Dell EMC Avamar for Windows Servers 19.7 User Guide

Restoring the computer to its original System State

Use the Avamar Bare Metal Recovery Wizard to restore the Windows computer to its original System State.

1. Boot the target computer with the WinPE boot disk, or perform a network boot of the WinPE ISO image.
   The Windows Deployment Services documentation on the Microsoft TechNet website provides detailed steps to perform a network boot on the client.

   The Avamar Bare Metal Recovery Wizard opens at the Welcome page.

   

2. Specify the date, time, and time zone for the computer. The default value is the system date and time of the local computer. You may need to change the date and time if the system date and time are incorrect, or if you are restoring to a computer in a different time zone.
   NOTE If you specify an invalid date or time, then the wizard attempts to correct the date or time. For example, if you incorrectly specify November 31, then the wizard corrects the date to December 1. Verify that the date and time are correct before you go to the next page of the wizard.
3. If a DNS server is not available on the network, manually edit the hosts file for the WinPE ISO to include the Avamar server:
   1. Return to the WinPE command line.
   2. Open the hosts file, for example X:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc\hosts, and add the IP address and hostname for the Avamar server.
   3. If you exit the wizard, restart the wizard from the drive:\Program Files\avs\wizard folder. For example:
      X:\Program Files\avs\wizard> javaw -jar WinPEWizard.jar
   4. When the Avamar Bare Metal Recovery Wizard appears, click Next.
4. On the Select Network Interface page, select the network interface for communication with the Avamar server during the restore.
   If the required NIC driver is not in the list, click Load Driver to browse to the required driver.

   NOTE The driver must not require a restart. The WinPE environment loads only in memory, and changes are not persistent across a restart. If a restart prompt appears, you may be able to ignore the prompt. Most NIC drivers are plug-and-play.
5. Click Next.
   The Configure Hostname and Network page appears.
6. Type the hostname of the target computer in the Host name box.
7. Type the domain name for the host in the DNS domain box.
   If the host resides in a workgroup instead of a domain, leave the box blank.
8. Select the tab for IPv4 or IPv6 to configure the network to communicate with the Avamar server during BMR.
9. In the TCP/IP Address section, specify the IP address information using one of the following methods:
   • If host IP addresses are assigned automatically, then select Obtain an IP address automatically (DHCP). The network must be configured to support DHCP.
   • If the IP address of the target host is static, select Use the following IP address, and then specify the IP address and subnet mask (IPv4) or subnet prefix length (IPv6).
   • If the Avamar server is on a different subnet, then type the default gateway in the Default gateway box. Otherwise, leave the box blank.
10. In the DNS Server section, specify the DNS server information:
    • If you added the Avamar server hostname and IP address to the hosts file, then leave the default values in the DNS Server section.
    • If the DNS server name is assigned automatically, select Obtain DNS server address automatically.
    • If the DNS server IP address is static, select Use the following DNS server addresses, and then specify the IP address of the DNS server and the alternate DNS server, if the environment includes an alternate DNS server.
11. Click Next.
    The Available Disks page appears with a list of all detected local disks. The list contains all physical disks, but not all physical disks in the list may be critical disks.

    NOTE If SAN disks appear twice in the list, then WinPE can see multiple paths to the LUN. Temporarily modify the switch configuration so there is only one path to the LUN. You can restore the multi-path configuration after the BMR.
12. If the wizard fails to detect a disk, click Load Driver to browse to the driver for the disk, and then click Refresh List to update the list of disks.
13. Click Next.
14. On the Select Avamar Server page, specify the Avamar server settings:
    1. In the Avamar Server box, type the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or IP address for the Avamar server.
    2. In the Avamar User Name box, type the name of an Avamar Administrator or Backup/Restore Operator account.
       NOTE The Avamar Bare Metal Recovery Wizard does not support Legacy LDAP/LDAP map.
    3. In the Avamar Password box, type the password for the Avamar administrator account.
    4. In the Avamar Domain box, type the domain for the Avamar administrator account. The default value of a forward slash (/) specifies the root domain.
    5. In the Avamar Account box, type the pathname of the client on the Avamar server, including the domain and client name.
       For example, if the hostname.example.com client is in the /clients/MyGroup domain, then type:
       /clients/MyGroup/hostname.example.com
       If you are recovering from a computer in a replication domain, then specify the full client path in the /REPLICATE domain, such as:
       /REPLICATE/orig_server/clients/hostname.example.com
15. Click Next.
16. On the Select System Recovery Backup page, select the system backup to restore to the host. System backups appear in the list in descending order from the most recent to the oldest.
17. Click Next.

    The Critical Volumes to Restore page lists volumes to restore to the host.

    

    NOTE Not all critical volumes appear with a drive letter. For example, the System Reserved partition on Windows Server 2008 R2 and UEFI partitions do not appear with a drive letter. In the preceding figure of the Critical Volumes to Restore page, the second volume name, \\?\VOLUME..., indicates that a drive letter is not assigned to the volume.
18. (Optional) To perform a quick format of the volumes instead of a full format, select Perform a quick format of disks.
    The restore process reformats critical volumes. This process formats non-critical volumes only if the disk signature is different, for example, if you replaced the disk. A quick format is faster than a full format, but a quick format does not verify each sector on the volume.

    NOTE The BMR process does not recover data on a non-critical volume even if the non-critical volume is reformatted. To recover non-critical volumes, use Avamar Administrator to restore the file system after the wizard completes and the host restarts.
19. Click Next.
    The System Recovery Summary page lists the selected recovery options.
20. If the original computer was a physical machine and you are restoring to a virtual machine, select the Physical to Virtual (P2V) checkbox.
    NOTE After the P2V restore completes and the machine restarts, you must manually reconfigure networking on the restored machine. The networking reconfiguration is necessary because NIC cards on the new virtual machine are different than the NIC cards on the original physical machine.
21. (Optional) Specify non-default recovery options, which are generally used for troubleshooting with assistance from Customer Support:
    1. Click Options.
       The Non-Default Recover Options page appears.
    2. Type the options and values in the Additional Options box.
    3. Click OK.
22. Complete the wizard pages:

    • If you are testing the wizard and do not want to perform a restore, click Exit on the System Recovery Summary page.

      The wizard closes, and a command prompt appears. You can shut down the computer.

    • To continue with the restore, click Restore on the System Recovery Summary page.

      A confirmation message appears.

    NOTE All data is lost on volumes that are reformatted.
    When the recovery completes, the System Recovery Results page appears.
23. (Optional) To view the Avamar Bare Metal Recovery Wizard log files for troubleshooting, click View Logs.
    The log files are also stored on the Avamar server. If required, you can restore the log files from the Avamar server after you close the wizard. Viewing Avamar Bare Metal Recovery Wizard log files provides instructions.
24. Perform one of the following tasks:
    • If this option is an authoritative restore of Active Directory, click Exit to exit the wizard, and then perform the steps in Active Directory recovery.
    • If you are restoring a Windows Server 2008 or Windows 7 client computer, restart the computer to return to normal operation, and then review Performing post-BMR tasks.