Restore files and folders from virtual disks
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Restore files or folders from a virtual disk to the original VM or to another VM. If you prefer not to attach the virtual disk to the original VM, you can attach it to a proxy VM instead.
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Review the prerequisites and limitations in Requirements and limitations when restoring guest files and folders.
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To restore files and folders using a proxy VM, make sure the proxy VM is already configured before beginning the file and folder restore process.
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You need to create credentials for the source virtual disk and destination VM in NetApp Backup and Recovery before you can restore files and folders. NetApp Backup and Recovery uses these credentials to authenticate with the virtual disk and destination VM when restoring files and folders.
File or folder restore performance depends upon two factors: the size of the files or folders being restored; and the number of files or folders being restored. Restoring a large number of small-sized files might take a longer time than anticipated compared to restoring a small number of large-sized files, if the data set to be restored is of same size.
You can restore to a remote VM (known as a cross-VM restore), but the source and destination operating systems must be the same.
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Only one attach or restore operation can run at the same time on a VM. You cannot run parallel attach or restore operations on the same VM. |
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With the file and folder restore feature, you can view and restore system and hidden files and view encrypted files. Do not overwrite an existing system file or restore encrypted files to an encrypted folder. During the restore operation, the hidden, system, and encrypted attributes of guest files are not kept in the restored file. Viewing or browsing reserved partitions might cause an error. |
Restore guest files and folders from a virtual disk to the original (source) virtual machine.
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From the NetApp Backup and Recovery menu, select Restore.
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Select VMware from the workloads list at the top right of the page.
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In the list of virtual machines, select the Actions icon
for a VM that contains files that you want to restore. -
Select Restore files and folders.
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Select a snapshot from which to restore and then select Next.
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Choose the snapshot location to restore from. If you choose a secondary location, select the secondary snapshot from the list.
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Select Next.
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From the list, choose a virtual disk that has the files and folders you need to restore and then select Next.
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On the Guest virtual machine details page, do the following:
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In the Guest virtual machine details section, attach the virtual disk to the original VM by selecting Original virtual machine.
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In the Guest virtual machine credentials section, if you haven't yet stored a credential for the source virtual disk and destination VM, select Add credentials, enter the Windows or Linux credential information, and select Add.
The source and destination VMs must run the same OS family; the OS versions can be different. -
From the list, choose a virtual machine credential to use.
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Select Next.
NetApp Backup and Recovery attaches the virtual disk to the original VM and displays all files and folders, including hidden ones. For Windows guests, it assigns a drive letter to every partition, including system reserved partitions.
You can use the magnifying glass (search) icon near the file browser pane to search for files and folders. Pattern matching is not supported, but you can search for files or folders based on a subset of the name or extension.
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Select files or folders to restore.
Files and folders you have selected to restore are listed in the right pane of the screen.
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Select Next.
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In the "Restore to path" section, enter the path to the destination VM and filesystem location where the selected files will be restored:
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For Windows guests, enter the UNC share path:
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IPv4 path example:
\\10.60.136.65\c$ -
IPv6 path example:
\\fd20-8b1e-b255-832e—61.ipv6-literal.net\C\restore
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For Linux guests, enter the local filesystem path or remote guest address and path:
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Local path example:
/home/user/documents/file.txt -
IPv4 path example:
10.60.136.65:/home/user/restore/ -
IPv6 path example:
fd20-8b1e-b255-832e—61.ipv6-literal.net:/home/user/restore/
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If there are existing files with the same name, you can choose to overwrite or skip them.
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In the "Post-restore-options" section, you can optionally disconnect the guest session after the restore completes by enabling the Disconnect guest session after the restore completes setting. This detaches the virtual disk and unmounts the datastore. This means you will need to reconnect the guest session before performing any additional file and folder restore operations.
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Select Restore.
You can view the restore progress on the Job Monitoring page.
Use a proxy VM (a different VM on the same vCenter as the original) to restore guest files and folders when you don't want to attach the virtual disk to the original VM.
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From the NetApp Backup and Recovery menu, select Restore.
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Select VMware from the workloads list at the top right of the page.
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In the list of virtual machines, select the Actions icon
for a VM that contains files that you want to restore. -
Select Restore files and folders.
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Select a snapshot from which to restore and then select Next.
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Choose the snapshot location to restore from. If you choose a secondary location, select the secondary snapshot from the list.
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Select Next.
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From the list, choose a virtual disk that has the files and folders you need to restore and then select Next.
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On the Guest virtual machine details page, do the following:
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In the Guest virtual machine details section:
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Attach the virtual disk to a proxy VM by selecting Proxy virtual machine.
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Choose a vCenter, datacenter, and datastore where the proxy VM is located from the lists.
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Select a VM from the list to use as a proxy VM. The virtual disk will be attached to this VM. The selected proxy VM appears in the right pane.
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In the Guest virtual machine credentials section, if you haven't yet stored a credential for the source virtual disk and destination VM, select Add credentials, enter the Windows or Linux credential information, and select Add.
The source and destination VMs must run the same OS family; the OS versions can be different. -
From the list, choose a virtual machine credential to use.
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Select Next.
NetApp Backup and Recovery attaches the virtual disk to the proxy VM and displays all files and folders, including hidden ones. For Windows guests, it assigns a drive letter to every partition, including system reserved partitions.
You can use the magnifying glass (search) icon near the file browser pane to search for files and folders. Pattern matching is not supported, but you can search for files or folders based on a subset of the name or extension.
-
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Select files or folders to restore.
Files and folders you have selected to restore are listed in the right pane of the screen.
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Select Next.
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In the "Restore to path" section, enter the path to the destination VM and filesystem location where the selected files will be restored:
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For Windows guests, enter the UNC share path:
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IPv4 path example:
\\10.60.136.65\c$ -
IPv6 path example:
\\fd20-8b1e-b255-832e—61.ipv6-literal.net\C\restore
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For Linux guests, enter the local filesystem path or remote guest address and path:
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Local path example:
/home/user/documents/file.txt -
IPv4 path example:
10.60.136.65:/home/user/restore/ -
IPv6 path example:
fd20-8b1e-b255-832e—61.ipv6-literal.net:/home/user/restore/
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If there are existing files with the same name, you can choose to overwrite or skip them.
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In the "Post-restore-options" section, you can optionally disconnect the guest session after the restore completes by enabling the Disconnect guest session after the restore completes setting. This detaches the virtual disk and unmounts the datastore. This means you will need to reconnect the guest session before performing any additional file and folder restore operations.
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Select Restore.
You can view the restore progress on the Job Monitoring page.