How to Reattach a Previously Attached Repository in AppAssure 5 (4033222)

This article details the steps necessary to reattach a repository that had previously been attached to either a separate or existing core.

You can reattach a repository that had previously been attached to either a separate or an existing core. Examples of this type of troubleshooting include: Core Hardware Upgrade/Migration and Catastrophic Failure of a Core.

Prerequisites

The following prerequisites are necessary to complete this troubleshooting feature.

1. Locate the files and make them accessible to the target Core.

• Dfs.bmap
• Dfs.mbr
• Dfs.rmap
• Dfs.records
• Dfs.records_ids

The following steps guide details steps to reattach the previously attached repository.

On the Core that will host the Repository: 

1. Open the Web User Interface for the Core.
2. Select Configuration from the right side pane menu bar.
3. Select Actions and then select Add New Repository.
4. Provide a name for the Repository, as well as a description.
5. Click on Add Storage Location.
6. Complete the process as is typical.

• If the drives are local they must be on the same physical drive.
• Verify that the size is the same and set the size to be the same. If this is not possible at this time, then modify the size from the registry at a later time.
• If multiple extents exist, add the extents as well.

7. Stop the Core Services.
8. Open a Registry Editor.
9. Navigate to HLKM/SOFTWARE/AppRecovery.
10. Export the entire HKLM/SOFTWARE/AppRecovery registry path
11. Navigate to /Core/Repositories/.
12. Expand the repository then navigate to FileConfigurations/0/Specification.

• If multiple extents exist, modify those as well.
• Those extents will be FileConfigurations/1 FileConfigurations/2, etc.
• The repository will be noted by GUID. If multiple repositories exist,  the name of the repository appears when reviewing the following key:

• The full path should be:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\AppRecovery\Core\Repositories\ac84a8af-be83-4da2-9bbb-664d4c305433\FileConfigurations\0\Specification]

13. Modify the following registry keys with the location information from the Data and Metadata locations:

• DataPath
• MetadataPath

14. If the size was not configured to be the same as the original, the “size” key should now be configured to match the original.

• The default values are in HEX and the size is in bytes.
• For example:

For a 100 GB Partition, the number of bytes equals 107374182400. That value in HEX is 0×1900000000.

• Make no further modifications.

15. Navigate to  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\AppRecovery\Core\Repositories\<UNIQUE GUID> and ensure that the RootRpfsFileId value is identical in both the new and old registry. Please note that the value <UNIQUE GUID> is used as example in this article and may appear differently in your environment.

16. Review the changes that have been made and then start the Core Service

• At this time the repository should be present in the Console under Repositories.
• Any agent information that was on the Repository will be imported as Recovery Point Only.