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Agentless Restore (Microsoft Hyper-V)

You can use agentless restores to restore small files and folders into a virtual machine (VM) without installing an agent on the destination client. Agentless restores simplify deployment and reduce the impact of backup and restore operations for virtual machines that do not have high transaction rates and large data requirements. This option is preferred in cases in which the CommServe system or MediaAgent is not able to communicate with the VM (for example, in a restricted network).

Prerequisites

Note the following requirements for agentless restores:

  • The Hyper-V host must be running on one of the following operating systems:

    • Windows Server 2012 R2

    • Windows Server 2016

    • Windows Server 2019

  • The destination VM must be running on Windows 2008 R2 with Service Pack 1 or later, or on later versions of the operating system such as Windows 2012 or Windows 2012 R2.

  • The destination VM must be powered on.

  • Make sure that the latest integration services are running on the destination VM.

  • Enable Guest file services on the destination VM. If not enabled, the restore operation will enable the services.

  • When performing an agentless restore in a Hyper-V environment, the Microsoft CopyFileToGuest API is employed for file transfer operations. This API allows files or blobs to be copied from one location (source) to another (destination) within the same storage account or even across different storage accounts. The CopyFileToGuest operation relies on the following components:

    • Integration Services (Guest Services): These services are installed on the VM and enable communication with the Hyper-V host.

    • RPC Services: The Remote Procedure Call (RPC) services within the destination VM handle the file transfer process.

    • DCOM Port 135: To successfully complete the CopyFileToGuest operation, the Hyper-V host must have unrestricted access to port 135 on the destination VM. This port is used for DCOM communication.

    For more information about this function, in the Microsoft Documentation see Msvm_GuestFileService::CopyFilesToGuest method.

For instructions about running agentless restores, see Restoring Guest Files and Folders (Microsoft Hyper-V).

Considerations

  • A proxy cannot make two or more simultaneous parallel connections to the same VM. The restore to the VM for the job that establishes the first connection succeeds, but because an active connection exists between the proxy and the VM, subsequent jobs fail with a connection error.

  • The Restore ACLs option is not supported for agentless restores.

    As a workaround, you can use one of the following approaches:

    • Restore the file to the VSA proxy and then copy it to the VM.

    • Install a Windows File System Agent (restore-only) on the destination VM. During the restore, specify the destination folder as a UNC path pointing to the VM where the file should be restored.

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