Single VM Restore

Depending on the selection made in the Options step (item 6 below), Single VM Restore creates a new VM with data mapped from the snapshot (Instant Restore) or a duplicate of the source VM with snapshot data physically transferred to the VM's disk volumes.

Important. Restoring an encrypted VM in the VMware environment will result in creating a machine with unencrypted data. For details, see VMware Encryption and vSphere documentation.

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

Restrictions. When performing a full or instant VM restore, the VM hardware version in the target vCenter is set to the vCenter’s default value. This may prevent the VM from starting. For more information, see VMs Unable to Power On after Full or Instant VM Restore in the troubleshooting section.

Creating a Single VM Restore Job

  1. Go to Job Manager in the sidebar.

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

  1. Select Single VM Restore and click Next.

  1. The VM object list shows all VMs that you backed up by using the DPX Agentless Backup. The available objects to restore can be sorted by Name, Type, associated Job Name, the Backup Date/Time, or Size. Use the search bar to filter by Name substrings (case insensitive). Find the VM you want to restore. Click Next.

  1. In the Recovery Points step, select the recovery point to restore. You can select the Latest Recovery Point or one of the other recovery points in the list. Click Next.

Tip. If Latest Recovery Point is selected, the job definition will always use the latest recovery point available. Conversely, if you choose a particular date, this date will be used for every restore job instance run based on this job definition.

  1. In the Options step, select whether you want to proceed with Instant restore or Full restore.

Instant Virtualization maps data from the snapshot (stored on the backup storage) to the VM. Unlike Full Virtualization, Instant Virtualization does not physically transfer data to the VM and therefore requires minimal space on the datastore, and changes made to the mapped drive do not affect the backups.

All source volumes will be virtualized as RDM disks, based on the snapshot image from the backup storage system.

VMs created with Instant Virtualization are considered temporary since they depend on 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 RRP.

Restrictions. The Rapid Return to Production (RRP) functionality for single VM restore is only available through the desktop interface. See Rapid Return to Production (RRP). Alternatively, you can use the Multi-VM Restore functionality available via web interface.

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

  2. Specify job options. See below.

Basic Job Options

Power on the virtual machine after restoring

Toggle on

The newly restored virtual machine will be powered on when restore is completed.

Toggle off

The VM will be restored in the powered-off state.

Delete the source virtual machine if it exists

Toggle on

Upon restore completion, DPX will attempt to delete the source virtual machine (if it exists and if DPX still has access to it).

Toggle off

The source VM will remain unchanged in its location. Note. If no alternate location was chosen for the restored VM, both VMs will exist simultaneously in the same location. The old machine will not be overwritten by the restore job.

Delete the restore job on successful completion

Toggle on

The restore job defined in this process will be deleted upon successful completion. If the job fails, it will not be deleted.

Toggle off

The restore job will be saved and will be accessible later in Job Manager.

Job e-mail notification

Toggle on

The notification is sent as specified below the toggle (additional fields will appear – see E-mail Notification Fields below).

Toggle off

The notification is sent to the default e-mail address configured in the Administrator E-mail Settings section.

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.

  1. Optionally, you can specify other job options (see below). If you wish to continue with default options, click Save.

Custom VM Restore options

You can recreate the VM in a location different from the one where the source virtual machine exists. Select the Enterprise, VMware node, VMware ESXi host, VMware vCenter, and VMware folders in the navigation pane, and select the virtual machine. Review or change the Virtual Resources items (see below).

Target Host

  • Select Node Name from the drop-down list.

  • Select a Host available within the Node from the drop-down list.

DPX will attempt to connect with the vCenter node. Selections available in the following sections are imported from the vCenter.

Target Resources

  • Select Resource Pool or VApp.

  • Select the network you want to locate the new VM in.

  • Select the iSCSI Adapter.

  • Select the VM Folder where the new VM will be restored to.

Target Datastore (Full Restore only)

Select the vCenter datastore where the VM volume data will be restored to. Ensure enough space. The status column reflects the datastore’s condition as reported by the vCenter. Ensure the status is green (Normal).

Virtual Machine Properties

Specify Virtual Machine Name, its memory and number of CPUs. These fields are pre-populated according to the original VM’s configuration.

Schedule

Schedule the restore job. The Run at field is using your browser’s time zone. For example, if you have DPX in London and access the DPX web interface from New York, specify the time in US Eastern Time.

Important. When specifying a schedule, make sure the Delete the restore job on successful completion toggle is switched off. Otherwise, the job will be deleted upon its first successful completion.

Also please note that in the current version of DPX, restore jobs cannot be edited. This also includes job scheduling.

Target Options

Disk Provisioning

  • Select thin provisioning for optimized resource usage. Storage space will only be allocated as needed.

  • Select thick provisioning for optimized performance. All storage space foreseen for the VM will be allocated upfront.

  1. Click Save. The Summary screen will be displayed.

A Run Job prompt will be shown.

  1. 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.

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