PowerProtect Data Manager 19.9 Administration and 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 check box 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.
4. If the backup is on a DD system, click DD, and then select from one of the available copies that display in the table.
5. Click OK to save the selection and exit the dialog, and then click Next.
6. On the Purpose page:
   • Select Restore Entire VMs if you want to restore an image-level virtual machine backup.
     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.
   • Select Restore Individual Virtual Disks if you want to restore only specific VMDKs.
     NOTE Individual disks can only be restored to the original location.
7. On the Restore Type page:
   1. Select Instant Access VM.
   2. 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 in vCenter 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 have been renamed since the last backup, the renamed tags and categories will not be overwritten upon 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.

      Upon 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.

   3. Click Next.
8. On the VM Information page:
   1. Select whether you want to use the original virtual machine name for the instant access virtual machine restore, or rename the instant access virtual machine by appending a suffix to the original name.
   2. From the Restore to vCenter list, select the vCenter server for the instant access virtual machine restore. You can select the vCenter of the original virtual machine backup, or another vCenter. This list displays any vCenter server that has been added from the Assets window.
      When you select a vCenter server, available data centers appear.
   3. Select the destination data center.
   4. Click Next.
9. 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. If you select an ESXi host within this page, the next page is unnecessary. Click Next.
10. On the ESX Host page:
    • If you did not select a specific host in the previous step, select a host that is connected with the cluster, and then click Next.
    • If you selected a host in the previous step, this page indicates that a host is already selected and you can click Next to proceed.
11. The Networks page appears if the virtual machine was backed up using PowerProtect Data Manager 19.9 or later. It 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 drop-down 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 check box in the Connect at Power On column.
12. On the Options page:
    1. Specify a name for the Instant Access virtual machine.
    2. Optionally, select Power on the virtual machine when the recovery completes and Reconnect the virtual machine's NIC when the recovery completes. Power on the virtual machine when the recovery completes is selected by default for instant access virtual machine restores.
    3. Click Next.
13. On the Summary page, verify that the information you specified in the previous steps is correct, and then click Restore.
    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.
14. 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.