Recovery Manager for AD 10.3.1 - User Guide

Backup Selection

Use this page to view a list of Active Directory® backups that are registered in the RMAD backup registration database for the selected domain, if any, and select a backup.

• Registered backups. Lists registered Active Directory® backups for the selected domain, if any. From this list, select the backup you want the wizard to use, and then click Next. In the list, each entry includes the following fields:

  • Backup Age. Indicates how old the backup is. Active Directory® does not allow using a backup whose age exceeds the Active Directory® tombstone lifetime (default is 180 days).

  • Created. Displays the date when the backup was created.

  • DC. Displays the computer name of the domain controller; the backup contains directory object data retrieved from that domain controller.

  • Media. Displays the path and name of the backup file.

    The list only includes the backups that are registered in the RMAD backup registration database. RMAD allows you to use backups created by applications that store backups in Microsoft Tape Format (MTF), such as Windows Backup or Veritas™ Backup Exec™. To use a backup of this kind, click Register.

• Register. To register additional backups, click Register, and then click one of the following items:

  • Register Backup File. Registers a Microsoft Tape Format (MTF)-compliant backup file (.bkf).

  • Register Backups in Folder. Registers all backup files that are in the selected folder.

  • Register Offline Active Directory Database. Registers Active Directory database (ntds.dit file) unpacked from a backup created with third-party backup tools.

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Backup for Comparison (optional)

Use this page to select a backup to compare with the previously selected one. This window appears after you select the Compare two backups and report the differences option on the Wizard Operation Mode page.

• Registered backups. Provides a list of registered Active Directory® backups for the selected domain. In the list, each entry includes the following fields:

  • Backup Age. Indicates how old the backup is. Active Directory® does not allow using a backup whose age exceeds the Active Directory® tombstone lifetime.

  • Created. Displays the date when the backup was created.

  • DC. Displays the computer name of the domain controller; the backup contains directory object data retrieved from that domain controller. The wizard will connect to the domain controller that corresponds to the entry you have selected.

  • Media. Displays the path and name of the backup file.

• Register. To register additional backups, click Register, and then click one from the following items:

  • Register Backup File. Registers a Microsoft Tape Format (MTF)-compliant backup file (.bkf).

  • Register Backups in Folder. Registers all backup files that are in the selected folder.

  • Register Offline Active Directory Database. Registers Active Directory® database (ntds.dit file) unpacked from a backup created with third-party backup tools.

Only backups of the same domain controller can be compared. The first of the selected backups must be older than the second one.

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Unpacked Backups Folder Selection

This dialog is use with Backup for Comparison to optionally change the folder where RMAD will unpack the selected backups.

• Path to store unpacked backups. Displays the path to the folder currently used to keep unpacked backups. Each unpacked backup will be saved in a separate subfolder of that folder. To leave that path unchanged, click Next. To specify other path, type the path to a new folder or click Browse to select it. When finished, click Next.

Your changes will not affect the default settings for unpacked backups and only applies to the Backup for Comparison.

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Backup Data Preparation

This page enables you to view the progress of the backup extraction. To stop the unpack process, click Cancel. You can also have the wizard keep the extracted data for future use.

• Keep extracted data after completing the wizard. When this check box is selected, the wizard saves the extracted DIT database in a temporary folder, so you can reuse this information for subsequent starts of the Online Restore Wizard, Online Restore Wizard for AD LDS (ADAM), or Group Policy Restore Wizard. The temporary folder is specified using the Unpacked Backups tab in the Recovery Manager for Active Directory Settings dialog box. When this check box is cleared, the extracted data is erased when you close the wizard. Because the unpacking process is a lengthy operation, you should not close the wizard unless you are sure that no additional objects need to be compared or restored within the current session.

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