Restoring Full Virtual Machines

You can restore one or more virtual machines (VMs) at a time. Virtual machines can be restored in place (overwriting the source VMs) or out of place (with a different name, or to a different destination).

Considerations

If you attempt to restore to Premium storage with a VM size that Azure Premium storage does not support, the restore fails.
Due to a Microsoft limitation, you cannot change the hostname of a restored virtual machine.
In a deployment that is configured for managed services, when restoring an Azure VM, a tenant operator might not be able to see information for resource group, regions, or storage accounts. To ensure that this information is displayed for a full VM restore, associate the tenant operator to the VSA proxy that is used for the operation, as described in Administering the Security Associations of an Entity. As part of the security association, assign a role for the tenant operator that includes the End User Access permission.
To restore Azure VMs to a specific region, verify that all the components in the setup (CommServe computer, VSA proxies) have been upgraded to Service Pack 18 or a more recent service pack.

Note

After upgrading to Service Pack 18 or a more recent service pack, you do not need to make changes to the existing recovery targets, replication groups, or Live Sync schedules.

Before You Begin

If the OS disk was filtered during backup, you cannot restore a full VM. Instead, restore guest files and folders.
If the replication type for the storage account that you select for the restore is not compatible with the storage type of the source VM, the restore fails. For example, if a storage account using Zone Redundant Storage (ZRS) is selected when that storage type was not used by the source VM, the restore fails.

Procedure

From the CommCell Browser, expand Client Computers > virtualization_client > Virtual Server > instance > backup_set.
Initiate the restore from a subclient or backup set:
- From a subclient: Right-click the subclient, and then select Browse and Restore.
- From a backup set: Right-click the backup set, point to All Tasks, and then click Browse and Restore.
In the Browse and Restore Options dialog box, ensure that Full Virtual Machine is selected and click View Content.
From the list of backed up virtual machines in the Client tab, select one or more virtual machines to be restored and click Recover All Selected.

The Restore VM wizard launches and displays the Destination page.
Specify the destination and the proxy to be used for the restore:

By default, VMs are restored in place to the original location for the source VM, and the restore is performed using the preferred VSA proxy for the virtualization client.
- In Place: To restore virtual machines out of place, clear this check box.
- Virtualization Client: To restore to a different Azure subscription, select the client for the Azure subscription from this list.
  
  The Subscription Details area shows the subscription ID.
- Proxy Client: To use a different proxy for the restore, select the proxy from this list.
  
  For Azure Classic VMs, you must select a VSA proxy that has an Azure management certificate installed.
  
  For Azure Resource Manager VMs, you can select any VSA proxy.
Click Next.

The wizard displays the Virtual Machines page. The VM and Disks column shows the source virtual machines with disks underneath each virtual machine.
For an out-of-place restore, specify parameters for the restore:
- VM and Disk: Displays the names of the source VMs. Expand each virtual machine to view the disks in that virtual machine.
- Change VM display name to: Enter the new display name for the virtual machine.
- Resource Group: Browse to specify the resource group for the restored VM.
- Region/Storage Account: Select the region for the restored VM. Then select an Azure Standard or Premium general-purpose storage account. You can select a different storage account for each virtual machine and disk.
  
  The storage accounts listed are only those associated with the selected region for the restored VM.
- To specify other options, select one or more virtual machines, then click Configure under the Settings column.
  
  The Azure Virtual Machine Configuration dialog box appears.
  
  As needed, specify other values:
  - VM Display Name: Displays the name of the virtual machine.
  - Resource Group: Browse to specify the resource group for the restored VM.
  - Region/Storage Account: Select the region for the restored VM. Then select an Azure Standard or Premium general-purpose storage account. You can select a different storage account for each virtual machine and disk.
    
    The storage accounts listed are only those associated with the selected region for the restored VM.
  - VM size: Select a size specification for the restored virtual machine.
  - Restore as a managed VM: To restore virtual machines as managed virtual machines, select this check box.
    
    When you select this option, the restore operation creates virtual machine disks in the specified storage account, and then converts them to managed disks and attaches the disks to the restored virtual machine.
  - Azure Virtual Network Options:
    
    Create Public IP: For Azure Resource Manager, if a public IP address is not required on restored VMs, clear this selection. By default, a public IP address is assigned to Azure Resource Manager virtual machines during restores.
    
    Network Interface: Browse to specify a network connection for the restored VM.
    
    You can specify any subnet in the same region as the selected resource group or cloud service.
    
    Network Security Group: For Azure Resource Manager, browse to specify a network security group for the restored VM.
  - Click OK to save and close the Azure Virtual Machine Configuration dialog box.
Click Next.

The wizard displays the Restore Options page.
Optional: Select restore options:
- Power ON Virtual Machine after Restore: To automatically start the virtual machine after the restore is complete, select this check box.
  
  Note the following:
  - The power state of the virtual machine does not affect subsequent backups.
  - If the virtual machine is powered on during the backup operation, by default, the VM is powered on after the restore completes (unless you clear this check box).
  - If you perform an out-of-place restore, by default, the VM is powered off after the restore completes (regardless of the value selected for this option).
- Unconditionally Overwrite VM with the same name: Select this check box to replace a virtual machine with the same name at the specified destination.
Click Next.

The wizard displays the Job Options page.
Run the job immediately or configure a schedule for the restore.
Click Next.

The wizard displays a Summary page for the restore.
Click Finish to submit the restore job.