azure-backup-vm

name	azure-backup-vm
description	Configure Azure Backup for VMs

Azure Backup Vm

When to use this skill

• Standard VM backup
• App-consistent backup for SQL/SAP on VM

Key concepts

• Uses the VM Snapshot extension; first backup is full, subsequent are incremental.
• Crash-consistent (default) vs file-system-consistent (Linux pre/post scripts) vs application-consistent (VSS on Windows; SAP HANA / SQL via plugin).
• Instant Restore tier keeps snapshots for fast file-level restore.
• Trusted Launch and Confidential VMs require Enhanced vault for full support.
• Backups run from a managed service — no agent install for standard Azure VMs.

Azure CLI examples

az backup protection enable-for-vm \
  --resource-group <rg> --vault-name vault-prod \
  --vm <vmId> --policy-name DefaultPolicy

Common pitfalls

• Forgetting app-consistent quiescing for transactional workloads.
• Standard vault for Trusted Launch VMs — switch to Enhanced.
• Confusing instant restore retention (snapshots) with vault retention (longer/cheaper tier).

References

• Microsoft Learn: search for "Azure Backup Vm Azure VM" on https://learn.microsoft.com

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