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Virtualization

Virtualization is the process of restoring Block backups by creating a separate virtual machine with the restored data. Such restore process requires BMR backups. The virtualization itself may be instant or full. Full Virtualization creates a production VM. Instant Virtualization creates a temporary VM, which is typically used for setup or testing purposes. In addition, you can convert the temporary VM that were created with Instant Virtualization into a production VM by using the Rapid Return to Production (RRP) feature.

Creating a Virtualization Job

Go to Job Manager in the sidebar.
Click New Restore Job to open the New Restore dialog.

Select Virtualization and click Next.

The Object to Restore list shows all machines backed up using the DPX BMR Backup. The available objects can be sorted Name, Type, associated Job Name, or Backup Date/Size. Find the VM that contains the files or directories in the VM object list you want to restore. Click Next.

From the list of recovery points of the VM object, select the desired recovery point. By default, Latest Recovery Point is selected. Click Next.

Note. Both Instant and Full virtualization are based on a very similar flow, where a virtual machine is created within the specified location. The difference consists in how the VM will access the backup data:

Instant Virtualization – the BMR backup from vStor is mapped to the VM as an external volume; this method is intended for temporary access only due to potentially high latency;
Full Virtualization – the BMR backup from vStor is transferred to the VM’s internal volume; this method is fully reliable and the VM can be used in the production environment.

Specify the Job Name. The name may be up to 64 characters long and may only contain letters, digits and - _ characters.

Restrictions. The Job Name must be unique within your Enterprise.

Specify job options using toggles. See below.

Basic Job Options

Power on the virtual machine after restoring

Delete the restore job on successful completion

Job e-mail notification

E-mail Notification Fields

Subject

The subject of your message. The subject line usually contains a combination of straight text and variable elements. Variables, which must begin with %, are replaced with actual corresponding values. If you enclose variables in double quotation marks, those variables are treated as literal values. You can embed the following variables:

%JOBNAME
%JOBID
%JOBTYPE
%RC

Use %RC to include the return code in the message for this run of the job, when applicable.

To

The email address of the primary recipient of your message. Only one “To” address is permitted.

Cc

Carbon Copy. The email address(es) of the secondary recipient(s) of your message. Use a semicolon to delimit multiple email addresses.

Bcc

Blind Carbon Copy. The email address(es) of the secondary recipient(s) not identified to other recipients. Use a semi-colon to delimit multiple email addresses.

Note. Note that the following characters are invalid in all fields: < > ; and '.

Note. DPX emailing must be enabled when you first configure your Enterprise. At that time, you supply general system information, including SMTP Host Name and SMTP Port. See the Administrator E-mail Settings section.

Other Job Options

Optionally, you can specify an Alternate Secondary Node.

Alternate Secondary Node

In all previous steps of creating a restore job, the available selections were based on the backup metadata stored on DPX. This means that DPX is aware of all backups made by the user and where they are stored. If, during backup or at a later stage, the backup data have been replicated to a secondary location and the primary location becomes corrupt or inaccessible, you can choose to restore your data from such secondary location using this option.

Select the Secondary Node from the drop-down list.
Select the volume where the alternate backup is stored.

DPX will attempt to identify the files or directories specified in previous steps. If this proves impossible, the following warning will be displayed:

See also. For more information, see Creating vStor Partnerships in vStor documentation.

Specify the Target Host, selecting Node Name and the Host available within this Node from respective drop-down lists.

Select the Target Resources for the new VM.
- Select Resource Pool or VApp.
- Select the network you want to use to connect to the new VM.
- Select the iSCSI Adapter.
- Select the VM Folder where the new VM will be located within the virtual machine manager.

Select Target Datastore. Use the Search input field or select one of the available datastores from the list.

Tip. You can control the Datastore view by ordering items by Name, Status, overall Capacity, Free space or Type, ascending or descending. Note also the Items per page value which can be useful when managing the display.

Specify the properties of the new virtual machine.

The Virtual Machine Name cannot exceed 256 characters and must be unique within the virtual machine manager.
Assign Virtual Machine Memory. You also need to specify whether the memory is thin-provisioned (only actually consumed memory is used by the VM) or thick-provisioned (the allocated amount of memory will be reserved for the VM’s exclusive use).
Select the virtualization proxy server. For more information, see DPX Proxy Server.
Indicate the Virtual ISO Location. You will need a virtualization ISO of the operating system required for your machine (Linux or Windows). Normally, you will obtain it from the appropriate MySupport DPX Virtualization Support section. If in doubt, contact our Technical Support team.

(Optional) By default, the Static Virtual Machine Network toggle is in the disabled position. When enabled, additional fields are shown.

Specify the static IP address for the machine.
Specify the subnet mask.
Specify the gateway.
Specify the DNS server. Additionally, you may specify the DNS search path. This field is optional.

After setting all the options, click Next. The Summary screen will be displayed.

Click Save. A Run Job prompt will be shown.

Click Yes to run the job immediately or No if you want to run it later from the Job Manager. After a successful job run, the restored virtual machine will be visible in the vCenter: