Getting Started with Datto Backup for Microsoft Azure Windows Agent

Topic

This article describes system requirements for the Datto Backup for Microsoft Azure Windows Agent.

Environment

  • Datto Backup for Microsoft Azure (Windows)

Description

System requirements

OS

Datto Backup for Microsoft Azure supports Core, Essentials, Standard and Datacenter editions of the following operating systems:

  • Windows 10/11 Multi-Session
  • Windows Server 2012 R2
  • Windows Server 2016 Datacenter
  • Windows Server 2019 Datacenter
  • Windows Server 2022 Datacenter
Memory requirements
  • At least 4GB of RAM on the production system
Disk space requirements
  • Datto Backup for Microsoft Azure supports adding up to seven Protected Systems, with up to six TB of disk space (total storage capacity) between them
  • VMs on per VM billing will instead be limited to 1 TB managed disk capacity per VM.
  • Each protected volume must have 10% of the volume's total size available for the DattoCtrl or Datto.ctl file, The minimum size of this file will be 1GB.
    If 10% of the volume is more than 10 GB, the file's size will be 10 GB regardless of the size of the volume.
Network
  • Port 443 on the protected machine must be open outbound.
  • Additionally, port 993, 80, or 587 on the protected machine must be open outbound. Only one of these three ports is necessary; the agent will try all three when attempting to connect to the cloud storage node.
  • The Datto Endpoint Backup Agent's installer will attempt to create an outbound firewall exception for outbound traffic on ports 443, 993, 80, and 587 for the agent's executable (%SYSTEMDRIVE%\Program Files\Datto\Datto Cloud Continuity\DattoCloudContinuity.exe).
  • The agent will use a TLS-based proprietary protocol for communication over the first port that it can reach.
  • All protected machines must be able to resolve mothership.dtc.datto.com,agent-update.datto.com, dattolocal.net and valid-isrgrootx1.letsencrypt.org in the local DNS.
  • See BCDR networking and bandwidth requirements for detailed network requirements and WAN uplink considerations.
Anti-virus exceptions

Create exceptions for Datto Cloud Continuity Service and the DattoProvider service:

%SYSTEMDRIVE%\Program Files\Datto\Datto Cloud Continuity\DattoCloudContinuity.exe

%SYSTEMDRIVE%\Program Files\Datto\Datto Cloud Continuity\DattoProvider.exe

Allow the following file:

%SYSTEMROOT%\system32\Drivers\DattoCbt.sys

Other Requirements

  • The System PATH variable must have powershell included to allow pairing. See PowerShell isn't recognized as an internal or external command(external link) for more information
  • Windows PowerShell version 3 or higher must be installed on the protected machine.
  • The Microsoft Azure VM agent must be present for the push install to function. If you are migrating existing VMs into Azure from on-prem,the Azure VM agent may not properly install. See Microsoft's Azure Virtual Machine Agent overview (external link) for more information.
  • For any error encountered during agent installation, check the Windows Event Logs for any corresponding events.
  • Visual C++ runtime must be up-to-date and fully-installed. If Visual C++ 2017 runtime is not up to date or not installed properly, this could prevent an install.
  • If you see errors related to the C++ runtime, reinstall the latest Visual C++ update.
  • Before pairing, you should disable and remove all other backup software from the production machine. Depending on the software, you may need to completely uninstall it for backups to run correctly.
  • When uninstalling other backup software, use a high-level program that eliminates all traces of the incompatible software, including registry keys, DLLs, and stray folders. These components can cause conflicts.
  • The system must be able to reach the Azure Instance Metadata Service (IMDS).

Considerations

  • While there is now Multi-Session OS support, FSLogix profiles associated with these session hosts are NOT being backed up at this time.
  • Cloud virtualizations have limitations with AADDS (Azure Active Directory Domain Services )
  • System compression, also known as "Compact OS", is a Windows feature that allows rarely modified files to be compressed using the XPRESS or LZX compression formats and is NOT supported.
  • Datto Backup for Microsoft Azure does not currently support systems with REFS volumes present.
  • Backing up external/removable drives is unsupported. See Volume Level Backup Control for Datto Backup for Microsoft Azure for more information.
  • Backup of User Profile Disks used by the Remote Desktop Service is unsupported. Remote Desktop Service (external link). These volumes should be excluded from backups.
  • Backup and virtualization of of deduplicated volumes is untested and may produce inconsistent results, particularly with File Restores . Use an alternate restore method where the volume is mounted in Windows to avoid these scenarios.
  • If you are protecting any volumes on your machine using an anti-virus software that uses VSS to allow for rollback remediation or snapshotting in the event of a security / encryption breach (like SentinelOne, for example), this will need to disabled in order for the Windows agent to properly backup these volumes.

Versioning

For the latest Agent version information, see Release Notes. You can check your protected machine's installed version from the agent tray icon. The Datto Endpoint Backup Agent's latest release is always available at the Datto download page.

Installation

Datto Backup for Microsoft Azure Agent Software can be downloaded on datto's download page, full installation instructions can be found: Installing the Datto Backup for Microsoft Azure Agent.

NOTE  Datto recommends running the following checks on the system you are protecting before installing the Endpoint Backup Agent.

chkdsk

  • Run chkdsk to be sure that all RAIDs and individual disks report back as healthy. Perform necessary disk repairs before deploying any backup agent. Failure to do so may result in backing up corrupted systems and restoration failures.

Disk defragmentation

  • While Datto can perform backups that are running disk defragmentation, be aware that this rearranges data at a block level, and may result in larger backups.
  • Run disk defragmentation before you deploy the agent.
  • VSS-aware disk defragmentation programs may allow for smaller backups but are optional.

Windows updates

  • Download Windows updates, service packs, and any other Microsoft-provided updates. After installing these updates, reboot the server. When scheduling your deployment, remember that the 2nd Tuesday of every month is Microsoft's 'Patch Tuesday.'

Virus scan

  • Run a virus scan before you deploy the Datto backup solution to your production machine.

Event Viewer

  • Check the target's system and application logs to see if there are any VSS or hardware errors.
  • Resolve any errors before attempting to install the agent.

Previously installed backup software

  • Before installing the Agent, you should disable and remove all other backup software from the production machine. Depending on the software, you may need to completely uninstall it for backups to run correctly.
  • When uninstalling other backup software, use a high-level program that eliminates all traces of the incompatible software, including registry keys, DLLs, and stray folders. These components can cause conflicts.

Group Policy

  • To avoid issues with installing the necessary certificates, ensure that the Windows Group Policy is not set to "Allow only Enterprise Administrators"

Additional Resources