Overview
About Quest Recovery Manager for Active Directory Forest Edition
Features and benefits
Getting started
Comprehensive Active Directory recovery options
AD LDS (ADAM) recovery
Granular selective restore
Group Policy recovery
Antimalware checks for backups
Integrity checks for backups
Centralized remote administration
Audit of objects and operations
Integration with Change Auditor for Active Directory
Management Shell
Scheduling and automation
Scalability and performance
Simplified restoration of an Active Directory forest
Granular domain-level recovery
Integration with On Demand Recovery
Automation of manual operations
Creation of virtual test environments
Remote quarantine
Fault tolerance
Simultaneous system recovery
Support for Windows tools for restoring domain controllers
Recovery plan
Running custom scripts
Technical overview
Permissions required to use Recovery Manager for Active Directory
Recovery Manager Console
Getting and using help
Configuring Windows Firewall
Using Computer Collections
Backing up data
Creating Computer Collections
Renaming Computer Collections
Modifying Computer Collection properties
Deleting Computer Collections
Specifying an access account for Backup Agent and backup storage
Adding domain controllers to a Computer Collection
Adding containers to a Computer Collection
Adding AD LDS (ADAM) hosts and instances to a Computer Collection
Removing items from a Computer Collection
Hybrid Recovery with On Demand Recovery
Managing Recovery Manager for Active Directory configuration
Preparing for working with Active Directory or AD LDS (ADAM) backups
Settings
Licensing
General tab
Unpacked Backups tab (global settings)
E-mail tab
Registering Application for Exchange Online Email Notifications
Logging tab
Ports tab
Default properties for Computer Collections
Properties for an existing Computer Collection
Backup tab
Local Storage tab
Remote Storage tab
Agent tab
Secondary Storage tab
Schedule tab
Alerts tab
Performance tab
Advanced tab
Unpacked Backups tab
Container and site properties
Properties for a domain or organizational unit
Properties for an Active Directory site
Properties for an AD LDS (ADAM) site
Sessions node properties
Forest properties
Domain properties
Domain controller properties
AD LDS (ADAM) partition properties
AD LDS (ADAM) instance properties
Showing or hiding AD LDS (ADAM) partitions
Showing or hiding domains
Showing or hiding sites
Permissions required for the Backup operation
Managing Backup Agent
Restoring data
Installing Backup Agent automatically
Preinstalling Backup Agent manually
Discovering preinstalled Backup Agent
Updating Backup Agent information
Upgrading Backup Agent
Uninstalling Backup Agent
Removing a Backup Agent entry from the Backup Agent Management node
Using a least-privileged user account to back up data
Using Managed Service Accounts
Active Directory backups vs Windows System State backups
Creating BMR and Active Directory backups
Using the Backup Wizard
Retrying backup creation
Enabling backup encryption
Backing up AD LDS (ADAM)
Method 1: Back up AD LDS (ADAM) from the Recovery Manager Console
Method 2: Schedule backup creation for AD LDS (ADAM)
Backing up cross-domain group membership
Backing up distributed file system (DFS) data
Backup scheduling
Setting performance options
Setting advanced backup options
Using Forest Recovery Agent
Unpacking backups
Configuring default settings to unpack backups
Configuring Computer Collection-specific settings to unpack backups
Unpacking a backup manually
Deleting data unpacked from a backup
Using e-mail notification
Viewing backup creation results
Sessions node properties
Computer properties
Computer session properties
Backups node properties
Filtering backups
General tab for Active Directory backups
General tab for Bare Metal backups
General tab for AD LDS (ADAM) backups
Integrity checks for Active Directory and AD LDS (ADAM) backups
Export List of Active Directory, Bare Metal, and AD LDS (ADAM) backups
Properties of registered Active Directory and AD LDS (ADAM) backups
Getting started with Active Directory recovery
Full Replication
Consolidating backup registration data
Monitoring Recovery Manager for Active Directory
Active Directory recovery options
Implications of the online restore
Using agentless or agent-based method
Managing deleted or recycled objects
Restoring backed up Active Directory components
Integration with Change Auditor for Active Directory
Using granular online restore
Restoring AD LDS (ADAM)
Method 1: Restore an AD LDS (ADAM) instance from a backup created with Recovery Manager for Active Directory
Method 2: Restore an AD LDS (ADAM) database from a backup created with third-party software
Selectively restoring Active Directory object attributes
Restoring objects in an application directory partition
Restoring object quotas
Restoring cross-domain group membership
Performing a restore without having administrator privileges
Reports about objects and operations
Reports about Active Directory objects
Reports about AD LDS (ADAM) objects
Reports about Group Policy objects
Data about who modified Active Directory objects
Using complete offline restore
Offline restore implications
Restoring SYSVOL authoritatively
Performing a granular restore of SYSVOL
Recovering Group Policy
Restoring data from third-party backups
Using the Extract Wizard
Creating a Windows Server 2008 R2-based domain controller from a backup
Creating a Windows Server 2012-based or higher domain controller from a backup
Restoring passwords and SID history
Supported versions of Microsoft Operations Manager
Importing Management Pack
Rules provided in Microsoft System Center Operations Manager
Health dashboards
Recovering an Active Directory forest
Forest recovery overview
Deploying Recovery Manager for Active Directory Forest Edition (Disaster Recovery Edition)
Permissions required to use Forest Recovery Console
Forest Recovery Console
Using Management Shell
Creating virtual test environments
Menu
Toolbar
Project summary
List of domain controllers
Domain controller recovery settings and progress
Configuring advanced settings
Console Configuration Backup and Restore
Managing a recovery project
Creating a recovery project
Opening a recovery project
Saving a recovery project
Updating a recovery project
Specifying recovery project settings
Verifying recovery project settings
Scanning backups for viruses
Scheduling project verification
Specifying recovery settings for a DC
Selecting backups for recovery
Using recovery alerts
Copying a backup file to a new location
Recovery methods
Restore Active Directory from backup method
Install Active Directory method
Reinstall Active Directory method
Uninstall Active Directory method
Restore SYSVOL
Do not recover method
Do nothing method
Adjust to Active Directory changes method
Phased recovery
Managing Forest Recovery Agent
Installing or upgrading Forest Recovery Agent
Viewing installed Forest Recovery Agent version
Uninstalling Forest Recovery Agent
Rebooting domain controllers manually
Resetting DSRM Administrator Password
Purging Kerberos Tickets
Managing the Global Catalog servers
Managing FSMO roles
Manage DNS Client Settings
Configuring Windows Firewall
Developing a custom forest recovery plan
Backing up domain controllers
Assigning a preferred DNS server during recovery
Handling DNS servers during recovery
Forest recovery approaches
Recovery approach 1: Restore as many domain controllers from backups as possible
Recovery approach 2: Restore one domain controller from backup in each domain
Deciding which backups to use
Running custom scripts while recovering a forest
Overview of steps to recover a forest
Viewing forest recovery progress
Viewing recovery plan
Viewing a report about forest recovery or verify settings operation
Handling failed domain controllers
Adding a domain controller to a running recovery operation
Selectively recovering domains in a forest
Step 1: Select domains to recover
Step 2: Specify recovery settings for domain controllers
Step 3: Start recovery
Recovering SYSVOL
Deleting domains during recovery
Resuming an interrupted forest recovery
Recovering read-only domain controllers (RODCs)
Checking forest health
Collecting diagnostic data for technical support
About Active Directory Virtual Lab
Permissions
Communication ports
Appendices
Microsoft SCVMM 2012 or 2012 SP1 Environment
Microsoft SCVMM 2012 R2, 2016 or 2019 Environment
VMware Environment
Support for VMware DRS Clusters
Deployment
User interface
Toolbar
List of source computers
Virtual machine creation settings and events
Virtual lab project default settings
How to create a virtual test environment
Frequently asked questions
Why do I need to restore deleted users or groups, rather than re-create them?
How can I restore a user or group in Active Directory?
How does online restore work?
When an object is undeleted, what is restored from the tombstone and what is restored from the backup?
What's the difference between an online restore and an authoritative restore?
What's the difference between the agentless restore method and the agent-based restore method?
Can I undelete a mailbox-enabled user?
In the Group Policy Restore Wizard, a GPO link is shown as deleted, but the link actually exists in Active Directory. What's wrong?
What is a primary restore of the SYSVOL?
How do I change the Backup Agent port number?
How does Recovery Manager for Active Directory select a DC for an authoritative (primary) restore of SYSVOL during forest recovery?
How does Recovery Manager for Active Directory isolate domain controllers during forest recovery?
How does Recovery Manager for Active Directory select a DC to add the global catalog during forest recovery?
Best practices for using Computer Collections
Technical characteristics
Best practices for creating backups
Develop a backup and restore plan
Determine which domain controllers to back up and how often
Methods for deploying Backup Agent
Retain recent backups
Where to store backups
Best practices for creating backups for forest recovery
How many instances of the Recovery Manager Console to deploy?
How many domain controllers to back up?
How many domain controllers to back up at once?
What data to back up?
Using data compression
Using unpacked backups
Best practices for recovering a forest
How many Instances of the Forest Recovery Console to deploy?
Where to Install the Forest Recovery Console?
Backing up the Recovery Manager for Active Directory configuration
Descriptions of recovery or verification steps
Ports Used by Recovery Manager for Active Directory Forest Edition (Disaster Recovery Edition)
Backup Wizard
What to Back Up
Where to Store Backups
When to Back Up
Computer Collection Name (optional)
Completing the Backup Wizard
Online Restore Wizard
Wizard Operation Mode
Domain Selection
Backup Selection
Backup for Comparison (optional)
Unpacked Backups Folder Selection
Backup Data Preparation
Domain Access Options
Objects to Be Processed
Action Selection
Action Selection (Compare two backups)
Processing Options
Additional Options
Operation Start
Operation Progress
Operation Option
Objects to Be Restored
Where to Restore Deleted Objects
Operation Results
Completing the Online Restore Wizard
Online Restore Wizard for AD LDS (ADAM)
Wizard Operation Mode
AD LDS (ADAM) Instance Selection
Backup Selection
Backup for Comparison
Unpacked Backups Folder Selection
Backup Data Preparation
AD LDS (ADAM) Access Options
Objects to Be Processed
Action Selection
Processing Options
Additional Options
Operation Start
Operation Progress
Operation Option
Objects to Be Restored
Where to Restore Deleted Objects
Operation Results
Completing the Online Restore Wizard for AD LDS (ADAM)
Group Policy Restore Wizard
Domain Selection
Backup Selection
Backup Data Preparation
Select Domain Controller
Group Policy Object Selection
GPO Restore Options
Link Restore Options
Restore Process Start
Completing the Group Policy Restore Wizard
Repair Wizard
Computer and Backup Selection
Target Computer
Computer Restart
Primary Restore of SYSVOL
Restore Process Start
Restore Progress
Authoritative Restore Selections
Computer Restart in Normal Mode
Completing the Repair Wizard
Extract Wizard
Events generated by Recovery Manager for Active Directory
Storing backups for forest recovery
The following diagram shows the recommended method for storing the backups you plan to use for forest recovery operations:
Figure: Backups for Forest Recovery
If you intend to use RMAD to recover the entire Active Directory® forest or specific domains in the forest, it is recommended that you store each backup file on the domain controller being backed up. This will considerably decrease the network utilization during backup operations and speed up the recovery process. On top of that, storing backup files on target domain controllers simplifies the permissions required to access those files.
Best practices for creating backups for forest recovery
How many instances of the Recovery Manager Console to deploy?
To recover your Active Directory® forest with the Forest Recovery Console, you can only use backups created with the Recovery Manager Console. In simple environments, it is advisable to have only one Recovery Manager Console deployed. However, this may not be possible in large distributed environments that spread across different physical locations connected by slow links. In this case, you can deploy several instances of the Recovery Manager Console in each main physical location to back up domain controllers there.
You can also deploy several instances of the Recovery Manager Console if you want to:
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Delegate the right to back up individual Active Directory® objects and perform online restores to other administrators in your environment, without delegating the right to run forest recovery operations.
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Back up and restore individual Active Directory® objects using backup and restore strategy and schedule specific to those objects.
How many domain controllers to back up?
This depends on the forest recovery approach you choose for your environment. For more information, see Forest recovery approaches.
The decision on how many domain controllers to back up (and, therefore, which method to use for forest recovery) depends on the factors like
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The overall number of domain controllers in Active Directory®
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The size of Active Directory® database
With a large number (50+) of domain controllers in the domain and significant size (over 1 GB) of the Active Directory® database, it may not be feasible to fully back up Active Directory® of all domain controllers in the domain due to storage limitations or time constraints. In this case, you can back up only some of the domain controllers.
A good practice is to back up at least two domain controllers from each domain in the forest. It is recommended to back up the domain controllers that are DNS servers and FSMO role holders.