Recovery Manager for AD 10.2 - User Guide

Domain Selection

Use this page to view a list of domains for which Active Directory backups are available in Recovery Manager for Active Directory and select the domain where you want the wizard to restore Active Directory objects.

• Domains. Displays a list of domains for which Active Directory backups are available in Recovery Manager for Active Directory. From the list, select the domain where you want the wizard to restore Active Directory objects, and then click Next. In the next step, the wizard lists available backups of domain controllers for that domain.

• Register. The Domains list only includes the domains for which Active Directory backups are registered in the backups registration database.

To perform a restore to another domain

• 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.

Backup Selection

Use this window to view a list of Active Directory backups that are registered in the Recovery Manager for Active Directory configuration database for the selected domain, if any, and select a backup.

• Registered backups. Provides a list of registered Active Directory backups for the selected domain. In the list, select the backup from which you want to select Group Policy objects, 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.

• 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.

In the Group Policy Restore Wizard, you can use backups created by applications that store backups in Microsoft Tape Format (MTF), such as Windows Backup or Veritas Backup Exec.

Unpacked Backups Folder Selection

Use this window to optionally change the folder where Recovery Manager for Active Directory will unpack the selected backup. The Path to store unpacked backups box 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.

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. When the Keep extracted data after completing the wizard 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 Properties 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.