Monitor third-party backup products

View as Markdown Open in ChatGPT Open in Claude

Outpost reports the backup products you already run next to Outpost Backup, so the coverage page counts every endpoint the same way whichever product protects it. Results reach Outpost in two ways: the agent detects products on the endpoint, and connectors read the vendor’s cloud API. This page explains both and shows how to add a connector.

Outpost only reads status. It never starts, stops, or configures another product.

Detection on the endpoint

The agent looks for these products on every endpoint, whether or not Outpost Backup is on. It sends what it finds once an hour when something changed, and in full once a day. Nothing needs to be set up.

Product	Windows	Linux	macOS (Preview)
Veeam Agent	Last result	Last result	Last result
Windows Server Backup	Last result	No	No
Cove Data Protection (Backup Manager)	Last result	Last result	Last result
Backblaze	Last result	No	Last result
CrashPlan	Last result	Last result	Last result
Time Machine	No	No	Last result
Macrium Reflect	Installed only	No	No
Acronis Cyber Protect	Installed only	Installed only	Installed only
Datto Windows Agent	Installed only	No	No

Installed only means the agent sees the product but cannot read its result on the endpoint, so it reports the outcome as Unknown. To get results for those products, add a connector for the vendor.

Connectors

A connector polls a vendor’s API every 15 minutes and reports each protected device it finds. Outpost matches each device to an endpoint by serial number, then by hostname together with a MAC address, then by hostname alone when only one endpoint has that hostname and either side reports no MAC address. A rule that finds more than one endpoint does not match. Anything left unmatched can be linked by hand. When a connector and detection on the endpoint both report the same product for an endpoint, the connector’s result is used.

Vendor	Name in the console	Credential	Address
N-able	N-able Cove Data Protection	Management console login and Password	Optional. Defaults to `https://api.backup.management/jsonapi`.
Datto	Datto BCDR	API public key and API private key	Optional. Defaults to `https://api.datto.com/v1`.
Acronis	Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud	API client ID and Client secret	Required: your data center address, such as `https://eu2-cloud.acronis.com`.
Veeam	Veeam Service Provider Console	Portal user and Password or API key. Leave the user empty when the secret is an API key.	Required: your console address, such as `https://vspc.example.com:1280`.
Axcient	Axcient x360Recover	x360Portal API key. The other field is an optional label for the key and is not sent to Axcient.	Optional. Defaults to `https://axapi.axcient.com/x360recover`.

For Cove, Partner name (optional) and Partner ID (optional) pick the customer when the login can see several partners.

Before you begin

You need the backup:manage permission. Among the built-in roles, only the owner holds it. On the MSP plan, practice-level roles with storage:manage hold it too.
Create a read-only API credential in the vendor’s console, scoped to the customer this client represents.
To save the credential while adding the connector, you also need vault:manage. Otherwise, save it in the credential vault first.
On the MSP plan, open the client’s workspace first. A connector reports into one client.

Add a connector

Go to Backup > Connectors and select Add connector.
In Vendor, choose the product. You cannot change it later.
In Name, enter a name you will recognize, such as Datto BCDR.
Fill in Address if the vendor needs one.
Under API credential, choose A credential already in the vault, or A new credential, saved to the vault and fill in Name in the vault and the vendor’s credential fields.
Keep Poll this connector every 15 minutes selected.
Select Add connector. The connector is polled within 15 minutes.

To check the connection without waiting, select Test on the connector’s row. It reports whether the vendor answered and how many devices it sees, and changes nothing. Poll now queues a poll at once.

Link unmatched devices

On the connector’s row, select Devices.
Select Unmatched to list devices no endpoint was found for.
Select Link to an endpoint on a device, find the endpoint, and select it.

A device linked by hand shows Linked by hand, and automatic matching never changes it. Unlink removes the link.

Verify

On Backup > Connectors, the connector’s Last poll shows a time and its Devices count is what you expect.
On Backup > Coverage, Reporting sources includes the product, and matched endpoints list it under Sources.
An endpoint’s Backups tab shows the product under Other backup products.

If something goes wrong

Symptom	Cause	Fix
The connector shows a poll error	The credential is wrong or lacks access, or the address is wrong.	Select Test to see the vendor’s answer, then Edit the connector.
A device stays Not matched	Its serial number is missing or different, and no hostname and MAC address pair matches exactly one endpoint.	Link it by hand.
A product shows Unknown	The product is detected on the endpoint but its result cannot be read there.	Add a connector for the vendor.

Deleting a connector removes the results it reported.

Next steps

Content is licensed CC BY 4.0. Code samples are MIT. Outpost and the Outpost mark are trademarks of Outpost Business Solutions, PBC and are not covered by either license.