Using vStor Snapshot Explorer
Last updated
Last updated
Attention! Disks added to the VM using Logical Volume Management (LVM) will not be visible after mounting the snapshot.
vStor Snapshot Explorer lets you quickly mount RAW or VMDK disk images from your VMware backups to easily browse the filesystem content using vStor UI. This functionality is also compatible with snapshots created by Catalogic DPX's Agentless Backups for VMware and Bare Metal Recovery (BMR) features, providing versatile access to your backed-up data across different DPX backup scenarios.
Attention! vStor Snapshot Explorer does not support the BTRFS (B-tree File System) or ReFS (Resilient File System) file systems.
In the navigation menu, click Storage
Click on the name volume of interest to see the detailed view.
Go to the Snapshots tab.
Locate the snapshot containing the disk images you wish to mount.
Hover over the name of the snapshot and click the Mount button.
You will see a dialog window. Enter a name for the new mounted volume, or use the default name. The default name for a mounted volume uses the following convention: mount-<volume_name>-<timestamp>
.
On the list, you will see all compatible RAW or VMDK disk images, select the images you want to mount and confirm your selection.
Proceed with the mount operation. The process may take some time, depending on the size of the selected volumes.
Upon completion, the interface will redirect you to the volume details screen, featuring a new Mounted File System tab.
Use this tab to browse the contents of the mounted filesystem.
To download specific files or directories, click the checkbox next to them and click the Download button.
Your selected files will be downloaded as a zip archive, mirroring the directory structure of the machine.
Warning! Single file downloads may be limited to 2GB due to browser restrictions. For files exceeding this size, utilize the multi-file selection feature to initiate a zip archive download, which bypasses this limitation.
After mounting a filesystem, it's crucial to ensure the integrity of your data before proceeding with any restore operations. vStor Snapshot Explorer offers a powerful feature called GuardMode Scan to scan for potential ransomware infections or data encryption. To initiate a GuardMode scan:
In the volume view of your mounted filesystem, click on the GuardMode Scan tab.
Click the Scan with GuardMode button to start the scan.
A new tab will open, displaying real-time results of the scan.
vStor Snapshot Explorer lets you restore selected partitions, directories, or files directly to a network share instead of downloading them to your local machine. This functionality provides a more efficient way to restore large amounts of data or to restore files to a specific network location.
Mount a disk image as described in the Mounting Disk Images section.
Navigate to the Mounted File System tab.
Select the files or directories you wish to restore.
Click the Restore to Network Share button.
A dialog titled Restore to Network Share will appear.
In this dialog, you need to provide the following information:
SMB/CIFS Details:
Hostname or IP address of the network share
Path to the shared folder (must start with a slash or backslash, e.g., "/shared_folder" or "\shared_folder")
SMB/CIFS Credentials:
Username
Password
After entering the required information, confirm your selection.
Once you've provided the necessary details and confirmed, vStor Snapshot Explorer will begin the restoration process. The selected files will be restored to the specified network share, maintaining the original directory structure of the machine.
To unmount the disk image and remove the mounted volume, simply delete the volume from your volume list.
Warning! Deleting the volume is irreversible. Ensure that you no longer need access to the mounted filesystem before proceeding.