To perform the integrated bare metal recovery to a physical destination

Follow these instructions to restore to identical or dissimilar hardware.

Note: If you exit the Integrated BMR Wizard before you are finished with the recovery, you are taken to a command window. To return to the wizard from this window, run the following command: z:\pcpb\Restore.exe.

1        Prepare the destination machine using the procedure described in To prepare a physical machine for an integrated bare metal recovery.

2        Boot the destination machine from the bare metal ISO image. The machine boots in WinPE 4, and the first screen of the Integrated Bare Metal Recovery Wizard displays.

Note: If a message displays stating that you must set up networking to continue or that no disks are detected on the local system, you might need to load drivers into WinPE. Click Ok to allow the boot to continue. If necessary, you can load drivers as part of the next step.

To set up the local environment for the integrated bare metal recovery

To begin the recovery process, you must set up the local environment to ensure that the destination machine can communicate with the appliance that is storing the backup you will use for the recovery.

3        Select a network adapter in the drop-down menu to begin configuring network settings for the destination machine. If the machine has more than one adapter, the default adapter displays first.

If a network adapter does not display, WinPE cannot detect one. To resolve this problem, perform the following:

     Ensure that the network cable is plugged in to an active port.

     If the adapter is connected to the network and WinPE is unable to detect it, you must load a Windows 8 network driver into WinPE. Use the Load WinPE Drivers section of the wizard screen to enter a Path for a driver or Browse to locate a driver.

4        Skip this step unless the wizard informs you that no disks are detected on the local systems. If no disks are detected, you must load Windows 8 storage drivers into WinPE. Use the Load WinPE Drivers section of the wizard screen to enter a Path for a driver or Browse to locate a driver.

5        If DHCP is configured for your network, network settings are assigned automatically. If DHCP is not configured, or if you wish to configure network settings for the target machine manually, click Change Settings. Then enter a unique IP address for the machine, and the Subnet Mask and the Gateway for the network. It is not necessary for the network settings to match those of the original client. The only requirement for network setup is that the machine can communicate with the appliance that is storing the backup that you will use for the recovery.

Note: The network settings that you configure during this step are used only for the restore. They are not applied to the network adapter when you reboot the restored operating system. Before connecting the restored client to your network, you must reconfigure the client’s network settings.

6        Select the time zone of the Unitrends system storing the backup that you will use for the restore.

7        Click Next to proceed to the next screen in the wizard.

To select a source and recovery point for integrated bare metal recovery

You must now select an appliance and recovery point for the restore.

8        Select a source for the restore. The wizard detects any backup systems and replication targets on the same subnet as the destination machine and displays them in the Backup Source drop-down menu. Select a system from this drop-down menu, or enter the IP address for a different system if you want to restore from a system on a different subnet.

If you are using replication, when selecting the source for the restore, you must determine whether you want to restore from a client’s local or replicated backup. To restore from a local backup, you must select a backup system containing local backups for the client. To restore from a replicated backup, you must select the target to which the client’s backups have replicated.

9        Select a Client from the drop-down menu. Only clients with eligible backups display in the menu. Eligible backups contain the system state data necessary for the integrated bare metal recovery. For more about eligible backups, see About eligible backups for Windows integrated bare metal recovery.

10    Select a recovery point in the calendar. If multiple backups exist for a client on a given day, the different times for these backups display in the Recovery Point drop-down menu. If the recovery times do not match the backup times on the Unitrends system, verify that in Step 6 you selected the time zone of the system that you are using for the restore.

Click Next to continue.

To map drives/volumes for integrated bare metal recovery

After selecting an appliance, client, and recovery point for the restore, you must map the failed client’s disks and volumes to disks in the recovery destination.

11    In the Drive/Volume Mapping screen of the Integrated Bare Metal Recovery Wizard, select critical volumes from the client’s backup to restore to the destination machine.

Disks and critical volumes (boot, system, and other critical volumes) that can be restored from the recovery point you have selected display in the Source Disks/Volumes window in the top part of the screen. GPT disks are identified in the window. For the most recent versions of Windows, two volumes display: a boot volume and a system volume. For most older versions, the boot and system files are on a single volume. Some clients require additional critical volumes to boot, and these volumes also display in the Drive/Volume Mapping screen.

Non-critical volumes do not display because they cannot be restored through the Integrated Bare Metal Recovery Wizard. (For details about restoring non-critical volumes after performing the bare metal recovery, see Completing the integrated bare metal recovery.)

If the recovery destination is reasonably similar to the original machine, the wizard automatically maps the backed up volumes to the destination disk. To perform the mapping manually, uncheck the box next to Restore to original system (automatic mapping).

The wizard does not require you to select all critical volumes displayed in the Source Disks/Volumes window to proceed, but for the recovery to succeed, you must select the volumes necessary for the operating system to boot. If you are unsure, select all critical volumes displayed in the window. You can select all critical volumes by highlighting the disk that contains them.

12    Add selected volumes to the Destination Disks window in the bottom half of the integrated BMR screen.

After highlighting the necessary volumes in the Source Disks/Volumes window, highlight the destination disk in the Destination Disks window. Then click Add to map the volume to the destination disk. To remove a volume, select the volume you wish to remove and click Remove.

Consider the following when selecting a destination disk for the restore:

     If you are restoring to a new disk, and this destination contains existing volumes, they are deleted during the restore and new volumes are created. If you are restoring to the original disks, only the restored volumes are overwritten. Other volumes on the original disk are not impacted by the restore.

     It is recommended that the destination disk be the same size as the original disk or larger to ensure that there is enough space for the critical volumes. However, the destination disk can be smaller than the original disk. Before initiating the recovery, you must make sure that the disk is large enough for the critical volumes; otherwise, the recovery will run until the disk is full, and then it will fail.

Note: The disk/volume sizes displayed in the Source Disk/Volume window are the total capacity of the original disks/volumes and not the size of the backup that will be restored. After a client has failed, there is no way to determine the size of its critical volumes. You can determine the size of a client’s backup by viewing the backup details as described in To view backup details. However, the size of the critical volumes will be smaller than the total size of a full backup if it also contains non-critical volumes. If you are unsure about the size of the backed up data on the critical volumes, it is recommended that you restore the failed client to destination disks that are the same size as the original disks or larger.

     Volumes are assigned numbers during the restore that do not necessarily match the numbers from the original disk.

     For dissimilar restores of multi-boot configured BIOS servers, the boot and system volumes must be restored to the same disk numbers used on the original server.

Click Next to proceed to the Execute the Restore screen.

To execute the integrated BMR

13    Click Restore in the Execute the Restore screen to start the restore.

The Integrated BMR Wizard assigns the restore a job number. You can monitor its progress in the Restore Progress window in the top half of the wizard screen or in the Status screen of the appliance where the backed up volumes reside.

The restore process can take several minutes.

14    If the restore destination has hardware that is identical to that of the failed client, you are ready to reboot the destination machine. Click Reboot, and then proceed to Step 15.

If you have restored to dissimilar hardware, you must inject drivers before rebooting. Skip to Post-restore driver injection.

15    When the restored client reboots, proceed to Completing the integrated bare metal recovery.

Note: If the restored client fails to boot, you might need to inject drivers. To inject drivers, boot the machine from the disk and follow the instructions described in Post-restore driver injection.