Objective

The Backup Licenses product replaces the Veeam Enterprise offer. It is built on the OVHcloud Veeam Service Provider Console (VSPC): instead of activating a licence from the Control Panel, your Veeam Backup & Replication (VBR) server is connected to our console, which assigns and renews its licence automatically.

This guide explains what changes between Veeam Enterprise and Backup Licenses, what OVHcloud can and cannot do on your VBR server, and how to carry out the migration.

Requirements

• An active Veeam Enterprise licence with OVHcloud.
• A Veeam Backup & Replication server, installed and operational, whose public IP address you know.
• Access to the VBR console with an account that has local Administrator rights or the Veeam Backup Administrator role.
• Having read the "Known restrictions": your VBR version and operating system determine which editions are available.

What changes

OVHcloud's scope of action on your VBR

When you connect your VBR server to the OVHcloud VSPC, it is important to understand what OVHcloud is allowed to do on your Veeam infrastructure and what remains out of reach.

What OVHcloud can do, via the VSPC:

• Collect metadata about your backup jobs (status, configuration) — without accessing the content of the backups.
• Track licence consumption per protected workload.
• Assign and manage the licences associated with your contract.
• Restart the service of the management agent.

What OVHcloud cannot do:

• Access backup files or backed-up data.
• Access your server's file system in general.
• Connect via RDP / remote desktop to your server.
• Access other applications on the server, the Active Directory, or modify the Windows configuration.
• Start or stop a backup job, or change the settings of VBR jobs.
• Intercept network traffic or exfiltrate your production data.

Security: the Veeam management agent

When you tick the option allowing OVHcloud to manage your VBR installation, a Veeam Management Agent is installed on the server running Veeam Backup & Replication. This agent establishes the secure link between your VBR and the OVHcloud platform.

• Outbound communication only: the connection is always initiated by the agent towards the OVHcloud platform.
• TCP port 6180 and end-to-end TLS 1.2 encryption for data in transit.
• Mutual authentication with digital certificates, including certificate revocation list (CRL) checks where applicable.
• The agent runs under the Local System account on Windows, with no domain account and no Active Directory access required for its basic operation.
• You keep control: you can cut the communication (firewall on port 6180, stopping the Windows service), uninstall the agent like any Windows program, and audit outbound traffic with your network security tools.

Network architecture and data flows

On the client side, your infrastructure:

• The VBR server initiates the flows towards OVHcloud.
• The firewall must allow outbound TCP 6180 to the OVHcloud cloud gateway, and allow our infrastructure to reach your server from the IP address 79.137.44.43 in Europe.
• The data exchanged covers: job status, workload count, licence consumption, VBR version — and not the backup files themselves.

On the OVHcloud side:

• The Cloud Gateway is the secure entry point.
• The VSPC handles licence management and monitoring.
• Your environment is isolated from other customers (tenant isolation).

Instructions

To migrate:

• Order your Backup Licenses licence.
• Open the required network flows.
• Connect your VBR server to the OVHcloud VSPC.
• Check that the new licence has been applied.
• Cancel your old Veeam Enterprise licence.

Step 1: Order your Backup Licenses licence

From the OVHcloud Control Panel, order a Backup Licenses licence by selecting the edition you want, then enter a name for your VBR and its public IP address.

The available editions are described in the "Ordering and configuring your first licence" guide.

Once the order is confirmed, you will receive a delivery email containing the cloud gateway URL (vspc-adv-cgw…), the port 6180, and your Company Tenant and Company Owner accounts.

Step 2: Open the network flows

Make sure the server firewall — and your network firewall — allows:

• Outbound: from your VBR server to the OVHcloud cloud gateway provided in the delivery email (vspc-adv-cgw…), on port 6180.
• Inbound: from our infrastructure's IP address to your VBR server, without restriction. In Europe, this address is 79.137.44.43.

Step 3: Connect your VBR server to the VSPC

The steps below are carried out from the Veeam Backup & Replication console, not from the VSPC portal.

3.1 Open the Veeam Backup & Replication console

Log in to the server where Veeam Backup & Replication is installed (or to a machine where the VBR console is deployed), then launch the console:

• On a Windows installation: connect to localhost.
• On a Veeam Software Appliance: enter the VBR server address and the credentials of an account with the Veeam Backup Administrator role.

3.2 Start adding the service provider

In the ribbon at the top of the console, click Add Service Provider.

You can also go through the navigation pane:

1. Open the Backup Infrastructure view.
2. Locate the Service Providers node.
3. Right-click Service Providers, then click Add Service Provider.

3.3 Enter the service provider settings

On the Service Provider step of the wizard:

1. DNS name or IP address: enter the OVHcloud cloud gateway URL received in the delivery email (vspc-adv-cgw…).
2. Port: enter the port provided by OVHcloud, 6180.
3. Description: optional, a description to identify this provider.
4. Tick the Allow this Veeam Backup & Replication installation to be managed by the service provider checkbox.

3.4 Enter the credentials

On the Credentials step, enter the Company Tenant credentials received in the delivery email, then confirm.

3.5 Complete the wizard

Follow any remaining steps of the wizard, then click Finish on the last step. The management agent is deployed on your VBR server and the connection to the VSPC is established.

Step 4: Check the new licence

In the Veeam Backup & Replication console, open the main menu and click License. In the License Information window, check the following:

You can also log in to the VSPC portal with the Company Owner account and check, in the Discovery > Backup Servers section, that your server appears with a consistent status (Healthy or Connected).

Step 5: Cancel your Veeam Enterprise licence

Once the new licence shows as Valid on your VBR server, you can cancel your old Veeam Enterprise licence from the OVHcloud Control Panel.

Important points

• Do not connect the same VBR server twice to the VSPC with different credentials: this would skew the data displayed.
• If MFA is enabled on the VBR server, it may appear as Inaccessible in the VSPC. See Veeam KB 4431.
• Firewall: make sure port 6180 is open outbound from the VBR server to the cloud gateway.
• HA cluster: if your VBR is the primary node of a high availability cluster, the secondary node must be connected separately.

Go further

• Backup Licenses - Ordering and configuring your first licence
• Backup Licenses - How Vaults work
• Backup Licenses - Known restrictions
• Backup Licenses - Troubleshooting guide

Veeam documentation:

• Managing Veeam Backup & Replication — Veeam Service Provider Console Guide for End Users
• Connecting Veeam Backup & Replication Servers — Veeam Service Provider Console Guide for End Users
• Connecting to Service Providers — Veeam Cloud Connect Guide
• Viewing License Information Using Console — Veeam Backup & Replication User Guide

Join our community of users.