Requirements and Limitations
This section provides you with important information on deployment limitations and supported environments of different devices.
Synology NAS Requirements and Limitations
- For Active Backup for Business 2.1.0 and above versions, a Synology NAS running DSM 6.2 or above is required.
- For Active Backup for Business 2.0.4 and previous versions, a Synology NAS running DSM 6.1.7 or above is required.
- Active Backup for Business can only run on x64 Synology NAS servers with Btrfs file system.
- To achieve optimal backup performance using data deduplication, make sure that your Synology NAS has at least 4 GB of RAM, and that shared folder quotas are disabled.
- To perform a backup task, there must be at least 8 GB of free space both on the backup destination and on the volume where the package is installed.
- Backup destinations must be shared folders on Btrfs volumes.
- The backup destinations of personal computers, physical servers, and virtual machines cannot be encrypted shared folders.
Note:
- Certain Synology NAS models do not support the Instant Restore to Synology Virtual Machine Manager feature because of the limited storage space that comes with the models. See if your Synology NAS supports Virtual Machine Manager.
- Virtual machines that are instantly restored via the Synology Virtual Machine Manager do not support the following features:
- Copy
- Migrate
- Snapshot
- Run virtual machines remotely
- Create additional virtual disks
- High availability
- When performing snapshots of shared folders on Active Backup for Business using Synology Snapshot Replication, no data will be shown in the snapshots since the "ActiveBackupData" folder only contains virtual files.
Personal Computer Requirements and Limitations
Windows
- Supported Windows editions:
- Windows 11 (all editions)
- Windows 10 Creators Update (all editions)
- Windows 10 (all editions)
- Windows 8.1 (all editions)
- Windows 7 SP1 (all editions)
- Supported file system:
- NTFS
- Required network port: 5510
Note:
- If your computer is encrypted with BitLocker, decrypt it before performing a backup so that you can restore the computer from the Recovery Portal. BitLocker will be disabled after you perform bare-metal restoration, so make sure to turn on BitLocker encryption again to resume protection.
- Volumes larger than 64 TB cannot be backed up. Learn more about the Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) limitation.
- On dynamic disks, only simple volumes are supported for backup, while other types of volumes are not.
- Supports backing up external hard drives only. Other external devices, such as floppy drives, thumb drives, and flash card readers cannot be backed up.
- Backing up personal computers with 4Kn disks is not supported.
- Backing up virtual hard disks (VHDs) on Windows is not supported. If you want to back up VHDs, back up the entire device or the volume where the VHD files are located.
- When connecting personal computers to Synology NAS via the Synology Active Backup for Business Agent, connecting through QuickConnect is not supported.
- The Active Backup for Business Portal does not support downloading or restoring backup data that are encrypted by Windows Encryption File System (EFS).
- The Active Backup for Business Portal does not support downloading or restoring backup data that does not exist within the local cloud sync folder.
macOS
- Supported macOS versions
- macOS Catalina 10.15.7
- macOS Big Sur 11
- macOS Monterey 12
- macOS Ventura 13
- macOS Sonoma 14
- Supported file system
- APFS
- Required network port: 5510
Note:
- You must allow Full Disk Access if you want to back up external APFS hard drives or SSDs on your Mac.
- When you install the backup agent, kernel extensions (kexts) must be enabled and the user account must have administrator privileges.
- On dynamic disks, only simple volumes are supported for backup, while other types of volumes are not.
Physical Server Requirements and Limitations
Windows
- Supported Windows edition:
- Windows 11 (all editions)
- Windows 10 Creators Update (all editions)
- Windows 10 (all editions)
- Windows 8.1 (all editions)
- Windows 7 SP1 (all editions)
- Windows Server 2022
- Windows Server 2019
- Windows Server 2016
- Windows Server 2012 R2
- Windows Server 2012
- Windows Server 2008 R2
- Supported file system:
- NTFS
- Required network port: 5510
Note:
- Volumes larger than 64 TB cannot be backed up. Learn more about the Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) limitation.
- On dynamic disks, only simple volumes are supported for backup, while other types of volumes are not.
- Supports backing up external hard drives only. Other external devices, such as floppy drives, thumb drives, and flash card readers cannot be backed up.
- The Cluster Shared Volumes in a failover cluster will not be included in backups because their file systems are recognized as the CSVFS file system. Active Backup for Business does not support the backup of CSVFS file system.
- The backup of physical servers with 4Kn disks is not supported.
- The backup of virtual hard disks (VHDs) on Windows is not supported. If you wish to back up VHDs, please back up the entire device or the volume where the VHD files are located.
- Windows 11 backup tasks only support Backup Verification and Instant Restore to Virtual Machine Manager on DSM 7.1 and above.
- When connecting physical servers to Synology NAS via Synology Active Backup for Business Agent, connecting through QuickConnect is not supported.
- Active Backup for Business Portal does not
support downloading or restoring:
- Data that are encrypted by Windows Encryption File System (EFS)
- Data that does not exist within the local cloud sync folder.
- Data on Data Deduplication -enabled volumes on Windows Server 2019
Linux
- Supports kernel versions between 2.6 and 6.8
- Supported 64-bit versions of the following Linux distributions:
- CentOS: 7.8, 7.9, 8.1, 8.5
- RHEL: 6.10, 7.8, 7.9, 8.1, 8.4, 8.5, 8.6, 8.7, 8.8, 8.9, 8.10, 9.0, 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.4
- Ubuntu: 16.04, 18.04, 20.04, 22.04, 24.04
- Fedora: 38, 39, 40
- Debian: 10, 11, 12
- Supported file systems:
- ext2
- ext3
- ext4
- XFS
- Required components on the target device:
- make 4.1 version or above
- dkms 2.2.0.3 version or above
- gcc 4.8.2 version or above
Note:
- Supported device types: /dev/sdx, /dev/hdx, /dev/vdx, /dev/nvmex, /dev/mdx.
- Backup of external devices is not supported.
- When connecting physical servers to Synology NAS via the Synology Active Backup for Business Agent, connecting through QuickConnect is not supported.
- Active Backup for Business Portal does not support downloading or recovering data from Fedora 40 systems that use the XFS file system.
File Server Requirements and Limitations
Active Backup for Business supports servers running with SMB (Windows) and rsync 3.0 or above (Linux) protocol.
For file servers to be backed up and restored properly, make sure the following permissions of the source folder are enabled.
- For SMB (Windows) server backup:
- To back up the server, ensure that the account used to connect to the SMB server in Active Backup for Business has at least read permissions.
- To back up and restore the server, ensure that the account used to connect to the SMB server in Active Backup for Business has read and write permissions.
Note:
- The account should have authorization to the entire file path that needs to be backed up and restored. For example, if the backup source is located in "System32/AppLocker/ABBbackup," the account must have read permissions for the "System32," "AppLocker," and "ABBbackup" folders instead of only the "ABBbackup" folder.
- For rsync server backup:
- To back up the server, ensure that the account used to connect to the rsync server in Active Backup for Business has at least read permissions.
- To back up and restore the server, ensure that the account used to connect to the rsync server in Active Backup for Business has read and write permissions.
Note:
- For all connection modes, check and edit the permission settings through command line or Linux user interface.
- If the selected connection mode of the server is rsync module or rsync module mode via SSH, check the permission settings in rsync .conf and edit settings if encountering insufficient permission errors.
- If the source server is a Synology NAS, make sure the permission settings of the folders and directory are correct. WriteOnce (WORM) shared folders are not supported.
- For NetApp file server backup:
- Supports NetApp ONTAP 9.11.
- Active Backup for Business performs File Server backups via SMB service.
- To back up the server, ensure that the account used to connect to the NetApp server in Active Backup for Business has at least read permissions.
- To back up and restore the server, ensure that the account used to connect to the NetApp server has read and write permissions.
- For Nutanix file server backup:
- Supports Nutanix Files 3.6.5.
- Active Backup for Business performs File Server backups via SMB service.
- To back up the server, ensure that the account used to connect to the Nutanix server in Active Backup for Business has at least read permissions.
- To back up and restore the server, ensure that the account used to connect to the Nutanix server in Active Backup for Business has read and write permissions.
- Active Backup for Business Portal does not support recovering mtime and atime attributes to Nutanix DFS.
Note:
Virtual Machine Requirements and Limitations
- VMware vSphere
- Virtual Infrastructure
- Supported VMware vSphere versions: 5.0, 5.1, 5.5, 6.0, 6.5, 6.7, 7.0, 8.0
- Supported VMware editions:
- VMware free ESXi
- VMware vSphere Essentials, VMware vSphere Essentials Plus
- VMware vSphere Standard, VMware vSphere Advanced
- VMware vSphere Enterprise, VMware vSphere Enterprise Plus
Note:
- If you're using the free version of VMware ESXi, you must enable SSH port and ESXi Shell to perform virtual machine backups. You will also need to manually enable Changed Block Tracking. The free version of VMware ESXi does not support setting up pre/post scripts or restoring guest OS files via the Active Backup for Business Portal.
- Your Synology NAS is required to have a public IP or a private IP that can be accessed via VMware vSphere ESXi / ESX. Even when ESXi is added via vCenter, ESXi has to be accessible for Synology NAS.
- Full administrative permissions (recommended) or limited permissions are required. For more information, refer to this article.
- TCP Ports
To perform operations successfully and enable communication between Synology NAS and VMware servers, the following TCP ports are required:
TCP Port Where Notes 443 vCenter Server, ESXi Host Default port used for connections to VMware infrastructure (vCenter server and ESXi host). Must be opened on vCenter Servers and ESXi hosts. 902 ESXi Host Port used for data transfer and moving. Must be opened on ESXi hosts. - Virtual Machines
- Operating System
- All operating systems supported by VMware and any application
- Application-aware backup for Microsoft Windows 2003 SP1 or later except Nano Server due to the absence of the VSS framework.
Note:
- If you want to run the backed up device on Synology Virtual Machine Manager, only specific operating systems can be supported. Refer to supported operating systems on Synology VMM for details.
- Virtual Hardware
- All types and versions of virtual hardware are supported, including 62 TB VMDK.
- The VMware snapshot feature does not support the following disks on VMware vSphere. To back up data on these disks, install the Active Backup for Business Agent on your guest operating system and back up as a physical server instead.
- Raw Device Mapping (RDM) disks in physical mode
- Independent disks
- Disks connected via an in-guest iSCSI initiator
- Disks engaged in SCSI bus sharing
- Software
- VMware Tools : VMware Tools are required for application-aware backup and guest OS file-level restore (Windows / Linux).
- All latest OS service packs and patches are required for application-aware backup.
- File Level Restore: If the guest OS is Windows, supported file systems are NTFS and FAT32; if the guest OS is Linux, supported file systems include NTFS, FAT32, EXT3, and EXT4.
- Operating System
- Limitations
- Encrypted virtual machines, a feature introduced in VMware vSphere 6.5, are not supported for now.
- Fault tolerant machines, a feature introduced in VMware vSphere 6.0, are not supported for now.
- Virtual Infrastructure
- Microsoft Hyper-V
System volumes on Hyper-V virtual machines should have at least 512 MB of free space. This is because Active Backup for Business will install a data mover for backup tasks.
- Virtual Infrastructure
- Supported Microsoft Hyper-V hypervisor:
- Windows Server Hyper-V 2019
- Windows Server Hyper-V 2016
- Supported Microsoft System Central Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM):
- System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2016
- System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2019
- Supported Microsoft Hyper-V failover clusters:
- Windows Server Hyper-V 2019
- Windows Server Hyper-V 2016
- Supported Microsoft Hyper-V hypervisor:
- Required Windows Settings
Since some of the built-in Windows services are used when performing backup and restoration, the following Windows services must be enabled. Make note that some settings are enabled by default, and if these settings are not changed after installation, there is no need to enable them again.
- WinRM Service
- Valid certificate when using WinRM encrypted protocol (HTTPS)
- SMB v2/v3
- Administrative share (C$ and the share containing virtual machine configurations)
- PowerShell script permission
Note:
- After enabling SMB v2/v3, it is also necessary to enable file and printer sharing permissions to successfully execute the SMB service.
- For more information, refer to how to enable WinRM Service.
- To learn how to enable SMB v2/v3, administrative share, and PowerShell script permission, refer to Which Windows services on Hyper-V servers are required for Active Backup for Business.
- User Account
If the hypervisor you intend to back up is added to a domain, we recommend entering the domain account (DOMAIN NAME\USER NAME format) with hypervisor admin privileges. If the domain account has the same name as the local account but a different password, use the domain account (DOMAIN NAME\USER NAME format).
- TCP Ports
To perform operations successfully and enable communication between Synology NAS and VMware servers, the following TCP ports are required:
TCP Port Where Notes 445 (SMB port) Hyper-V Host Port used for receiving and transferring data from Hyper-V to Synology NAS. 5510 Synology NAS Port used for receiving and transferring data from Hyper-V to Synology NAS. 5986 SCVMM/failover cluster/ Hyper-V host Port used for in-flight encryption when transferring and moving data. This port must be opened on SCVMM, failover clusters, and Hyper-V hosts. 5985 SCVMM/failover cluster/ Hyper-V host Port used for data transferring and moving. This port must be opened on SCVMM, failover clusters, and Hyper-V hosts. - Virtual Machines
- Operating System
- All operating systems supported by Hyper-V.
- Application-aware backup for Microsoft Windows 2003 SP1 or later except Nano Server due to the absence of the VSS framework.
- Virtual Hardware
- Hyper-V Generation 1 and 2 virtual machines are supported, including 64 TB VHDX disks.
- Virtual hardware versions from 5.0 to 9.0 are supported.
- Pass-through virtual disks and guest disks connected via in-guest FC or iSCSI are not supported and will be skipped automatically.
- Pass-through virtual disks are not supported in virtual machines running Hyper-V versions 2016 to 2019.
- Software
- Hyper-V integration components (components required for application awareness).
- File Level Restore: If the guest OS is Windows, the supported file systems are NTFS and FAT32. If the guest OS is Linux, the supported file systems are NTFS, FAT32, ext3, and ext4.
- Limitations
- Virtual machines with configuration versions 5.0 or below are not supported. Refer to Upgrade virtual machine version for details.
- Instant Restore to Microsoft Hyper-V is unavailable when your Synology NAS is hidden behind a NAT.
- Active Backup for Business Portal does not support downloading or restoring data on Data Deduplication -enabled volumes on Windows Server 2019.
- Operating System
- Virtual Infrastructure