LAST UPDATE : 24/03/2025

As I mentioned in my article about updating the HYCU controller, you can’t upgrade from version 4.7.0 to 5.1.0, for example. To reach the latest version, you’ll have to follow upgrade paths…

And to determine these upgrade paths, you’re forced to sift through each Release Note for each version, which can be tedious in the long run… If you’d like me to make things easier for you, follow the guide!

Version table

Actual Version	Next Version
4.0.0	4.0.1
4.0.1	4.0.2
4.0.2	4.0.3
4.0.3	4.1.0
4.1.0	4.1.1
4.1.1	4.1.2
4.1.2	4.1.3
4.1.3	4.2.0
4.2.0	4.2.1
4.2.1	4.3.0
4.3.0	4.3.1
4.3.1	4.5.0
4.5.0	4.5.1
4.5.1	4.6.0
4.6.0	4.7.0
4.7.0	4.7.1
4.7.1	4.8.0
4.8.0	4.8.1
4.8.1	4.9.0
4.9.0	5.0.0
5.0.0	5.1.0
5.1.0	TBA

How do I read the table and determine its upgrade path? It’s very simple. For example, if you’re currently on 4.5.1 and want to update your controller to 5.1.0, you’ll need to go through 4.6.0 > 4.7.0 > 4.7.1 > 4.8.0 > 4.8.1 > 4.9.0 > 5.0.0 > 5.1.0 :

This article will be regularly updated with the release of new versions of the software.

I accidentally deleted one of the virtual machines in my cluster. Luckily, I can restore it with HYCU!

Restore a full virtual machine

I accidentally deleted the VM-DEMO-HYCU:

By clicking on it, I can access all the available restore points:

To restore the virtual machine, I select the restore point that interests me and click on “Restore”:

I select “Virtual Machine Options” to access the restoration options:

Restore VM allows you to restore the virtual machine in place of an existing virtual machine.

Clone VM allows you to restore the machine without touching the existing virtual machine using a clone.

Validate VM Backup allows you to create a copy of the virtual machine to verify the status of the restore point.

In my case, I select “Restore VM” and click “Next”:

In my case, I leave everything as default because it corresponds to the configurations I want to apply. If you wish, you can customize the destination storage container, the source of the restore point (backup or snapshot), and even the virtual machine configuration if you want it to be different from the original one.

Once the process is launched, you can follow its progress in the “Jobs” menu:

A few minutes later (or a little longer depending on the volume of data to be restored and the origin of the backup point), your virtual machine will be operational.

On your Nutanix Prism interface, you will see that the description of the restored machine has been entered:

Restore a specific file or folder

You can also restore a specific folder or file instead of restoring the entire virtual machine. To do this, select the desired restore point and click “Restore Files”:

Then leave the default value “AUTOMATIC” and click “Next”:

Wait while the restore point is read, the tree structure will then be displayed on the left:

Select the item(s) to restore, and click “Next”:

Then you have 3 options to choose from:

“Restore to Virtual Machine” allows you to restore files to their original location.

You can then:

• Select the original location or a different location
• Select the action to perform if the files already exist
• Choose whether or not to restore the original permissions

“Restore to External Share” allows you to restore files to a different share

You can then:

• Select the sharing type
• Indicate the shared path
• Select the action to perform if the files already exist

“Download” allows you to download the selected files

There you go, now you know how to restore your precious data in just a few clicks.

Everything has been configured to allow the backup of the virtual machines in our cluster, we will now see how to protect the virtual machines using the backup policies that we have just created.

Manual protection

The most classic protection method is the manual protection of virtual machines from the HYCU interface.

To do this, connect to the management interface of your HYCU and go to “Virtual Machines”. You should have the list of all the virtual machines present on the Nutanix cluster that you previously added:

Select the virtual machine(s) to protect and click on “Set policy” at the top right:

Then select the backup policy you want to apply to your virtual machine and click “Assign”:

Your virtual machine is now protected, the first backup will take place during the backup time slot you previously defined. If you want to force the first backup, select the protected virtual machine and click “Backup” at the top right:

Then click on “Yes”:

If everything goes as expected, you will then have Compliance and Protection in a Green status:

Automated protection via categories under Nutanix

We have seen how to protect virtual machines manually from the Nutanix interface. But it is possible to do it directly from the Nutanix Prism Central interface.

To do this, it is important to set up the necessary prerequisites and the first is to create categories to which the virtual machines will be assigned. Connect to Prism Central, go to “Administration > Categories”:

Then click on “New Category”:

Name your category, give it a value and click “Save”. For simplicity, I put the same value:

Then log in to HYCU and edit the previously created backup policy and check “Auto-assignment”:

Below, new fields are now accessible. Fill in the values ​​of the category you created previously and click on “Add”:

Back on Prism Central, on the list of my virtual machines, we can see that no virtual machine belongs to a category:

The only virtual machine protected at the moment is the VM-DEMO-HYCU that I protected manually in the first part of this article. So I will now select the VM-DEMO-LAB virtual machine, click on the menu “Action > Other Actions > Manage categories”:

I select the category to assign to my virtual machine and I validate:

Back on my HYCU interface, I can see that my virtual machine is now part of the BACKUP policy. It was automatically assigned to this backup policy when I assigned it the corresponding category, an operation confirmed by the Events in HYCU:

Now that our HYCU controller is configured and up to date, we now need to protect our virtual machines…

Cleaning the default policies

We will start by deleting the backup policies created by default. To do this, in the side menu go to “Policies” and delete all policies except “Exclude”:

Once the cleaning is done, we can get down to business.

Creating the backup time slot

In order for our backups to run outside working hours, it is imperative to set up the time slots during which HYCU will back up your virtual machines. Still in the “Policies” menu, click on “Time Windows”:

Normally, nothing is created, click on “New”:

Then, you will have the choice between 2 options:

• Backup Window to define the time range during which the backup will be executed
• Copy Window to define the time range during which the backup copies can be made

We will choose the “Backup Window”:

In my case, I kept it simple by naming it “HNO” for Non-Working Hours, I indicated the Timezone corresponding to my geographic location and then I selected the time slots that interested me, namely from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. from Monday to Sunday:

Creating the backup policy

To create a backup policy, in the “Policies” menu, click on “New”:

• Name your backup policy
• Leave “Backup” checked
• Enter the frequency of backups in hours/days/weeks/months (which will correspond to the targeted RPO)
• Enter the restoration period (which will correspond to the targeted RTO)
• Enter the retention period of your backups
• Select the backup target (in my case, the Synology)
• Check “Use backup window” and select the backup time slot previously created

Click on “Save”.

Your backup policy is now created, the next step is to protect the VMs in your cluster.

HYCU being a backup software followed and supported by the publisher, updates will be regularly made available to you in order to correct bugs, security flaws, provide optimizations or add new features.

Upgrade Path

If you missed some updates of your HYCU system, you should know that you will have to respect an update order to reach the desired version.

Indeed, if you are like me in version 4.9.0-5310 and version 5.1.0-2871 is available, you will not be able to perform a direct update to 5.1.0-2871. You will first have to install all the intermediate updates, i.e.: 5.0.0-1643 then 5.1.0-2871.

To know the update orders, you must consult the “Upgrade Notes” section of the Release Notes of the versions you must install:

Preparing the update files

If you followed the beginning of the guide, you will have noticed that I had uploaded in advance 2 additional versions of HYCU:

Otherwise, for those who missed it:

• Go to the website : https://support.hycu.com/hc/en-us/categories/15363121766940-Downloads
• Click on the version you are interested in:

• Check the box “I agree to the HYCU…” and click “Continue”:

• Click on “Download .qcow2”:

Once you have downloaded the qcow2 image from HYCU, you now need to transfer it to your Nutanix cluster.

To do this, connect to the Prism Element of your Nutanix CE cluster and go to “Settings > Image Configuration”:

Click on “Upload image”, fill in the form and select the previously uploaded image:

Click “Save” to start the transfer and wait until your image is processed by the cluster and is indicated as “ACTIVE”.

Installing updates

Once you have finished preparing your update files, log in to the HYCU interface, and click on the cogwheel at the top right:

We’ll start by pausing all controller activity so that the updates can run smoothly. Click on “Power options”:

Select “Suspend All” and click “Save”. Then go back to the “Setting” menu in the cogwheel and then click on “Software Upgrade” to display the list of available updates:

Select the update you want to install and click “Software Upgrade”:

A message alerts you that the backup jobs currently running will be canceled, click “Yes”:

The system will log you out during the update. Wait about ten minutes before logging back in:

Once the update is complete, log back in and perform the following updates:

When your HYCU controller has reached the target version, reconnect to the interface then go to the settings at the top right, then to “Power Options”:

Select “Resume” to return your HYCU controller to normal operating mode and click “Save”.

On your Nutanix cluster, you will then find the old versions of your HYCU controller:

You can delete them after some time if you don’t have any problems with the version currently in production (remember to update the name of the virtual machine if you put the version in it like me!).

Now that the Nutanix cluster is added to the HYCU software, we need to add the backup target to which the files will be sent.

Adding a SMB backup target

To add a backup target on HYCU, go to the left side menu and click on “Target”:

Then click on “Add” at the top right to launch the target addition wizard:

Then, select the type of target you want to add on HYCU, then click “Continue”. In my case, I kept it simple with an SMB share on the Synology but you are spoiled for choice (NFS, SMB, Nutanix Objects, iSCSI, S3 storage…):

Then enter a name, a description if you wish, and the number of simultaneous backups then click on “Next”. In my case, I limited myself to 2:

Then provide the account information to access the SMB share that will be used as a target. In my case, I need to provide the username, password, server IP address, and shared folder name:

Once the information is correctly entered, click on “Save”. Your backup target now appears in the list of targets, ready to receive backups:

Backup target configuration is complete, my HYCU controller is ready to backup my data.

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:

In the previous blog post, I created and started the HYCU virtual machine. Now let’s move on to the initial configuration of the Backup Controller.

Initializing the HYCU backup system

To start the initialization of the HYCU backup controller, you need to connect to the virtual machine via the Nutanix console. Connect to your Prism Element interface, go to “VM”, right-click on the virtual machine you just deployed and click on “Launch Console”:

A new window will open and you should see the initialization startup window. Select “HYCU Backup Controller” from the list and validate:

On the next screen, you must now enter all the network configurations, namely:

• Host name of the virtual machine
• Its IPv4 address
• The associated subnet mask
• The default gateway
• The DNS server
• Possibly, the domain

Once all the information is entered, validate to launch the initialization of the backup controller:

A little less than 10 minutes later, the initialization will be complete and you will be able to access the solution’s web administration console at the address https://HYCU-IP-ADDRESS:8443:

The default login and password are: “admin” for the login and “admin” for the password, to be changed quickly for obvious security reasons:

You are now connected to the HYCU web interface, we can now move on to the basic configuration:

Basic configuration of my HYCU controller

After finishing deploying the solution, there are some basic configurations to be done to make our system fully operational. I detail some steps here, others not because the article is adapted to a use in lab mode!

Changing the password

We will start by changing the default password of the admin account which is currently “admin”. To do this, go to the top right of the interface, click on the connected username “admin” and in the menu that appears, click on “Change Password”:

Enter the old password, the new password twice and validate:

Checking the license level

Before continuing, let’s check the license level of our installation. To do this, click on the gear at the top right of the window to display the drop-down menu, then click on “Licensing”:

If everything is OK, you should now have a valid “Free license” type license:

Bandwidth Throttling Configuration

Working from home most of the time, I planned to schedule my backup slots between 8pm and 7am. But since I’m also a gamer, there’s no way I’m going to crush my network bandwidth during my sessions… So I set up a bandwidth limitation. In the settings (cogwheel), in “Networks > Throttling”:

Then, in “Throttling Windows”, I was able to enter a limitation range named “Gaming Hours” which extends from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m.:

And then I added a throughput speed limitation to 1MiBps:

Additional configurations

Among the additional configurations that can be done but that I will not detail here because it is not in place in my lab, there is in particular the AD authentication part:

And the email notifications part:

Today, I will present you the method of deploying the HYCU backup solution on my Nutanix AHV cluster.

In the previous article, I presented you the prerequisites necessary for installing the solution, including sending the HYCU installation files to the Nutanix AHV cluster. At this stage, you should therefore have the desired version of HYCU available on your cluster:

In my case, I have deliberately placed 3 different versions of the software in order to be able to show:

• the deployment of the solution
• the upgrade with upgrade path

Sizing

Before proceeding with the installation, it must first be sized according to our needs. For this, HYCU gives indications on VM sizes depending on the quantity of virtual machines to be backed up:

In my case, having less than 50 virtual machines to backup, I will go for the smallest size:

• 8 vCPU
• 8Gb RAM
• 32Gb storage

Now that my VM is sized, let’s move on to its deployment.

Deploying the HYCU controller

To deploy the HYCU VM, you need to connect to the Prism Element, go to the “VM” menu and click on “Create VM”. In the window that appears, I give it a name and move on:

I enter the values ​​retained during dimensioning in the “Compute Details” section:

And then I add the first disk of type “DISK” as “Clone from Image Service” and select the image I previously loaded on my cluster “hycu-4.9.0-5310”:

I then add a second disk of type “DISK” this time, in “Allocate on Storage Container” since it is a blank disk of 32Gb that I place on the default storage container:

Finally, I assign a network card to my virtual machine on the subnet of my choice:

My virtual machine is now deployed, I can start it:

My next blog post will detail the initial configuration of the HYCU virtual machine which will allow to finalize the system initialization and access the solution administration interface.