Chat now with support
Chat with Support

Rapid Recovery 6.7 - User Guide

Introduction to Rapid Recovery The Core Console Repositories Core settings Protecting machines
About protecting machines with Rapid Recovery Understanding the Rapid Recovery Agent software installer Deploying Agent to multiple machines simultaneously from the Core Console Using the Deploy Agent Software Wizard to deploy to one or more machines Modifying deploy settings Understanding protection schedules Protecting a machine About protecting multiple machines Enabling application support Settings and functions for protected Exchange servers Settings and functions for protected SQL servers
Managing protected machines Snapshots and recovery points Managing privacy Encryption Authentication Replication Events Reporting VM export Restoring data Bare metal restore
About bare metal restore Differences in bare metal restore for Windows and Linux machines Understanding boot CD creation for Windows machines Managing a Linux boot image Performing a bare metal restore using the Restore Machine Wizard Using the Universal Recovery Console for a BMR Performing a bare metal restore for Linux machines Verifying a bare metal restore
Managing aging data Archiving Cloud accounts Core Console references REST APIs Glossary

Loading the Live DVD and starting the target machine

After you obtain the Live DVD ISO image, you need to start the Linux machine from the Live DVD ISO image that matches your version of Rapid Recovery Core.

This task is a step in Performing a bare metal restore for Linux machines. It is part of the process for Managing a Linux boot image.

  1. Navigate to the BMR target machine and load the Live DVD image from the appropriate location.
  2. If necessary, access settings for the BMR target machine, and modify the boot order so that the server will start from the device containing the Live DVD image.
  3. Boot the machine.

    A Quest splash screen displays. A terminal window opens, displaying the IP address and authentication password for the machine.

    NOTE: A new temporary password is generated each time the machine is started with the Live DVD image.

  4. Write down the IP address and the authentication password displayed on the introduction screen. You will need this information to connect the BMR target machine with the Rapid Recovery Core Console to complete the bare metal restore.

Connecting to the BMR target from the Rapid Recovery Core

After you boot the target Linux machine from the Live DVD ISO image, this machine is ready for you to connect to it from the Core and begin the bare metal restore process. You can perform this process using either of two methods:

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.

NOTE: A bootable ISO image is required to complete a BMR. For Windows restores, you need to create a boot CD image from the Core Console. For Linux restores, you need to download the Live DVD boot ISO image for the appropriate version of Rapid Recovery Core from the QorePortal or Rapid Recovery License Portal.

This procedure includes a description of creating and managing a Windows boot CD image from the Restore Machine Wizard. Independent of the wizard, you can also create a Windows boot CD from the Boot CDs page, accessible from the [More] (More) menu of the Core console.

For information on managing a Windows boot CD image outside of the Restore Machine Wizard, see Managing a Windows boot image. For information on downloading and managing the Live DVD image, see Managing a Linux boot image.

Before performing a BMR, see Prerequisites for performing a bare metal restore for Windows or Linux machines.

You cannot log onto the BMR target machine using Windows Remote Desktop Services while using the boot CD. If you need to connect remotely to the BMR target machine, see Using UltraVNC for remote access.

Complete the steps in the following procedure to perform BMR using the Restore Machine Wizard.

  1. To restore volumes (including a system volume) on a protected machine, navigate to the Rapid Recovery Core Console and click [Restore] 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:
  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 146: 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 147: 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 148: 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 URC] 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] 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] 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] IP address When an appropriate network adapter is loaded, the IP address of the BMR target machine is displayed.
[Authentication key] 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.

Related Documents

The document was helpful.

Select Rating

I easily found the information I needed.

Select Rating