Announcing application consistent backup for Linux VMs using Azure Backup

Azure Backup provides consistent file system backup of Linux Virtual Machines running in Azure. Today, we are extending this to take application consistent backups for enterprise critical applications such as MySQL, InterSystems Caché® DB, and SAP HANA running on popular Linux distros (e.g. Ubuntu, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, etc.). This framework gives you flexibility to execute custom pre and post scripts as part of the VM backup process. These scripts can be used to quiesce application IOs while taking backups that guarantee application consistency. Value propositions Customize backup workflow: Now you have full flexibility to control your applications and production environment during backup by executing custom scripts while taking the VM snapshot. Listed below are few examples on how you can leverage the framework: You can use the pre-script to quiescence or redirect the application IOs momentarily using application native APIs and flush in memory content to disk before taking the VM snapshot. You can then use the post-script to thaw the IOs post snapshot completion and resume normal application operation. This will ensure application consistent VM backup for any application you are running. Some applications require fsfreeze to be disabled so that it does not interfere with their quiesce logic, so we also provide a capability to disable Linux fsfreeze which is executed by default while taking Linux VM backup using Azure Backup. You can also invoke native application APIs to take application backup and database log backups, and as part of VM backup data will be moved to Recovery Services Vault, thereby securing it against VM compromise scenarios (e.g. VM deletion or corruption). Application and distro agnostic: The framework is agnostic of Linux distros and versions, and works seamlessly for all supported Linux distros as long as the guest application has APIs to pause and resume application IOs. Sample scripts on github: We are working with partners and ISVs to provide open source scripts on github for popular Linux applications. As of this release, we have these in place for MySQL, CacheDB, and are working closely with SAP HANA.  Under the hood Azure Backup completes a sequence of steps for taking fast and efficient Azure Linux VM backup as explained in the image below: Getting started To use this framework, you need to copy the pre-script and post-script for your application locally on the VM to be backed up. Then you can follow the steps to configure application-consistent Linux VM backup. Sample scripts for MySQL & CachéDB To bootstrap the framework, we worked with InterSystems Caché DB and MySQL DB example with demo scripts, included clustered deployments, that you can use as a reference to create your own scripts and leverage the power of this framework. MySQL application consistent backup using Azure Backup by Capside Caché DB application consistent backup using Azure Backup by Intersystems Seeking Open-source community contribution We are calling for developers, applications vendors, tech enthusiasts, and partners to contribute scripts to our open source github repository. The scripts will be available for everyone to use directly or customize based on their requirements. If you are interested in contributing please send a mail to linuxazurebackupteam@service.microsoft.com and we will work with you to publish them on github. Explain usage guidelines and ensure that you get acknowledgement for your contribution. Related links and additional content Want more details about this feature? Check out Azure application consistent Linux VM backup documentation Need help? Reach out to Azure Backup forum for support Tell us how we can improve Azure Backup by contributing new ideas and voting up existing ones. Follow us on Twitter @AzureBackup for the latest news and updates New to Azure Backup, sign up for a free Azure trial subscription
Quelle: Azure