In Rapid Recovery, you can perform a Bare Metal Restore (BMR) for a protected Linux machine, including a restore of the system volume. BMR functionality is supported for Linux using the Restore Machine Wizard from the Core Console, and also using the command line local_mount utility.
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Caution: Rapid Recovery supports ext2 partition types only if the kernel is version 3.10 and above. If using an earlier kernel, convert any ext2 partitions to ext3, ext4, or XFS before you begin protecting and backing up the machine. |
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Caution: When you boot a restored Linux machine for the first time after a BMR, Rapid Recovery Core first attempts to capture an incremental snapshot of the restored machine. If incremental capture is not possible due to the amount of data and the state of the machine, then Rapid Recovery Core captures a base image of the restored machine. This process takes more time than taking an incremental snapshot. For more information about base images and incremental snapshots, see Understanding protection schedules. |
To perform a bare metal restore for Linux machines, perform the following tasks.
- Manage a Linux boot image. The Linux Live DVD boot ISO image is used to start up the BMR target machine, from which you can access the Universal Recovery Console to communicate with backups on the Core. See Managing a Linux boot image.
- To obtain the boot image for BMR, make sure the Live DVD version matches your Core version. For more information, see About the boot ISO image for Linux followed by Downloading a boot ISO image for Linux.
- If you require physical media to start up the destination Linux machine, you will need to transfer the ISO image to media. See Saving the Live DVD ISO image to media.
- In all cases, you will need to load the boot ISO image into the BMR target machine and boot the server from that image. See Loading the Live DVD and starting the target machine.
- After you load the media and boot, you must connect the Linux BMR target machine to the Rapid Recovery Core. See Connecting to the BMR target from the Rapid Recovery Core.
- Manage Partitions. You may need to create or mount partitions before performing a BMR on a Linux machine. See Managing Linux partitions.
- The Linux system on which you are performing a BMR must have the same partitions as the source volumes in the recovery point. You may need to create additional partitions on the target system, if required. See Creating partitions on the destination drive.
- If you are performing a manual BMR, you must first mount partitions. See Mounting partitions from the command line. Steps to mount partitions are included in the process to perform a BMR from the command line. See Launching a bare metal restore for a Linux machine using the command line.
If you are using auto-partitioning for BMR within the Core Console, you do not need to mount partitions. Rapid Recovery will restore the same partitions as those included in the recovery point being restored.
- Launch a Bare Metal Restore for Linux. Once the destination machine is started from the Live DVD boot image, you can launch the BMR. The tasks required depend on whether you will perform this from the Rapid Recovery Core Console user interface or from the command line using the local_mount utility. See Launching a bare metal restore for Linux.
- If using the Core Console, you will need to initiate a restore from a recovery point on the Core. See Selecting a recovery point and initiating a BMR.
- If using the Core Console, you will need to map the volumes from the UI. See About disk mapping for a bare metal restore.
- Optionally, if restoring from the command line, you can use the GNU Screen utility to enhance your ability to scroll and see commands in the terminal console. This utility opens by default. If you close it, you can start it again. For more information, see Starting the Screen utility.
- If using local_mount, all tasks will be performed at the command line. For more information, see Launching a bare metal restore for a Linux machine using the command line.
- Verify a Bare Metal Restore. After starting the bare metal restore, you can verify and monitor your progress. See Verifying the bare metal restore from the command line.
- You can monitor the progress of your restore. See Viewing the recovery progress.
- Once completed, you can start the restored server. See Starting a restored target server.
- Troubleshoot the BMR process. See Troubleshooting connections to the Universal Recovery Console and Repairing boot problems.