PowerProtect Data Manager 19.16 Virtual Machine User Guide

Instant Access virtual machine restore

An Instant Access VM restore enables you to create a new virtual machine directly from the original virtual machine backup on protection storage for the purposes of instant backup validation and recovery of individual files. The instant access virtual machine is initially available for 7 days. This process does not copy or move any data from protection storage to the production datastore. An instant access virtual machine restore also provides the option to move the virtual machine to a production datastore when you want to retain access to the virtual machine for a longer time.

1. From the PowerProtect Data Manager UI, select Restore > Assets, and then select the Virtual Machine tab.
   The Restore window displays all virtual machines available for restore.
2. Select the checkbox next to the appropriate virtual machines and click Restore.
   You can also use the filter in the Name column to search for the name of the specific virtual machine, or click the File Search button to search on specific criteria.
   The Restore wizard appears.
3. On the Select Copy page, for each virtual machine that is listed in the table, select the radio button next to the virtual machine and click Choose Copy.
   The Choose Copy dialog box appears.

   NOTE:If you click Next without choosing a copy, the most recent backup copy is used, and the Purpose page displays.
4. On the Choose Copy dialog:
   1. In the left pane, click to the right of the icon for the asset. The table in the right pane lists the backup copies.
   2. Select one of the available copies that display in the table.
   3. Click OK to save the selection and exit the dialog, and then click Next.
5. On the Purpose page:
   • Select Restore Entire VMs to restore the image-level virtual machine backup, and then click Next.
     NOTE:If you specified any disk exclusions in the virtual machine protection policy, a message appears indicating that disks were excluded from this backup. If one of the excluded disks was a boot disk, the restore might not complete successfully.
6. On the Restore Type page, select Instant Access VM, and then click Next.
7. On the VM Information page:
   1. From the vCenter list, select the vCenter server for the instant access virtual machine restore. You can select the vCenter server of the original virtual machine backup, or another vCenter server. This list displays any vCenter server that has been added from the Assets window.
      When you select a vCenter server, available data centers appear.
   2. Select the destination data center.
   3. Click Next.
8. On the Restore Location page, select the location within this data center that you want to restore the virtual machine by expanding the hierarchical view. For example, select a specific cluster, and then select a host within the cluster.
   The next page that displays is based on the selection you made:

   • If you selected a cluster that is not part of Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) and you did not select a host, the ESX Host page displays.
   • If you selected a cluster that is part of DRS or you selected a host within a cluster, the Options or Networks page displays.
9. On the ESX Host page, select a host that is connected with the cluster, and then click Next.
10. On the Options page:
    1. If restoring a single virtual machine, specify the Instant Access VM name.
    2. If restoring multiple virtual machines, select whether you want to use the original virtual machine names for the instant access virtual machine restore, or rename the instant access virtual machines by appending a suffix to the original name.
    3. Optionally, select Power on the virtual machine when the restore completes and Reconnect the virtual machine's NIC when the restore completes. Power on the virtual machine when the restore completes is selected by default for instant access virtual machine restores.
    4. Select the Restore VM Tags checkbox to restore vCenter tags and categories associated with this backup copy.
       NOTE:You can only select this option when restoring entire virtual machines. Any existing tags and categories on the assets in the restore location will be replaced with the tags and categories from the restored copy. If the tags and categories being restored do not exist on the vCenter server at the time of the restore, or have been deleted, they will be re-created as part of the restore, along with the tag description and the cardinality settings that determine the relationship of tags within a category. If tags and categories on the vCenter server have been renamed since the last backup, the renamed tags and categories will not be overwritten after restore. For example, if a tag's ID is the same but the tag's name has been changed since the backup, a new tag is created based on the tag name in the backup copy being restored.

       After a successful restore, the replaced tags and categories can be viewed in the vSphere ClientTags & Custom Attributes window, or the Tags pane of the Summary window when the virtual machine is selected.

    5. For low-bandwidth environments, select Enable DDBoost Compression.
       This option reduces network usage by compressing data on the protection storage system before transfer to the VM Direct Engine, which decompresses the data. Compression reduces restore times but increases CPU usage on both systems.
    6. Select Restore BIOS UUID to restore the BIOS UUID that was associated with the virtual machine at the time of backup.
    7. For Select a Protection Engine, move the slider to the right if you want to override the automatic protection engine selection, and then select another VM Direct Engine to use for the restore. When the restore job is started, the name of the protection engine used for the restore displays in the Jobs window Details pane.
    8. 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.
    9. Click Next.
11. The Networks page displays the network adaptors and associated networks the virtual machine had used when it was backed up. Click Next after reviewing this information and optionally performing one or both of the following actions.
    NOTE:If a network used by an adapter is no longer accessible to the new virtual machine, a warning is displayed, and a different network should be selected for that adapter.
    1. To select a different network, click the associated dropdown control in the Network column, and then select an entry from the list.
    2. To change the initial power-on connection status of a network adapter, select or clear the associated checkbox in the Connect at Power On column.
    3. Click Next.
12. On the Summary page, verify that the information you specified in the previous steps is correct, and then click Restore.
    NOTE:If you selected a cluster that is part of DRS, the virtual machine is automatically restored to the most efficient ESXi host in the cluster.
    A confirmation message displays indicating that the restore has been initiated and providing the option to go to the Jobs window to monitor the restore progress.
13. Go to the Jobs window to view the entry for the instant access virtual machine recovery and verify when the recovery completes successfully. You can also click next to the job to verify what steps have been performed, for example, when the instant access session has been created.