> Expert > Backup and Restore Agents > Virtualization > Virtual Server Agent > VMware > Restores > Full Machine Restores for VMware

Restoring Full Virtual Machines for VMware

You can restore a full virtual machine in place or out of place.

In most cases, you should only restore a virtual machine to its original location (an in-place restore) if the original VM is unusable or if you want to revert a VM to its state at an earlier point in time.

Note

If virtual machine disks (VMDKs) were created at the root level in vCenter, backed up, and restored, those disks will be restored with the associated virtual machine in a folder using the name of the virtual machine.

For additional options that are available for vCloud restores, see Restoring Full VMs to vCloud.

Before You Begin

For VMware Linux VMs that have static IP addresses, you can assign static destination IP addresses as part of a restore or Live Sync operation. This feature requires that you use a File Recovery Enabler for Linux (FREL) for the operation. IP address mapping is supported for the following Linux guest operating systems: RHEL 6 and 7, CentOS 6 and 7, or SUSE (SLES) 11 and 12.

Procedure

Follow the steps given below to restore a full virtual machine:

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

  2. Right-click the backup set that contains the data to restore and select All Tasks > Browse and Restore.

    In the Browse and Restore Options dialog box, Full Virtual Machine is selected by default.

  3. Click View Content.

    A Client tab shows the contents of the most recent backup for the backup set.

  4. Select one or more virtual machines in the left pane.

    The configuration and VMDK files for the selected virtual machines are displayed in the right pane.

  5. Click Recover All Selected at the bottom of the window.

    The Restore VM wizard launches and displays the Destination page.

  6. 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. If the source VM was contained in a folder on the datacenter, the same destination folder is automatically selected for an in-place restore.

    • In Place: To restore a virtual machine out of place. clear this check box.

    • vCenter Client: To restore to a different vCenter, select the destination vCenter from the vCenter Client list.

      You can also select Add vCenter from the drop-down list, and then enter the name of the destination vCenter and provide user credentials.

      Note

      When restoring a VMware virtual machine from disk backup in SAN environments, restore directly to an ESX server rather than to a vCenter. Otherwise NBD transport mode may be used instead of SAN, with slower data writing and events in the VMware client GUI displaying "clear lazy zero".

      To restore directly to an ESX server, click Add vCenter from the drop-down list, and then specify the IP address and user credentials for the ESX server.

    • Proxy Client: To use a different proxy for the restore, select the proxy from this list.

      You can choose a different proxy in the following scenarios:

      • The proxy used for the backup is no longer available.

      • Using the proxy on the destination host for the restore is faster.

      • If you are using a specific transport mode such as HotAdd or SAN, you can choose a proxy that facilitates the required transport mode.

        Note

        For restores of virtual machine files or guest files, this client is the destination where files are restored. For restores of full VMs or attaching virtual disks to an existing VM, this client manages the restore to the host ESX server.

  7. 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.

    By default, virtual machines are restored with the same VM name and to the same ESX server, datastore, and resource pool or vApp where the VM was at the time of backup.

    • You can change the name when restoring a VM.

    • You can restore a VM to a different vCenter or ESX server to distribute restored virtual machines to locations with greater space and resource availability. This is useful when the virtual machine's original location does not provide optimal space and resources.

    • If a new datastore is selected, the virtual machine is automatically associated to the new datastore selected.

    • You can select a specific resource pool or vApp on the destination host. (vApp is a customized form of resource pool.)

    • You can filter a disk so that it is not restored by selecting Do Not Attach for the row showing the disk under the Datastore column.

    When restoring multiple VMs, you can select rows for multiple VMs, then click the ESX Server or Datastore column to change the ESX host or datastore for all of the selected VMs.

  8. For an out-of-place restore, specify parameters for the restore:

    • VM and Disk: Displays the names of 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.

      The VM name can be changed for an in-place or out-of-place restore.

    • ESX Server: To restore to a different ESX server, click in the row for the virtual machine, and then click the browse button (...) and select the destination ESX server or cluster for the virtual machine.

      Note

      Ensure that the ESX server supports the hardware version of the virtual machine. If the hardware version of the virtual machine is not supported by the ESX server, the restore job will complete successfully but the virtual machine will be inaccessible.

      You can also select a datastore on the ESX server where you want to restore the disks of the virtual machine.

    • Datastore: To change the datastore for any virtual machine disk, click in the row for the disk, and then select a datastore from the list of available datastores.

      The list displays all datastores available on the specified ESX server.

      To filter a disk so that it is not restored, select Do Not Attach for the row showing the disk under the Datastore column.

  9. vCenter Options: To specify other options, select one or more virtual machines, then click Configure under the vCenter Options column.

    You can enter the following information on the VMware vCenter Options dialog box to apply the same changes to all selected VMs.

    • VM Display Name: (only displayed when a single VM is selected) Displays the name for the destination VM

    • Edit Destination VM Name (only displayed when multiple VMs are selected)

      • Prefix: Enter a prefix to be added to the destination VM names for all selected virtual machines.

      • Suffix: Enter a suffix to be added to the destination VM names for all selected virtual machines.

    • ESX Server: Click ... to select a new destination ESX server or cluster.

    • Datastore: Select a datastore to be used for virtual disks.

    • Resource Pool: Click ... to select a destination resource pool.

    • VM Folder: Click ... to select a destination folder on the datacenter.

    • Network Settings: Click Add Rule to change the network configuration for restored VMs.

      In the Network Settings dialog box, you can map each network in the Source Network list to a network in the Destination Network list. These mappings enable restored VMs to connect to appropriate networks in the location where they are restored.

      Select a network from the Source Network list or type the network name as it is displayed in the vSphere client. Select Any Network to create a default rule for network adapters that are not covered by another rule.

      If you select Not Connected for the Destination Network value, virtual machines are restored with network interfaces in disconnected state.

    • IP Address settings: If Windows or Linux source VMs use static IP addresses, you can configure IP address mapping for destination VMs:

      1. Click Add Rule to display the IP Address settings dialog box.

      2. Enter the IP Address, Subnet Mask, and Default Gateway for the source VM (either a full address or a matching pattern).

      3. Use one of the following methods to specify settings for the destination VM:

        Select Use DHCP to automatically assign an available IP address for the specified network connection at the destination.

        Enter values for the IP Address, Subnet Mask, and Default Gateway (either a full address or a matching pattern) to identify the desired IP address mappings for the destination VM. You can also specify preferred and alternate DNS servers and WINS servers.

      For more information, see IP Address settings.

    • Change Host Name for Destination VM: To use a different host name for the destination VM, select this option, and then type the name in the Host Name for Destination VM box.

      Note

      If you change the host name for a destination VM, ensure that the new host name follows Microsoft standards for DNS host names as described in Naming conventions in Active Directory for computers, domains, sites, and OUs. Names should be 15 characters or less, and should not include special characters.

  10. Click OK to save and close the VMware vCenter Options dialog box.

  11. Click Next.

    The wizard displays the Restore Options page.

  12. Optional: Select restore options:

    • Power ON Virtual Machine after Restore: Select this check box to start the virtual machine automatically after the restore is complete.

    • Unconditionally Overwrite VM with the same name: If a virtual machine with the same name exists on the destination, select this check box to replace the existing virtual machine.

      This option can be used to restore one or more virtual machines to their states at the time of the backup.

      If this 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.

      When this option is selected and the restore does not use Changed Block Tracking, the original VM is deleted and a new VM is created from the backup. Any configuration settings for the original VM, such as OpenStack settings, are not retained.

    • Disk Provisioning: Use the default value (Original) to retain the provisioning method used at the time of backup.

      Select a value from the Disk Provisioning drop-down to force a specific disk provisioning method: Thick Lazy Zero, Thick Eager Zero, or Thin.

    • Transport Mode: Use the default value (Auto) to let the Virtual Server Agent determine the most suitable transport mode based on the setup.

      Select a value from the Transport Mode list to force a specific transport method: SAN, HotAdd, NBD, NBD SSL, or NAS.

    • Restore Virtual Machine using Live Recovery (vMotion): To use the Live Recovery option, select this option.

      You can select the following options for Live Recovery:

      • Redirect Writes to Datastore: Select a datastore for any changes made to the virtual machine during the recovery process. This must be a different datastore than the destination datastores used by the VM or its disks.

      • Delay migration: Delay the migration of the VM to the destination location for the specified time (0-12 hours). You can still use the VM when delaying the migration.

  13. Click Next.

    The wizard displays the Job Options page.

  14. Run the job immediately or configure a schedule for the restore.

  15. Click Next.

    The wizard displays a Summary page for the restore.

  16. Click Finish to submit the restore job.

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