PowerProtect Data Manager 19.16 Virtual Machine User Guide

File-level restore to alternate virtual machine using File Search

Use File Search in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI to restore files from multiple copies across one or more virtual machines to a new location on a new virtual machine. The files can be restored to the primary vCenter server or a secondary vCenter server. Only the Administrator and the Restore Administrator roles can restore data.

1. From the PowerProtect Data Manager UI, select Restore > Assets, and then select the Virtual Machine tab.
   The Restore window displays all the virtual machines available for restore.
2. Click File Search, and then perform the following:
   1. Select a vCenter server from the vCenter Name list.
   2. Select a virtual machine from the VM Name list.
   3. Use the File Name and File Type fields to search for specific files, or specify a file size or folder path to perform the search.
      The files that match the search criteria display in the Results pane.
   4. In the Results pane, select the files that you want to restore, and then click Add.
      The Results pane is collapsed, and the Selected Files pane updates to display the current file selections.
   5. Repeat steps b through d to select files from other virtual machines and copies. When finished with your selections, click Restore.
      The VM File Restore wizard appears, displaying the Location page.
3. On the Location page:
   1. Select Restore to Alternate Location.
      The table on the page updates to display the available destination virtual machines within the vCenter server and the location of any selected virtual machine.
   2. Expand the vCenter server to locate the virtual machine that you want to restore to, and then select the virtual machine.
      A prompt appears, requesting the credentials of this virtual machine.
   3. For one or more virtual machines, type the virtual machine User Name and Password, and then click Verify to validate the credentials.
      • If there are administrator-level credentials that are associated with the virtual assets or protection policy being restored, specify end-user credentials.
      • If there are no administrator-level credentials that are associated with the virtual assets or protection policy being restored, specify administrator credentials. These credentials are handled as end-user credentials.

      NOTE:If performing the restore as a Windows domain user, the username specified when mounting must be in the format User@AD_FQDN.

      You are not required to wait for validation to complete before clicking Verify for another set of virtual machine credentials.

      When validated, if the VM Direct agent is not already installed, it is installed automatically on the restore destination. The VM Direct agent facilitates the mounting and unmounting of disks and the browsing of files in the destination virtual machine and the backup copy. In order to complete the automatic VM Direct agent installation, on Windows virtual machines the user must be an administrator account, and on Linux virtual machines the user must be the root user account, or a user in the operating system's local sudousers list.
   4. (Optional) Leave Keep FLR Agent Installed selected to keep the VM Direct agent on the destination virtual machines after the restore completes.
   5. (Optional) If you are logged in as a user without administrator rights or root permissions to the destination virtual machine, select Run with Elevated Privileges to override any authentication or elevation prompts that appear when restoring to folders. This option must also be selected to allow a designated domain user to restore files and folders belonging to any domain user to the target virtual machine. To enable this option, the VM Direct agent must already be installed.
   6. When validation completes, click Close to return to the Location page.
      The Location page updates with the available destination folders on the selected virtual machine.
   7. Browse to the destination folder, or select a location and click Add Folder to create a destination within this folder.
      NOTE:If you are performing the restore to a new folder on a Linux virtual machine when logged in as a user in the local sudousers list and Run with Elevated Privileges is selected, the new folder is owned by the root user. Ensure the user you are logged in as has permissions to the directory. Otherwise, the restored files cannot be viewed.

      NOTE:When restoring as a domain user for Linux virtual machines, if you add a folder, this new folder will only have permissions to the sudoer users group mentioned in the /etc/sudoers.d/sudoers file. It is therefore recommended that you select an existing folder that belongs to you. If you need to restore files for another user, for example, when another user needs to be able to read the restored files, then select an existing folder for which this user has Read permissions.
   8. Optionally, select Overwrite existing files with the same name to replace files in the destination folder with the files being restored if the files have the same name.
   9. Click Next.
   The Options page appears.
4. On the Options page:
   1. You can select Troubleshooting mode to enable debug logging, and then select the level of logging to use:
      • Info—Includes information such as status changes. This is the default log level for scheduled backups and restores.
      • Debug—Additional information that helps with problem diagnosis.
      • Trace—The most detailed amount of information for complex problem diagnosis.
   2. Click Next.
5. On the Summary page:
   1. Review the information to ensure that the restore details are correct. You can click Edit next to certain rows to change the information. If you are not restoring to the original virtual machine, an additional field appears for the Target VM.
   2. Click Restore or Finish.
6. Go to the Jobs window to monitor the restore.
   A batch file-level restore job with multiple files appears as a job group, with a progress bar and start time. A separate job entry is created for each copy that is being restored from.