You can recover files from host-level backups and host-level backup copies of Windows and Linux VMs. Recovery procedures can be run from the backup appliance or from the backup copy target appliance. File recovery is supported for VMware, Hyper-V, and XenServer host-level backups of Windows and Linux VMs.
• | Recovering from a local backup or imported backup copy involves creating a recovery object on the backup appliance that contains files from the backup. You recover files by downloading directly from this object or by mounting the object to a recovery target machine. A single file-level recovery can be performed on multiple VMs simultaneously. |
• | Recovering directly from a backup copy that resides on a target appliance or resides in the Unitrends Cloud involves creating a recovery object on the target appliance or in the Unitrends Cloud. |
– | If you run the recovery from the source backup appliance, selected files are downloaded as a .zip file to the default download location of the browser where the source appliance UI is running. |
– | If you run the recovery from the backup copy target appliance, you recover files by downloading directly from the object or by mounting the object to a recovery target machine. |
Note: A 500MB size limit applies to the download to .zip file method. The total size of the file(s) you download in one recovery cannot exceed 500MB. To recover multiple files that are less than 500MB each, you can run separate recovery procedures to ensure that the download size does not exceed this 500MB limit. To recover larger files, you must mount the recovery object to a target machine instead.
Use the Windows file-level recovery and Linux file-level recovery procedures to recover files. These procedures provide different options for creating the recovery object. The option you will use to create the recovery object is determined by where you are running the procedure and whether you are recovering from a local backup, from an imported backup copy, or directly from a hot backup copy. See the following table for a description of the option to use in each case:
Backup type and location |
Run from |
Use this procedure to create the recovery object |
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Host-level backup on the local appliance |
Backup appliance |
Run the Windows file-level recovery or Linux file-level recovery procedure from the backup appliance to recover files from a local backup or from an imported backup copy.
To import a backup copy, see To import a cold backup copy, To import a hot backup copy from a Unitrends target appliance, or To import a backup copy from the Unitrends Cloud. |
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Host-level backup copy in the Unitrends Cloud or on a backup copy target appliance (release 9.1 or later only) |
Source backup appliance |
Run the Windows file-level recovery or Linux file-level recovery procedure from the source backup appliance to recover files directly from a backup copy that resides on a target appliance or resides in the Unitrends Cloud. Both the source appliance and the target appliance must be running release 9.1 or later.
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Host-level backup copy on a backup copy target appliance |
Backup copy target appliance |
Run the Windows file-level recovery or Linux file-level recovery procedure from the backup copy target appliance to recover files from a hot backup copy that resides on this target appliance.
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Use the following procedures to recover files from a backup, imported backup copy, or hot backup copy of a Windows VM.
Review the following before recovering files.
Prerequisite or consideration |
Description |
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Supported recovery methods |
To recover files from a host-level backup, the appliance creates a file-level recovery object that contains the backup's files and exposes this object as both a CIFS (Samba) share and an iSCSI LUN on the appliance. You can recover files from this object in several ways. Options include:
The total size of the file(s) you download in one recovery cannot exceed 500MB. To recover multiple files that are less than 500MB each, you can run separate recovery procedures to ensure that the download size does not exceed this 500MB limit. To recover larger files, you must mount the CIFS share or iSCSI LUN instead.
Note: You must use an iSCSI LUN in some cases. For details, see When to use an iSCSI LUN. |
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Recovery target requirements |
If you are recovering by mounting the CIFS share or iSCSI LUN on a target machine, the target machine must meet these requirements:
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You must recover by mounting the iSCSI LUN to perform the following tasks:
Note: For the recovery, iSCSI disks are writable and a 1 GB write limit is enforced. Errors display on the recovery target machine if more than 1 GB is required. In this case, you must perform a VM recovery. |
Use one of these procedures to create the recovery object:
Note: If a previously-created recovery object is still mounted to the VM, you must remove it before creating a new one.
1 | Log in to the backup appliance. |
2 | Select Recover and click the Backup Catalog tab. |
Use Filter Backups to the right to customize the backups that display.
3 | Expand the desired asset and select the backup or imported backup copy from which you want to recover files. |
To import a backup copy, see To import a cold backup copy, To import a hot backup copy from a Unitrends target appliance, or To import a backup copy from the Unitrends Cloud.
4 | Click Recover Files. |
5 | Follow the prompts to create the file recovery object. |
To view the recovery object, select Recover and click the File Level Recovery tab.
Note: If you receive an error on a Unitrends Backup appliance while creating the recovery object, increase the memory allocation for the Unitrends Backup VM using the host that manages it.
1 | Log in to the source backup appliance. |
2 | Select Recover and click the Backup Catalog tab. |
3 | Use Filter Backups to the right to display hot backup copies: |
• | In the Type box, select Backup Copy (Hot). |
• | Select other filter options as desired. |
• | Click Filter. |
4 | Expand the desired asset and select the hot backup copy from which you want to recover files. |
5 | Click Recover Files. |
6 | Follow the prompts to create the file recovery object. |
To view the recovery object, select Recover and click the File Level Recovery tab.
Note: If you receive an error on a Unitrends Backup appliance while creating the recovery object, increase the memory allocation for the Unitrends Backup VM using the host that manages it.
1 | Log in to the backup copy target appliance. |
2 | Select Recover and click the Backup Catalog tab. |
3 | Use Filter Backups to the right to display hot backup copies: |
• | In the Type box, select Backup Copy (Hot). |
• | Select other filter options as desired. |
• | Click Filter. |
4 | Expand the desired asset and select the hot backup copy from which you want to recover files. |
5 | Click Recover Files. |
6 | Follow the prompts to create the file recovery object. |
To view the recovery object, select Recover and click the File Level Recovery tab.
Note: If you receive an error on a Unitrends Backup appliance while creating the recovery object, increase the memory allocation for the Unitrends Backup VM using the host that manages it.
Use one of the following procedures to recover files. For a description of each method, see Supported recovery procedures.
Note: The total size of the file(s) you download in one recovery cannot exceed 500MB. To recover multiple files that are less than 500MB each, you can run separate recovery procedures to ensure that the download size does not exceed this 500MB limit. To recover larger files, you must mount the CIFS share or iSCSI LUN instead.
1 | Select Recover and click the File Level Recovery tab. |
Recovery objects display on the tab with the following details: the name of the asset for which the object was created, the status of the object, the date and time it was created, the length of time it has existed on the appliance, and whether it can be accessed through iSCSI or CIFS.
2 | Select the recovery object and click Browse/Download. |
3 | In the File Browser, select or drag files to recover. |
You must select individual files. Selecting directories is not supported.
4 | Click Download then Confirm to download the selected files. |
A .zip file containing recovered files is placed in the default download location of the browser where the appliance UI is running.
5 | To access recovered files, open the downloaded .zip file. |
1 | Select Recover and click the File Level Recovery tab. |
Recovery objects display with the following details: the name of the asset for which the object was created, the status of the object, the date and time it was created, the length of time it has existed on the appliance, and whether it can be accessed through iSCSI or CIFS.
2 | Select the recovery object and click Show Details. |
3 | Note the CIFS path that displays in the File Level Recovery Details window. You will need this path to mount the CIFS share on the target machine. |
4 | Log in to the recovery target. |
5 | Enter the CIFS path in to a file browser on the recovery target. |
6 | Browse the share to locate the files you want to recover. |
7 | Move selected files to the desired location on the recovery target. |
8 | Disconnect the network share by right-clicking the share and selecting Disconnect. |
1 | Log in to the recovery target. |
2 | Launch the iSCSI Initiator from Administrative Tools in the Control Panel. |
3 | In the Target field, enter the appliance IP address and click Quick Connect.... |
4 | Select the desired iSCSI target from the list. |
The last part of the iSCSI identifier contains the VM name.
5 | Click Done. |
6 | Use Windows Disk Management tools to assign drive letters and retrieve files. |
Note: The Windows file explorer contains a setting to hide protected/system files. Turn off this setting to access all files.
7 | Move selected files to the desired location on the recovery target. |
8 | Use the iSCSI Initiator to disconnect from the LUN. |
To ensure optimal performance, remove the recovery object from the appliance.
Warning! If you mounted the CIFS share or iSCSI LUN, be sure to unmount it from the target before you remove the recovery object. Removing the recovery object while the target is still connected causes undesired results and errors on the target machine.
To remove a file-level recovery object
1 | Select Recover and click the File Level Recovery tab. |
2 | Select the recovery object. |
3 | Click Remove. |
Use the following procedures to recover files from a backup, imported backup copy, or hot backup copy of a Linux VM.
To recover files, the appliance creates a recovery object that contains the backup's files and exposes this object as an iSCSI LUN on the appliance. You can recover files from this object in these ways:
• | Browse the recovery object and download selected files to a .zip file. The .zip file is placed in the default download location of the browser where the appliance UI is running. This is the simplest method. |
• | Mount the iSCSI LUN on a recovery target machine. From the target machine, select files to recover. To use this method, the following prerequisites and considerations apply: |
– | The iscsi-initiator-utils package must be installed on the recovery target. |
– | For the recovery, iSCSI disks are writable and a 1 GB write limit is enforced. Errors display on the recovery target machine if more than 1 GB is required. In this case, you must recover the entire VM instead. |
– | This procedure does not support software RAID (mdraid) configurations. If the VM is configured with software raid, recover the entire VM instead. |
Use one of these procedures to create the recovery object:
Note: If a previously-created recovery object is still mounted to the VM, you must remove it before creating a new one.
• | To create the recovery object and recover from backups or imported backup copies, run on the backup appliance to recover from a backup or imported backup copy |
• | To create the recovery object on the source appliance and recover from a hot backup copy, run on the backup appliance to recover from a backup copy that resides in the Unitrends Cloud or resides on the target appliance |
• | To create the recovery object on the target appliance and recover from a hot backup copy, run on the target appliance to recover from a backup copy that resides on that target appliance |
1 | Log in to the backup appliance. |
2 | Select Recover and click the Backup Catalog tab. |
Use Filter Backups to the right to customize the backups that display.
3 | Expand the desired asset and select the backup or imported backup copy from which you want to recover files. |
To import a backup copy, see To import a cold backup copy, To import a hot backup copy from a Unitrends target appliance, or To import a backup copy from the Unitrends Cloud.
4 | Click Recover Files. |
5 | Follow the prompts to create the file recovery object. |
To view the recovery object, select Recover and click the File Level Recovery tab.
Note: If you receive an error on a Unitrends Backup appliance while creating the recovery object, increase the memory allocation for the Unitrends Backup VM using the host that manages it.
1 | Log in to the source backup appliance. |
2 | Select Recover and click the Backup Catalog tab. |
3 | Use Filter Backups to the right to display hot backup copies: |
• | In the Type box, select Backup Copy (Hot). |
• | Select other filter options as desired. |
• | Click Filter. |
4 | Expand the desired asset and select the hot backup copy from which you want to recover files. |
5 | Click Recover Files. |
6 | Follow the prompts to create the file recovery object. |
To view the recovery object, select Recover and click the File Level Recovery tab.
Note: If you receive an error on a Unitrends Backup appliance while creating the recovery object, increase the memory allocation for the Unitrends Backup VM using the host that manages it.
1 | Log in to the backup copy target appliance. |
2 | Select Recover and click the Backup Catalog tab. |
3 | Use Filter Backups to the right to display hot backup copies: |
• | In the Type box, select Backup Copy (Hot). |
• | Select other filter options as desired. |
• | Click Filter. |
4 | Expand the desired asset and select the hot backup copy from which you want to recover files. |
5 | Click Recover Files. |
6 | Follow the prompts to create the file recovery object. |
To view the recovery object, select Recover and click the File Level Recovery tab.
Note: If you receive an error on a Unitrends Backup appliance while creating the recovery object, increase the memory allocation for the Unitrends Backup VM using the host that manages it.
Use one of the following procedures to recover files. For a description of each method, see Supported recovery procedures.
Note: The total size of the file(s) you download in one recovery cannot exceed 500MB. To recover multiple files that are less than 500MB each, you can run separate recovery procedures to ensure that the download size does not exceed this 500MB limit. To recover larger files, you must mount the iSCSI LUN instead.
1 | Select Recover and click the File Level Recovery tab. |
Recovery objects display on the tab with the following details: the name of the asset for which the object was created, the status of the object, the date and time it was created, the length of time it has existed on the appliance, and whether it can be accessed through iSCSI or CIFS.
2 | Select the recovery object and click Browse/Download. |
3 | In the File Browser, select or drag files to recover. |
You must select individual files. Selecting directories is not supported.
4 | Click Download then Confirm to download the selected files. |
A .zip file containing recovered files is placed in the default download location of the browser where the appliance UI is running.
5 | To access recovered files, open the downloaded .zip file. |
Mount the iSCSI LUN to the target machine and copy the files.
1 | Log in to the recovery target. |
2 | Enter the following command to change to the /tmp directory: |
# cd /tmp
3 | Run the following command to copy the iscsi_flr script from the backup appliance: |
# wget http://<appliance IP>/iscsi_flr
4 | After the script downloads, add the execute permission: |
# chmod +x iscsi_flr
5 | Run the following command to mount the recovery object: |
# ./iscsi_flr mount
6 | Enter the appliance IP address. |
7 | Enter the full path of the mount point directory. |
Notes:
• | The full path is likely: /iscsi_flr. |
• | To view this path, select Recover and click File Level Recovery tab. Select the recovery target and click Show Details. The last part of the iSCSI details provides the path. |
8 | Move selected files to the desired location on the recovery target. |
9 | Run the following command from the /tmp directory to disconnect from the LUN: |
# ./iscsi_flr unmount
To ensure optimal performance, remove the recovery object from the appliance.
Warning! If you recovered by mounting a LUN, be sure to unmount the LUN from the target before you remove the recovery object. Removing the recovery object while the target is still connected causes undesired results and errors on the target machine.
To remove a file-level recovery object
1 | Select Recover and click the File Level Recovery tab. |
2 | Select the object to remove from the appliance. |
3 | Click Remove. |