Recovery Manager for AD 10.3 - User Guide

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™.

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.

Select Domain Controller

Use this page to specify a domain controller to restore Group Policy. The domain controller must be running and accessible from the network.

• Domain controller. Specifies the domain controller.

• Change. Click Change to specify your domain controller by NetBIOS name or DNS name in the dialog box that opens.

• Select an account to restore Group Policy Objects. Specifies the account to access your domain controller.

• Change. Click Change to specify an account in the dialog box that opens. This account must have permission to modify Group Policy Objects.

• Click Next to connect to the domain controller and prepare for the restore process (No backup data will be transferred until the restore starts).

Group Policy Object Selection

Use this page to select Group Policy objects to be restored. This page also allows you to view the comparison report for the selected Group Policy objects.

• Group Policy Objects available for restore. Lists the objects the wizard will process. The Name column displays the object’s distinguished name. In the list, each entry includes the State in AD column indicating the state of the Group Policy object in Active Directory in comparison with that in the backup. Initially, for all entries, the State in AD column indicates ‘Not compared’. To have the wizard compare the state of Group Policy objects in Active Directory® with that in the backup, click Compare All.

  The comparison may be a lengthy operation, depending on the number of Group Policy objects. You may skip this operation or select individual GPOs to be compared and click Compare.

• Compare All. Compares the Group Policy objects state and then modifies the Group Policy Object Selection page, allowing you to view the state of each Group Policy object available for restore. In the Group Policy Objects available for restore list, each entry is labeled with one of the following icons:

  • - the object differs from that in the backup—the State in AD field indicates ‘Different’.

  • - the object is the same as that in the backup—the State in AD field indicates ‘Identical’.

  • - the object is currently deleted but still exists in the backup—the State in AD field indicates ‘Deleted’.

• Compare. Compares the state of the selected Group Policy objects and then displays the comparison results on the Group Policy Object Selection page. In the Group Policy Objects available for restore list, the entries that correspond to the selected Group Policy objects are labeled with one of the following icons:

  • - the object differs from that in the backup—the State in AD field indicates ‘Different’.

  • - the object is the same as that in the backup—the State in AD field indicates ‘Identical’.

  • - the object is currently deleted but still exists in the backup—the State in AD field indicates ‘Deleted’.

• View Report. Click this button to view the comparison report for the GPOs you select from the Group Policy Objects available for restore list.

To select Group Policy objects to be restored

• In the list under Group Policy Objects available for restore, select check boxes next to Group Policy objects, and then click Next to proceed with the wizard.