Multi-VM Restore 🆕

VMware Restore Orchestration

Multi-VM Restore is a new feature in Catalogic DPX 4.11, allowing you to orchestrate the restore process of multiple virtual machines from the VMware environment in a single restore job. You can select virtual machines backed up in different VMware backup jobs, choose the order in which the VMs will be restored and restore them to a new data store.

The virtual machines are restored in the instant virtualization mode, allowing quick access to the restored data. The VMs can then be fully restored, using the Rapid Return to Production (RRP) feature.

Restrictions. Multi-VM restore is only accessible through the web interface.

Restrictions. Multi-VM restore only supports recovery points stored on vStor. NetApp storages are not supported.

See also. In addition to virtual machines, you can also restore specific files or directories the VMs contain. For more details about restoring files, see Agentless File Restore.

Creating a Multi-VM Restore Job

1. Select the Restore Job Type

1. Go to Job Manager in the sidebar.

2. Click New Restore Job to open the New Restore dialog.

1. Select Multi-VM Restore and click Next.

2. Add Virtual Machines to the Restore List

1. The initial Objects to Restore view is empty. Click the Add virtual machines button to open the virtual machine selection dialog.

1. The Add Virtual Machines dialog shows all VMware virtual machines protected using the DPX Agentless Backup. The VMs in the view can be sorted by VM Name, Source Node Name or Job Name.

1. Use Advanced Filters to optimize the selection view. Note the Selected items value in the lower left corner showing how many items are selected in the current view.

1. Select the virtual machines you want to restore and click Add. The Add Virtual Machines dialog will close and the Objects to Restore view will be populated with the selected VMs.

Note. For optimized performance, VMs are restored one by one rather than simultaneously. The order of the VMs in the list reflects the order in which the machines will be restored. To change the order, see Change Virtual Machine Restore Order below.

1. The Selected items value at the bottom of the list indicates the total number of VMs selected within the current restore job definition. If you want to add more VMs to the Objects to Restore view, click the Add virtual machines button in the upper right corner.

1. This time, two Add buttons will be available.

   • Click Add to top to place the newly selected VMs before those previously added.

   • Click Add to bottom to place the newly selected VMs after those previously added.

3. Change Virtual Machine Restore Order

There are several ways to arrange virtual machines in the required restore order listed below.

Arrange the virtual machines in the desired order and click Next.

Tip. For all arrangement actions, you can select multiple elements from the list by doing one of the following:

• select an item, then press Ctrl to select more items. Click a selected item to deselect.

• select an item, then press Shift and select another item: all items in range will be selected.

Click outside the list to deselect all.

Drag and drop

Drag and drop items by pulling the symbol up or down. If multiple items are selected, only the dragged element will appear as moving, and the number of additional items in the movement will be displayed. Multiple dragged elements will be dropped in the same order they appeared on the list when selected.

Move to the top or bottom

Move items to the top or bottom of the list using either the and buttons at the right end of each row, or right-clicking the row to display the context menu. If multiple items are selected, the context menu labels and movement button tooltips will indicate that the action applies to the selection rather than a single item.

Move selected to top – movement button

Move selected to top – context menu

Remove items

To remove unnecessary items from the view and thus from the restore job definition, select at least one item and click the icon or right-click the row and select Remove from the drop-down menu to remove the selected items from the Objects to Restore list.

4. Select the Restore Destination

The Destination step requires providing specific information about where the virtual machines will be restored.

Restrictions. All virtual machines within a single Multi-VM Restore job must be restored to the same vCenter. Ensure the vCenter you select has enough resources to handle your restore job.

1. Select the destination from the Node Name dropdown. If you cannot see the required node, go to the Nodes view in your DPX and check whether the desired vCenter has been added to your Enterprise. For more information, see Nodes.
2. Select the target host or cluster from the Host Name dropdown. It lists the hosts and clusters available within the vCenter selected in the previous step.

3. Select the target datastore from the list. You can narrow down the displayed list by searching by the datastore name, or sort the list by Name, total Capacity, Free capacity or Type.

4. Select the VM Folder within your vCenter where you want to restore your virtual machines. Click Next.

5. Select Network Settings

The Network Settings step allows the user to define how the original networks of the virtual machines are mapped to the networks available in the vCenter selected for the Multi-VM Restore destination.

One of the networks available in the target vCenter is selected as the Fallback Network, i.e. all virtual machines without network mapping defined will be restored to this network. You can change this setting, by choosing another available network from the Fallback Network dropdown.

1. Click the Add network mapping button to map the original networks of the virtual machines to one of the new networks available.

The number in the blue circle indicates how many virtual machines were originally in the Source Network selected in the dropdown.

1. Select the Source Network you want to map to a new destination network.

2. Select the Destination Network from the right-hand dropdown.

3. If you want to remove a network mapping, click the X symbol at the end of the row.

When all available source networks are selected for mappings, the Add network mapping button becomes inactive.

1. When done with defining networks, click Next.

6. Specify the Job Name

In the Options step, specify the Job Name under which the Multi-VM Restore job definition will be saved. The field may contain up to 64 characters.

Note. The job name must be unique throughout the Enterprise. DPX checks this condition while typing. The Next button will remain inactive until the check is done successfully. This may take several seconds depending on the Catalog size.

At this stage, the definition of the job is complete. Click Next and proceed to the Summary step or set Job Options for Multi-VM Restore.

7. Review Summary and Save

The Summary step displays the results of all previous steps and choices made while creating a Multi-VM Restore job definition.

Review the summarized definition and click Save.

Running the Job

The following Run Job dialog is shown when saving the Multi-VM Restore job.

A success message will be thrown in the notifications area and the job will start.

Note. Multi-VM Restore jobs run in the instant VM restore mode. The restored VMs are considered temporary since they depend on external snapshots that can expire or be deleted. Such temporary VMs may also run slower due to network communication constraints. Once a temporary machine is ready for production, it can be made available quickly using the Rapid Return to Production feature.

If a Multi-VM Restore job fails to restore at least one virtual machine, the job is reported as failed. However, the successfully restored VMs are still available for Rapid Restore to Production.

Rapid Return to Production (RRP)

This feature allows the user to transfer all VM data to their actual location, rather than to use snapshots mounted from a backup storage, without any downtime. To fully restore your machines after a Multi-VM Restore job, go to the Unfinished Restores tab in Job Monitor.

Note. If your machines have been powered on after restore (see the Power on virtual machines after restoring job option), the RRP feature requires that your vCenter has vMotion installed. Otherwise, the RRP will fail.

1. Click the RRP icon at the right end of the row or right-click the row to display the drop-down menu and select RRP.

1. The Rapid Return to Production dialog will display. Select target datastore. You can use the search bar to find the desired item. The search is case-insensitive.

1. Click Return to Production. The Rapid Return to Production process will begin. The process will take some time depending on the amount of data to be transferred from the backup location to the datastore.

When the process is finished, the summary dialog will show the RRP results. If all VMs are returned to production successfully, the Multi-VM Restore job item will disappear from the Unfinished Restores view.

1. Click Finish to dismiss the dialog or click Open Events List to see RRP details in the Events view.

Cleanup

The cleanup feature allows the user to remove temporarily restored VMs from vCenter. It can be useful when all necessary files have been retrieved from the VMs and returning the VMs to production is not required.

1. Click the Cleanup iconat the right end of the row or right-click the row to display the drop-down menu and select Clean up.

1. The Restore Environment Cleanup dialog will display. Click Yes to start the cleanup process. It will take some time depending on the amount of data.

The process will take some time depending on the amount of data to be removed.

When the process is finished, the summary dialog will show the cleanup results. If all resources are cleaned up successfully, the Multi-VM Restore job item will disappear from the Unfinished Restores view.

• The Not found column shows resources that have already been removed in a previous cleanup or manually.

• The Couldn’t remove column shows resources that could not be removed for some reason. The details can be found in the Events List.

1. Click Retry to reattempt cleanup on resources that have not been removed. Click Open Events List to go to the Events view and see the process details. Click Finish to close the dialog. If all resources are cleaned up successfully, the Multi-VM Restore job item will disappear from the Unfinished Restores view.