This is a cache of https://docs.okd.io/latest/backup_and_restore/application_backup_and_restore/installing/installing-oadp-kubevirt.html. It is a snapshot of the page at 2026-10-24T19:38:45.172+0000.
Configuring OADP with OpenShift Virtualization - OADP Application backup and restore | Backup and restore | OKD 5
  1. Documentation
×

Configuring the OpenShift API for Data Protection with OKD Virtualization

You can install the OpenShift API for Data Protection (OADP) with OKD Virtualization by installing the OADP Operator and configuring a backup location. Then, you can install the Data Protection Application.

Back up and restore virtual machines by using the OpenShift API for Data Protection.

OpenShift API for Data Protection with OKD Virtualization supports the following backup and restore storage options:

  • Container Storage Interface (CSI) backups

  • Container Storage Interface (CSI) backups with DataMover

The following storage options are excluded:

  • File system backup and restore

  • Volume snapshot backups and restores

To install the OADP Operator in a restricted network environment, you must first disable the default software catalog sources and mirror the Operator catalog.

Red Hat only supports the combination of OADP versions 1.3.0 and later, and OKD Virtualization versions 4.14 and later.

OADP versions before 1.3.0 are not supported for back up and restore of OKD Virtualization.

Install and configure OADP with OKD Virtualization

As a cluster administrator, you can install the OpenShift API for Data Protection (OADP) with OKD Virtualization by installing the OADP Operator and configuring a backup location. You can then install the Data Protection Application.

To install the OADP Operator in a restricted network environment, you must first disable the default software catalog sources and mirror the Operator catalog.

OpenShift API for Data Protection with OKD Virtualization supports the following backup and restore storage options:

  • Container Storage Interface (CSI) backups

  • Container Storage Interface (CSI) backups with DataMover

The following storage options are excluded:

  • File system backup and restore

  • Volume snapshot backup and restore

The latest version of the OADP Operator installs Velero 1.16.

Red Hat support is limited to only the following options:

  • CSI backups

  • CSI backups with DataMover.
Prerequisites

  • Access to the cluster as a user with the cluster-admin role.

Procedure

  1. Install the OADP Operator according to the instructions for your storage provider.

  2. Install the Data Protection Application (DPA) with the kubevirt and openshift OADP plug-ins.

  3. Back up virtual machines by creating a Backup custom resource (CR).

    You restore the Backup CR by creating a Restore CR.

Install the Data Protection Application

You install the Data Protection Application (DPA) by creating an instance of the DataProtectionApplication API.

Prerequisites

  • You must install the OADP Operator.

  • You must configure object storage as a backup location.

  • If you use snapshots to back up PVs, your cloud provider must support either a native snapshot API or Container Storage Interface (CSI) snapshots.

  • If the backup and snapshot locations use the same credentials, you must create a Secret with the default name for your storage provider: cloud-credentials for AWS, Multicloud Object Gateway (MCG), Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation (ODF), IBM Cloud, or KubeVirt; cloud-credentials-azure for Azure; or cloud-credentials-gcp for GCP.

  • If the backup and snapshot locations use different credentials, you must create two Secrets:

    • Secret with a custom name for the backup location. You add this Secret to the DataProtectionApplication CR.

    • Secret with another custom name for the snapshot location. You add this Secret to the DataProtectionApplication CR.

    If you do not want to specify backup or snapshot locations during the installation, you can create a default Secret with an empty credentials-velero file. If there is no default Secret, the installation will fail.
Procedure

  1. Click Ecosystem → Installed Operators and select the OADP Operator.

  2. Under Provided APIs, click Create instance in the DataProtectionApplication box.

  3. Click YAML View and update the parameters of the DataProtectionApplication manifest for your storage provider.

  4. Click Create.

Verification

  1. Verify the installation by viewing the OpenShift API for Data Protection (OADP) resources by running the following command:

    $ oc get all -n openshift-adp
    NAME                                                     READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
pod/oadp-operator-controller-manager-67d9494d47-6l8z8    2/2     Running   0          2m8s
pod/node-agent-9cq4q                                     1/1     Running   0          94s
pod/node-agent-m4lts                                     1/1     Running   0          94s
pod/node-agent-pv4kr                                     1/1     Running   0          95s
pod/velero-588db7f655-n842v                              1/1     Running   0          95s

NAME                                                       TYPE        CLUSTER-IP       EXTERNAL-IP   PORT(S)    AGE
service/oadp-operator-controller-manager-metrics-service   ClusterIP   172.30.70.140    <none>        8443/TCP   2m8s
service/openshift-adp-velero-metrics-svc                   ClusterIP   172.30.10.0      <none>        8085/TCP   8h

NAME                        DESIRED   CURRENT   READY   UP-TO-DATE   AVAILABLE   NODE SELECTOR   AGE
daemonset.apps/node-agent    3         3         3       3            3           <none>          96s

NAME                                                READY   UP-TO-DATE   AVAILABLE   AGE
deployment.apps/oadp-operator-controller-manager    1/1     1            1           2m9s
deployment.apps/velero                              1/1     1            1           96s

NAME                                                           DESIRED   CURRENT   READY   AGE
replicaset.apps/oadp-operator-controller-manager-67d9494d47    1         1         1       2m9s
replicaset.apps/velero-588db7f655                              1         1         1       96s

  2. Verify that the DataProtectionApplication (DPA) is reconciled by running the following command:

    $ oc get dpa dpa-sample -n openshift-adp -o jsonpath='{.status}'
    {"conditions":[{"lastTransitionTime":"2023-10-27T01:23:57Z","message":"Reconcile complete","reason":"Complete","status":"True","type":"Reconciled"}]}

  3. Verify the type is set to Reconciled.

  4. Verify the backup storage location and confirm that the PHASE is Available by running the following command:

    $ oc get backupstoragelocations.velero.io -n openshift-adp
    NAME           PHASE       LAST VALIDATED   AGE     DEFAULT
dpa-sample-1   Available   1s               3d16h   true

DataProtectionApplication CR examples by storage provider

Configure the DataProtectionApplication (DPA) custom resource (CR) for your storage provider. The following examples show the DPA manifest for each supported provider with the relevant configuration parameters.

The following parameters are common across all provider configurations:

namespace

Specifies the default namespace for OADP which is openshift-adp. The namespace is a variable and is configurable.

openshift

Specifies that the openshift plugin is mandatory.

resourceTimeout

Specifies how many minutes to wait for several Velero resources such as Velero CRD availability, volumeSnapshot deletion, and backup repository availability, before timeout occurs. The default is 10m.

nodeAgent

Specifies the administrative agent that routes the administrative requests to servers.

enable

Set this value to true if you want to enable nodeAgent and perform File System Backup.

uploaderType

Specifies the uploader type. Enter kopia or restic as your uploader. You cannot change the selection after the installation. For the Built-in DataMover you must use Kopia. The nodeAgent deploys a daemon set, which means that the nodeAgent pods run on each working node. You can configure File System Backup by adding spec.defaultVolumesToFsBackup: true to the Backup CR.

nodeSelector

Specifies the nodes on which Kopia or Restic are available. By default, Kopia or Restic run on all nodes.

bucket

Specifies a bucket as the backup storage location. If the bucket is not a dedicated bucket for Velero backups, you must specify a prefix.

prefix

Specifies a prefix for Velero backups, for example, velero, if the bucket is used for multiple purposes.

The following sections provide DPA configuration examples and provider-specific parameters for each supported storage provider.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)
apiVersion: oadp.openshift.io/v1alpha1
kind: DataProtectionApplication
metadata:
  name: <dpa_sample>
  namespace: openshift-adp
spec:
  configuration:
    velero:
      defaultPlugins:
        - openshift
        - aws
      resourceTimeout: 10m
    nodeAgent:
      enable: true
      uploaderType: kopia
      podConfig:
        nodeSelector: <node_selector>
  backupLocations:
    - name: default
      velero:
        provider: aws
        default: true
        objectStorage:
          bucket: <bucket_name>
          prefix: <prefix>
        config:
          region: <region>
          profile: "default"
          s3ForcePathStyle: "true"
          s3Url: <s3_url>
        credential:
          key: cloud
          name: cloud-credentials
  snapshotLocations:
    - name: default
      velero:
        provider: aws
        config:
          region: <region>
          profile: "default"
        credential:
          key: cloud
          name: cloud-credentials
s3ForcePathStyle

Specifies whether to force path style URLs for S3 objects (Boolean). Not Required for AWS S3. Required only for S3 compatible storage.

s3Url

Specifies the URL of the object store that you are using to store backups. Not required for AWS S3. Required only for S3 compatible storage.

name

Specifies the name of the Secret object that you created. If you do not specify this value, the default name, cloud-credentials, is used. If you specify a custom name, the custom name is used for the backup location.

snapshotLocations

Specifies a snapshot location, unless you use CSI snapshots or a File System Backup (FSB) to back up PVs.

region

Specifies that the snapshot location must be in the same region as the PVs.

IBM Cloud
apiVersion: oadp.openshift.io/v1alpha1
kind: DataProtectionApplication
metadata:
  namespace: openshift-adp
  name: <dpa_name>
spec:
  configuration:
    velero:
      defaultPlugins:
      - openshift
      - aws
      - csi
  backupLocations:
    - velero:
        provider: aws
        default: true
        objectStorage:
          bucket: <bucket_name>
          prefix: velero
        config:
          insecureSkipTLSVerify: 'true'
          profile: default
          region: <region_name>
          s3ForcePathStyle: 'true'
          s3Url: <s3_url>
        credential:
          key: cloud
          name: cloud-credentials
provider

Specifies that the provider is aws when you use IBM Cloud as a backup storage location.

bucket

Specifies the IBM Cloud Object Storage (COS) bucket name.

region

Specifies the COS region name, for example, eu-gb.

s3Url

Specifies the S3 URL of the COS bucket. For example, http://s3.eu-gb.cloud-object-storage.appdomain.cloud. Here, eu-gb is the region name. Replace the region name according to your bucket region.

name

Specifies the name of the secret you created by using the access key and the secret access key from the HMAC credentials.

Microsoft Azure
apiVersion: oadp.openshift.io/v1alpha1
kind: DataProtectionApplication
metadata:
  name: <dpa_sample>
  namespace: openshift-adp
spec:
  configuration:
    velero:
      defaultPlugins:
        - azure
        - openshift
      resourceTimeout: 10m
    nodeAgent:
      enable: true
      uploaderType: kopia
      podConfig:
        nodeSelector: <node_selector>
  backupLocations:
    - velero:
        config:
          resourceGroup: <azure_resource_group>
          storageAccount: <azure_storage_account_id>
          subscriptionId: <azure_subscription_id>
        credential:
          key: cloud
          name: cloud-credentials-azure
        provider: azure
        default: true
        objectStorage:
          bucket: <bucket_name>
          prefix: <prefix>
  snapshotLocations:
    - velero:
        config:
          resourceGroup: <azure_resource_group>
          subscriptionId: <azure_subscription_id>
          incremental: "true"
        name: default
        provider: azure
        credential:
          key: cloud
          name: cloud-credentials-azure
resourceGroup

Specifies the Azure resource group.

storageAccount

Specifies the Azure storage account ID.

subscriptionId

Specifies the Azure subscription ID.

name

Specifies the name of the Secret object. If you do not specify this value, the default name, cloud-credentials-azure, is used. If you specify a custom name, the custom name is used for the backup location.

snapshotLocations

Specifies the snapshot location. You do not need to specify a snapshot location if you use CSI snapshots or Restic to back up PVs.

Google Cloud
apiVersion: oadp.openshift.io/v1alpha1
kind: DataProtectionApplication
metadata:
  name: <dpa_sample>
  namespace: <OPERATOR_INSTALL_NS>
spec:
  configuration:
    velero:
      defaultPlugins:
        - gcp
        - openshift
      resourceTimeout: 10m
    nodeAgent:
      enable: true
      uploaderType: kopia
      podConfig:
        nodeSelector: <node_selector>
  backupLocations:
    - velero:
        provider: gcp
        default: true
        credential:
          key: cloud
          name: cloud-credentials-gcp
        objectStorage:
          bucket: <bucket_name>
          prefix: <prefix>
  snapshotLocations:
    - velero:
        provider: gcp
        default: true
        config:
          project: <project>
          snapshotLocation: us-west1
        credential:
          key: cloud
          name: cloud-credentials-gcp
  backupImages: true
key

Specifies the secret key that contains credentials. For Google workload identity federation cloud authentication use service_account.json.

name

Specifies the secret name that contains credentials. If you do not specify this value, the default name, cloud-credentials-gcp, is used.

snapshotLocations

Specifies a snapshot location, unless you use CSI snapshots or Restic to back up PVs.

snapshotLocation

Specifies that the snapshot location must be in the same region as the PVs.

backupImages

Specifies that Google workload identity federation supports internal image backup. Set this field to false if you do not want to use image backup.

MCG (Multicloud Object Gateway)
apiVersion: oadp.openshift.io/v1alpha1
kind: DataProtectionApplication
metadata:
  name: <dpa_sample>
  namespace: openshift-adp
spec:
  configuration:
    velero:
      defaultPlugins:
        - aws
        - openshift
      resourceTimeout: 10m
    nodeAgent:
      enable: true
      uploaderType: kopia
      podConfig:
        nodeSelector: <node_selector>
  backupLocations:
    - velero:
        config:
          profile: "default"
          region: <region_name>
          s3Url: <url>
          insecureSkipTLSVerify: "true"
          s3ForcePathStyle: "true"
        provider: aws
        default: true
        credential:
          key: cloud
          name: cloud-credentials
        objectStorage:
          bucket: <bucket_name>
          prefix: <prefix>
aws

Specifies that an object store plugin corresponding to your storage locations is required. For all S3 providers, the required plugin is aws. For Azure and Google Cloud object stores, the azure or gcp plugin is required.

region

Specifies the region, following the naming convention of the documentation of your object storage server.

s3Url

Specifies the URL of the S3 endpoint.

name

Specifies the name of the Secret object that you created. If you do not specify this value, the default name, cloud-credentials, is used. If you specify a custom name, the custom name is used for the backup location.

Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation (ODF)
apiVersion: oadp.openshift.io/v1alpha1
kind: DataProtectionApplication
metadata:
  name: <dpa_sample>
  namespace: openshift-adp
spec:
  configuration:
    velero:
      defaultPlugins:
        - aws
        - kubevirt
        - csi
        - openshift
      resourceTimeout: 10m
    nodeAgent:
      enable: true
      uploaderType: kopia
      podConfig:
        nodeSelector: <node_selector>
  backupLocations:
    - velero:
        provider: aws
        default: true
        credential:
          key: cloud
          name: <default_secret>
        objectStorage:
          bucket: <bucket_name>
          prefix: <prefix>
aws

Specifies that an object store plugin corresponding to your storage locations is required. For all S3 providers, the required plugin is aws. For Azure and Google Cloud object stores, the azure or gcp plugin is required.

kubevirt

Optional: The kubevirt plugin is used with OKD Virtualization.

csi

Specifies the csi default plugin if you use CSI snapshots to back up PVs. The csi plugin uses the Velero CSI beta snapshot APIs. You do not need to configure a snapshot location.

provider

Specifies the backup provider.

name

Specifies the correct default name for the Secret, for example, cloud-credentials-gcp, if you use a default plugin for the backup provider. If specifying a custom name, then the custom name is used for the backup location. If you do not specify a Secret name, the default name is used.

KubeVirt (OKD Virtualization)
apiVersion: oadp.openshift.io/v1alpha1
kind: DataProtectionApplication
metadata:
  name: <dpa_sample>
  namespace: openshift-adp
spec:
  configuration:
    velero:
      defaultPlugins:
        - kubevirt
        - gcp
        - csi
        - openshift
      resourceTimeout: 10m
    nodeAgent:
      enable: true
      uploaderType: kopia
      podConfig:
        nodeSelector: <node_selector>
  backupLocations:
    - velero:
        provider: gcp
        default: true
        credential:
          key: cloud
          name: <default_secret>
        objectStorage:
          bucket: <bucket_name>
          prefix: <prefix>
kubevirt

Specifies that the kubevirt plugin is mandatory for OKD Virtualization.

gcp

Specifies the plugin for the backup provider, for example, gcp, if it exists.

csi

Specifies that the csi plugin is mandatory for backing up PVs with CSI snapshots. The csi plugin uses the Velero CSI beta snapshot APIs. You do not need to configure a snapshot location.

provider

Specifies the backup provider.

name

Specifies the correct default name for the Secret, for example, cloud-credentials-gcp, if you use a default plugin for the backup provider. If specifying a custom name, then the custom name is used for the backup location. If you do not specify a Secret name, the default name is used.

If you run a backup of a Microsoft Windows virtual machine (VM) immediately after the VM reboots, the backup might fail with a PartiallyFailed error. This is because, immediately after a VM boots, the Microsoft Windows Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) and Guest Agent (GA) service are not ready. The VSS and GA service being unready causes the backup to fail. In such a case, retry the backup a few minutes after the VM boots.

Back up a single VM

If you have a namespace with multiple virtual machines (VMs), and want to back up only one of them, you can use the label selector to filter the VM that needs to be included in the backup. You can filter the VM by using the app: vmname label.

Prerequisites

  • You have installed the OADP Operator.

  • You have multiple VMs running in a namespace.

  • You have added the kubevirt plugin in the DataProtectionApplication (DPA) custom resource (CR).

  • You have configured the BackupStorageLocation CR in the DataProtectionApplication CR and BackupStorageLocation is available.

Procedure

  1. Configure the Backup CR as shown in the following example:

    Example Backup CR
    apiVersion: velero.io/v1
kind: Backup
metadata:
  name: vmbackupsingle
  namespace: openshift-adp
spec:
  snapshotMoveData: true
  includedNamespaces:
  - <vm_namespace>
  labelSelector:
    matchLabels:
      app: <vm_app_name>
  storageLocation: <backup_storage_location_name>

    where:

    vm_namespace

    Specifies the name of the namespace where you have created the VMs.

    vm_app_name

    Specifies the VM name that needs to be backed up.

    backup_storage_location_name

    Specifies the name of the BackupStorageLocation CR.

  2. To create a Backup CR, run the following command:

    $ oc apply -f <backup_cr_file_name>

    where:

    backup_cr_file_name

    Specifies the name of the Backup CR file.

Restore a single VM

After you have backed up a single virtual machine (VM) by using the label selector in the Backup custom resource (CR), you can create a Restore CR and point it to the backup. This restore operation restores a single VM.

Prerequisites

  • You have installed the OADP Operator.

  • You have backed up a single VM by using the label selector.

Procedure

  1. Configure the Restore CR as shown in the following example:

    Example Restore CR
    apiVersion: velero.io/v1
kind: Restore
metadata:
  name: vmrestoresingle
  namespace: openshift-adp
spec:
  backupName: vmbackupsingle
  restorePVs: true

    where:

    vmbackupsingle

    Specifies the name of the backup of a single VM.

  2. To restore the single VM, run the following command:

    $ oc apply -f <restore_cr_file_name>

    where:

    restore_cr_file_name

    Specifies the name of the Restore CR file.

    When you restore a backup of VMs, you might notice that the Ceph storage capacity allocated for the restore is higher than expected. This behavior is observed only during the kubevirt restore and if the volume type of the VM is block.

    Use the rbd sparsify tool to reclaim space on target volumes. For more details, see Reclaiming space on target volumes.

Restore a single VM from a backup of multiple VMs

If you have a backup containing multiple virtual machines (VMs), and you want to restore only one VM, you can use the LabelSelectors section in the Restore CR to select the VM to restore. To ensure that the persistent volume claim (PVC) attached to the VM is correctly restored, and the restored VM is not stuck in a Provisioning status, use both the app: <vm_name> and the kubevirt.io/created-by labels. To match the kubevirt.io/created-by label, use the UID of DataVolume of the VM.

Prerequisites

  • You have installed the OADP Operator.

  • You have labeled the VMs that need to be backed up.

  • You have a backup of multiple VMs.

Procedure

  1. Before you take a backup of many VMs, ensure that the VMs are labeled by running the following command:

    $ oc label vm <vm_name> app=<vm_name> -n openshift-adp

  2. Configure the label selectors in the Restore CR as shown in the following example:

    Example Restore CR
    apiVersion: velero.io/v1
kind: Restore
metadata:
  name: singlevmrestore
  namespace: openshift-adp
spec:
  backupName: multiplevmbackup
  restorePVs: true
  LabelSelectors:
    - matchLabels:
        kubevirt.io/created-by: <datavolume_uid>
    - matchLabels:
        app: <vm_name>

    where:

    datavolume_uid

    Specifies the UID of DataVolume of the VM that you want to restore. For example, b6…​53a-ddd7-4d9d-9407-a0c…​e5.

    vm_name

    Specifies the name of the VM that you want to restore. For example, test-vm.

  3. To restore a VM, run the following command:

    $ oc apply -f <restore_cr_file_name>

    where:

    restore_cr_file_name

    Specifies the name of the Restore CR file.

Configure the DPA with client burst and QPS settings

The burst setting determines how many requests can be sent to the velero server before the limit is applied. After the burst limit is reached, the queries per second (QPS) setting determines how many additional requests can be sent per second.

You can set the burst and QPS values of the velero server by configuring the Data Protection Application (DPA) with the burst and QPS values. You can use the dpa.configuration.velero.client-burst and dpa.configuration.velero.client-qps fields of the DPA to set the burst and QPS values.

Prerequisites

  • You have installed the OADP Operator.

Procedure

  • Configure the client-burst and the client-qps fields in the DPA as shown in the following example:

    Example Data Protection Application
    apiVersion: oadp.openshift.io/v1alpha1
kind: DataProtectionApplication
metadata:
  name: test-dpa
  namespace: openshift-adp
spec:
  backupLocations:
    - name: default
      velero:
        config:
          insecureSkipTLSVerify: "true"
          profile: "default"
          region: <bucket_region>
          s3ForcePathStyle: "true"
          s3Url: <bucket_url>
        credential:
          key: cloud
          name: cloud-credentials
        default: true
        objectStorage:
          bucket: <bucket_name>
          prefix: velero
        provider: aws
  configuration:
    nodeAgent:
      enable: true
      uploaderType: restic
    velero:
      client-burst: 500
      client-qps: 300
      defaultPlugins:
        - openshift
        - aws
        - kubevirt

    where:

    client-burst

    Specifies the client-burst value. In this example, the client-burst field is set to 500.

    client-qps

    Specifies the client-qps value. In this example, the client-qps field is set to 300.

Configure the node agent as a non-root and non-privileged user

To enhance the node agent security, you can configure the OADP Operator node agent daemonset to run as a non-root and non-privileged user by using the spec.configuration.velero.disableFsBackup setting in the DataProtectionApplication (DPA) custom resource (CR).

By setting the spec.configuration.velero.disableFsBackup setting to true, the node agent security context sets the root file system to read-only and sets the privileged flag to false.

Setting spec.configuration.velero.disableFsBackup to true enhances the node agent security by removing the need for privileged containers and enforcing a read-only root file system.

However, it also disables File System Backup (FSB) with Kopia. If your workloads rely on FSB for backing up volumes that do not support native snapshots, then you should evaluate whether the disableFsBackup configuration fits your use case.
Prerequisites

  • You have installed the OADP Operator.

Procedure

  • Configure the disableFsBackup field in the DPA as shown in the following example:

    apiVersion: oadp.openshift.io/v1alpha1
kind: DataProtectionApplication
metadata:
  name: ts-dpa
  namespace: openshift-adp
spec:
  backupLocations:
  - velero:
      credential:
        key: cloud
        name: cloud-credentials
      default: true
      objectStorage:
        bucket: <bucket_name>
        prefix: velero
      provider: gcp
  configuration:
    nodeAgent:
      enable: true
      uploaderType: kopia
    velero:
      defaultPlugins:
      - csi
      - gcp
      - openshift
      disableFsBackup: true

    where:

    nodeAgent

    Specifies to enable the node agent in the DPA.

    disableFsBackup

    Specifies to set the disableFsBackup field to true.

Verification

  1. Verify that the node agent security context is set to run as non-root and the root file system is readOnly by running the following command:

    $ oc get daemonset node-agent -o yaml

    The example output is as following:

    apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: DaemonSet
metadata:
  ...
  name: node-agent
  namespace: openshift-adp
  ...
spec:
  ...
  template:
    metadata:
      ...
    spec:
      containers:
      ...
        securityContext:
          allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
          capabilities:
            drop:
            - ALL
          privileged: false
          readOnlyRootFilesystem: true
        ...
      nodeSelector:
        kubernetes.io/os: linux
      os:
        name: linux
      restartPolicy: Always
      schedulerName: default-scheduler
      securityContext:
        runAsNonRoot: true
        seccompProfile:
          type: RuntimeDefault
      serviceAccount: velero
      serviceAccountName: velero
      ....

    where:

    allowPrivilegeEscalation

    Specifies that the allowPrivilegeEscalation field is false.

    privileged

    Specifies that the privileged field is false.

    readOnlyRootFilesystem

    Specifies that the root file system is read-only.

    runAsNonRoot

    Specifies that the node agent is run as a non-root user.

Configure node agents and node labels

The Data Protection Application (DPA) uses the nodeSelector field to select which nodes can run the node agent. The nodeSelector field is the recommended form of node selection constraint.

Procedure

  1. Run the node agent on any node that you choose by adding a custom label:

    $ oc label node/<node_name> node-role.kubernetes.io/nodeAgent=""

    Any label specified must match the labels on each node.

  2. Use the same custom label in the DPA.spec.configuration.nodeAgent.podConfig.nodeSelector field, which you used for labeling nodes:

    configuration:
  nodeAgent:
    enable: true
    podConfig:
      nodeSelector:
        node-role.kubernetes.io/nodeAgent: ""

    The following example is an anti-pattern of nodeSelector and does not work unless both labels, node-role.kubernetes.io/infra: "" and node-role.kubernetes.io/worker: "", are on the node:

        configuration:
      nodeAgent:
        enable: true
        podConfig:
          nodeSelector:
            node-role.kubernetes.io/infra: ""
            node-role.kubernetes.io/worker: ""

Configure node agent load affinity

You can schedule the node agent pods on specific nodes by using the spec.podConfig.nodeSelector object of the DataProtectionApplication (DPA) custom resource (CR).

See the following example in which you can schedule the node agent pods on nodes with the label label.io/role: cpu-1 and other-label.io/other-role: cpu-2.

...
spec:
  configuration:
    nodeAgent:
      enable: true
      uploaderType: kopia
      podConfig:
        nodeSelector:
          label.io/role: cpu-1
          other-label.io/other-role: cpu-2
        ...

You can add more restrictions on the node agent pods scheduling by using the nodeagent.loadAffinity object in the DPA spec.

Prerequisites

  • You must be logged in as a user with cluster-admin privileges.

  • You have installed the OADP Operator.

  • You have configured the DPA CR.

Procedure

  • Configure the DPA spec nodegent.loadAffinity object as shown in the following example.

    In the example, you ensure that the node agent pods are scheduled only on nodes with the label label.io/role: cpu-1 and the label label.io/hostname matching with either node1 or node2.

    ...
spec:
  configuration:
    nodeAgent:
      enable: true
      loadAffinity:
        - nodeSelector:
            matchLabels:
              label.io/role: cpu-1
            matchExpressions:
              - key: label.io/hostname
                operator: In
                values:
                  - node1
                  - node2
                  ...

    where:

    loadAffinity

    Specifies the loadAffinity object by adding the matchLabels and matchExpressions objects.

    matchExpressions

    Specifies the matchExpressions object to add restrictions on the node agent pods scheduling.

Node agent load affinity guidelines

Use the following guidelines to configure the node agent loadAffinity object in the DataProtectionApplication (DPA) custom resource (CR).

  • Use the spec.nodeagent.podConfig.nodeSelector object for simple node matching.

  • Use the loadAffinity.nodeSelector object without the podConfig.nodeSelector object for more complex scenarios.

  • You can use both podConfig.nodeSelector and loadAffinity.nodeSelector objects, but the loadAffinity object must be equal or more restrictive as compared to the podConfig object. In this scenario, the podConfig.nodeSelector labels must be a subset of the labels used in the loadAffinity.nodeSelector object.

  • You cannot use the matchExpressions and matchLabels fields if you have configured both podConfig.nodeSelector and loadAffinity.nodeSelector objects in the DPA.

  • See the following example to configure both podConfig.nodeSelector and loadAffinity.nodeSelector objects in the DPA.

    ...
spec:
  configuration:
    nodeAgent:
      enable: true
      uploaderType: kopia
      loadAffinity:
        - nodeSelector:
            matchLabels:
              label.io/location: 'US'
              label.io/gpu: 'no'
      podConfig:
        nodeSelector:
          label.io/gpu: 'no'

Configure node agent load concurrency

You can control the maximum number of node agent operations that can run simultaneously on each node within your cluster.

You can configure it using one of the following fields of the Data Protection Application (DPA):

  • globalConfig: Defines a default concurrency limit for the node agent across all nodes.

  • perNodeConfig: Specifies different concurrency limits for specific nodes based on nodeSelector labels. This provides flexibility for environments where certain nodes might have different resource capacities or roles.

Prerequisites

  • You must be logged in as a user with cluster-admin privileges.

Procedure

  1. If you want to use load concurrency for specific nodes, add labels to those nodes:

    $ oc label node/<node_name> label.io/instance-type='large'

  2. Configure the load concurrency fields for your DPA instance:

      configuration:
    nodeAgent:
      enable: true
      uploaderType: kopia
      loadConcurrency:
        globalConfig: 1
        perNodeConfig:
        - nodeSelector:
              matchLabels:
                 label.io/instance-type: large
          number: 3

    where:

    globalConfig

    Specifies the global concurrent number. The default value is 1, which means there is no concurrency and only one load is allowed. The globalConfig value does not have a limit.

    label.io/instance-type

    Specifies the label for per-node concurrency.

    number

    Specifies the per-node concurrent number. You can specify many per-node concurrent numbers, for example, based on the instance type and size. The range of per-node concurrent number is the same as the global concurrent number. If the configuration file contains a per-node concurrent number and a global concurrent number, the per-node concurrent number takes precedence.

Configure repository maintenance

OADP repository maintenance is a background job, you can configure it independently of the node agent pods. This means that you can schedule the repository maintenance pod on a node where the node agent is or is not running.

You can use the repository maintenance job affinity configurations in the DataProtectionApplication (DPA) custom resource (CR) only if you use Kopia as the backup repository.

You have the option to configure the load affinity at the global level affecting all repositories. Or you can configure the load affinity for each repository. You can also use a combination of global and per-repository configuration.

Prerequisites

  • You must be logged in as a user with cluster-admin privileges.

  • You have installed the OADP Operator.

  • You have configured the DPA CR.

Procedure

  • Configure the loadAffinity object in the DPA spec by using either one or both of the following methods:

    • Global configuration: Configure load affinity for all repositories as shown in the following example:

      ...
spec:
  configuration:
    repositoryMaintenance:
      global:
        podResources:
          cpuRequest: "100m"
          cpuLimit: "200m"
          memoryRequest: "100Mi"
          memoryLimit: "200Mi"
        loadAffinity:
          - nodeSelector:
              matchLabels:
                label.io/gpu: 'no'
              matchExpressions:
                - key: label.io/location
                  operator: In
                  values:
                    - US
                    - EU

      where:

      repositoryMaintenance

      Specifies the repositoryMaintenance object as shown in the example.

      global

      Specifies the global object to configure load affinity for all repositories.

    • Per-repository configuration: Configure load affinity per repository as shown in the following example:

      ...
spec:
  configuration:
    repositoryMaintenance:
      myrepositoryname:
        loadAffinity:
          - nodeSelector:
              matchLabels:
                label.io/cpu: 'yes'

      where:

      myrepositoryname

      Specifies the repositoryMaintenance object for each repository.

Configure Velero load affinity

With each OADP deployment, there is one Velero pod and its main purpose is to schedule Velero workloads. To schedule the Velero pod, you can use the velero.podConfig.nodeSelector and the velero.loadAffinity objects in the DataProtectionApplication (DPA) custom resource (CR) spec.

Use the podConfig.nodeSelector object to assign the Velero pod to specific nodes. You can also configure the velero.loadAffinity object for pod-level affinity and anti-affinity.

The OpenShift scheduler applies the rules and performs the scheduling of the Velero pod deployment.

Prerequisites

  • You must be logged in as a user with cluster-admin privileges.

  • You have installed the OADP Operator.

  • You have configured the DPA CR.

Procedure

  • Configure the velero.podConfig.nodeSelector and the velero.loadAffinity objects in the DPA spec as shown in the following examples:

    • velero.podConfig.nodeSelector object configuration:

      ...
spec:
  configuration:
    velero:
      podConfig:
        nodeSelector:
          some-label.io/custom-node-role: backup-core

    • velero.loadAffinity object configuration:

      ...
spec:
  configuration:
    velero:
      loadAffinity:
        - nodeSelector:
            matchLabels:
              label.io/gpu: 'no'
            matchExpressions:
              - key: label.io/location
                operator: In
                values:
                  - US
                  - EU

Configure a priority class for node agent and Velero pods

Configure a priorityClassName field for the node agent and Velero pods by editing the DataProtectionApplication (DPA) custom resource (CR). This helps you ensure that the Kubernetes scheduler prioritizes OADP pods during resource contention.

By setting a priority class, you ensure that critical OADP pods are scheduled first after events such as worker node outages, when user workloads might otherwise consume available resources.

Prerequisites

  • The OADP Operator is installed.

  • A DPA CR is configured.

  • A PriorityClass object is created in the cluster.

Procedure

  1. In your DPA CR, configure the priorityClassName field for the node agent, Velero, or both, in the podConfig object as shown in the following example:

    apiVersion: oadp.openshift.io/v1alpha1
kind: DataProtectionApplication
metadata:
  name: <dpa_name>
  namespace: openshift-adp
spec:
# ...
  configuration:
    nodeAgent:
      enable: true
      uploaderType: kopia
      podConfig:
        priorityClassName: <priority_class_name>
    velero:
      podConfig:
        priorityClassName: <priority_class_name>

    where: <priority_class_name>:: Specifies the name of an existing PriorityClass to apply to the pods managed by this podConfig object. For example, system-cluster-critical.

  2. Apply the DataProtectionApplication CR by running the following command:

    $ oc apply -f <dpa_file_name>
Verification

  1. Verify that the node agent daemon set pods have the correct priority class by running the following command:

    $ oc get pods -n openshift-adp -l name=node-agent -o jsonpath='{range .items[*]}{.metadata.name}{" "}{.spec.priorityClassName}{"\n"}{end}'
    node-agent-xxxxx <priority_class_name>
node-agent-yyyyy <priority_class_name>

  2. Verify that the Velero deployment pods have the correct priority class by running the following command:

    $ oc get pods -n openshift-adp -l app.kubernetes.io/name=velero -o jsonpath='{range .items[*]}{.metadata.name}{" "}{.spec.priorityClassName}{"\n"}{end}'
    velero-xxxxx <priority_class_name>

Override the imagePullPolicy setting in the DPA

In OADP 1.4.0 or earlier, the Operator sets the imagePullPolicy field of the Velero and node agent pods to Always for all images.

In OADP 1.4.1 or later, the Operator first checks if each image has the sha256 or sha512 digest and sets the imagePullPolicy field accordingly:

  • If the image has the digest, the Operator sets imagePullPolicy to IfNotPresent.

  • If the image does not have the digest, the Operator sets imagePullPolicy to Always.

You can also override the imagePullPolicy field by using the spec.imagePullPolicy field in the Data Protection Application (DPA).

Prerequisites

  • You have installed the OADP Operator.

Procedure

  • Configure the spec.imagePullPolicy field in the DPA as shown in the following example:

    Example Data Protection Application
    apiVersion: oadp.openshift.io/v1alpha1
kind: DataProtectionApplication
metadata:
  name: test-dpa
  namespace: openshift-adp
spec:
  backupLocations:
    - name: default
      velero:
        config:
          insecureSkipTLSVerify: "true"
          profile: "default"
          region: <bucket_region>
          s3ForcePathStyle: "true"
          s3Url: <bucket_url>
        credential:
          key: cloud
          name: cloud-credentials
        default: true
        objectStorage:
          bucket: <bucket_name>
          prefix: velero
        provider: aws
  configuration:
    nodeAgent:
      enable: true
      uploaderType: kopia
    velero:
      defaultPlugins:
        - openshift
        - aws
        - kubevirt
        - csi
  imagePullPolicy: Never

    where:

    imagePullPolicy

    Specifies the value for imagePullPolicy. In this example, the imagePullPolicy field is set to Never.

About incremental backup support

OADP supports incremental backups of block and Filesystem persistent volumes for both containerized, and OKD Virtualization workloads. The following table summarizes the support for File System Backup (FSB), Container Storage Interface (CSI), and CSI Data Mover:

Table 1. OADP backup support matrix for containerized workloads
Volume mode FSB - Restic FSB - Kopia CSI CSI Data Mover

Filesystem

Backup supported, Incremental backup supported

Backup supported, Incremental backup supported

Backup supported

Backup supported, Incremental backup supported

Block

Not supported

Not supported

Backup supported

Backup supported, Incremental backup supported
Table 2. OADP backup support matrix for OKD Virtualization workloads
Volume mode FSB - Restic FSB - Kopia CSI CSI Data Mover

Filesystem

Not supported

Not supported

Backup supported

Backup supported, Incremental backup supported

Block

Not supported

Not supported

Backup supported

Backup supported, Incremental backup supported

The CSI Data Mover backups use Kopia regardless of uploaderType.

Additional resources