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Restore Backup Data

This page provides a global overview of restore operations. For specific restore information on each agent, see the documentation for the particular agent.

What You Need to Know Before Performing a Restore

To avoid common problems, review the following before starting a restore operation:

  • Verify that the CommServe, MediaAgent and media library are powered on.

  • You have successfully done a backup of the data you are attempting to restore.

  • If a passkey is configured for restores, you must have the passkey.

  • You can restore data that is backed up on clients from previous supported Commvault versions.

  • Verify that the media from which you wish to perform the restore is available in the CommCell. Use the List Media feature to identify the media required by the restore operation.

  • Always ensure that sufficient space has been allocated for the restore.

  • After restoring data, check the Restore Job History to view the list of files that were successfully restored.

  • If you wish to restore data that has been aged, see Accessing Aged Data for information on restoring such data and saving the media containing the data for future use.

  • When performing a restore to a NAS file server with LAN free data paths, it is important to import all of the required tapes for the restore job into the same library. For information about determining which tapes will be required for a given restore job, see List Media (Media Prediction).

  • The data written on to one CommCell environment (CCID) is not readable from another CommCell environment unless you perform a CommCell Migration operation or catalog the tape media. For more information, see Performing CommCell Migration and Cataloging a Tape.

Restore Methods

Listed below are different methods by which data can be restored.

CommCell Console

The primary interface from which most restores are usually conducted is the CommCell Console. In general, this method offers the greatest flexibility and richest set of options for restoring data. There are various types of restores that can be conducted using the CommCell Console, which are listed below, with links provided for more information on each type.

Basic Restore

This type of restore, available for the File System iDataAgents and File Archiver agents, is the simplest most direct method of restoring a single data object. All you do is type in the path and file name of the data object that you want to restore, select the restore options, and then the data is restored. For more information, see Basic Restore.

Browse and Restore

Most agents allow you to select data objects to be restored from a browse data window. This type of restore is appropriate for selecting multiple objects for restore (but can be used for single objects as well), and provides the additional flexibility of allowing you to select a time range in which to browse for data to be restored, and from which storage policy copy the data is to be restored from. For more information, see Browse and Restore.

Find and Restore

Some agents allow you to search for data that matches a certain pattern (e.g., wildcards/regular expressions), and selectively restore the objects returned as results from the search. For more information about this method of locating data, see Find.

Command Line

The command line methods of restoring data provide a text-based shell-style interface from which to conduct restore operations. Supported command line interfaces are described below.

Command Line Interface

The Command Line Interface provides a way to restore data from the command line, as an alternative to the CommCell Console, where various restore options can be specified either as parameters on the command line or in a separate arguments file. For more information, see Command Line documentation.

Recovery Tools

There are two specialized recovery tools that can be used to restore data in the event of a system failure.

Media Explorer

Media Explorer can be used to quickly view and recover data from any media in the event that the entire CommCell has been rendered unusable or inaccessible. Media Explorer is supported only to recover CommServe Disaster Recovery backup.

CommServe Recovery Assistant Tool

The CommServe Recovery Assistant tool restores the meta data (stored in the CommServe SQL database) from the Disaster Recovery Backup file which is created when a Disaster Recovery backup is performed from the CommCell Console. This tool is useful for rebuilding the CommServe computer as well as for creating and maintaining a CommServe in the hot-site, and other uses. For more information, see Recovery using the CommServe Recovery Assistant Tool.

Factors in Choosing the Appropriate Restore Methods and Options

Consider the following factors when planning your restore strategy.

Scope

To what degree does data need to be restored?

  • To restore all or part of a client's data, you can perform a Basic Restore or Browse and Restore from the CommCell Console. If the system is not available, but the media is intact, then you would use Media Explorer to perform the restore.

  • If you aren't sure of the exact data to be restored, but can specify a matching pattern, then you can perform either a Browse and Restore or Restore Data Using Wildcard Expressions to locate and restore data that matches the specified pattern.

  • To restore the full system (operating system and application) on a client, see Full System Recovery for your agent.

  • To restore a CommServe, you could use either the CommServe Recovery Assistant toolor Restore by Jobs to perform the recovery.

Time

Does the data need to be restored from the latest available backup data or from a previous point-in-time?

In a basic restore, you can restore point-in-time data by specifying the time range options in the Advanced Restore Options (Time Range) dialog box.

For instructions, see Browsing and Restoring Data between Specified Backup Times.

Source

Does the data need to be restored from a specific source object?

Destination

Where is the data being restored to?

Version

Does the restore involve any version considerations?

Restore Job Summary Report

The Restore Job Summary Report provides a summary of restore jobs for each client.

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