Automating Veeam Backup for VMware Aria Automation Cloud Assembly VMs Using Tags

In this post, I’ll explain the easiest way to automatically add a deployed VM from VMware Aria Automation Cloud Assembly to a Veeam backup job using tags. This method ensures that your VMs are consistently backed up without manual intervention.

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Add a Tag to Your Cloud Template:
   • Edit your cloud template YAML code to include a tag. For example, add backup:true where backup is the category and true is the tag name. This tag will be assigned to the VM in vSphere upon deployment.

After the VM deployment complete make sure the vsphere tag (backup:true) assigned to the VM.

You can see the tag and categories in vSphere Tags & Custom Attributes.

1. Configure Veeam Backup Job:
   • Open the Veeam Backup & Replication console.
   • Create a new backup job or edit an existing one.
   • In the “Virtual Machines” step, click “Add” and select “VMs and Tags” or “Tag combination”.
   • Choose the backup:true tag you created in vSphere.
   • Veeam will automatically include all VMs with this tag in the backup job.

Every time the backup job runs, Veeam will scan for VMs with the backup:true tag and include them in the next backup run. This ensures that any new VMs tagged with backup:true are automatically added to the backup job.

Alternative Method

For those who prefer a more complex but flexible approach, you can add the Veeam Backup server as a PowerShell host to VMware Aria Automation Orchestrator. This allows you to run “Veeam.Backup” module commands in PowerShell and subscribe the workflow to the Cloud Assembly template. However, this method requires more setup and scripting.

Conclusion

Using tags to automate the inclusion of VMs in Veeam backup jobs is a straightforward and efficient method. It ensures that your VMs are always backed up according to your policies without the need for manual updates. While there are other methods available, such as using PowerShell scripts, the tag-based approach is the simplest and most reliable for most environments.