After deploying the HYCU controller and initializing it, you need to add your Nutanix cluster as a source of virtual machines to backup.

To add a Nutanix cluster on HYCU, you need to provide an account with “Cluster Admin” rights on Nutanix. If you want to do things properly, you should create a service account that is dedicated to this use rather than using the “admin” account of the Nutanix cluster.

I will show you how to create the service account on Prism Element.

Creating the service account on Prism Element

The first step is to connect to the Prism Element of your Nutanix cluster and go to “Setting > Local User Management” and click on “New User”:

Fill in the fields with the desired information and click “Save”:

It is imperative that the “Cluster Admin” and “Backup Admin” boxes are checked! The user is now created, you must now return to HYCU to continue adding the Nutanix cluster:

Creating the service account on Prism Central

The second step is optional and is only necessary if your cluster is registered on a Prism Central. Log in to the Prism Central of your Nutanix cluster, then go to “Admin Center > IAM > Identities” and click on “+ Add Local User”. Fill in the fields with the desired information and click on “Save”:

The user is now created on Prism Central, you now need to assign the correct access rights:

Go to “Admin Center > IAM > Authorization Policies”. Click on “Create Authorization Policy”:

On the page that appears, start by renaming the policy and select “Cluster Admin” in the field provided for this purpose (type “cluster” to do a search) then click on “Next” at the bottom right:

Leave the default selection and click “Next” at the bottom right of the page:

Add your previously created user to the policy and click “Save” at the bottom right of the page:

The user is now created on Prism Central and Prism Element, you must now return to HYCU to continue adding the Nutanix cluster:

Adding the Nutanix cluster on HYCU

In the “Settings” menu, click on “Sources” to open the menu for adding a backup source:

Then click on “New” to start the cluster adding process:

In the window that appears, enter the URL of your Prism Element, the username and password of the HYCU account previously created and click “Next”:

Then enter the URL of your Prism Central, the username and password of the account previously created and click on “Next”:

If you have completed all of the previous steps correctly, you should see a message like “Validation successful”:

Your Nutanix cluster is now added to your HYCU backup solution and appears in the list of sources: