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NetVault Plug-in for VMware 12.1 - User Guide

Introducing NetVault Backup Plug-in for VMware Installing the plug-in Configuring the plug-in Defining a backup strategy Using the image-level backup method Using the file-level backup method Restoring image-level backups Restoring file-level backups Troubleshooting

About restoring image-level backups

The image-level backups can be used to perform the following types of restores:

Recover a full virtual machine or specific virtual drives: You can use image-level backups to recover a full virtual machine to a previous known state or to restore one or more virtual drives for a virtual machine. This method is useful when there is data loss due to hardware failure, data corruption, or accidental deletion of virtual machine disk files. The virtual machine can be restored to the same or an alternate VMware ESXi Server Host or VMware vCenter Server.
Restore individual files and directories: You can use image-level backups to restore individual files and folders. This method is useful when there is data loss due to user errors, data corruption, or accidental deletion of files. The individual files and directories can be restored to a specified directory on the NetVault Backup Client.
NOTE: To use an image-level backup for file-level restores, you must select the Perform File Level Indexing check box during backup. File-level indexing is disabled by default.
Linux and UNIX: EXT2, EXT3, EXT4, XFS v2, XFS v3
Restore virtual machine disk and configuration files: You can use the image-level backups to restore the virtual machine disk and configuration files to a specified directory on the NetVault Backup Client. With these restored files, you can then recover a virtual machine with the same or modified settings using Virtual Infrastructure Client or any other utility that lets you create a virtual machine using existing .vmdk files.

Restoring a full virtual machine or individual virtual drives

The procedure for recovering a full virtual machine or individual virtual drives from an image-level backup includes the steps outlined in the following sections:

Prerequisites

Before you start the restore procedure, verify that the following requirements are met:

1
Start the diskpart utility, and list the disks:

Restoring data

To restore a full virtual machine or individual virtual drives, use the following procedure.

1
On the Create Restore Job — Choose Saveset page, the saveset table provides a list of available savesets. The table shows the saveset name (Job Title and Saveset ID), creation date and time, saveset size, and saveset status.

Saveset is online (all segments are online).

Saveset is partially online (some segments are online).

Saveset is offline (all segments are offline).

Client

Displays savesets created for particular clients. The default selection is Any.

2
In the Choose Client dialog box, select the clients.

Plugin Type

Displays savesets created using a particular plug-in. The default selection is Any.

Date

Displays savesets created during a specified period. The default selection is Any.

Job

Displays savesets created for particular jobs. The default selection is Any.

2
In the Choose Job dialog box, select the jobs.
When you select a saveset, the following details are displayed in the Saveset Information area: Job ID, job title, tag, server name, client name, plug-in name, saveset date and time, retirement setting, Incremental Backup or not, archive or not, and saveset size.
4
On the Create Selection Set page, select the images that you want to restore.
5
Click Edit Plugin Options.
6
Cluster setup: In a cluster setup managed by a VMware vCenter Server, configure the following options on the Restore virtual machine to vCenter tab.

Recover virtual machine to vCenter

To restore a virtual machine or one or more virtual drives to the same vCenter Server or a different one, select this option.

Alternate Resource Pool Path

A resource pool represents the processor and memory resources that are available to an ESXi Server Host or a cluster of hosts. These resources are made available to the individual virtual machines controlled by the host. Resource pools can be configured in terms of absolute minimum and maximum quantities or relative shares. To run a virtual machine, it must be allocated a resource pool.

By default, a virtual machine is allocated to its original resource pool during restore. To allocate a virtual machine to an alternate resource pool, specify the target resource pool in this box. Use the following format to specify the resource pool:

/Pool-A/Pool-B/.../Pool<n>

Here, Pool<n> is the target resource pool, Pool-A is the child of the root resource pool, Pool-B is the child of Pool-A, and so on. This format allows you to specify a resource pool at any arbitrary depth within the hierarchy. To allocate the virtual machine to the root resource pool, type the “/” character.

Note the following:

Alternate Datastore

A datastore represents a storage location for virtual machine files. It can be a VMFS volume, directory on Network Attached Storage, or local file system path. A datastore is platform- and host-independent.

To change the datastore for a virtual machine, specify the destination datastore name for the virtual machine. You can use this option when the original datastore is unavailable, inaccessible, or cannot hold the virtual machine due to lack of space. Verify that the name is correct and the datastore is accessible to the ESXi Server Host. When you configure an alternate datastore, all virtual drive and configuration files associated with a virtual machine are restored to a single datastore. Verify that the target datastore has sufficient disk space to hold the virtual machine files.

Restore fails if the datastore is invalid or inaccessible or does not have sufficient space to store virtual machine files.

Alternate ESXi Host Address

By default, the plug-in enters the address for the current ESXi host in this field. If you want to restore the virtual machine to a different ESXi host, update the address for the ESXi host in this field. The host can be for the same vCenter Server or a different one.

Standalone ESXi Server setup: In a standalone ESXi Server setup, click the Restore virtual machine to standalone ESXi host tab, and configure the following options.

Recover virtual machine to standalone ESXi host

To restore a virtual machine or one or more virtual drives to a standalone ESXi Server, select this option.

Alternate Datastore

To change the datastore for a virtual machine, specify the destination datastore name for the virtual machine. For more information about this option, see Alternate Datastore.

Delete existing virtual machine: If you are restoring a virtual machine to its original location, you have two options: delete the existing virtual machine and let the restore process re-create it, or let the restore process overwrite existing “.vmdk” file. If you want to delete the existing virtual machine and let the restore process re-create it, click the General Options tab, and select the Delete Existing VM option.
Power On VM: To enable power to the virtual machine after a restore is successfully completed, click the General Options tab, and select the Power On VM option. If you are restoring the virtual machine to its original name and location, the plug-in does not support changing the datastore. If you are renaming the virtual machine as described in Renaming a virtual machine during restore, you can specify the same vCenter Server, an alternate vCenter Server, or a standalone ESXi Server.
Disable distribution of restore job to other VMware Backup proxy: If you configured your environment to use the Distributed Jobs feature, select this check box on the General Options tab to turn off the feature for a specific job. This option is disabled by default.
Enable Job Level Transport Mode: If you are using the Distributed Jobs feature and you want to set the transport mode manually at the job level, select this option, and then select the applicable Primary Transport Mode and Fallback Transport Mode.
7
To save the settings, click Save, and then click Next.
8
In Job Name, specify a name for the job.
9
In the Target Client list, verify that the client from which data was backed up is selected.
For more information about these sets, see the Quest NetVault Backup Administrator’s Guide.
You can monitor the job progress from the Job Status page and view the logs from the View Logs page. For more information about these functions, see the Quest NetVault Backup Administrator’s Guide.
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