Performing image-based bare metal recovery

Use the following procedures to perform image-based bare metal recovery. For a successful recovery, be sure to run the procedures in order. Before you start, it is recommended that you read Windows image-based bare metal recovery for an overview of the recovery process and review the Implementing image-based bare metal protection.

For the recovery, you must use the ISO image that was created for the asset you will recover:

• If you are recovering to a physical machine target, you will need the boot CD containing the failed asset's ISO image.
• If you are recovering to a virtual machine target, save the failed asset's ISO image in a location that you can access from your hypervisor.

Proceed to Step 2: Prepare the recovery target machine.

You can recover a failed asset to a physical or virtual machine (VM). Use one of the following procedures to prepare the recovery target machine:

1 Check the Supported operating systems to verify that the recovery target machine is running a supported operating system version.
2 If you will be recovering to dissimilar hardware, do the following:
• Check the Supported operating systems to verify that recovery to dissimilar hardware is supported for the failed asset's operating system. If dissimilar recovery is not supported, you must recover to a target machine that has identical hardware as that of the failed asset.
• During recovery, you will need to load drivers into WinPE to access the network and storage hardware on the recovery target machine. Load the applicable drivers onto a USB drive or CD that you can access during the recovery. See Drivers for a description of the drivers needed for your operating system.
3 Verify that the machine meets the Implementing image-based bare metal protection and the following requirements:
• Firmware interface is BIOS-based.
• Disks are configured as basic disks and the boot disk contains an MBR partition.
• At least 256MB of RAM is available.
• The target disk is at least as large as the source disk you are recovering.
• Has a graphics card supporting a minimum 800X600 resolution.
• Has a wired network adapter (wireless adapters cannot be used for the recovery).
4 Create copies of any existing data on the target machine's disk if you need to preserve this data. Existing data on the recovery target disks is overwritten or deleted during the recovery.
5 Proceed to Step 3: Perform image-based bare metal recovery.
1 Create a new Hyper-V, VMware, or XenServer VM that meets the Implementing image-based bare metal protection and the following requirements:
• Do not install an OS on the VM.
• Add enough memory to satisfy Microsoft’s support guidelines for the operating system being recovered. The recovery requires at least 2 GB of memory.
• Assign the VM a virtual hard disk with at least as much space as was available on the failed asset you are recovering. If you give it less space, the recovery fails.
2 Add a NIC to use for the recovery:
• If recovering to a VMware VM, you must use the E1000 NIC.
• If recovering an older asset (Windows 2003/R2 or earlier) to a Hyper-V VM, you must use the legacy NIC to boot into WinPE 1.5.
– Launch Hyper-V Manager, right-click the VM, and select Shut Down. The VM shuts down and its State changes to Off.
– Right-click the VM and select Settings.
– In the Hardware list, select the existing Network Adapter and note the current value displayed in the Network drop-down box.
– Change the value in the Network drop-down box to Not connected and click Apply.
– In the Hardware list, select Add Hardware.
– Choose Legacy Network Adapter in the list and click Add.
– Change the value in the Network drop-down box to the original value you noted above, and click OK.
– Right-click the VM and select Start to power it on.
3 Edit the VM settings to boot from the bare metal ISO that was created for the failed asset.
4 Proceed to Step 3: Perform image-based bare metal recovery.

Perform the recovery by using the Integrated Bare Metal Recovery Wizard. See the following topics for details:

Before an asset fails, you can perform a test image-based bare metal recovery without impacting the original asset. To ensure the original asset is not is not impacted, review the considerations in the table below and implement one of the recommended strategies before you perform the test. IP/DNS conflicts will occur if the hostname and IP of the recovered asset match those of the original asset (if the original asset is connected to the network).

To perform the test recovery, use the procedures in one of the following topics:

• Performing image-based recovery for Vista and later operating systems (WinPE 2.0)
• Performing image-based recovery for 2003/R2 and earlier operating systems (WinPE 1.5).

Consideration

Description

Network considerations

Consider the following before performing the test recovery:

• When you boot from the ISO image, the asset connects to the network using the IP and hostname of the asset the ISO was made for. It is critical that the test recovery target machine NOT be connected to the same physical network if the original server is still online as this can cause an IP/DNS conflict. To prevent a conflict, do one of the following:
– Remove the production server from the network during the test recovery. After recovering, take the recovery target off of the network and bring the production server back on to the network.
– Create a new test ISO image for the production server but assign a different, unused IP address. While creating the bare metal boot disk, just manually change the asset's IP and hostname. (For details, see Creating the ISO and boot media.) You then need to change the asset's IP/hostname settings on the Unitrends appliance to match these new settings (and change them back after you complete the test recovery).
• During recovery, you select a bare metal backup to recover. The Windows Bare Metal interface searches the appliance for these backups by using the asset's IP and/or hostname. If the asset's IP and hostname on the ISO do not match those on the appliance, no bare metal backups display in this list. Modify these settings on the Unitrends appliance to match the settings on the ISO (and change them back after you complete the test recovery). For details, see To view or edit the hosts file.

Active Directory considerations

Assets that are dependent on Active Directory for day to day functions may not function properly when recovered to a test network if a domain controller is not recovered into the test network first. If you plan to recover a domain controller with bare metals, it is extremely critical to perform this recovery into a test network.

Use the procedures in this section to recover assets running Windows Vista and later operating systems listed in Supported operating systems. These procedures apply to any supported target machine (a physical machine, a virtual machine, dissimilar hardware, etc.).

Notes:   

• You must prepare the recovery target machine before running this procedure. See Step 2: Prepare the recovery target machine for details.
• If you are recovering to dissimilar hardware, you will need to load drivers during recovery. WinPE requires that you use 32-bit network and storage drivers. Be sure to load these drivers onto a CD or USB device that is accessible from the recovery target machine before you start.

For a successful recovery, you must run the procedures in the following order:

1 Boot the recovery target machine from the bare metal ISO image. The machine boots into WinPE 2.0 and launches the Windows Bare Metal interface.
2 The system attempts to discover the local network hardware. Do one of the following:
• If the network device is found, proceed to step 3.
• If a network device cannot be found, select Yes to load a driver for the network device. Once the driver is loaded successfully, the boot process continues and the WinPE GUI displays.
3 Verify that local disks display in the disk information area, then proceed to Step 2: Start the recovery.

If no disks display, a storage driver is needed to access the local storage devices. Use these steps to load the storage driver:

• Click Bare Metal Setup.
• Select Load Driver.
• Select the target file, then click Load Driver. The selected driver is loaded into the active WinPE image. (If you see a failure message, the driver could not be loaded.)
• When you see the message indicating the driver was loaded successfully, click OK then Exit to return to the main menu.
• Select Bare Metal Restore, then Rescan Disk. The local disks display in the list. Proceed to Step 2: Start the recovery.
1 Select the bare metal backup and target disk information, then click Start Restore.

Note:  If no bare metal backups display, verify that the asset's hostname and IP address in WinPE are the same as the ones in the hosts file on the backup appliance. If not, modify these settings on the Unitrends appliance to match the ones in WinPE. To check and modify these settings on the Unitrends appliance, see To view or edit the hosts file.

2 The option to view real-time statistics displays in a dialog box. Monitor the progress of the recovery on the Bare Metal Statistics screen.
3 Once the recovery is complete, proceed to Step 3: Boot the recovery target machine into its operating system.

Run one of the following procedures to boot the recovered machine:

1 Remove the bare metal CD, then do one of the following:
• If you are NOT recovering an Active Directory server, reboot your server into its operating system.
• If you ARE recovering an Active Directory server, you must start the recovered server in Directory Services Restore Mode by doing these steps:
– Disconnect the server from the network (to ensure the server does not start in normal mode).
– Start the server in Directory Services Restore Mode.
– Do one of the following:
• If a file-level backup is available, connect the server to the network, then recover the file-level backup as described in To recover an entire file-level backup by using the Backup Catalog.
• If you do not have a file-level backup, set the database restored from backup registry value to 1.
– Restart the domain controller in normal mode.
2 After booting, do one of the following:
• If the server boots successfully, proceed to Step 4: Complete the image-based bare metal recovery.
• If the server does not boot, you need to inject storage drivers. Continue with the next step in this procedure.
3 Insert the bare metal CD and boot from the ISO.
4 In the Windows Bare Metal interface, select Bare Metal Restore, then Rescan Disk.
5 Click Inject Offline Driver.
6 In the Inject Offline Driver dialog, navigate to the folder containing storage drivers, select the drivers, then click Inject.
7 Once the injection completes, a success or failure message displays. (If there is a failure, view the resulting log file to determine the cause.)
8 When you receive a message stating that the driver injection was successful, you are ready to reboot the recovered asset into its operating system. Remove the bare metal CD, then reboot the server.
9 Proceed to Step 4: Complete the image-based bare metal recovery.

Use this procedure to inject the VM guest storage driver and reboot the VM.

1 On the Bare Metal Statistics screen, click OK and then Exit to return to the Windows Bare Metal Restore screen.
2 Click Rescan Disk to scan for newly created partitions and volumes.
3 Click Inject Offline Driver.
4 Select your OS volume under Disk information and click either ESX Guest Storage Driver or HyperV or Xen Guest Storage Driver.
5 Do one of the following to reboot the VM:
• If the VM is NOT a Hyper-V domain controller, click Cancel to close windows until you’re back to the Windows Bare Metal menu. Click Diagnostic Tools and then Reboot.
• If the VM IS a Hyper-V domain controller, you must start the VM in Directory Services Restore Mode by doing these steps:
– Disconnect the server from the network (to ensure the VM does not start in normal mode).
– Start the VM in Directory Services Restore Mode.
– Do one of the following:
• If a file-level backup is available, connect the VM to the network, then recover the file-level backup as described in To recover an entire file-level backup by using the Backup Catalog.
• If you do not have a file-level backup, set the database restored from backup registry value to 1. For details on editing this registry value, see this Microsoft article: Backup and Restore Considerations for Virtualized Domain Controllers.
– Restart the domain controller in normal mode.
6 After the recovery target machine boots, proceed to Step 4: Complete the image-based bare metal recovery.
1 After booting the recovery target machine into its operating system, verify that the server has network connectivity.

If the machine is not connected to the network, add the required network drivers. For details, see Microsoft's documentation for the applicable operating system distribution.

2 At this point the Windows boot volume (usually C:) has been recovered. Create and format additional volumes as necessary.

Important!   If file-level backups of the original Windows machine contain files from volumes outside of the Windows boot volume, you must create and format those additional volumes. Recovery of file-level backups will fail if these additional volumes do not exist.

3 Check the recovered asset's network and hostname settings and make changes as needed:
• If you are using DHCP and you added the original asset to the backup appliance by using only the asset’s name, the appliance discovers the recovered asset after you connect it to the network.
• If the recovered asset has the same name and IP as the original asset, the appliance treats the recovered asset as if it is the original asset. No changes are needed on the Unitrends appliance.
• If the recovered asset has a different name and IP than the original asset, the appliance treats the recovered asset as new asset. To protect the recovered asset, add it to the appliance and add or modify job schedules.
4 (Optional) Recover the failed asset's last backup to restore data that resides on other volumes. For details, see To recover an entire file-level backup by using the Backup Catalog. If all data resides on the boot volume, all data has already been recovered.

Notes:   

• For Exchange servers — If you are unable to mount Exchange databases after recovery, the databases may be in a Dirty Shutdown state. See this Microsoft article for details: Exchange Database is in a Dirty Shutdown State.
• For Hyper-V servers — After recovery, you must run the following command on the Hyper-V server: bcdedit /set hypervisorlaunchtype Auto. Then reboot the server.

Use the procedures in this section to recover assets running Windows 2003/R2 and earlier operating systems listed in Supported operating systems. These procedures apply to any supported target machine (a physical machine, a virtual machine, dissimilar hardware, etc.).

Notes:   

• You must prepare the recovery target machine before running this procedure. See Step 2: Prepare the recovery target machine for details.
• Recovery to dissimilar hardware is supported for some Windows 2003 distributions listed in the Compatibility and Interoperability Matrix. If you are recovering to dissimilar hardware, you will need to load drivers during this procedure. WinPE requires that you use 32-bit Windows 2003 drivers to access the underlying network and storage hardware. Be sure these drivers have been loaded onto a CD or USB device that is accessible from the recovery target machine before you start.

For a successful recovery, you must run the procedures in the following order:

1 Boot the recovery target machine from the bare metal ISO image. The machine boots into WinPE 1.5 and launches the Windows Bare Metal interface.
2 Verify that network settings display.

Note:  If you do not see network settings, you need to load the network driver. To load the driver, boot from the ISO and press F6 to enter BIOS. Then add the driver.

3 Select Bare Metal Restore. This loads the restore GUI which lists the asset's bare metal backups that are currently stored on the backup appliance.

Note:  If no bare metal backups display, verify that the asset's hostname and IP address in WinPE are the same as the ones in the hosts file on the backup appliance. If not, modify these settings on the Unitrends appliance to match the ones in WinPE. To check and modify these settings on the Unitrends appliance, see To view or edit the hosts file.

4 Select a bare metal backup to restore (normally the most recent one).
5 Check the Enable Seek in Restore box (to speed up the restore).
6 Select the applicable recovery options and click Start Restore.
7 Select the backup and a target disk where the backup will be recovered, then click Add.
8 Do one of the following:
• If recovering to identical hardware, start the recovery, then skip to step 11.
• If recovering to dissimilar hardware or to a VM, you need to load storage drivers. Proceed to step 9.
9 Select the storage drivers to load by doing these steps:
• Check the Enable Dissimilar Restore box.
• Browse to select the drivers to load.
• Select the known platform that you are recovering to from the list.
• Click OK.
10 The system verifies the driver files and displays a success or failure message. Do one of the following:
• If the driver file verification is successful, select OK to inject the driver files and continue with the recovery.
• If verification fails, select OK to select and verify different drivers.
11 The bare metal backup is recovered to the target disk. When the recovery completes, the following message displays:

Quit the Bare Metal Restore GUI and reboot the server with the Windows Bare Metal CD removed from the server.

12 Proceed to Step 2: Boot the recovery target machine into its operating system.
1 Do one of the following to reboot the recovery target machine:
• If the machine is NOT a Hyper-V domain controller, remove the bare metal CD (physical target) or edit VM settings to no longer boot from the ISO. Then reboot the machine into its operating system by selecting Diagnostic Tools > Reboot > Yes > Yes.
• If the machine IS a Hyper-V domain controller, you must start the VM in Directory Services Restore Mode by doing these steps:
– Disconnect the server from the network (to ensure the VM does not start in normal mode).
– Start the VM in Directory Services Restore Mode.
– Do one of the following:
• If a file-level backup is available, connect the VM to the network, then recover the file-level backup as described in To recover an entire file-level backup by using the Backup Catalog.
• If you do not have a file-level backup, set the database restored from backup registry value to 1. For details on editing this registry value, see this Microsoft article: Backup and Restore Considerations for Virtualized Domain Controllers.
– Restart the domain controller in normal mode.
2 After the recovery target machine boots, proceed to Step 3: Complete the image-based bare metal recovery.

Note:  If your server does not boot, different storage drivers are needed. Repeat this procedure from the beginning (from Step 1: Boot into WinPE 1.5 and run the recovery) and add the correct storage drivers.

1 After booting the recovery target machine into its operating system, verify that the server has network connectivity.

If the machine is not connected to the network, add the required network drivers. For details, see Microsoft's documentation for the applicable operating system distribution.

2 At this point the Windows boot volume (usually C:) has been recovered. Create and format additional volumes as necessary.

Important!   If file-level backups of the original Windows machine contain files from volumes outside of the Windows boot volume, you must create and format those additional volumes. Recovery of file-level backups will fail if these additional volumes do not exist.

3 Check the recovered asset's network and hostname settings and make changes as needed:
• If you are using DHCP and you added the original asset to the backup appliance by using only the asset’s name, the appliance discovers the recovered asset after you connect it to the network.
• If the recovered asset has the same name and IP as the original asset, the appliance treats the recovered asset as if it is the original asset. No changes are needed on the Unitrends appliance.
• If the recovered asset has a different name and IP than the original asset, the appliance treats the recovered asset as new asset. To protect the recovered asset, add it to the appliance and add or modify job schedules.
4 (Optional) Recover the failed asset's last backup to restore data that resides on other volumes. For details, see To recover an entire file-level backup by using the Backup Catalog. If all data resides on the boot volume, all data has already been recovered.

Notes:   

• For Exchange servers — If you are unable to mount Exchange databases after recovery, the databases may be in a Dirty Shutdown state. See this Microsoft article for details: Exchange Database is in a Dirty Shutdown State.
• For Hyper-V servers — After recovery, you must run the following command on the Hyper-V server: bcdedit /set hypervisorlaunchtype Auto. Then reboot the server.