Backup policies for FlexGroup volumes now can use DataLock and Ransomware protection when the cluster is running ONTAP 9.13.1 or greater.

There is now a Reports tab where you can generate a Backup Inventory report, which includes all backups for a specific account, working environment, or SVM inventory. You can also create a Data Protection Job Activity report, which provides information about Snapshot, backup, clone, and restore operations that can help you with service level agreement monitoring. Refer to Report on data protection coverage.

You can now review backup lifecycle as a Job Type on the Job Monitor page, helping you to track the entire backup lifecycle. You can also see details of all operations on the BlueXP Timeline. Refer to Monitor the status of backup and restore jobs.

A new backup alert has been added: "Backup files were not created because Snapshot policy labels do not match". If the label defined in a Backup policy does not have a matching label in the Snapshot policy, then no backup file will be created. You’ll need to use System Manager or the ONTAP CLI to add the missing label to the volume Snapshot policy.

Review all of the alerts that BlueXP backup and recovery can send.

When you’re using BlueXP backup and recovery in a site with no internet access, known as a "private mode" deployment, the BlueXP backup and recovery information is stored only on the local Connector system. This new functionality automatically backs up critical BlueXP backup and recovery data to a bucket on your connected StorageGRID system so that you can restore this data onto a new Connector if necessary. Learn more

If a backup file has been configured with DataLock & Ransomware protection, or if the backup file resides in archival storage, now folder-level restore operations are supported if the cluster is running ONTAP 9.13.1 or greater.

Now you can choose a bucket that’s in a different project than the project of your customer-managed encryption keys (CMEK). Learn more about setting up your own customer-managed encryption keys.

The AWS China Beijing (cn-north-1) and Ningxia (cn-northwest-1) regions are now supported as destinations for your backup files if the cluster is running ONTAP 9.12.1 or greater.

Note that the IAM policies assigned to the BlueXP Connector need to change the AWS Resource Name "arn" under all Resource sections from "aws" to "aws-cn"; for example "arn:aws-cn:s3:::netapp-backup-*". See Backing up Cloud Volumes ONTAP data to Amazon S3 and Backing up on-prem ONTAP data to Amazon S3 for details.

System-initiated jobs, such ongoing backup operations, are now available in the Job Monitoring tab for on-premises ONTAP systems running ONTAP 9.13.1 or greater. Earlier ONTAP versions will display only user-initiated jobs.

Now you can back up data from Cloud Volumes ONTAP systems installed in AWS, Azure, and GCP commercial regions in "restricted mode". This requires that you first install the Connector in the "restricted" commercial region. Learn more about BlueXP deployment modes. See Backing up Cloud Volumes ONTAP data to Amazon S3 and Backing up Cloud Volumes ONTAP data to Azure Blob.

New functionality in the APIs enable you to back up your volume snapshots to ONTAP S3 using BlueXP backup and recovery. This functionality is available only for On-Premises ONTAP systems at this time. For detailed instructions, see the Blog Integration with ONTAP S3 as a destination.

When creating backups from Cloud Volumes ONTAP systems to Azure storage, by default, BlueXP backup and recovery provisions the Blob container with Local redundancy (LRS) for cost optimization. You can change this setting to Zone redundancy (ZRS) if you want your data to be replicated between different zones. See the Microsoft instructions for changing how your storage account is replicated.

In the past when you restored a folder, only files from that folder were restored - no sub-folders, or files in sub-folders, were restored. Now, if you are using ONTAP 9.13.0 or greater, all the sub-folders and files in the selected folder are restored. This can save a great deal of time and money in cases where you have multiple nested folders in a top-level folder.

Now you can back up data from Cloud Volumes ONTAP systems installed in AWS and Azure commercial regions to Amazon S3 or Azure Blob. This requires that you install the Connector on a Linux host in the commercial region, and that you deploy the Cloud Volumes ONTAP system there as well. See Backing up Cloud Volumes ONTAP data to Amazon S3 and Backing up Cloud Volumes ONTAP data to Azure Blob.

Now you can tier older backup files from StorageGRID systems to archival storage in Azure. This enables you to free up space on your StorageGRID systems, and save money by using an inexpensive storage class for old backup files.

This functionality is available if your on-prem cluster is using ONTAP 9.12.1 or greater and your StorageGRID system is using 11.4 or greater. Learn more here.

DataLock and Ransomware Protection is now supported for backup files stored in Azure Blob. If your Cloud Volumes ONTAP or on-prem ONTAP system are running ONTAP 9.12.1 or greater, now you can lock your backup files and scan them to detect possible ransomware. Learn more about how you can protect your backups by using DataLock and Ransomware protection.

Backup files are initially created in the Google Standard storage class. Now you can use BlueXP backup and recovery to tier older backups to Google Archive storage for further cost optimization. The last release only supported this functionality with on-prem ONTAP clusters - now Cloud Volumes ONTAP systems deployed in Google Cloud are supported.

Now you restore volume data to different storage VMs in your ONTAP clusters. In the past there was no ability to choose the storage VM.

When using ONTAP 9.12.1 GA or greater, backup is now supported when connected to the primary system in a MetroCluster configuration. The entire backup configuration is transferred to the secondary system so that backups to the cloud continue automatically after switchover.

See Backup limitations for more information.

Now you can tier older backup files from StorageGRID systems to archival storage in AWS S3. This enables you to free up space on your StorageGRID systems, and save money by using an inexpensive storage class for old backup files. You can choose to tier backups to AWS S3 Glacier or S3 Glacier Deep Archive storage.

This functionality is available if your on-prem cluster is using ONTAP 9.12.1 or greater, and your StorageGRID system is using 11.3 or greater. Learn more here.

When backing up data from your ONTAP systems to Google Cloud Storage, now you can select your own customer-managed keys for data encryption in the activation wizard instead of using the default Google-managed encryption keys. Just set up your customer-managed encryption keys in Google first, and then enter the details when activating BlueXP backup and recovery.

In earlier releases, the "Storage Admin" role was required for the service account that enables BlueXP backup and recovery to access Google Cloud Storage buckets. Now you can create a custom role with a reduced set of permissions to be assigned to the service account. See how to prepare your Google Cloud Storage for backups.

If you are backing up data from an on-prem ONTAP cluster to StorageGRID in a site with no internet access, also known as a dark site or offline site, now you can use the Search & Restore option to restore data when necessary. This functionality requires that the BlueXP Connector (version 3.9.25 or greater) is deployed in the offline site.

See how to restore ONTAP data using Search & Restore.
See how to install the Connector in your offline site.

After you filter the Job Monitoring page to display the jobs and actions you are interested in, now you can generate and download a .csv file of that data. Then you can analyze the information, or send the report to other people in your organization. See how to generate a Job Monitoring report.

Because of a change in Cloud Backup, you need to change the following Connector endpoints for successful Cloud Backup operation:

See the full list of endpoints for your AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure cloud environment.

Backup files are initially created in the Google Standard storage class. Now you can use the Cloud Backup UI to tier older backups to Google Archive storage after a certain number of days for further cost optimization.

This functionality is currently supported for on-prem ONTAP clusters using ONTAP 9.12.1 or greater. It is not currently available for Cloud Volumes ONTAP systems.

Cloud Backup now supports backing up and restoring FlexGroup volumes. When using ONTAP 9.12.1 or greater, you can back up FlexGroup volumes to public and private cloud storage. If you have working environments that include FlexVol and FlexGroup volumes, once you update your ONTAP software, you can back up any of the FlexGroup volumes on those systems.

See the full list of supported volume types.

In earlier releases you could select the aggregate only when restoring data to on-prem ONTAP systems. This functionality now works when restoring data to Cloud Volumes ONTAP systems.

If there are any local Snapshot copies for volumes in your working environment that match your backup schedule labels (for example, daily, weekly, etc.), you can export those historic snapshots to object storage as backup files. This enables you to initialize your backups in the cloud by moving older snapshot copies into the baseline backup copy.

This option is available when activating Cloud Backup for your working environments. You can also change this setting later in the Advanced Settings page.

Now you can delete the backup relationship for a volume. This provides you with an archiving mechanism if you want to stop the creation of new backup files and delete the source volume, but retain all the existing backup files. This gives you the ability to restore the volume from the backup file in the future, if needed, while clearing space from your source storage system. Learn how.

Cloud Backup has been integrated into the BlueXP Notification service. You can display Cloud Backup notifications by clicking the notification bell in the BlueXP menu bar. You can also configure BlueXP to send notifications by email as alerts so you can be informed of important system activity even when you’re not logged into the system. The email can be sent to any recipients who need to be aware of backup and restore activity. Learn how.

This new page enables you to change many cluster-level backup settings that you set when activating Cloud Backup for each ONTAP system. You can also modify some settings that are applied as "default" backup settings. The full set of backup settings that you can change includes:

Learn more about managing cluster-level backup settings.

In the previous release, support was added for creating backup files to the public cloud when the Connector is deployed in your premises. In this release, support has been continued to allow using Search & Restore to restore backups from Amazon S3 or Azure Blob when the Connector is deployed in your premises. Search & Restore also supports restoring backups from StorageGRID systems to on-premises ONTAP systems now.

At this time, the Connector must be deployed in the Google Cloud Platform when using Search & Restore to restore backups from Google Cloud Storage.

The following updates have been made to the Job Monitoring page:

If you want to use a different AWS account for your Cloud Volumes ONTAP backups than you’re using for the source volumes, you must add the destination AWS account credentials in BlueXP, and you must add the permissions "s3:PutBucketPolicy" and "s3:PutBucketOwnershipControls" to the IAM role that provides BlueXP with permissions. In the past you needed to configure many settings in the AWS Console - you don’t need to do that anymore.

The last release introduced DataLock and Ransomware Protection for backups stored in Amazon S3 buckets. This release expands support to backup files stored in StorageGRID systems. If your cluster is using ONTAP 9.11.1 or greater, and your StorageGRID system is running version 11.6.0.3 or greater, this new backup policy option is available. Learn more about how you can use DataLock and Ransomware protection to protect your backups.

Note that you’ll need to be running a Connector with version 3.9.22 or greater software. The Connector must be installed in your premises, and it can be installed in a site with or without internet access.

Now you can restore a folder from a backup file if you need access to all the files in that folder (directory or share). Restoring a folder is much more efficient than restoring an entire volume. This functionality is available for restore operations using both the Browse & Restore method and the Search & Restore method when using ONTAP 9.11.1 or greater. At this time you can can select and restore only a single folder, and only files from that folder are restored - no sub-folders, or files in sub-folders, are restored.

In the past you could only restore volumes from backup files that had been moved to archival storage (AWS and Azure only). Now you can restore individual files from these archived backup files. This functionality is available for restore operations using both the Browse & Restore method and the Search & Restore method when using ONTAP 9.11.1 or greater.

In the past, a file restored to the original volume was always restored as a new file with the prefix "Restore_<file_name>". Now you can choose to overwrite the original source file when restoring the file to the original location on the volume. This functionality is available for restore operations using both the Browse & Restore method and the Search & Restore method.

If the StorageGRID destination for your backups exists as a working environment on the Canvas, you can drag your on-prem ONTAP working environment onto the destination to initiate the Cloud Backup setup wizard.

Cloud Backup for Applications is a SaaS based service that provides data protection capabilities for applications running on NetApp Cloud Storage. Cloud Backup for Applications enabled within BlueXP offers efficient, application consistent, policy-based backup and restore of Oracle databases residing on Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP.
Learn more.

The Search & Restore method of restoring volumes and files is now available for users who store their backup files in Azure Blob storage. See how to restore your volumes and files using Search & Restore.

Note that additional permissions are needed in the Connector role to use this functionality. A Connector deployed using version 3.9.21 software (August 2022) includes these permissions. You’ll need to manually add the permissions if you deployed the Connector using an earlier release. See how to add these permissions, if necessary.

Cloud Backup now has object lock support for ransomware-safe backups. If your cluster is using ONTAP 9.11.1 or greater, and your backup destination is Amazon S3, a new backup policy option called DataLock and Ransomware Protection is now available. DataLock protects your backup files from being modified or deleted, and Ransomware protection scans your backup files to look for evidence of a ransomware attack on your backup files. Learn more about how you can use DataLock and Ransomware protection to protect your backups.

Note that additional permissions are needed in the Connector role to use this functionality. A Connector deployed using version 3.9.21 software includes these permissions. You’ll need to manually add the permissions if you deployed the Connector using an earlier release. See how to add these permissions if necessary.

Previously, Cloud Backup supported only pre-defined SnapMirror labels like hourly, daily, weekly, hourly, and yearly. Now Cloud Backup can discover SnapMirror policies that have custom SnapMirror labels that you created using System Manager or the CLI. These new labels are exposed in the Cloud Backup UI - allowing you to back up volumes with the SnapMirror label of your choice to the cloud.

Some of the Backup Policy pages have been redesigned to make it easier to view all the backup policies that are available for volumes in each ONTAP cluster. This makes it easier to see the details of available policies so you can apply the best policies on your volumes.

If the Azure Blob or Google Cloud Storage destination for your backups exists as a working environment on the Canvas, you can drag your on-prem ONTAP or Cloud Volumes ONTAP working environment (installed in Azure or GCP) onto the destination to initiate the Backup setup wizard.

This functionality already exists for Amazon S3 buckets.

Now you can use Cloud Backup to back up SnapLock Enterprise volumes to public and private clouds. This feature requires that your ONTAP system is running ONTAP 9.11.1 or later. SnapLock Compliance volumes, however, aren’t currently supported.

In the past you needed to deploy the Connector in the same cloud provider as where you were creating backup files. Now you can use a Connector deployed in your premises to create backup files from on-prem ONTAP systems to Amazon S3, Azure Blob, and Google Cloud Storage. (An on-prem Connector was always required when creating backup files on StorageGRID systems.)

If your on-prem ONTAP cluster resides in a site with no internet access, also known as a dark site or offline site, now you can use Cloud Backup to back up volume data to a NetApp StorageGRID system that resides in the same site. This functionality requires that the BlueXP Connector (version 3.9.19 or greater) is also deployed in the offline site.

See how to install the Connector in your offline site.
See how to back up ONTAP data to StorageGRID in your offline site.

You can protect data on your virtual machines by integrating the SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere with BlueXP. You can back up datastores to the cloud and restore virtual machines back to the on-premises SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere with ease.

Learn more about protecting virtual machines to cloud.

A separate Cloud Restore instance/virtual machine used to be required for file-level Browse & Restore operations from S3 and Blob storage. This instance shut down when not in use — but it still added some time and cost when restoring files. This functionality has been replaced with a no-cost container that gets deployed on the Connector when needed. It provides the following advantages:

Note that the Cloud Restore instance/VM will be removed automatically if you were previously using it. A Cloud Backup process will run once a day to delete all old Cloud Restore instances. This change is completely transparent — there is no effect on your data, and you won’t notice any changes to your backup or restore jobs.

With the addition of the container for Browse & Restore operations (as described above), file restore operations now can be performed from backup files stored in Google Cloud and StorageGRID systems. Now Browse & Restore can be used to restore files across all public cloud providers and from StorageGRID. See how to use Browse & Restore to restore volumes and files from your ONTAP backups.

If the Amazon S3 destination for your backups exists as a working environment on the Canvas, you can drag your on-prem ONTAP cluster or Cloud Volumes ONTAP system (installed in AWS) onto the Amazon S3 working environment to initiate the setup wizard.

If you added new persistent volumes to your Kubernetes clusters after Cloud Backup was activated, in the past you needed to remember to configure backups for those volumes. Now you can select a policy that will be applied automatically to newly created volumes from the Backup Settings page for clusters that have already activated Cloud Backup.

The APIs are available at https://docs.netapp.com/us-en/bluexp-automation/cbs/overview.html. See this page for an overview of the APIs.