Microsoft OneDrive Support

Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows lets you back up your data to Microsoft OneDrive. This functionality is intended for users of home PCs, workstations and laptops who want to keep backups off-site without the need to set up the backup infrastructure.

Backup to Microsoft OneDrive is supported for Veeam Agent computers running the following operating systems:

• Microsoft Windows 7 SP1

• Microsoft Windows 8.x
• Microsoft Windows 10

To create backups in Microsoft OneDrive, you need to select Microsoft OneDrive as a target for backup files in the properties of the Veeam Agent backup job. When you configure the backup job, you must provide credentials of the Microsoft OneDrive account that has access to the Microsoft OneDrive storage. You can use the following types of Microsoft OneDrive accounts to back up your data:

• OneDrive (personal)
• OneDrive for Business

When the backup job session starts, Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows copies the backed-up data directly to Microsoft OneDrive. In contrast to other types of backup location, during backup to Microsoft OneDrive, Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows does not store copied data blocks to backups files of the VBK or VIB type. Instead, Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows stores the entire data blocks 'as is'. This helps Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows upload backed-up data, perform transform operations with restore points in the backup chain and delete obsolete restore points by retention in a more efficient way.

For backups residing in Microsoft OneDrive, backup metadata is stored alongside the backed-up data itself. In addition, Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows saves a copy of backup metadata to the C:\ProgramData\Veeam\OneDriveBackup folder on the Veeam Agent computer.

You can use backups that reside in Microsoft OneDrive to perform the same data recovery operations that are available for Veeam Agent backups in other types of target location. You can restore entire computer volumes or individual files and folders. In case your computer fails to start, you can also boot your computer from the Veeam Recovery Media and restore data from a volume-level backup residing in Microsoft OneDrive.

Authorization in Microsoft OneDrive

Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows communicates with Microsoft OneDrive over the OneDrive API. To let Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows access the API, you need to sign in to Microsoft OneDrive in the New Backup Job wizard. When you sign in to Microsoft OneDrive, Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows obtains from Microsoft OneDrive authorization tokens that provide access to the OneDrive API.

To work with the OneDrive API, Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows uses the following types of tokens:

• Access token. Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows uses this token to send requests to the OneDrive API. The access token is valid for 2 hours. To obtain a new access token after this period expires without the need to sign in to Microsoft OneDrive once again, Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows uses the refresh token.

• Refresh token. Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows uses this token to request a new access token from Microsoft OneDrive after the initial access token expires. In contrast to the access token, the refresh token is saved to Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows database. The refresh token can be valid for 14 to 180 days depending on the type of account used to connect to Microsoft OneDrive:

• 180 days — for a personal OneDrive account.
• 14 to 90 days — for a OneDrive for Business account. Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows can use the refresh token for more that 14 days if one of the following operations is performed within a 14-day period:

• Sign-in to Microsoft OneDrive in the New Backup Job wizard
• Backup to Microsoft OneDrive
• Backup chain transform in Microsoft OneDrive
• Backup cache synchronization with Microsoft OneDrive
• Data restore from Microsoft OneDrive

After a 90-day period expires, you need to sign in to your OneDrive for Business account once again in the New Backup Job wizard. Otherwise, the backup job will fail.

Limitations for Backup to Microsoft OneDrive

Backup to Microsoft OneDrive has the following limitations:

• You cannot create a standalone full backup in Microsoft OneDrive.
• Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows does not support health check for backup files created in Microsoft OneDrive.
• Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows does not support creating Microsoft SQL Server transaction log backups and Oracle archived log backups in Microsoft OneDrive.
• In the Free edition of Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows, you can create in Microsoft OneDrive only file-level backups that contain operating system data.
• You cannot move backup files residing in Microsoft OneDrive to a backup storage of a different type and continue the Veeam Agent backup chain in another target location.
• If you use Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows with Veeam Backup & Replication, you cannot import a backup residing in Microsoft OneDrive in the Veeam Backup & Replication console.
• Due to limitations set in Microsoft OneDrive for third-party applications, backup to Microsoft OneDrive and data restore from Microsoft OneDrive requires longer time even in fast networks.
• Backup to Microsoft OneDrive is not supported for the following OneDrive storage plan regions:

• US Government
• China
• Germany

Related Tasks

Configuring Backup Job