# Protecting Filesystems with OS Agents Storware Backup & Recovery allows you to protect server on file level using OS Agents. This feature is available for Linux and Windows machines. ## Supported features
WindowsLinuxmacOS
Supported operating systemsWindows 10, Windows 11, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2022Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8/9, CentOS 9 Stream, Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 24.04macOS 13 (Ventura), macOS 14 (Sonoma), macOS 15 (Sequoia)
WindowsLinuxmacOS
Full backupSupportedSupportedSupported
Incremental backupSupportedSupportedSupported
Maximum number of protected objects per instance5 million5 million5 million
## Network requirements | Source | Destination | Ports | Description | | -------- | ----------- | --------- | ----------------------------- | | OS Agent | Node | 15900/tcp | Node - OS Agent communication | ## Prerequisites Before starting, you need to install OS Agent service on a machine you want to protect. You can download the latest OS Agent installer from Storware Repository ([Windows](https://repo.storware.eu/storware/current/win/) or [Linux](https://repo.storware.eu/storware/current/)). You need to open 15900 port on Storware Backup & Recovery Node: ``` firewall-cmd --add-port=15900/tcp --permanent firewall-cmd --complete-reload ``` ## Installation and registering the Agent ### Linux #### Add packages repository #### **For Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 and compatible** 1. Create a repository file`/etc/yum.repos.d/vProtect.repo` with the following content: ``` # Storware Backup & Recovery - Enterprise backup solution for virtual environments repository [vprotect] name = vProtect baseurl = https://repo.storware.eu/storware/7.4.0/el8/ gpgcheck = 0 ``` #### **For Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 and compatible** 1. Create a repository file`/etc/yum.repos.d/vProtect.repo` with the following content: ``` # Storware Backup & Recovery - Enterprise backup solution for virtual environments repository [vprotect] name = vProtect baseurl = https://repo.storware.eu/storware/7.4.0/el9/ gpgcheck = 0 ``` #### **For SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 14 and compatible** 1. Create a repository file`/etc/yum.repos.d/vProtect.repo` with the following content: ``` # Storware Backup & Recovery - Enterprise backup solution for virtual environments repository [vprotect] name = vProtect baseurl = https://repo.storware.eu/storware/7.4.0/suse15/ gpgcheck = 0 ``` #### **For Ubuntu 22.04 and Debian 12.5** 1. Create a repository file: ``` echo "deb [trusted=yes] https://repo.storware.eu/vprotect/7.5.0/deb/ ./" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/storware.list ``` #### Install pacakges 1. Install the OS Agent.
**For Red Hat Enterprise Linux and compatible** ``` dnf install sbr-osagent ``` \ **For SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 14 and compatible** ``` zypper install sbr-osagent ``` 2. Run `osac` command with register parameter on a machine where you installed OS Agent. ``` osac -r https://:15900 [password] ``` where: * `login` - default is `admin` * `host` is an IP address or hostname to the Storware Backup & Recovery Node * `password` is a password of the admin user. This could be omitted but You will be prompted to type the password 3. Start sbr-osagent service. ``` systemctl start sbr-osagent ``` ### Windows #### Prerequisites Before installing the Storware OS Agent on Windows, ensure that the following component is installed: * **Microsoft Visual C++ 2015–2019 Redistributable (x64)** This package is required for proper execution of the Storware OS Agent. If it is not present on the system, the installation or operation of the agent may fail. You can download the required package from the official Microsoft website: * #### Installation [Download ](https://repo.storware.eu/storware/7.5.0/win/)and install the **x64 version** before proceeding with the Storware OS Agent installation. 1. Double click on the .msi file to install the OS Agent. 2. Provide necessary information when prompted: * `Node address` is IP address or host name to the Storware Backup & Recovery Node * `Login` - default is `admin` * `Password` is password of admin user. ![](/files/6qMUTomOsQNxFSiJh3aw) #### Installation from command line During interactive installation on Windows, the installer prompts for all required information to register the node with the Storware Backup and Recovery server. For **unattended installation**, the same information can be provided using installer parameters. **Example** ``` Installer.msi ADDRESS=https://: LOGIN= PASSWORD= /q ``` **Parameters** * **ADDRESS** – Storware Backup and Recovery server address * **LOGIN** – user name used for authentication * **PASSWORD** – password used for authentication * **/q** – enables silent installation (no UI displayed) **Notes** * Ensure that the server is reachable from the host where the installation is performed * Verify that the provided credentials have sufficient permissions to register the node * In silent mode, no prompts or error dialogs are displayed – review logs if the installation fails ## Backup policies To define a Backup Policies, You need to provide rules: * include (mandatory) * exclude (optional) The Agent process files by include rules and then by exclude rules. The Agent scan filesystem using include rules. If any file is matched, it will be processed by exclude rules, if exists. When exclude rules match file, it will be omitted, if not it will be backed up. The rule is defined by: * Directory pattern * File name patterns - this could have multiple values `Directory pattern` should provide a path to the filesystem. You could also set Recursive attribute. When this attribute is set, scanning will be recursive and follow deeper with directory structure. If not only files and folders (without content) will be matched. For Windows, You should use \ character as a folder delimiter. For Linux, You should use / character. `File name pattern` should provide a pattern to match the file on the filesystem. This could be any file when \* is provided or part of the name like extension \*.pdf. Additional matching patterns are provided below. When multiple patterns are provided, if any is matched then next will not be checked. Patterns can be separated by commas. All rules could be used as include or exclude rule. All characters provided for Windows are case insensitive, for Linux are case sensitive. ### Additional pattern matchings For better matching You could provide some more accurate patterns: \* - any of character ? - only one or zero characters \*\* - recursive (only for directory pattern) To better understand how it works, check the examples: #### Examples for directories `C:\Users\*\Desktop` (for Windows) `/home/*/Desktop` (for Linux) - this will backup any users desktop directory, where \* match all names `C:\Users\?oo\Desktop` (for Windows) `/home/?oo/Desktop` (for Linux) - this will backup users directory when first letter of name is any character and rest name should ends with oo (foo, goo, etc.) `C:\**\logs` (for Windows) `/**/logs` (for Linux) - this will backup logs catalog that exists anywhere in the path. This means path should start from C:\ or / then any folder or subfolder (\*\*) and next folder should be named logs We also could mix all patterns: `C:\**\?ogs\**\a?c` (for Windows) or `/**/?ogs/**/a?b` (for Linux) - this means path should start from C:\ or / then any folder or subfolder (\**) and next folder name should start with any character and rest should be ogs (logs, dogs, etc.) then any folder or subfolder (\**) and next folder name should start with letter a then could exists only one character and ends with c letter (abc, ac, etc.) #### Example for files `*.txt` - only txt files `.*` - hidden files for Linux `a?c` - file that start with letter a then could exists one character then b letter (ac, abc, eg.) ### Secondary backup destination (backup copy) A secondary backup destination is an additional layer of data protection, ensuring redundancy and resilience against failures. It allows the creation of secondary copies of backups, which can be stored in different locations or storage types. This feature enhances disaster recovery strategies by providing a failsafe in case of primary backup corruption or loss. #### Prerequisites Before you begin, ensure you have: * Defined at least two Backup Destinations * A clear understanding of your backup and retention policies. #### Step-by-step configuration 1. Create a new or edit existing OS Agent backup policy 2. Go to the "Rule" tab 3. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and select "Enable Secondary Backup Destination" 4. Select a proper destination and configure the retention ## Backup using VSS (Windows only) For Windows, the OS Agent can create a backup using a filesystem snapshot. Before the backup begins, a disk snapshot is created. The OS Agent uses this snapshot to read all files and releases it once the backup is complete. If some problems occur while making a snapshot, the user could choose how the Agent should behave: * **Fail backup** - the backup task is immediately finished and fails the task. * **Use a regular copy** - the backup is switched to a regular file copy and continue. * **Use a regular copy with a warning** - the backup is switched to a regular file copy and continues. A warning will be displayed when the task is completed. This setting can be changed in `Agents` -> `Backup Policies` -> edit policy -> `Backup process` tab. ## Archiving the OS Agent OS Agent can be archived by clicking the button “Archive” on the agent instances list or in the agent details view. Archived agents can't be backed up any more. The only available actions for archived agents are “Restore”, “Download” and “Delete”. The agent can not be unarchived. ## Limitations * If the backup destination is configured on Data Domain, it is recommended to use local disk as staging space. * Symlinks are not supported. * Up to five million protected objects per OS agent instance --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.storware.eu/os-agents.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.