Deploying vStor as Part of Catalogic Backup Appliance

Catalogic Backup Appliance is an integrated backup solution that installs DPX (the backup software) and Catalogic vStor (the storage backend) on a single host – physical or virtual – from a hardware-agnostic .ISO image. The appliance is designed for fast deployment and minimal configuration: during the installation, the system automatically prepares and connects all required components, so the environment is ready to use immediately after setup.

Within Catalogic Backup Appliance, vStor is always installed together with DPX; it cannot be deployed as a standalone server from this .ISO image. To deploy vStor on its own, use one of the dedicated procedures, such as Deploying Catalogic vStor on Physical Appliances.

When vStor is installed as part of the appliance, the installer automatically:

• adds the vStor and GuardMode nodes to the enterprise,
• creates a data volume on the second disk,
• creates a media pool and devices for backup jobs.

Requirements

Catalogic Backup Appliance requires the following:

CPU	Four vCPUs (or equivalent physical CPUs)
Memory (RAM)	16 GB minimum
Network	Single active network interface
Disk 1 (operating system)	Minimum 70 GB
Disk 2 (vStor data volume)	Minimum 200 GB, raw and unformatted
Boot mode	BIOS or EFI (Secure Boot disabled)

Important.

• Do not create a filesystem on the second disk – it must remain raw and unformatted.
• If running on a VM without disk UUID support, UUIDs are created based on the physical device address.
• Do not swap disks after installation – this will break the setup. Adding additional disks later is supported.
• VMware only: set the disk.enableUUID = TRUE VM configuration parameter.

Deploying Catalogic Backup Appliance from .ISO

1. Download the .ISO file from the Catalogic MySupport page:

   1. Login to Catalogic MySupport using the provided credentials.

   2. From the product selection tiles, select Catalogic DPX.

   3. From the Installation & Upgrade section, select Catalogic Backup Appliance.

   4. Click the link to start downloading the .ISO file.

      

2. Once the download is complete, boot from the .ISO.

3. From the GRUB menu, choose Install AlmaLinux 8.10 with DPX and vStor 4.16.

   

4. In the AlmaLinux Installer configuration, select the following options:

   • Select the disk for the OS installation (Disk 1). Leave the second, raw disk (Disk 2) unselected – it is reserved automatically for the vStor data volume.

   

   • Ensure the Host Name is unique within your network. Most probably, you can leave the default host name.
     Set all network parameters as desired, including IP addressing (static or DHCP).
   • Configure other system settings as needed, including Timezone, Keyboard Layout, etc.

5. Click the Begin Installation button.

The system will prepare and deploy DPX and vStor automatically. The machine will reboot twice. Total automated configuration time: approximately 30 minutes.

Note.

Interactive shell access is disabled throughout the installation process. However, you can preview the installation progress logs, authenticating as user: log with password log.

Once the installer finishes, the system is fully configured and both DPX and vStor are ready to use. You can proceed with backup configuration and start protecting your data right away.

Accessing the Appliance

After the deployment, use the following default credentials to access each component. Change the default passwords as soon as possible.

Component	Access	Login	Default password
Operating system	SSH or console: ssh dpxadmin@<host_IP_or_hostname>	dpxadmin	dpxadmin
vStor web interface	HTTPS on port 8900: https://<host_IP_or_hostname>:8900	admin	Randomly generated, stored in /opt/vstor/change_me.txt on the appliance

See also.

For the DPX-side details of this deployment, including the DPX-only scenario, see Deploying DPX Backup Appliance from .ISO in the DPX 4.16 Guide.