[Yandex Cloud documentation](../../index.md) > [Yandex Cloud Backup](../index.md) > [Concepts](index.md) > Cloud Backup agent

# Cloud Backup agent


The Cloud Backup agent interfaces the resources with Cloud Backup and the backup provider. It is installed on [Yandex Compute Cloud](../../compute/index.md) VMs or [Yandex BareMetal](../../baremetal/index.md) servers.

For more information about the backup provider and the data sent to it, see [Service activation and backup provider](index.md#providers).

The Cloud Backup agent performs the following actions on the resource:

* Registers the resource in Cloud Backup under a [service account](vm-connection.md#sa).
* Reports the resource's connection status to Cloud Backup.
* Backs up the resource according to the [backup policy](policy.md).
* Recovers the resource from a backup.
* Disconnects the resource from Cloud Backup.

{% note info %}

To perform operations in Cloud Backup, including deleting backups, your [folder](../../resource-manager/concepts/resources-hierarchy.md#folder) must have at least one active resource (VM in `RUNNING` status or BareMetal server in `READY` status) with the Cloud Backup agent installed. If there are no such VMs or servers, [create](../operations/create-vm.md) a temporary new VM connected to Cloud Backup to take the actions you need.

{% endnote %}

You can install the Cloud Backup agent on a VM [manually](vm-connection.md#self-install) or create a VM from Yandex Cloud Marketplace [images](vm-connection.md#os) with a pre-installed Cloud Backup agent.

BareMetal servers only support manual installation of the Cloud Backup agent. For more information, see [Connecting a BareMetal server to Cloud Backup](../operations/backup-baremetal/backup-baremetal.md).


## Use cases {#examples}

* [Connecting a Yandex BareMetal server to Cloud Backup](../tutorials/backup-baremetal.md)
* [Associating a Yandex Cloud Backup policy to a VM automatically](../tutorials/vm-with-backup-policy/index.md)


#### See also {#see-also}

* [Connecting an existing Linux VM to Cloud Backup](../operations/connect-vm-linux.md)
* [Connecting an existing Linux VM with OS Login to Cloud Backup](../operations/connect-vm-oslogin-linux.md)
* [Connecting an existing Windows Server VM to Cloud Backup](../operations/connect-vm-windows.md)
* [Reconnecting a VM to Cloud Backup](../operations/refresh-connection.md)
* [Updating or recovering the Yandex Cloud Backup agent on a VM](../operations/update-backup-agent.md)
* [Reconnecting a Linux VM with OS Login to Cloud Backup](../operations/refresh-connection-oslogin-linux.md)
* [Connecting an existing Yandex BareMetal server to Yandex Cloud Backup](../operations/backup-baremetal/backup-baremetal.md)
* [Reconnecting a Yandex BareMetal server to Cloud Backup](../operations/backup-baremetal/refresh-connection.md)
* [Limiting RAM usage by the Cloud Backup agent](../operations/limit-agent-memory-usage.md)