> Expert > Backup and Restore Agents > Virtualization > Virtual Server Agent > VMware > Disaster Recovery for VMware

Recovering Virtual Machines for VMware

Recover full virtual machines to the standby server in the event of a disaster.

Note

For the vCenter server, see Protecting and Recovering a vCenter Server.

Before You Begin

  • Make sure you have a stand-by server at a disaster recovery (DR) site. For more information, see Preparing for a Full System Recovery.

  • Both the primary and disaster recovery sites must include a MediaAgent and VSA proxy:

    • Add the VSA proxy for the primary site to the VMware instance and the subclient that is used for backups.

    • Specify an appropriate storage policy for the subclient. The primary copy for the storage policy specifies the primary site backup location, and the secondary copy specifies a backup copy location that is used for disaster recovery.

Procedure

  1. From the CommCell Console, navigate to Client Computer > virtualization_client > Virtual Server > VMware > backup_set.

  2. Right-click the subclient that contains the data to restore and click Browse and Restore.

    Leave the Full Virtual Machine option selected on the Virtual Server tab of the Restore Options dialog.

  3. Click the Advanced Options tab and choose the following options:

    1. Select the Browse from copy precedence option and change the value to 2 to identify the secondary copy of the storage policy that is applicable for the disaster recovery site.

    2. For the Use MediaAgent field, select the VSA proxy for the disaster recovery site.

  4. Click View Content.

    Note

    If the backed up VMs are not displayed, you might need to close and reopen the CommCell Console.

  5. In the Client tab, expand the backup set and select the virtual machines to be restored.

  6. Click Recover All Selected.

  7. In the Restore Options for All Selected Items dialog box, on the General tab:

    1. Clear the Restore in place check box.

    2. Select the destination vCenter from the vCenter Client list.

    3. For the Destination client field, select the VSA proxy for the disaster recovery site.

    4. Identify the host and datastore. You can select one or more VMs or disks to apply the same change to all of the selected items.

      • Click ... in the ESX Server column and select the destination ESX Server for each virtual machine.

      • Select a new datastore for virtual machine disks from the Datastore list.

      • Select multiple virtual machines and click Configure to specify the same datastore, resource pool, or VM folder for all selected virtual machines.

    5. Select Unconditionally overwrite VM with same name.

      Note

      If the Unconditionally overwrite VM with the same name option is used when restoring a virtual machine that has independent disks, the independent disks and their VMDKs are removed from the datastore and are not restored.

    6. Click OK.

For more information about restoring full virtual machines, see Full Virtual Machine.

Result

Once the virtual machine is restored, it is automatically mounted to the destination vCenter and ESX server you specified.

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