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Recovery Manager for AD Disaster Recovery Edition 10.3 - User Guide

Overview Getting started
Permissions required to use Recovery Manager for Active Directory Recovery Manager Console Getting and using help Configuring Windows Firewall Using Computer Collections Cloud Storage Secure Storage Server Hybrid Recovery with On Demand Recovery Managing Recovery Manager for Active Directory configuration Licensing
Backing up data
Permissions required for the Backup operation Managing Backup Agent 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 Using the Backup Wizard Retrying backup creation Enabling backup encryption Backing up AD LDS (ADAM) Backing up cross-domain group membership Backing up distributed file system (DFS) data Backup scheduling Setting performance options Setting advanced backup options Using Forest Recovery Agent Unpacking backups Using e-mail notification Viewing backup creation results
Restoring data
Getting started with Active Directory recovery Managing deleted or recycled objects Restoring backed up Active Directory components Integration with Change Auditor for Active Directory Using granular online restore Restoring AD LDS (ADAM) 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 Using complete offline restore Offline restore implications Restoring SYSVOL authoritatively Performing a granular restore of SYSVOL Recovering Group Policy Restoring data from third-party backups Using the Extract Wizard Restoring passwords and SID history
Full Replication Consolidating backup registration data Monitoring Recovery Manager for Active Directory 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 Managing a recovery project Recovery methods Phased recovery Managing 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 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 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
Restore Active Directory on Clean OS method Bare metal forest recovery Using Management Shell Creating virtual test environments Appendices
Frequently asked questions Best practices for using Computer Collections Technical characteristics Best practices for creating backups Best practices for creating backups for forest recovery Best practices for recovering a forest Descriptions of recovery or verification steps Ports Used by Recovery Manager for Active Directory Forest Edition (Disaster Recovery Edition) Backup Wizard Online Restore Wizard Online Restore Wizard for AD LDS (ADAM) Group Policy Restore Wizard Repair Wizard Extract Wizard Events generated by Recovery Manager for Active Directory

VMware ESXi

The process of booting the VMware® virtual machine with the Quest Recovery Environment image can be automated by VMware ESXi™.

NOTE

This feature allows you to work directly with VMware ESXi™ hosts and VMware vCenter®.

Supported versions

VMware vCenter® / VMware ESX® Server 6.0, 6.5, 6.7 and 7.0

Prerequisites

VMware PowerCLI PowerShell® module must be installed.

Minimal Rights and Permissions

Privilege Name Actions Granted to Users Effective on Object Propagate to Children
System.View Allows a user to get information about VMware vCenter® / VMware ESXi™ configuration in user interface. vCenter Yes
Datastore.FileManagement Allows a user to carry out file operations in the datastore browser. Datacenter, Datastore storage folder, Datastore Cluster, Datastore Yes
Datastore.Browse Allows browsing files on a datastore, including CD-ROM or Floppy media and serial or parallel port files. In addition, the browse datastore privilege allows users to add existing disks to a datastore. Datacenter, Datastore storage folder, Datastore Cluster, Datastore Yes
Datastore.AllocateSpace Allows allocating space on a datastore for a virtual machine, snapshot, clone, or virtual disk. Datacenter, Datastore storage folder, Datastore Cluster, Datastore Yes
VirtualMachine.Inventory.Create Allows creating a new virtual machine and allocates resources for its execution. Datacenter, Virtual machine folder Yes
VirtualMachine.Config.AddNewDisk Allows creation of a new virtual disk to add to a virtual machine. Datacenter, Virtual machine folder Yes
VirtualMachine.Interact.SetCDMedia Allows configuration of a virtual DVD or CD-ROM device. Datacenter, Virtual machine folder, Cluster, Host Yes
VirtualMachine.Interact.DeviceConnection Allows changing the connected state of a virtual machine’s disconnectable virtual devices. Datacenter, Virtual machine folder, Cluster, Host Yes
VirtualMachine.Config.Settings Allows changing any basic settings such as those in ToolsConfigInfo, FlagInfo, or DefaultPowerOpInfo Datacenter, Virtual machine folder, Cluster, Host Yes
VirtualMachine.Interact.PowerOff Allows powering off a powered-on virtual machine. Datacenter, Virtual machine folder, Cluster, Host Yes
VirtualMachine.Interact.PowerOn Allows powering on a powered-off virtual machine, and resuming a suspended virtual machine. Datacenter, Virtual machine folder, Cluster, Host Yes
Resource.AssignVMToPool Assigns a virtual machine to a resource pool. Datacenter, Cluster, Host Yes
Network.Assign Assigns a virtual machine to a network. Datacenter, Network folder, Network Yes

Precautions (only for test environments)

  • Virtual test environments created with this option can only be used for testing, training, or evaluation purposes. Never restore or copy any data from your virtual test environments to the production Active Directory.

  • Ensure your virtual test environment is properly isolated from the source Active Directory forest. Otherwise, the source forest may be seriously damaged after you enable the network adapters in the newly-created virtual test environment.

To boot the VMware virtual machine with the Quest Recovery Environment image automatically
  1. In Forest Recovery Console, select the DC that you want to recover and open the Infrastructure tab.

  2. Select VMWare ESXi from the Infrastructure drop-down list.

    Resources/Images/VM_ware2_v2.png

  3. To configure infrastructure template, click Edit. For more information see, Specifying recovery project settings.

    Resources/Images/VM_ware2_2.png

  4. Specify the connection settings for the vSphere Web Client.

  5. Specify the user name and password of the account that will be used to access VMware vSphere® Web Client.

  6. Use the Name text box to type a name for the virtual machine on the target computer. The machine with this name will be used if Create virtual machine is unchecked, or will be created if the option is selected.

  7. You can create a new virtual machine based on the configuration from backup and specified settings. For that, select the Create virtual machine option. The following settings can be specified:

    • Host name - Specify the VMware ESXi™ host where you want to place the virtual machine. Multi-select can be used to select several DCs.

    • Refresh - Refreshes the information.

    • VM folder - Select the folder in which you want to place the target virtual machine. Nested folders are supported.

    • Network - Specify the virtual network.

    • Storage - Select the storage in which to place the virtual machine files.

    • Space available - Shows free space in the storage.

    • Number of processors - Specify the number of processors you want to have on the target virtual machine.

    • Memory size - Set the amount of random access memory you want to allocate to the target virtual machine.

  8. Make sure that Recovery Media Image settings are properly specified in the Recovery Media Image section of the Infrastructure tab.

 

Microsoft Hyper-V

The process of booting the virtual machine with the Quest® Recovery Environment image can be automated by Microsoft Hyper-V®.

Supported versions

Hyper-V® Server 2012 or higher

NOTE

Recovery Manager for Active Directory does not directly support System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) for this feature but you can work with SCVMM-managed Hyper-V® hosts.

Precautions (only for test environments)

  • Virtual test environments created with this option can only be used for testing, training, or evaluation purposes. Never restore or copy any data from your virtual test environments to the production Active Directory®.

  • Ensure your virtual test environment is properly isolated from the source Active Directory® forest. Otherwise, the source forest may be seriously damaged after you enable the network adapters in the newly-created virtual test environment.

To boot the virtual machine with the Quest® Recovery Environment image automatically
  1. In Forest Recovery Console, select the DC that you want to recover and open the Infrastructure tab.

  2. Select Microsoft Hyper-V from the Infrastructure drop-down list.

    Resources/Images/Hyper_V_v2.png

  3. To configure infrastructure template, click Edit. For more information see, Specifying recovery project settings.

    Resources/Images/Hyper_V_2.png

  4. Specify the connection settings for the Hyper-V® host.

  5. Specify the user name and password of the account that will be used to access the Hyper-V® host. This account must have the following permissions:

    • Be a member of the local Administrators group on the target Hyper-V® host

    • Be able to access admin$ share on the target Hyper-V® host

    • Be a member of the Hyper-V® Administrators group

    Recovery Manager for Active Directory uses PowerShell® Remoting to manage the Hyper-V® server. The required permissions must be configured for users that are used to access the
    Hyper-V® host, especially when the host is outside the domain where the Forest Recovery Console is running. For details, see Remotely manage Hyper-V hosts with Hyper-V Manager

  6. Use the Name text box to type a name for the virtual machine on the target computer. The machine with this name will be used if Create virtual machine is unchecked, or will be created if the option is selected.

  7. You can create a new virtual machine based on the configuration from backup (generation of Hyper-V® virtual machine, number of disks, disk sizes) and specified settings. For that, select the Create virtual machine option. The following settings can be specified:

    • Network - Specify the virtual network.

    • Storage - Select the storage in which to place the virtual machine files on the Hyper-V® host.

    • Space available - Shows free space in the storage.

    • Number of processors - Specify the number of processors you want to have on the target virtual machine.

    • Memory size - Set the amount of random access memory you want to allocate to the target virtual machine.

  8. Make sure that Recovery Media Image settings are properly specified in the Recovery Media Image section of the Infrastructure tab.

 

Custom host controllers

The process of booting the custom server with the Quest® Recovery Environment image can be automated by a custom management system.

To boot the custom server with Quest® Recovery Environment image automatically
  1. In Forest Recovery Console, open the Infrastructure tab.

Resources/Images/custom_host_controller.png

  1. Select Custom from the Infrastructure drop-down list.

  2. Specify the IP address of the custom controller.

  3. Specify the user name and password of the account that will be used to access the controller.

  4. Configure and specify the Eject script and the Boot script for the ISO image.

  5. To edit the custom SSH script or PowerShell script manually, go to the following location: %ProgramFiles%\Quest\Recovery Manager for Active Directory <Edition Name>\Management. The SSH script will be run on the remote server during the SSH session.

  6. Make sure that Recovery Media Image settings are properly specified in the Recovery Media Image section of the Infrastructure tab.

 

Creating a virtual test environment using Disaster Recovery Edition

Recovery Manager for Active Directory Disaster Recovery Edition allows you to create a virtual test environment from an Active Directory forest. You can use the created test environments to design and evaluate Active Directory disaster recovery scenarios, test planned Active Directory® changes before deploying them to production, train your staff to perform Active Directory-related tasks, and more.

NOTE

Never restore or copy any data from your virtual test environments to the production Active Directory.

Possible scenarios:

  • Create a virtual test environment using BMR backups with or without Active Directory® backups and the Bare Metal for Active Directory® Recovery method

  • Create a virtual test environment using Active Directory® backups and the Restore on Clean OS recovery method

  • Or combine both approaches

The main advantage of these approaches is that you do not need to have a working production environment to create a test lab. Only BMR and/or Active Directory® backups are required.

IMPORTANT

To ensure that the target virtual machine in the virtual lab does not affect the source environment, a customer must guarantee the isolation of the target lab. Otherwise, the source forest may be seriously damaged. To get more information about the isolation of the virtual network, see Isolated virtual network and DNS. If you create a lab with an isolated virtual switch, you need to ensure that the Forest Recovery Console and BMR backup storage are connected to the isolated network. You can achieve this by adding virtual network adapters to these machines or by creating a designated VM with Forest Recovery installed and required BMR backups copied to it. Backups should be accessible from the Console machine and from the created target virtual machines. Please note, that initially you won't have a working DNS server in the isolated network. So, ensure that the Forest Recovery Console is able to resolve the BMR backup path to IP address in the isolated network.

To create a virtual test environment from an Active Directory® forest, you need to select the source domain controllers you want to include in the test environment. Standalone servers are not supported yet in this scenario.

When creating virtual machines from the source computers, Recovery Manager for Active Directory uses third-party virtualization software, such as VMware™ ESXi™/vCenter™ or Microsoft Hyper-V®. For details, see VMware ESXi or Microsoft Hyper-V.

You can create virtual machines that maintain all the data available on the source computers, included in BMR and Active Directory® backups. To manage the created virtual test environment, you need to use the tools provided by the virtualization software with which the virtual machines were created in the test environment.

To create a virtual test environment using Recovery Manager for Active Directory Disaster Recovery Edition
  1. You can create the target lab with one virtual machine using the selected virtualization software and install Recovery Manager for Active Directory Disaster Recovery Edition on this virtual machine or use the instance of Forest Recovery Console from the production environment. If you use the single instance of Forest Recovery Console, make sure that your recovery project is configured properly and source domain controllers will not be affected by the test lab.

  2. Backups can be stored on the backup shared storage that is available for both production and test lab networks. Otherwise, you need to copy backups to the test lab environment. Register required production BMR backups in this instance of Recovery Manager for Active Directory. If you use the single instance of Forest Recovery Console, all backups have already registered.

  3. Create a recovery project. For domain controllers that will not be included in the target lab, select the Do not recover method.

  4. Select the Bare Metal for Active Directory Recovery method and set up all other recovery settings on the General tab for each domain controller that you want to recover.

    Resources/Images/SecondStage.png

  5. Configure all required settings on the Infrastructure tab depending on your virtualization software. For details and requirements, see VMware ESXi or Microsoft Hyper-V.

    Resources/Images/Hyper_V_2_lab.png

  6. Alternatively, you can use Active Directory® backups with the Restore Active Directory on Clean OS method instead of restore from BMR backups. In this case, you should provide running Windows-based machines (virtual or physical) with the corresponding Windows version. Do not forget that these machines must be isolated from accessing the production network.

    Resources/Images/Test_lab_clean_OS.png

  7. Start the forest recovery operation.

 

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