup & Replication with external SQL Database

Expected deliverables:

A fully installed, working Veeam backup & Replication service with external SQL database that can deliver backup and restores with a base level of functionality. Time to complete: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

Server (Virtual or Physical) with 8 Cores, 16GB Ram, C: drive with 50GB free space, D: drive with at least enough space to cover your backup needs.
Windows Server Operating system at least server Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 (can be 2008 R2 SP1 however 2012 R2 should be minimum you should use).
Additional Windows Server (Virtual or Physical) for SQL Server with at least 2 Cores, 4GB Ram, C: drive with 50GB free space
All editions of Microsoft SQL Server are supported, minimum version must be 2008 (recommended 2016 or higher).
Local Administrative account access on your server.
Veeam Backup & Replication zip file downloaded and on your target machine (always use the most recent form the Veeam website, it will contain all the latest patching and updates).
For paid versions please have your license file located within easy reach on the server you will be installing Veeam onto.

Before you start:
The Veeam Backup & Replication software downloads in a zip file which expands into a iso image, you will need to unzip and have access to the iso image before starting.

Assumptions: This guide is focused on using the licensed version of Veeam Backup & Replication, not the Community Edition, the only actual difference in the process is in step 5, you have no need to select a license file (for Community Edition). You already have the external SQL Server installed and reachable.

Method:

Right click the iso image and select mount.
Explore the mounted as a DVD image in file manager, find and run the setup application in the root of the drive.
In the main popup window select the install option in the large section (top left).
Read the Licence Agreement and tick both Terms and conditions boxes to enable Next button.
Browse to your licence file and add, select Next.
Accept the defaults on the Program Features page unless you have a good reason to change anything. Press Next.
On System Configuration check page press install and wait for completion. Press Next when available. A reboot may be required after this depending on your OS, if this is the case reboot and go back to 1.
On Configuration select the Let me specify different settings option.
There will be additional steps, such as: Service Account, Port Configuration and Data Locations, that can be skipped for this recipe.
At the SQL Server Instance step, select the Use existing instance of SQL Server option and enter the instance name in the HOSTNAME\INSTANCE format. In the Database field, specify a name for the Veeam Backup & Replication database. Select an authentication mode to connect to the Microsoft SQL Server instance: Microsoft Windows authentication or SQL Server authentication. Click Next
At the Ready to Install step, review the information, then click Install. After a wait for the software to complete, your icons are on your desktop and Veeam Backup and Replication is now ready for use.

Links to Resources: