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Recovery Manager for AD Disaster Recovery Edition 10.2.2 - User Guide

Table of Contents

About Quest Recovery Manager for Active Directory Disaster Recovery Edition Features and benefits

Comprehensive Active Directory recovery options AD LDS (ADAM) recovery Granular selective restore Group Policy recovery Restore on Clean OS Antimalware checks for backups Centralized remote administration Secondary Storage for backups 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 Bare metal forest recovery 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

Creating backups Backup Storage Backup Agent Recovering Active Directory Recovering Group Policy Comparison reports

Getting started

Permissions required to use Recovery Manager for Active Directory Recovery Manager Console Getting and using help Configuring Windows Firewall

Manual method Automatic method

Using Computer Collections

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

Adding Microsoft Azure Cloud Storage Adding Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud Storage Viewing Registered Cloud Storage Editing Cloud Storage Removing Cloud Storage Cloud Storage Upload Sessions

Secure Storage Server

Hardening a Secure Storage server Accessing a Secure Storage server Adding a Secure Storage server Upgrading a Secure Storage server Secure Storage server with Multiple Consoles Configuring Allowed Volumes for a Secure Storage server Viewing backups on Secure Storage server Secure Storage server backups Configuring backup retention policy for Secure Storage server

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

General tab Unpacked Backups tab (global settings) E-mail tab Logging tab Ports tab

Default properties for Computer Collections Properties for an existing Computer Collection

Backup tab Local Storage tab Remote Storage tab Secondary Storage tab Agent tab Schedule tab Alerts tab Performance tab Advanced tab

Advanced Scripts Advanced Logging

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

Installing license key file Updating license key file Revoking licenses

Backing up data

Permissions required for the Backup operation Managing Backup Agent

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

Creating Active Directory backup Creating BMR backup Usage of backup access credentials

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

Step 1: Connect to AD LDS (ADAM) Step 2: Back up AD LDS (ADAM)

Method 2: Schedule backup creation for AD LDS (ADAM)

Step 1: Connect to AD LDS (ADAM) Step 2: Add AD LDS (ADAM) instances to Computer Collection Step 3: Create or modify backup creation schedule

Backing up cross-domain group membership Backing up distributed file system (DFS) data Backup scheduling

Task scheduler overview

Scheduling backup creation Managing backup schedule Setting user account for scheduled tasks

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

General tab Progress tab

Computer properties Computer session properties

General tab Events tab Backup tab

Backups node properties Filtering backups

General tab for Active Directory backups General tab for AD LDS (ADAM) backups

Properties of registered AD and AD LDS (ADAM) backups

General tab

Getting started with Active Directory recovery

Active Directory recovery options Implications of the online restore

Forcing replication Skipping replication Stopping online restore

Using agentless or agent-based method

Agentless method Agent-based method

Managing deleted or recycled objects

Recovering deleted objects Recycling deleted objects Recovering recycled objects

Restoring backed up Active Directory components Integration with Change Auditor for Active Directory Using granular online restore

Online Restore Wizard overview

Compare, restore, and report changes in Active Directory Compare two backups and report the differences Reporting Selecting objects in the Online Restore Wizard

Restoring AD LDS (ADAM)

Method 1: Restore an AD LDS (ADAM) instance from a backup created with Recovery Manager for Active Directory

Step 1: Select a backup Step 2: Restore AD LDS (ADAM) instance

Method 2: Restore an AD LDS (ADAM) database from a backup created with third-party software

Step 1: Extract and register AD LDS (ADAM) database Step 2: Restore the extracted AD LDS (ADAM) database

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

Repair Wizard overview

Offline restore implications

Non-authoritative restore

DIT Database SYSVOL

Authoritative restore

DIT database SYSVOL

Restoring SYSVOL authoritatively Performing a granular restore of SYSVOL Recovering Group Policy

Group Policy Restore Wizard overview

Restoring data from third-party backups Using the Extract Wizard

Creating a Windows Server 2008 R2-based domain controller from a backup

Step 1: Create and extract a backup Step 2: Use IFM to create a domain controller

Creating a Windows Server 2012-based or higher domain controller from a backup

Step 1: Create and extract a backup Step 2: Install AD DS on the Windows Server 2012-based or higher computer Step 3: Use the Install-ADDSDomainController cmdlet to install from media

Restoring passwords and SID history

Preserving passwords and SID history in object tombstones

Step 1: Make sure prerequisites are met Step 2: Modify the searchFlags attribute value

Full Replication Consolidating backup registration data Monitoring Recovery Manager for Active Directory

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

Toolbar Project summary List of domain controllers

Filtering the list of domain controllers Connecting to a domain controller via RDP

Domain controller recovery settings and progress

General tab Infrastructure tab Malware Remediation tab Progress tab Events tab

Configuring advanced settings

Managing a recovery project

Creating a recovery project Opening a recovery project Saving a recovery project Updating a recovery project Specifying recovery project settings Cloning an infrastructure platform template Verifying recovery project settings Scanning backups for viruses Scheduling project verification Specifying recovery settings for a DC Selecting backups for recovery

Method 1: Automatically select backups based on your criteria Method 2: Manually select backups

Using recovery alerts

Creating an alert Viewing active alerts Modifying an alert Deleting an alert

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 Restore Active Directory on Clean OS method Bare Metal Active Directory Recovery method 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

Step 1: Use Diagnostic Data Collector to automatically gather data Step 2: Gather remaining data manually

Restore Active Directory on Clean OS method

Create virtual machines in Microsoft Azure

Bare metal forest recovery

Bare metal recovery requirements and limitations Preparing backups Restoring from standard Active Directory backup NIC teaming support Disaster recovery workflow Boot from the ISO image automatically

Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC) HPE ProLiant iLO Management Engine (iLO) VMware ESXi Microsoft Hyper-V Custom host controllers

Creating a virtual test environment using Disaster Recovery Edition

Using Management Shell

About Management Shell

Creating virtual test environments

About Active Directory Virtual Lab Permissions Communication ports

Microsoft SCVMM 2012 or 2012 SP1 Environment Microsoft SCVMM 2012 R2, 2016, 2019 or 2022 Environment VMware Environment

Support for VMware DRS Clusters Deployment User interface

Toolbar List of source computers Virtual machine creation settings and events

General tab Hardware tab Active Directory tab Events tab

Virtual lab project default settings

How to create a virtual test environment

Isolated virtual network and DNS Virtualization agent behavior Working with SCVMM 2012 R2 or higher Forest Recovery Agent is required Opening a legacy virtual lab project

Precautions Step-by-step instructions

Step 1: Create a virtual lab project Step 2: Add source computers to virtual lab project Step 3: Modify virtual machine creation settings Step 4: Verify virtual machine creation settings Step 5: Start virtual test environment creation Step 6: Enable network adapters

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

Typical backup creation times

Recommendations

Typical times to unpack backups Typical sizes of databases

Reports database files

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

Storing backups for granular online or complete offline restores Storing backups for forest recovery

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 Operation Selection Processing Options

Select Object Types Select Attributes to Be Processed

Additional Options Operation Start Operation Progress

Password Settings

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 Processing Options Reporting Options Operation Start Operation Progress Operation Option Objects to Be Restored Operation Results Completing the Online Restore Wizard for AD LDS (ADAM)

Group Policy Restore Wizard

Domain Selection Backup Selection Unpacked Backups Folder 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

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

Backup Selection Folder Selection Operation Start Completing the Extract Wizard

Operation Progress

Events generated by Recovery Manager for Active Directory

Common Events Recovery Console events Backup Agent events Management Agent events Restore Agent events Forest Recovery Agent events Forest Recovery Console events AD Virtual Lab events

Typical times to unpack backups

Before using a packed backup file (e.g. in the Online Restore Wizard), RMAD must unpack it.

The following table illustrates the typical times required to unpack backups.

Note

You can manage the creation of the unpacked backups using the Unpacked Backups tab in the Recovery Manager for Active Directory Settings dialog box. You can also have the Online Restore Wizard or Group Policy Restore Wizard keep unpacked backups for future use. For more information, refer to the User Guide supplied with this release.

Typical times to unpack backups

Compression method	Packed backup file size	Backup unpacking time (min:sec)
None	3.17GB	01:57
Fast	1.27GB	01:29
Normal	1.22GB	01:25
Maximum	1.2GB	01:22

Typical sizes of databases

Configuration database files

Recovery Manager for Active Directory employs the following database files (.mdb):

Rmad.db3. RMAD configuration database. It contains information on the console configuration, such as the managed Computer Collections, backup creation sessions, etc.
Backups.mdb. RMAD backup registration database. It contains information on the registered Active Directory and AD LDS (ADAM) backups.

As a rule, the file size for .mdb files does not exceed 10MB.

Note	The database files are stored in the folder %AllUsersProfile%\Quest\Recovery Manager for Active Directory.

Reports database files

The Online Restore Wizard provides comparison and restore reports based on per-attribute comparisons of directory objects selected from a backup, with their counterparts in Active Directory® or another backup.

RMAD incorporates Microsoft SQL® Reporting Services (SRS). Microsoft SRS is the new reporting standard, replacing the XML-based comparison and restore reports offered by previous versions. For more information, refer to the User Guide supplied with this release of RMAD.

The size of the reports database file depends on the following parameters:

Number of the directory objects the Online Restore Wizard has processed.
Number of the processed attributes.
Type of the processed attributes.
Number of the available Online Restore Wizard sessions. Note that the information on all sessions is stored in a single reports database file.

To estimate the reports database file size, use the following empiric formula:

6 x <Number of processed objects> / 1000 [MB]

For example, if the Online Restore Wizard has processed 3,000 objects, the reports database file size will be approximately 18MB.

Best practices for creating backups

This section provides some best practices for backing up Active Directory® data using RMAD.

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