vProxy: How to restore VBA savesets with the vProxy solution?

The NetWorker 19.6 (and prior) VMware Protection solution includes a feature to restore Virtual Backup Appliance (VBA) savesets with the vProxy solution. The new feature does not require the VBA to be online for the restore and any target vCenter Server version can be used that is supported by the vProxy solution.

Limitations and Considerations:

• You can only perform image-level recoveries of legacy VBA backups (the Revert or New Virtual Machine recovery types). Other types or recovery is not supported using the NetWorker Management Web UI. You can, however, use the EMC Backup and Recovery plug-in within the vSphere Web Client for other types of VBA recovery, as long as you still have an active VBA instance.
• For the recovery of VBA backups, the staging pool must be a clone pool of type Data Domain.
• VBA restore fails, if RPS is not enabled in the NetWorker server. Ensure that you enable RPS before you perform a VBA restore.
• The storage node and the NetWorker server must be of the same version. If an earlier version of the storage node is present, ensure that you disable it, or upgrade to NetWorker 19.3 or later.
• When NetWorker is upgraded from an earlier version to 19.3, ensure that you restart the NetWorker server to complete the upgrade. (This is only applicable for VBA backups because you might have backups with earlier NetWorker releases.)
• In the vSphere Web Client's EMC Backup and Recovery user interface, a VMware Backup Appliance (VBA) restore from a clone copy on an AFTD or tape device fails when the primary backup in the Data Domain system is not available. Use the vProxy appliance to restore these VBA backups. This operation can be performed in the NetWorker Management Web UI. 
• Starting NetWorker 19.7 and later, NWUI does not contain the VBA save set recovery plugin, VBA save sets are not recoverable using NetWorker 19.7 and above.

Process:

Here is an overview of the steps required to perform a VBA saveset restore with the vProxy solution.

1. Log into the NetWorker Management Web User Interface (nwui)
2. Select the  VMware Recovery" option
3. Select the Source vCenter server
4. Select the Virtual Machine
5. Select the VBA saveset to restore
6. Select the Recovery type
7. Use the wizard to select the appropriate configuration options
8. Monitor the VBA saveset restore status

• Open a web browser to access the NetWorker Management User Interface (NWUI) web page : https://[NETWORKER_SERVER_FQDN]:9090/nwui
• Once in the NWUI web page authenticate to the NetWorker server, by entering the NetWorker user name, password, NetWorker Server fully qualified domain name (FQDN), and port.

• Once authenticated into the NWUI web page, select the "Recover" option in the right hand navigation pane.  Once the Recover option is expanded, select the "VMware Recovery" option.

• In the VMware Recovery section there is a drop down option to select the vCenter server.  Select the source vCenter server where the VBA save set was taken.

• In the VMware Recovery section the Virtual Machine (VM) details will be populated for the selected vCenter server.  Select the VM for which the save set needs to be recovered.

• Once the VM is selected, the backups and clones section will be populated with the VM savesets.  If required, change the showing results option to include the time frame of the desired VBA saveset.  
• In the bottom of the backups and clones section select the show columns option icon.  In the show columns pop up, select VBA backup and then OK.

• Once the VBA Backup column option is selected, there will be a new VBA Backup column in the save set results. The VBA savesets will show YES for the VBA Backup value and vProxy save sets will show No for the VBA backup value.

• With the desired VBA saveset selected, the Recovery drop down will become available. Expand the Recovery Drop down and select image level.  The Revert and new virtual machine options will be available for the VBA saveset.  For this example, the new virtual machine option will be selected.

• The Recover wizard configuration screen will request configuration information for the VM that will be restored in the target environment.  
  • The Destination vCenter will contain the registered vCenter servers on the NetWorker server.  Select the appropriate target vCenter server.
  • The staging pool drop down will contain configured Data Domain clone pools on the NetWorker server.  The vProxy performs a resurrection on the selected clone pool to convert the VBA backup to a vProxy readable format.
  • The vProxy drop down allows you to select a specific vProxy to perform the recover.
  • The VM name will be populated with the source VM name and it will append a numeric value.  The default may be used or it may be changed to a unique name.
  • The remaining options are optional for the vProxy recover.

• The recover wizard destination location screen allows the user to expand the vCenter inventory and select where the VM should be created. The VM can be restored to a stand alone ESX host, DRS cluster, Resource Pool, or vApp. The "Go to path" may also be used to manually enter the full path of where the VM should be created.

• The recover wizard destination location screen also allows the user to select a destination folder for the VM.  The destination folder is based on the vSphere web client VM and Templates view.

• The recover wizard data store selection screen allows the user to select the destination VMware datastore.  Ensure the destination datastore has sufficient free disk space for the VM.

• The recover wizard summary screen will provide a brief summary of the key selections for the restore.

• To monitor the restore in  the NWUI web page, select the monitoring option in the right hand navigation pane.  The recover details pane will display the status of the configured VM restore.