Q U I C K S TA R T GU I D E

Getting Started With

BackBox Evaluation
Guide: On-Premises
Deployment

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Q U I C K S TA R T GU I D E On-Premises Deployment

BackBox is an automation platform used to automate backups, perform restores,

and execute tasks across the network. Features include password changes,
consistent device upgrades, proactive device condition checks, alerts, and
notifications.

BackBox installation is supported on common virtualization products such as

VMware, Hyper-V, and Xenserver. It can also be installed on a bare metal server.
This document outlines the process for an administrator to deploy the Backbox
virtual appliance.

To successfully install the BackBox platform, you will need to:

1. Download the appropriate image for your Hypervisor and understand the sizing
requirements. (Installation of BackBox OS will take less than 20 minutes)
2. Create a new Virtual Machine (VM), either:
a. VMware ESXi (OVA)
b. Hyper-V (VHDX)
3. Run the First Time Wizard
4. Verify the installation
5. Add a Device and Run a Backup

Section 1 | DOWNLOAD THE APPROPRIATE IMAGE

Prerequisites:
Administrative access to the target Hypervisor.
Virtual Machine sizing information can be found HERE.

Download the appropriate image for your Hypervisor:

OVA formatted images as well as VHDX based disks are available from BackBox with the
links below.
• OVA (ESXi, XenServer, Nutanix, etc) click HERE.
• VHDX (Hyper-V) click HERE.

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Section 2 | CREATE A NEW VIRTUAL MACHINE VM

2a. VMware ESXi (OVA)

Deployment for VMware ESXi:
This document will deploy through the VSphere interface. The provided OVA can also be
imported through the VCenter console.

1 Navigate to the ESXi VSphere Console

2 Select the option to Create/Register VM.

3 Select Deploy a virtual machine from an OVF or OVA file.

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4 Name the virtual machine, and select or drop the OVA file into the field provided.

5 Select the appropriate storage location for the virtual machine.

Set the initial default NIC’s network mapping. Additional network interfaces can be
6 attached post-deployment.

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7 Ensure that you have the appropriate Disk provisioning setting selected.

8 Review and select Finish to deploy the OVA.

The default virtual CPUs assigned will be 4 cores with a single socket, 8 GB of RAM,
9 and 120GB of Disk.

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The import can be monitored within Monitor > Tasks. This may take several minutes
10 depending on the internal network speed, and usage of the target virtual host.

Once the deployment has completed, start the VM and navigate to the IP address
11 shown on the Virtual host to proceed.

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2b. Microsoft Hyper-V (VHDX)

Prerequisites for Hyper-V:
Requirements for Microsoft Hyper-V on Windows Server can be found HERE.
Requirements for Microsoft Hyper-V on Windows 10 / Windows 11 can be found HERE.

Deployment for Hyper-V:

Create a new Virtual Machine (VM) for Hyper-V.

1 Open the Hyper-V Manager.

2 Right-click the server you wish to deploy on, select New > Virtual Machine.

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Set a name for the virtual machine, and confirm the location to store the virtual
3 machine.

Select Generation 1 for the Virtual Machine Generation. Note: Setting the Virtual Machine
4 generation to Generation 2 will result in a failure to boot the BackBox appliance.

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Assign the amount of memory to the Virtual Machine that is required for your
5 environment.

Reference the BackBox Sizing Guide for additional information on requirements and
recommendations for assigning Memory.
Note: Dynamic Memory is recommended to be disabled. Enabling Dynamic Memory
could result in performance degradation of the host as BackBox starts Automations.

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6 Configure networking as required by your environment.

In the Virtual Disk selection menu, either Use an Existing Virtual Disk, pointing to the
7 downloaded VHDX, or choose the option to Attach a Virtual Disk later.

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8 Review the summary and select Finish to generate the Virtual Machine.

By default, the Virtual Machine will have a single CPU core. It is highly recommended at this
point to increase the number of Virtual CPUs based on your environments needs.

Reference the BackBox Sizing Guide for requirements and recommendations.

Modifying Virtual Machine Configuration:

Virtual CPU

To assign additional virtual CPUs or to attach a disk to the Virtual Machine, right-click
1 the newly created Virtual Machine, and select Settings.

Note: If the Virtual Machine has been started, it must be placed in a stopped state
before any changes can be made to the Virtual Machine configuration.

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Highlight the Processor field on the right to modify the number of Virtual CPUs. Modify
2 this value to match the needs of the environment.
Reference the BackBox Sizing Guide for requirements and recommendations.

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Modifying Virtual Machine Configuration:

Virtual Disk

To attach a virtual disk if one was not selected during the Virtual Machine generation,
1 select the IDE Controller 0 selection.

2 Choose Hard drive and then click Add.

3 Browse to the location of the downloaded VHDX, and select OK.

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4 Once configured, select OK on the Virtual Machine settings to apply the changes.

5 Start the VM and navigate to the IP address shown on the Virtual host to proceed.

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Section 3 | RUN THE FIRST TIME WIZARD

In your web browser, enter the IP address or host name assigned to the BackBox
1 Server: https://IPAddress. The Login screen is displayed:

Enter the default BackBox Username and Password.

2
a. Username: admin
b. Password: password
Note: You will have the opportunity to change this password in the first-time wizard.

Once you log in you will see the End User License Agreement.
3
a. You can choose to enable telemetry or check the box to opt out.
b. Please Read, scroll down, and then click on Agree and Continue..

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You will need to select the Installation Type. This is where you choose between
4 Management (main unit) or Agent (dependent unit). Agent units are only able
to accept commands from a Management unit, so be sure you already have a
Management unit before choosing Agent.

5 Click Next.

It is best practice to change the default passwords to comply with your internal
6 password requirements. The default credentials are listed below.
a. Default BackBox Web GUI Access:
• User: admin
• Password: password
b. Default Backbox CLI Access:
• User: root
• Password: HayaldaB@gan7

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7 Verify the BackBox IP matches the IP address you will use for configuring the license.

8 Select the Create Demo License. This will create a 14-day Evaluation license.

Configuring an NTP server is best practice, but you could opt for manual settings if
9 you do not have NTP.

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Enter your SMTP information using an identifying email address.

10 (e.g., backbox@<companydomain.com>) Note: this is optional and can be configured
later as needed.

Configure your global retention or choose a retention policy. The default is 30 backups
11 but can be modified to fit the company policy. This can also be changed once the
product is deployed.

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12 Click Download to save the BackBox unique encryption key and store it in a safe place.

13 Click the ‘Finish!’ button to apply your updates.

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Section 4 | VERIFY THE INSTALLATION

To ensure the installation was successful:

1 Ensure you can login with updated credentials.

21 Add a Device and Run a backup on a device to validate functionality.

Section 5 | ADD A DEVICE AND RUN A BACKUP

How to add a New Device in BackBox and run your first backup:

On the Devices screen, click the Complete the Vendor, Product,

1 Add button. The New Device 2 Version, and Backup Type fields,
Configuration dialog box appears. and click Next.
Add the device name, the device
IP address (and if you have created
them, add the Group, Agent, and/
or Site you wish to assign to the
device), if not then then leave
Group and Agent blank and the
Site set to Global, then click Next.

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The third dialog box appears. The fourth dialog box appears.
3 Complete the Authentication 4 Optionally, check Enable
(Use Custom=profile specific, IntelliChecks and/or Enable
Username, Password, (Enable Access to turn on that
Password if applicable for your functionality for the device.  
device) and Port fields and
click Next.

If you want to create local retention settings for the device, click the Backup
5 Retention field.
Note: Leave unchecked to apply Global retention settings. If you turn on Backup
Retention, two additional fields are displayed: one for the number of days those
backups are retained, and one for choosing backups or setting retention policy.
Indicate the number of backups to be retained or select Retention Policy and click the
Edit button to set a new retention policy. Size deviation – override global settings for
size deviation verification.

Click Add Device, or optionally Save & Run Device, if you want to save the Device
6 Configuration and run a Backup right away.

CONGRATULATIONS! You have your first device connected to BackBox!

Additional BackBox Evaluation Training Guides:

• Creating Schedules, Running a Backup Job • Compliance Assurance and Remediation
and Restore to a Previous Backup with IntelliChecks
• Create Authentication Templates, Users, Roles, • Tasks and Automation
Notifications and Alerting • BackBox Reports
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 Q U I C K S TA R T GU I D E

Contact Us
+1-833-BACKBOX
(+1-833-222-5269)

North America EMEA

14135 Midway Road 13 Ha’amal St., Park Afeq,
Greenhill Towers, Suite G250 Rosh-Haain, 4809249 Israel
Addison, TX 75001 USA [email protected]
[email protected]

For additional information on features and functionality of BackBox

visit the BackBox Help Center: support.backbox.com

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