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Restoring files from VMware backups

Use the VMware file-level recovery (FLR) feature to restore individual files from a Windows or Linux VM to the original VM, or to another machine running the same OS as the original. The restore target machine can be a physical or virtual machine and does not need to be a protected client of the backup system. You may simultaneously run one file-level recovery session for each protected VM.

Note:   FLR is supported on Windows and Linux VMs only. FLR is not supported on other operating systems, such as OES, SCO, and Novell. For these operating systems, you can restore the VM. For details, see Restoring the entire VMware virtual machine.

To recover files and folders, the virtual machine hard drives are exposed as both a CIFS (Samba) share and an iSCSI LUN. You then choose to map the share or LUN to the restore target machine so that data can be copied to the desired location.

You must use iSCSI LUN mapping for the following:

• To recover access control information on files and folders for Windows systems
• To recover NTFS encrypted files

Note:   For the restore process, iSCSI disks are writable and a 1 GB write limit is enforced. If the restore process requires more than 1 GB, you will see OS errors on the restore target machine. If this happens, restore the VM rather than individual files. See Restoring the entire VMware virtual machine for details.

ClosedWindows prerequisites

The following prerequisites must be met to perform an item level recovery for Windows clients.

Windows prerequisite

Description

CIFS (Samba) access

Ensure that the Samba service is enabled. Turn on the Samba service by selecting Settings > System, Updates, and Licensing > Support Toolbox > Samba On/Off.

iSCSI access for Windows 2003

To connect to the iSCSI LUN exposed by the Unitrends system, an iSCSI initiator must be used. For Windows 2003, the initiator package must be downloaded and installed on the restore target machine. Download the installation file from:

http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=18986

Disk configuration

VMware FLR is supported on Windows systems configured with MBR partitions only. GPT partitions are not supported. FLR can be performed for dynamic disks with the following limitations:

FLR on dynamic disks can be performed only with iSCSI. FLR on dynamic disks using a CIFS share is not supported.

If the dynamic volumes in the backup are still in use on the original server, then the disks exported by FLR must be attached to a different server for the recovery.
ClosedTo perform VMware file-level recovery
1 Select the vCenter, stand-alone ESX server, or navigation group in the Navigation pane.

The list of available backups that display in the next step is filtered by the selection you make here.

Note:  If you do not see resource pools, vApps, virtual machines, or navigation groups in the Navigation pane, click the Gear icon at the bottom of the Navigation pane, check Show Virtual Machines in Navigation Tree, and click Confirm.

2 Select Restore from the Main menu.
3 Select a day in the calendar and the desired backup below to define the recovery point time.
4 Click Next (Select Files/Items) at the bottom of the screen.
5 On the Restore from Backup screen, you see one of the following:
• No disk image exists; select ‘Create’ to build one.

or

• An image is available for recovery. All images on the backup system display in the grid below.
6 Click Create to create a disk image for the VM from which you are restoring.

Note:   If a previous disk image was created and is still mounted for this VM, you must tear down this image before the system will allow you to create a new share.

An image is created and displays in the Images available for recovery area. The VM disk’s files are exposed as a CIFS (Samba) share and/or an iSCSI target. The Targets column indicates whether Samba (smb), iSCSI, or both targets are available.

If you receive an error while attempting to create the image, increase the memory allocated to the Unitrends system and try again.

7 Proceed to one of the following to select files to restore:
ClosedTo use a CIFS share to restore files from a VMware backup to a Windows target
1 Create a disk image. See To perform VMware file-level recovery for details.
2 Log in to the Windows machine to which files will be restored.

This can be the VM from which files are to be restored, or any other Windows machine. It cannot be a VM with dynamic disks.

3 Mount the share to the Windows machine by mapping a network drive to the path displayed in the Images available for recovery area of the Restore from Backup screen. For example:

\\<system IP>\flr<n>

where n is a number.

4 Browse the mapped share to locate the files to restore.

Each partition in the flr share is named volume n, where n is a number.

5 Copy files to restore them to the desired location.
6 Disconnect the network share once files have been restored by right-clicking the share and selecting Disconnect.
7 On the backup system, tear down the restore image using one of the following procedures:
• If the Restore from Backup screen is still open in the backup system, select the image in the Images available for recovery area, and click Tear Down. Click Yes to confirm that you would like to proceed. The image is removed from the share.
• If you have closed the Restore from the Backup screen, follow the instructions described in About the VMware restore session.
ClosedTo use iSCSI to restore files from a VMware backup to a Windows 2003 target
1 Create a disk image. See To perform VMware file-level recovery for details.
2 Log in to the Windows 2003 machine to which files will be restored.

This can be the VM from which files are to be restored, or any other Windows machine. For dynamic disks, if the dynamic volumes in the backup are still in use on the original server, then the disks exported by FLR must be attached to a different server for the recovery.

3 Launch the iSCSI Initiator from the Windows Control Panel > Administrative Tools.
4 From the Initiator, enter the backup system IP address as a target portal. The exposed targets are automatically discovered.
5 Select the desired iSCSI target.

The last part of the iSCSI identifier contains the VM name. For example, if the VM name is Ubuntu on NFS, the ID looks like:

iqn.1995-11.com.unitrends.dpu:flr.89fb.ubuntuonnfs

6 Log in to expose targets as local disks.
7 Use Windows Disk Management tools to assign drive letters and retrieve files.

The Windows file explorer has a setting to hide protected/system files from view. Be sure this setting is turned off so you can access all files.

8 Copy files/folders from the iSCSI drives to the desired location.
9 When finished, Log Off using the iSCSI Initiator.

This terminates the machine’s connection to the iSCSI target.

10 On the backup system, tear down the restore image using one of the following procedures:

Warning!      Proceeding with the tear-down while the restore target is still connected causes undesired results and errors on the target machine.

• If the Restore from Backup screen is still open in the backup system, select the image in the Images available for recovery area, and click Tear Down. Click Yes to confirm that you would like to proceed. The image is removed from the share.
• If you have closed the Restore from the Backup screen, follow the instructions described in About the VMware restore session.
ClosedTo use iSCSI to restore files from a VMware backup to a Windows target running 2008 or later
1 Create a disk image. See To perform VMware file-level recovery for details.
2 Log in to the Windows machine to which files will be restored.

This can be the VM from which files are to be restored, or any other Windows machine. For dynamic disks, if the dynamic volumes in the backup are still in use on the original server, then the disks exported by FLR must be attached to a different server for the recovery.

3 Launch the iSCSI Initiator from the Windows Control Panel > Administrative Tools.
4 From the Initiator, enter the backup system IP address as a target and choose Quick Connect.

A list of iSCSI target LUNs display.

5 Select the desired iSCSI target from the list and click Done.

The last part of the iSCSI identifier contains the VM name. For example, if the VM name is Ubuntu on NFS, the ID looks like:

iqn.1995-11.com.unitrends.dpu:flr.89fb.ubuntuonnfs

6 Use Windows Disk Management tools to assign drive letters and retrieve files.

The Windows file explorer has a setting to hide protected/system files from view. Be sure this setting is turned off so you can access all files.

7 Copy files/folders from the iSCSI drives to the desired location.
8 When finished, Disconnect from the LUNS using the iSCSI Initiator.
9 On the backup system, tear down the restore image using one of the following procedures:

Warning!      Proceeding with the tear-down while the restore target is still connected causes undesired results and errors on the target machine.

• If the Restore from Backup screen is still open in the backup system, select the image in the Images available for recovery area, and click Tear Down. Click Yes to confirm that you would like to proceed. The image is removed from the share.
• If you have closed the Restore from the Backup screen, follow the instructions described in About the VMware restore session.
ClosedTo restore files from a VMware backup to a Linux target

Note:  This procedure is not supported for software RAID (mdraid) configurations. Instead, restore the VM. See Restoring the entire VMware virtual machine.

1 Create a disk image. See To perform VMware file-level recovery for details.
2 Log in to the Linux machine to which files will be restored.

This can be the VM from which files are to be restored, or any other Linux machine.

3 Change to the /tmp directory:

cd /tmp

4 Run the following command to copy the iscsi_flr script from the backup system:

wget http://<backup system IP>/iscsi_flr

5 Once the script is downloaded, add execute permission:

chmod +x iscsi_flr

6 Run the script as follows:

./iscsi_flr mount

7 Enter information at the system prompts. An example for a VM called linux whose backup system IP is 192.168.237.230 is given here:

Unitrends VM File-Level Recovery

<…intro text…>

-------------------------

Enter address of the Unitrends backup appliance: 192.168.237.230

Enter mount point directory: /tmp/<directory>/

Performing iSCSI target discovery from 192.168.237.230.

1: 192.168.237.230:3260,1 iqn.1995-11.com.unitrends.dpu:flr.4cdf.linux

2. 192.168.237.230:3260,1 iqn.1995-11.com.unitrends.dpu:flr.aecb.linux2

Choose a session to restore from: 1

Logging in to iSCSI target iqn.1995-11.com.unitrends.dpu:flr.4cdf.linux at 192.168.237.230:3260,1

<…etc…>

8 Use Linux tools, such as cp, to copy the files/folders to the desired location.
9 Once data has been restored, it is important to disconnect the share by running this command from the /tmp directory:

./iscsi_flr unmount

10 On the backup system, tear down the restore image using one of the following procedures:

Warning!      Proceeding with the tear-down while the restore target is still connected causes undesired results and errors on the target machine.

• If the Restore from Backup screen is still open in the backup system, select the image in the Images available for recovery area, and click Tear Down. Click Yes to confirm that you would like to proceed. The image is removed from the share.
• If you have closed the Restore from the Backup screen, follow the instructions described in About the VMware restore session.