Azure virtual machines are a common starting point for learning Azure Backup, but many real-world workloads run on Azure Files. This post picks up where our Azure Backup overview left off and looks…

Learn Azure Files backup: protect shares, restore files, and recover to a paired region. This video covers how to back up and recover an Azure File Share using Azure Backup, including how to protect…

echo "Logging In...." az login --service-principal -u $Clientid -p $Clientsecret --tenant $Tenantid az account set -s "ba-ib-at23055-neu-dev" RecoveryServicesVault="at23055vault-test" resourceGroup="AT23055_DRMDASHBOARD_DEV" vmName="xd934b23055dev2" az backup vault show --name $RecoveryServicesVault --resource-group $resourceGroup retVal=$? if [ $retVal -eq 0 ]; then echo "Vault Exists Already" else echo "Vault doesn't Exist!" echo "Creating a new Vault.." az backup vault create --resource-group $resourceGroup \ --name $RecoveryServicesVault \ --location northeurope fi az backup vault backup-properties set \ --name $RecoveryServicesVault \ --resource-group $resourceGroup \ --backup-storage-redundancy "LocallyRedundant" #GeoRedundant az backup protection check-vm --resource-group $resourceGroup --vm $vmName if [ $retVal -eq 0 ]; then echo "Virtual machine is protected Already" else echo "Virtual machine is not protected" echo "Creating Virtual machine Protection..." az backup protection enable-for-vm \ --resource-group $resourceGroup \ --vault-name $RecoveryServicesVault \ --vm $vmName \ --policy-name DefaultPolicy fi retention=`date +'%d-%m-%Y' -d "+1 year"` count=$(az backup job list --resource-group $resourceGroup --vault-name $RecoveryServicesVault --output table | grep -i 'InProgress' | wc -l) if [ $count -gt 0 ]; then echo "Backup is InProgress, Unable to initiate backup as another backup operation is currently in progress." echo "Checking the status of backup jobs..." az backup job list \ --resource-group $resourceGroup \ --vault-name $RecoveryServicesVault \ --output table exit 0 else echo "Initiating backup job.." az backup protection backup-now \ --resource-group $resourceGroup \ --vault-name $RecoveryServicesVault \ --container-name $vmName \ --item-name $vmName \ --backup-management-type AzureIaaSVM \ --retain-until $retention fi echo "Checking the status of backup jobs..." az backup job list \ --resource-group $resourceGroup \ --vault-name $RecoveryServicesVault \ --output table Please find below the concise explanation of the provided code snippet that is intended to manage Azure backup vaults and virtual machines using the Azure CLI: Explanation of the Code 1. Login to Azure: echo "Logging In...." az login --service-principal -u $Clientid -p $Clientsecret --tenant $Tenantid This logs into Azure using a service principal (a special Azure account typically used for automated scripts). It uses the client ID, client secret, and tenant ID provided in the variables. 1. Set the Azure Account: az account set -s "<Subscription_ID>" Sets the specific Azure subscription to use for the subsequent commands. 1. Define Variables: RecoveryServicesVault="vault-test" resourceGroup="RG_DEV" vmName="xdvmdev2" These lines define variables for the recovery services vault name, resource group, and virtual machine name. 1. Check if the Backup Vault Exists: az backup vault show --name $RecoveryServicesVault --resource-group $resourceGroup retVal=$? if [ $retVal -eq 0 ]; then echo "Vault Exists Already" else echo "Vault doesn't Exist!" echo "Creating a new Vault.." az backup vault create --resource-group $resourceGroup \ --name $RecoveryServicesVault \ --location northeurope fi * It checks if the specified backup vault exists. * If it does, it confirms its existence; if not, it creates a new backup vault in the specified location. 1. Set Backup Properties: az backup vault backup-properties set \ --name $RecoveryServicesVault \ --resource-group $resourceGroup \ --backup-storage-redundancy "LocallyRedundant" This sets the backup storage redundancy to "LocallyRedundant," meaning that the backups will be stored in a way that protects them from local failures. 1. Check VM Backup Protection Status: az backup protection check-vm --resource-group $resourceGroup --vm $vmName This checks if the specified virtual machine is already protected by the backup vault. 1. Enable VM Protection if Not Already Protected: if [ $retVal -eq 0 ]; then echo "Virtual machine is protected Already" else echo "Virtual machine is not protected" echo "Creating Virtual machine Protection..." az backup protection enable-for-vm \ --resource-group $resourceGroup \ --vault-name $RecoveryServicesVault \ --vm $vmName \ --policy-name DefaultPolicy fi If the VM is not protected, it enables backup protection for the VM with the default policy. 1. Initiate Backup Job: retention=`date +'%d-%m-%Y' -d "+1 year"` count=$(az backup job list --resource-group $resourceGroup --vault-name $RecoveryServicesVault --output table | grep -i 'InProgress' | wc -l) if [ $count -gt 0 ]; then echo "Backup is InProgress, Unable to initiate backup as another backup operation is currently in progress." echo "Checking the status of backup jobs..." az backup job list \ --resource-group $resourceGroup \ --vault-name $RecoveryServicesVault \ --output table exit 0 else echo "Initiating backup job.." az backup protection backup-now \ --resource-group $resourceGroup \ --vault-name $RecoveryServicesVault \ --container-name $vmName \ --item-name $vmName \ --backup-management-type AzureIaaSVM \ --retain-until $retention fi * It defines a retention policy by calculating a date one year from now. * It checks if another backup job is in progress. If so, it displays the active jobs and exits. * If no jobs are in progress, it initiates a new backup job for the VM. 1. Check Backup Job Status: echo "Checking the status of backup jobs..." az backup job list \ --resource-group $resourceGroup \ --vault-name $RecoveryServicesVault \ --output table Finally, it retrieves and displays the status of all backup jobs associated with the vault. ## Summary This script automates the process of logging into Azure, checking or creating a backup vault, managing the backup protection of a specified VM, and initiating a backup job, while also checking for existing operations to avoid conflicts.