Nothing revolutionary here, but I thought I’ll document the procedure as I happen to use it every now and then.

All VMs are assigned with a MoRef id when they are added to a vCenter deployment.

When you want to backup a VM using Veeam B&R, you add it into a pre-configured job using its name, however on the backend Veeam associates the VM with that job using the MoRef id.

If the VM which is being backed up by Veeam B&R is removed from the vCenter inventory (because you removed a whole host from vCenter or a VM was in an invalid state), the MoRef id for that VM will change when the VM is added back into the vCenter. Veeam will not register the MoRef id change automatically and kick off a new full backup (on the next backup cycle) for the same VM it previously backed up – thinking it’s a completely new VM (due to the unique new MoRef id).

To avoid a new full backup, you need to manually update the MoRef id for that VM in the Veeam database prior to the next backup cycle.

Note that the following steps are not supported by Veeam officially. Mess with the Veeam database at your own risk!

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