Rapid Recovery 6.4 - User Guide

Performing a bare metal restore using the Restore Machine Wizard

You can use the Restore Wizard to perform a bare metal restore for Windows or Linux machines.

1. To restore volumes (including a system volume) on a protected machine, navigate to the Rapid Recovery Core Console and click  Restore from the Rapid Recovery button bar.
   The Restore Machine Wizard appears.
2. On the Machines page, select the protected machine you want to restore, and then click Next.
   The Recovery Points page appears.
3. Select the recovery point you want to use to restore the machine.
   Optionally, if you want to limit the number of recovery points displayed, you can filter by volumes (if defined) or by creation date of the recovery point. You can also conduct a search for a specific recovery point.
4. Click Next.
5. On the Destination page, select Recover to any target machine using a Boot CD.
6. If restoring a Windows machine, on the Destination page, do one of the following:
   • If you have already created a boot CD ISO image for restoring a Windows machine, load the boot CD into the BMR target machine now, reboot the target machine, and then on the Core machine, continue to step 8.
     For conceptual information about Windows boot CDs, see Managing a Windows boot image. For information about transferring the ISO image to removable media, see Transferring the boot CD ISO image to media. For information about how to load the boot CD, see Loading the boot CD and starting the target machine.
   • If you have not yet created a boot CD for restoring a Windows machine, click Next, and then continue to step 9.
7.  If restoring a Linux machine, do the following:
   1. Download the Live DVD boot ISO image, as described in Saving the Live DVD ISO image to media.
   2. Transfer the image to removable media and boot the BMR target server, as described in Loading the Live DVD and starting the target machine.
   3. On the Core machine, return to this procedure and continue with step 15.
8. On the Destination page, under the selected Recover to any target machine using a Boot CD option, select I already have a boot CD running on the target machine, click Next, and then go to step 15.
9. On the Boot CD page, in the Output path text box, enter the path in which you want to store the boot CD ISO image. For example, to create a boot CD for a protected machine named Protected Machine 1, enter the path C:\ProgramData\AppRecovery\Boot CDs\ProtectedMachine1-BootCD.iso.
   

   NOTE: If you want to store the image on a shared drive which has insufficient disk space, you can create a disk as needed in the path; for example, F:\filename.iso.

   NOTE: The file extension must be .iso. When specifying the path, use only alphanumeric characters, the hyphen, the backslash (only as a path delimiter), and the period (only to separate host names and domains). The letters a to z are not case sensitive. Do not use spaces in the name of the boot CD image. No other symbols or punctuation characters are permitted.

10. Optionally, to set up network parameters for the target machine, or to add UltraVNC capabilities, select Show advanced options, and then complete the following steps:
    • To specify a static IP address for connecting to the URC on the BMR target, select Use the following IP address, and then enter the information described in the following table.

      Table 144: Network connection options

      Option	Description
      IP address	The IP address for the restored machine.
      Subnet mask	The subnet mask for the restored machine.
      Default gateway	Specify the default gateway for the restored machine.
      DNS server	Specify the domain name server for the restored machine.

    • If you have UltraVNC installed and would like to use it to complete the BMR remotely, select Add UltraVNC, and then enter the information described in the following table.

      Table 145: UltraVNC connection credentials

      Option	Description
      Password	Define a password. You must enter this password to connect from the boot CD using UltraVNC.
      Port	The port you want to use to connect to the BMR target. The default port is 5900.

      
      

      NOTE: UltraVNC Options are only available if you already have UltraVNC installed on your Core. For more information, see Using UltraVNC for remote access.

11. When you are satisfied with your selections on the Boot CD page, click Next.
12. Optionally, on the Driver Injection page, especially if you plan to restore to dissimilar hardware, inject the appropriate storage controller and other drivers for your target system by completing the following steps:
    1. Download the drivers from the server manufacturer’s website and unpack them.
    2. Compress each driver into a .zip file using an appropriate compression utility (for example, WinZip).
    3. On the Driver Injection page of the Restore Machine Wizard, click + Add an Archive of Drivers.
    4. Navigate through the filing system to locate the compressed driver file, select the file, and then click Open.
    5. Repeat step c and step d, as appropriate, until you inject all necessary drivers.

       For more information about injecting drivers, see Understanding driver injection in a boot CD.

       NOTE: Automatic driver injection is supported by Windows 8.1 and higher, and Windows Server 2012 R2 and higher. If creating a boot CD ISO image for earlier versions of Windows, manually save drivers to C:\Program Files\AppRecovery\Core\BootCdKit\Drivers\.

    6. On the Driver Injection page, click Next.
    Rapid Recovery creates the boot CD ISO image.
13. On the ISO Image page, click Next.
14. If you can start the BMR target machine from the boot CD ISO image, do so now. If you cannot boot the BMR target machine directly from the image, do the following:
    • Copy the ISO image to a physical medium (such as a bootable USB flash drive, DVD, or CD).
    • Load the storage medium in the target machine.
    • Configure the machine settings to load from the selected storage medium, and restart the BMR target machine from the boot image.

      NOTE: You may need to change the BIOS settings of the target machine to ensure that the volume that loads first is the boot image.

    The target machine, when started from the boot image, displays the Universal Recovery Console (URC) interface. This environment is used to restore the system drive or selected volumes directly from the Rapid Recovery Core. Note the IP address and authentication key credentials in the URC, which refresh each time you start from the boot image.

15. From the Core Console, on the Destination or Connection page of the Restore Machine Wizard, enter authentication information from the URC instance of the machine you want to restore as follows:

    Table 146: Authentication options

    Option	Description
    IP Address	The IP address provided in the URC on the target machine.
    Authentication Key (or Password)	The authentication key (or password, for Linux machines) provided in the URC on the target machine.

16. Click Next.
    A connection is made between the Core and the BMR target machine. Then, the Disk Mapping page of the wizard appears.
17. On the Disk Mapping page, if you want to map volumes manually, proceed to step 18. If you want to map volumes automatically, complete the following steps:
    1. From the Volume mapping drop-down menu, select Automatic.
    2. From the list of volumes in the grid on the left, ensure that the volumes you want to restore are selected. All volumes are selected by default.

       If you do not want to restore a listed volume, clear the option.

       NOTE: At least one volume must be selected to perform the restore.

    3. From the list of disks in the grid on the right, select the destination disk (or disks) for the restore.
    4. Click Next.
    5. In the Disk Mapping Preview page, review the parameters of the restore actions you selected. Do one of the following:
       • If you see a warning that the automatically mapped volumes are not properly mapped, click Back, and proceed to step18.
       • If the mapping is sufficient, select the option to overwrite selected volumes, and then click Finish.
18. To map volumes manually, on the Disk Mapping page, complete the following steps:
    1. From the Volume mapping drop-down menu, select Manual.
    2. In the Destination column for each volume listed, select a destination volume you want to restore. Optionally, for each volume listed, if you do not wish to restore the volume, select Do not restore from the Destination drop-down menu.
       

       NOTE: At least one volume must be selected to perform the restore.

19. Click Next.
20. If the volumes you want to restore contain Oracle, SQL Server, or Microsoft Exchange databases, and if you are performing a Live Recovery, then on the Dismount Databases page, you are prompted to dismount them. Optionally, if you want to remount these databases after the restore is complete, select Automatically remount all databases after the recovery point is restored.
21. On the Summary page, do the following:
    1. Verify the bare metal restore details.
    2. When satisfied, select IMPORTANT! I understand that this operation will overwrite selected volumes with the data from the selected recovery point.
       

       Caution: All existing partitions and data on the target drive will be permanently removed and replaced with the contents of the selected recovery point, including the operating system and all data.

    3. Click Finish.
    The Restore Machine Wizard closes. The restore begins. If Toast alerts are enabled for this type of event, you see a message that the restore process has begun. You can monitor the progress on the Events page. For more information, see Viewing events using tasks, alerts, and journal pages.

Using the Universal Recovery Console for a BMR

The Universal Recovery Console (URC) is a recovery environment embedded into a bootable ISO image, and is used to perform bare metal restore. When you boot the BMR target from the boot CD ISO image, the URC environment appears. The user interface appears slightly differently for Windows and Linux targets.

• The URC for Windows targets uses a graphical user interface based on Windows Preinstallation Environment (Win PE) 10 OS.
• The URC for Linux targets uses a Linux Ubuntu 16 command line interface.

On a Linux recovery target machine, the sole purpose of the URC is to provide single-use credentials to connect the BMR target machine with a running Rapid Recovery Core instance to perform the restore process.

In addition to providing single-use credentials for BMR, the URC for Windows contains a full-featured recovery environment. It includes function buttons and (when launched) a console.

The buttons in the Windows-based URC perform the following functions:

Button	Button Label	Description
	Start Universal Recovery Console	Launches the console from which you can manage drivers on the boot CD, manage additional drivers on the BMR target, perform bare metal restore from a Rapid Recovery archive, and monitor the restore progress.
	Useful Tools	Menu to access tools that may be required to help with your bare metal restore. For example, to launch a browser that runs on Windows PE, select Chromium from the Tools menu. For specific information, see About Windows Universal Recovery Console tools.
	Power menu	This menu includes options to reboot or shut down the BMR target machine. Each time you reboot, the authentication key is refreshed.

The Windows-based URC includes the following tabs:

Tab Name	Description
Boot CD Driver Manager	Lets you manage the drivers available on the boot CD. Click the arrow next to each item to expand to show its child objects. After you make changes, click Force Load to apply the changes and test the drivers. NOTE: Items listed under Other devices do not yet have the correct drivers associated with them.
Existing Windows Driver Manager	Lets you load and manage drivers not included on the boot CD.
Restore from Archive	Lets you perform a BMR from a Rapid Recovery archive.
Restore Progress	Lets you monitor the process of the bare metal restore. This tab only appears when a restore takes place.

For both Windows and Linux BMR target machines, the Authentication area shows the following information:

Button	Purpose	Description
	IP address	When an appropriate network adapter is loaded, the IP address of the BMR target machine is displayed.
	Authentication key	A new single-use password generates each time the BMR target machine is started using the boot ISO image.

Write down the authentication information. You will need this information to connect the BMR target machine with the Rapid Recovery Core Console to complete the restore process.

About the Universal Recovery Console tools

The Windows-based Universal Recovery Console (URC) includes access to tools that may assist you in completing a bare metal restore (BMR).

You can find the following tools by clicking (Useful tools) from the top buttons displayed on the BMR target machine when booted into the URC. These tools include the following:

Loading drivers using the Universal Recovery Console

When creating a boot CD, you can add necessary drivers to the ISO image. After you boot into the target machine, you also can load storage or network drivers from within the Universal Recovery Console (URC).

If you are restoring to dissimilar hardware, you must inject storage controller, RAID, AHCI, chipset, and other drivers if they are not already on the boot CD. These drivers make it possible for the operating system to operate all devices on your target server successfully after you restart the system following the restore process.

Complete the steps in one of the following procedures to load drivers using the URC:

• Loading drivers in the Universal Recovery Console using portable media
• Loading a driver in the URC using Chromium