Using vStor Snapshot Explorer

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 disk images from your backup snapshots to easily browse the filesystem content using the vStor management interface. Any disk image type that can be mounted is supported – in particular images created by Catalogic DPX’s Agentless Backup for VMware, Agentless Backup for Microsoft Hyper-V, Proxmox Backup 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.

Mounting Disk Images

Viewing and Selecting Snapshots

1. In the navigation menu, select Storage.
2. Select your volume of interest and click its name to see the detailed view.
3. Go to the Snapshots tab.
4. Locate the snapshot containing the disk images you wish to mount.
5. Hover over the name of the snapshot and click the Mount button. The Mount dialog will open.

6. Specify the 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>.
7. The Select images list will contain all compatible disk images. Select the images you want to mount and confirm your selection.

8. Depending on the size of the selected volumes, the process may take some time.

Tip.

Your mounted snapshot will also be visible as a volume in the Volumes table in the Storage view.

Accessing the Mounted Filesystem

See also.

After mounting your filesystem, you can use the GuardMode Scan feature to check for potential security threats. This scan helps ensure the integrity of your data before a restore. For details, see Using GuardMode Scan.

1. To download specific files or directories, click the checkbox next to them and click the Download ZIP… button to launch the File Download dialog window.

Tip.

You can also download a single file directly from the tree view. Just hover over the file name and click the download icon in the rightmost column.

2. Under ZIP Settings, continue with the default name (vstor_<hostname>_file_restore_<date_and_time>.zip) or specify your custom .ZIP name.

3. Under Output Structure, choose how the original paths are reconstructed inside the archive:

   • Full path – keep the complete path of each item, including all parent directories.
   • Relative path – remove the leading directories shared by all selected items, keeping only the structure below that common point.
   • Use the + and – buttons to fine-tune how many leading path segments are kept between these two extremes.

   The preview below the buttons updates live as you change these options – struck-through segments are removed, the remaining segments are kept.

4. Click Download. Your selected files will be downloaded as a .zip archive. Depending on the data size, this may take a while.

Note.

Symbolic links (symlinks) on Linux systems may break. They will be inactive in the mounted file system view:

Scanning for Potential Threats

After mounting a filesystem, it is 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:

1. In the volume view of your mounted filesystem, go to the GuardMode Scan tab.

2. Click the Scan with GuardMode… button to launch the Scan with GuardMode dialog window.

3. Select the scan scope: Incremental after a specified date or Full, and click Scan. The GuardMode scan will start.

See also.

For detailed information on using this feature, as well as interpreting and acting on scan results, see Using GuardMode Scan.

Restoring Files to Network Share

See also.

Before restoring files to a network share, it’s highly recommended to perform a GuardMode scan on the mounted filesystem. This ensures that you’re not inadvertently restoring compromised or encrypted data For details, see Using GuardMode Scan.

Instead of downloading the .ZIP archive to your local machine, you can restore the selected directories or files directly to a network share. This functionality provides a more efficient way to restore large amounts of data or to restore files to a specific network location.

Tip.

Ensure you have the correct permissions to write to the specified network share before initiating the restore process.

For large restores, consider the available space on the network share and the time it may take to complete the operation.

Running Restore to Network Share

1. Mount a disk image as described in the Mounting Disk Images section.

2. Select files or directories for restore and click the Restore to network share… button to launch the Restore to Network Share dialog window.

3. Provide the following information:

   1. 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).
      • Optionally, the Username and Password used to access the network share.
   2. Data Structure – choose how the selected items are written to the share:
      • Original directories/files – the selected files and directories are restored individually, keeping their original folder structure.
      • Single ZIP archive – the selected items are packed into a single archive on the share. Continue with the default name (vstor_<hostname>_file_restore_<date_and_time>.zip) or specify a custom one.
      • Enable Overwrite existing files to replace files of the same name in the same location; otherwise a new file is created with an auto-incremented name (filename.1, filename.2, …). The folder structure is not overwritten.
   3. Output Structure – choose how the original paths are reconstructed on the share, the same way as in the File Download dialog: use Full path, Relative path, and the + / – buttons to control how many leading path segments are kept. The preview updates live to reflect your choice. By default the directories shared by all selected items are removed, so the remaining structure is recreated under the target path.

4. Click Restore. vStor Snapshot Explorer will begin the restoring process.
   The files will be restored to the selected network share. Depending on the data size, this may take a while.

Tip.

When restoring into an existing folder structure on the share, use Relative path (the default). Removing the common parent directories keeps the restored paths short and helps avoid exceeding the maximum path length on Windows targets.

Cancelling Restore to Network Share

To cancel the ongoing process of restoring to a network share:

1. Go to the Tasks view.
2. Find the task you want to cancel. You can filter by Type: Restore to network share.
3. Hover over the task record and click Cancel, or right-click the record and select Cancel from the context menu.

4. Confirm your decision in the confirmation dialog:

The task will be canceled.

Unmounting Disk Images

To unmount the disk image:

1. Click the Unmount button in the upper volume view bar.

2. You will be prompted to confirm your decision.

3. Click Unmount. The disk image will disappear from the volumes list.