Manually Installing Agent on Linux Servers

What is Acronis Backup?

Acronis Backup is a data protection and disaster recovery solution that helps safeguard servers, desktops, virtual machines, and cloud workloads. It enables automated backups, secure storage, and fast recovery of data in case of accidental deletion, hardware failure, cyberattacks, or system crashes. Acronis Backup also includes features like encryption, ransomware protection, and centralized management through a web-based console, ensuring business continuity and data security.

To enable Acronis Backup on your server, the Acronis Backup Agent must be installed. This process involves:

• Downloading the Acronis backup agent installer binary.
• Installing the required dependencies on the server.
• Running the installer binary to complete the setup.

 

Downloading the Acronis backup agent installer binary:

Step 1: Log in to the Acronis Cyber Protect Console

Step 2: Navigate to Devices and click Add Device

Step 3: From Servers, click Linux. This will start downloading the agent installer binary file, which you can upload to the server.

Step 4: You can also right-click the Linux icon, copy the link address, and download the file directly to the server using wget.

~]# wget -O Cyber_Protection_Agent_for_Linux_x86_64.bin “<link copied>” (include (“) quotes)

Installing the dependencies:

For CentOS 6/7/8

The Acronis backup agent installer require the following software to be installed: 

• kernel-devel
• gcc
• make
• Elfutils-libelf-devel 
• perl

The Acronis backup agent installer will install all packages using yum or dnf. It tries to install kernel-devel-$(uname -r), and if the package is not available in yum, then the kernel in the server should be updated to the latest version. Check if kernel-devel is installed using the command.

~]# rpm -q kernel-devel-$(uname -r)

If it is not installed, update the kernel to the latest version and reboot the server.

~]# yum update kernel-*~]# reboot

Once the server is booted with the latest kernel, run:

~]# yum install kernel-devel-$(uname -r)

Ensure kernel-devel is installed using the command ~]# rpm -q kernel-devel-$(uname -r) 

 

For Ubuntu/Debian

The Acronis backup agent installer requires the following software to be installed in Ubuntu/Debian servers.

• linux-headers
• linux-image
• gcc
• make
• perl

The Acronis backup agent installer will install all packages using apt. To install them manually, run:

~]# apt-get update ~]# apt-get install linux-headers-$(uname -r) ~]# apt-get install linux-image-$(uname -r)

 

Running the installer binary:

Step 1: Log in to the server as root

Step 2: cd to the path where the backup agent installer binary was downloaded.

Step 3: Change the permissions of the file to make it executable

~]# chmod +x Cyber_Protection_Agent_for_Linux_x86_64.bin

Step 4: Run the installer by executing the following command.

~]# ./Cyber_Protection_Agent_for_Linux_x86_64.bin

Step 5: The Acronis agent setup will now be initiated. From under Component Selection, select Agent for Linux and then click Next.

Step 6: A prompt notifying that some of the required packages that are not installed will be shown. Click Continue to automatically install the packages.

Step 7: Once the installation is completed, a prompt to register the machine will be displayed. Click on Show Registration Info.

 

Step 8: Open the registration link in a browser, log in to the Acronis account, and enter the registration code. Click Check Code.

 

Step 9: Once the registration is complete, the agent installation console will also show a message that the agent installation has been completed successfully.

Step 10: The server on which the agent is installed will be listed in the Acronis Panel under All Devices, from where you can enable backup protection.

 

To whitelist IPs, the following command should be executed on the server.

If using IPTABLES

iptables -I INPUT -s <IP> -j ACCEPT

If using CSF:

 csf -a <IP>

If restricted using TCP wrappers: Add to the top of /etc/hosts.allow

ALL: <IP>