> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.storware.eu/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.storware.eu/protecting-storage-providers/storage-providers/nutanix-volume-groups-using-api-v4.md).

# Nutanix Volume Groups Using API v4

## Overview

Storware Backup & Recovery supports backup, restore, and snapshot management of **Nutanix Volume Groups (VGs)** using **Nutanix API v4.1 or later**.

The integration uses Nutanix APIs to manage resources and Recovery Points, and Nutanix-managed **iSCSI connections** to transfer disk data. It does not require attaching protected disks to the Storware Node VM.

Backup data is transferred to the Node’s staging space without intermediate staging on Nutanix hosts. Storware Backup & Recovery stores Volume Group metadata, disk data, and block maps required for recovery.

## Protecting Nutanix VG

### Requirements

#### Nutanix Versions

* **Prism Central 7.3 or later**, with the required API v4.1 functionality.
* A compatible **AOS (Prism Element)** version supported by the connected Prism Central instance.

#### Permissions

Use a Nutanix account with administrator-level permissions. Limited or custom roles may not provide all permissions required for backup, restore, and cleanup operations.

#### Network and Storage Access

The Storware Node must have:

* Network access to Prism Central over **TCP port 9440**.
* Connectivity to the managed Nutanix clusters and the iSCSI endpoints used for data transfer.
* Access to the configured staging space and backup destinations.

A stable network connection with sufficient bandwidth is required for backup and restore operations.

### Configure the Storage Provider

1. Go to **Storage → Storage Providers** and click **Create**.
2. Select the Nutanix Volume Groups provider using API v4.
3. In the **General** tab, enter the connection details:

| Field        | Description                                                                         |
| ------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **URL**      | Prism Central API endpoint, for example `https://<PRISM_CENTRAL_ADDRESS>:9440/api`. |
| **Username** | Nutanix account used for the integration.                                           |
| **Password** | Password for the specified account.                                                 |

4. Save the configuration.
5. Run **inventory synchronization**.
6. Open the **Instances** tab and verify that the expected Volume Groups are listed.

Assign a backup policy to a selected Volume Group and run a test backup. Perform a test restore to verify the complete protection workflow.

### Backup Operations

#### Full Backups

Full backups protect Volume Group metadata and disk data. During export, Storware Backup & Recovery identifies and skips empty disk regions to reduce the amount of data stored.

#### Incremental Backups

Incremental backups use Nutanix **Recovery Points** and changed-region information to identify disk blocks modified since the previous backup.

For policies using incremental backups, Storware Backup & Recovery retains the latest Recovery Point as the reference for subsequent backups.

#### Backup Workflow

During a backup, Storware Backup & Recovery:

1. Retrieves the Volume Group configuration, disk information, and metadata.
2. Creates the temporary Volume Group and Recovery Point resources required for the operation.
3. Prepares an iSCSI client on the Node.
4. Retrieves empty-region information and, for incremental backups, changed-region information.
5. Connects to the disks through Nutanix-managed iSCSI interfaces.
6. Transfers disk data to staging space.
7. Removes temporary resources and iSCSI client configuration, retaining the latest Recovery Point when required for incremental backups.

Disk data and metadata can be processed concurrently. Nutanix manages data-transfer load distribution across its Controller VMs (CVMs).

### Restore Operations

During a restore, Storware Backup & Recovery:

1. Loads the backup metadata and initializes the restore operation.
2. Creates the target Volume Group.
3. Prepares the Node’s iSCSI client and connects to the target disks.
4. Restores disk data, with parallel processing across multiple disks.
5. Disconnects the iSCSI connections and removes temporary restore resources.

When restoring an incremental recovery point, Storware Backup & Recovery reconstructs the selected disk state from the full backup and all required incremental changes.

### Snapshot Management

Snapshot policies automate the creation of Nutanix Recovery Points.

Snapshots are **crash-consistent** by default. Pre- and post-snapshot commands can be used to coordinate application quiescing and resumption where application consistency is required.

### Supported Features and Limitations

| Feature                                             | Support       |
| --------------------------------------------------- | ------------- |
| Full backups                                        | Supported     |
| Incremental backups                                 | Supported     |
| Synthetic backups                                   | Supported     |
| File-level restore                                  | Supported     |
| Snapshot management                                 | Supported     |
| Pre- and post-command execution                     | Supported     |
| Access to backed-up Volume Group disks over iSCSI   | Supported     |
| Policy assignment by Volume Group name              | Supported     |
| Excluding individual Volume Group disks from backup | Not supported |

### Advanced Node Configuration

Optional export settings are configured in:

```
/opt/vprotect/node/node.properties
```

The following example shows the default values:

```
nutanix.export.strategy=parallel
nutanix.export.parallel.disk-threads=3
nutanix.export.parallel.metadata-threads=3
nutanix.export.parallel.timeout=P2D
nutanix.writer.log.interval=60
```

| Property                                   | Default    | Description                                                                                                     |
| ------------------------------------------ | ---------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `nutanix.export.strategy`                  | `parallel` | Export mode. Use `parallel` for concurrent disk and metadata processing, or `single` for sequential processing. |
| `nutanix.export.parallel.disk-threads`     | `3`        | Number of threads used for parallel disk data transfer.                                                         |
| `nutanix.export.parallel.metadata-threads` | `3`        | Number of threads used for parallel metadata processing.                                                        |
| `nutanix.export.parallel.timeout`          | `P2D`      | Timeout for parallel export operations, expressed as an ISO 8601 duration. `P2D` means two days.                |
| `nutanix.writer.log.interval`              | `60`       | Export progress logging interval, in seconds.                                                                   |

Adjust parallelism to the available Node resources, network capacity, and Nutanix infrastructure.

### Error Handling

Storware Backup & Recovery automatically retries transient Nutanix API failures. By default, requests allow up to **two retries**, spaced **one second** apart, with a **30-second response timeout**. Some operations use different settings to accommodate longer execution times.

API authentication sessions are refreshed automatically when they expire. Nutanix asynchronous tasks are monitored before dependent operations proceed.

If a backup or restore fails, Storware Backup & Recovery attempts to remove the temporary resources created during the operation. Review the task details and confirm cleanup before retrying.