Installing the VSS Agent
The Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) enables taking manual or automatic offsite backup copies or snapshots of data, even if it has a lock, on a specific volume at a specific point-in-time over regular intervals. This ensures not just that the data is crash consistent but also transaction consistent if recovery is needed.
Zerto Virtual Replication enables adding checkpoints to the journal that are synchronized with VSS snapshots.
To use Zerto Virtual Replication with VSS to ensure application consistency you must install the ZertoVssAgent on every virtual machine that uses VSS and that you want to protect with Zerto Virtual Replication.
You can install the ZertoVssAgent on the following supported Windows operating systems:
Operating Systems |
Windows Server 2008, all versions (SPs and R2) |
Windows Server 2012, all versions (SPs and R2) |
To install the ZertoVssAgent:
1. Download the ZertoVssAgent, ZertoVss64Agent.msi, from the Zerto Support Portal downloads page, on the virtual machines that use VSS and that you want to protect with Zerto Virtual Replication.
2. Run the ZertoVssAgent on the virtual machines that use VSS and that you want to protect.
Note: Only a single virtual machine in a VPG can have application consistent checkpoints and the VSS checkpoint is only applied to the virtual machine where the ZertoVssAgent is installed. Thus, even if more than one virtual machine runs VSS, you only install the Zerto VssAgent on one of the virtual machines in the VPG. Also, the virtual machine where the ZertoVssAgent is installed must have network connectivity to the local Zerto Virtual Manager in order to be able to add VSS checkpoints successfully.
3. Enter the license key and click Validate.
4. Follow the wizard through the installation.
The Zerto Virtual Manager Connections Settings dialog is displayed.
5. Specify the IP address and HTTP port number for the Zerto Virtual Managers managing the protection of the virtual machines, both for the local site and optionally, for the paired, remote site. If the same hypervisor manager is used both for protecting and recovering virtual machines, specify the IP address and HTTP port number for the single Zerto Virtual Manager installed.
Note: The default HTTP port number when Zerto Virtual Replication is installed is 9080.
If you enter a wrong IP address or port you can correct the address or port after the installation completes by editing the ZertoVssAgentGUI.exe.conf file in the ZertoVssAgent folder under the folder where the ZertoVssAgent is installed, for example, C:\Program Files\Zerto.
6. Click OK.
The ZertoVssAgent is installed and the Add VSS Checkpoint is placed on the desktop. The agent runs as a Windows service, ZertoVssprovider.
For more details about the ZertoVssAgent, see the Zerto Virtual Manager Administration Guide.
