The following information provides details on administration procedures used in Windows instant recovery (WIR).
Once you have created the VFC, you can check its status on the Instant Recovery tab on the Recovery page.
After setting up a VFC, audit it periodically to verify that it boots successfully. You can automate the audit process by enabling email verification reports, or you can perform manual audits.
You must complete at least one virtual restore before the VFC can boot in audit mode. No virtual restores take place while the VFC is in audit mode, but they resume when you take the VFC out of audit mode.
A VFC running in audit mode boots with no network interface. Auditing the VFC with the original client still online does not result in network conflicts or impact the original client in any way. However, applications on the VFC that require network access do not fully function in audit mode.
Note: WIR supports automated audits only for VFCs on a Recovery Series appliance or Hyper-V server. You must manually audit VFCs on an ESX server.
You can automate the audit process by enabling email verification reports for a VFC. If you enable the report, the appliance:
• | Sends the VFC into audit mode after a restore. |
• | Takes a screenshot of the Windows screen after the VFC has had several minutes to boot. |
• | Sends the screenshot in an email to the addresses you entered when setting up reports for the appliance that manages the VFC. |
The screenshot normally shows the Windows login screen, but it can also show Windows in other boot states, including error conditions.
Important! Always view the screenshot to make sure the VFC boots correctly.
The report runs once a day, but only after a restore. If the interval between restores lasts longer than 24 hours, you will not receive a report every day. If the VFC cannot boot, you will receive an email report indicating that the VFC cannot be verified.
You can enable verification reports when creating a VFC, or by modifying an existing VFC by using the instructions described in Setting up a virtual failover client
Manually auditing the VFC is a two-part process that:
• | Sets the VFC to go into audit mode. |
• | Accesses the VFC in audit mode to verify that it boots successfully. |
The procedures for accessing the VFC in audit mode vary depending on the location of the VFC.
Note: After you have finished auditing the VFC, you must take it out of audit mode, so virtual restores to the VFC can resume.
Use these procedures while working in audit mode:
1 | In the appliance that manages the virtual failover client (VFC), select the Recover > Instant Recovery tab. |
2 | Click on the VFC. |
3 | Check the Audit option. |
• | You may see a message that the VFC will enter audit mode. |
• | If, however, there is a restore in progress, the VFC does not go into audit mode until the restore completes. |
4 | Click Confirm. |
5 | You see that the VFC is now in audit mode: the audit column reads Yes, the State column audit, and the Access field displays the port number (for a VFC residing on a Recovery Series appliance) or IP address (for a VFC residing on an external hypervisor) that connects to the client. |
6 | To connect to the VFC so you can verify that it is functioning as expected, proceed to To access a virtual failover client in audit mode on a Recovery Series appliance or To access a virtual failover client in audit mode on an external hypervisor. |
Note: You must use a VNC viewer to access the VFC in audit mode on a Recovery Series appliance.
1 | Set the VFC to go into audit mode. Upon entering audit mode, you can obtain a VNC port number by selecting the Instant Recovery job and clicking View Details. |
2 | Open a VNC viewer. |
3 | In the Server field, enter the IP address of the appliance, followed by a colon and the VNC port number. For example: 192.168.101.19:5905. |
4 | Click Ok. A Windows login screen displays, indicating the VFC is available. |
5 | Enter the credentials for the Windows client and press Enter. |
6 | After verifying that the VFC is running with its restored data, turn off audit mode. |
If you access the VFC before it has booted, you may see the first screen of the Windows Integrated Bare Metal Recovery Wizard. This screen displays because the instant recovery and integrated bare metal recovery features use the same ISO image to boot a recovered Windows machine. You should not attempt to complete the steps on the bare metal screen. After several seconds, the login screen for the original client displays.
1 | Set the VFC to go into audit mode. |
2 | Connect to your hypervisor. |
3 | Locate the VFC in the list of virtual machines, and access it the same way you access all VMs on the hypervisor. |
4 | Enter the credentials for the Windows client and press Enter. |
5 | After verifying that the VFC is running with its restored data, turn off audit mode. |
1 | On the Unitrends appliance that manages the VFC, select Recover > Instant Recovery. |
2 | Select the VFC in the list of WIR clients. |
3 | Select End Audit to stop the audit process. If backups successfully completed for the original client while the VFC was in audit mode, the VFC enters the Restore state when audit mode is turned off. If there are no backups to restore, its state is Idle. |
If you are protecting a Windows asset with WIR and the asset fails, you can temporarily replace it with the VFC by booting the VFC into live mode. Because virtual restores constantly update the VFC with the original asset’s data, the VFC can immediately assume the role of the original asset until you can recover it to new physical hardware. If the VFC resides on an external hypervisor, it can permanently replace the original client if the hypervisor has sufficient resources.
The original asset’s backup and backup copy schedules protect the VFC in live mode, which allows any changes made to the VFC in live mode to be captured under the identity of the original assset, ensuring continuity of recovery points.
Review these recommendations before going into live mode:
• | The appliance begins sending alerts after a live VFC has run for 14 days. |
• | Recover the client to new hardware as soon as possible by using Unitrends bare metal recovery. (See the Bare Metal Protection and Recovery Guide for details.) The backup schedule for the original client protects data from the live VFC. Restore it after recovering the client to new hardware. |
• | A live VFC running on an external hypervisor does not use any of the appliance’s resources. Instead, it uses the hypervisor’s resources. The VFC can temporarily replace the original client, or, if the hypervisor has sufficient resources, the VFC can permanently replace the original client, as described here: |
– | Using the live VFC as a temporary for the original Windows asset. If the VFC will replace the original asset only temporarily, recover the asset to new hardware as soon as possible, using Unitrends bare metal recovery, as described in Bare Metal Protection and Recovery Guide. Data from the live VFC is protected by the backup schedule for the original asset. After recovering the Windows asset to new hardware, you will need to recover backups from the VFC to the new Windows asset. For details, see To recover an entire asset-level backup. After recovering the VFC’s data to the new Windows asset, you should delete the VFC from the appliance and the hypervisor. For instructions, see To tear down a virtual failover client. |
– | Using the live VFC as a permanent replacement for the original Windows asset. If the VFC on a hypervisor will permanently replace the original asset, determine whether to continue protecting the VFC with the backup schedules of the original asset or whether to run Hyper-V or VMware backups for the VM. For details, see Protecting Hyper-V virtual machines at the asset level or Protecting VMware virtual machines at the asset level. |
Note: It can take several minutes for a live VFC on a hypervisor to show up in the list of VMs to protect with VMware or Hyper-V backups. The VFC VM is not automatically added to a VM backup schedule.
You should then delete the VFC’s information from the appliance that was managing it. For instructions, see Tearing down a virtual failover client. Be sure to delete the VFC from the appliance only, as you have the option to delete it from the hypervisor as well.
This procedure provides instructions for booting a VFC in live mode, and recommendations for steps to take after the VFC is live. Shut down the original client before you boot the VFC in live mode.
1 | In the appliance that manages the VFC, select the Recovery > Instant Recovery tab. |
2 | Click on the VFC. |
3 | Check the Go Live option. |
4 | Click Confirm to initiate the operation. |
Note: If a restore to the VFC is in progress, the VFC does not boot until the restore completes.
5 | Complete one of the following, depending on where your VFC resides: |
VFC location |
Steps |
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Recovery Series appliance (backup system or replication target) |
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External hypervisor |
Connect to the VFC by using the hypervisor manager. |
6 | If you see a message about reactivating Windows, you must activate the operating system by using your product key. |
7 | Reboot the VFC, if prompted. On first boot, Windows automatically performs some driver updates. When this process completes, the system prompts you to reboot. |
8 | Check the disk configuration by using Windows Disk Management. (These steps might be slightly different depending on the Windows version.) |
• | Press the Start button. |
• | Right-click the Computer item. |
• | Choose Manage. |
• | Choose Storage > Disk Management. This application shows a graphical view of all disks and volumes. |
• | If the disk manager shows any disks in the Offline state, right-click the disk icon and click Online. |
• | If the disk manager shows any dynamic disks as Foreign, right-click the disk icon and click Import. All volumes should now display as they did on the original asset. |
9 | Set the system clock. The asset may be running with the system clock time used by the latest backup. This issue may cause the client to boot with a past date or time. |
10 | From the Windows Control Panel, update the network properties for the adapter (the TCP/IPv4 address) by using one of these procedures: |
Note: For a VFC that resides on an external hypervisor, the network settings you configured when creating the VFC are used only for virtual restores. You must assign new network settings after booting the VFC in live mode.
• | For a VFC running on a Recovery Series appliance |
– | If the original asset has a static IP address, assign the live VFC the same network settings as the original asset. This process ensures that the VFC functions as the original asset, and that the original asset’s backup and scheduled jobs continue for the VFC. |
– | If you are using DHCP to assign IP addresses and you added the original asset to the backup appliance by using only the asset’s name, the added appliance detects the live VFC after you connect it to your network. The appliance then treats the live VFC as if it is the original asset. No additional network configurations are necessary to ensure that scheduled backup and backup copy jobs continue for the client. |
• | For a VFC running on an external hypervisor |
– | If the original asset has a static IP address, assign the live VFC the same network settings as the original client. This step ensures that the VFC functions as the original asset and that the original asset’s scheduled backup and backup copy jobs continue for the VFC. |
– | If the original asset has a static IP address and the hypervisor running the VFC does not have a network interface on the same subnet as the original asset, assign the VFC a new network setting that uses the same subnet as the hypervisor. You must then modify the settings for the original asset in the Unitrends appliance and enter the new IP address. This process enables the appliance to treat the VFC as if it were the original asset. |
11 | In the Unitrends backup appliance that protects the original asset, perform the steps to finish the preparing the VFC and make the applications on the VFC available on the network. |
12 | (Optional) If you have created and updated the VFC by a backup copy on an appliance backup copy target, perform these steps from the backup appliance to which you added the original asset rather than from the backup copy target appliance: |
• | Select Configure > Protected Assets. |
• | Select the original Windows asset. |
• | Click Edit > Save. |
• | SQL databases and other applications may require a few minutes to become available. |
The VFC can now perform the role of the original Windows asset.
13 | Be sure to tear down the VFC as soon as possible. See Windows instant recovery administration procedures for options. |
This section provides instructions for deleting a VFC. Because the VFC uses appliance resources, you should delete a live VFC from the appliance after recovering the original asset to new physical hardware.
For a VFC running on a hypervisor, you have the option to delete its information from the appliance and to delete the VFC itself from the hypervisor. You can also delete only the information from the appliance without removing the VFC from the hypervisor.
When you delete a VFC, the appliance immediately removes it from the list of VFCs in the UI. However, it can take several minutes for the appliance to purge all information about the VFC. If you need to create a new VFC for the original asset, you must wait for this information purge. If it has not purged, the original asset will not display in the list of assets for which you can create a VFC.
To tear down a virtual failover client
1 | Select the Recover > Instant Recovery tab. |
2 | Click to select the row containing the VFC you want to delete. |
3 | Click Tear Down. One of the following occurs depending on the location of the VFC: |
• | For a VFC residing on a Recovery Series appliance a box displays, asking you Are you sure you want to stop this IR session?. Click Confirm to delete the VFC. |
• | For a VFC residing on an external hypervisor, a box displays with options to delete the VFC from the hypervisor and the appliance or only from the hypervisor. Select the desired option and click Tear Down. |
When you select the Recover > Instant Recovery tab, you can monitor a VFC by viewing details about its mode. This section explains the different modes.
The Mode column on the Instant Recovery screen indicates the current mode of the VFC. For example, whether it is a newly created VM, whether a restore is occurring, or whether it is in audit mode (see the table below for descriptions of all the possible modes).
The mode can change depending upon an action requested of the VFC. The action can be requested by the user or by the appliance managing the VFC.
Refer to the following table for explanations of the descriptions:
Mode |
Description |
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New |
State of a VFC for which no virtual restores have been performed. The VFC remains in this mode until a virtual restore has been performed. |
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Restore |
A backup has completed, and the appliance has requested a restore. The VFC is in the Restore mode until the restore completes. |
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Idle |
At least one backup has been performed to the VFC, but currently no action is occurring. |
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Halted |
A backup has completed, and the appliance has requested a restore. The VFC goes into a Halted state if the restore cannot be performed. The following can occur when a VFC is in this mode:
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Audit |
A user has requested an audit, and the VFC has booted in Audit mode. For details about auditing a VFC, see To set the virtual failover client to go into audit mode. |
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Verify |
The user has enabled verification reports. The appliance is taking a screenshot of the VFC’s login screen in Audit mode. This screenshot is sent to the user in an email report to verify the VFC. After the verification completes, the VFC mode is Idle. For details about verification reports, see Automated audits for a virtual failover client. |
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Live |
The user has requested the VFC to boot and replace the original asset. After the VFC mode changes to Live, the appliance no longer manages it, and virtual restores are no longer performed. Its mode is Invalid. For details about modes, see . Once the mode of the VFC is Live, the only other mode it can enter is Off. |
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Off |
The user has taken the VFC out of Live mode. A VFC in the Off mode can enter Live mode again, but its mode is Invalid, and it is no longer eligible for virtual restores. |