Restore a virtual machine from a backup job with Performance Cloud VMware (NSX-T)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Summary
Important Notes
Requirements
Procedures
- Instant Recovery
- Entire VM Restore
References

Summary

Here are procedures to restore a virtual machine hosted on Performance Cloud VMware (NSX-T) from a backup job.

Important Notes

Backup file encryption

If the backup job is configured with backup file encryption in the backend, you do not have to specify the encryption password to proceed with the restore.

The automatic backup file decryption is performed in the background as encryption keys required to unlock the backup files are available in the configuration database.

Instant Recovery

The Instant Recovery option is using temporary slower storage and should only be used temporary. That temporary storage does not have any redundancy or backup in the backend infrastructure. To provide the full disk performance for restored virtual machines, you must complete the Instant Recovery option. Finally, virtual machines running with the Instant Recovery option can be deleted or restarted at any time without any warning.

Due to the high risk of losing data, Sherweb does not recommend running virtual machines in production using the Instant Recovery option.

“Migrate to Production” (Instant Recovery) process

For a virtual machine with multiple disks and multiple storage policies, you will have to restore the virtual machine to one (1) single policy first, then move other disks to the desired storage policy.

Please note that the chose policy also affect the virtual machine memory swap file (.vswp file) in addition to the virtual disks. Please consider restoring to the fastest storage policy available at first time.

To move the virtual machine memory swap file (.vswp file) out of the temporary storage, a shutdown of the virtual machine could be required.

Warnings and errors

Please see this article for a list of known warnings and errors you may get while performing a virtual machine restore.

Requirements

To execute this procedure (if the destination is customized), we assume the destination vApp for the virtual machine to restore is already in place. If not, here is the article to create a vApp.

Procedures

Login to the Performance Cloud VMware portal using your credentials.
Go the “Data Protection with Veeam” section.
Go to the VMs tab

From here, few restore options are available, including:

- Instant Recovery

- Entire VM restore

Instant Recovery

Using the Instant Recovery option, the virtual machine access is quicker than the “Entire VM restore” option, but it will use a temporary, slower, and unreliable storage (until the “Migrate to Production” process is completed).

Please make sure to read notes in the section above about Instant Recovery.

Select the virtual machine to restore from the list and click on Instant Recovery
Select the desired restore point from the list and click on Next.
On the Restore Mode section, select ”Restore to a new location, or with different settings” to display additional restore options (like the VM name, the network configuration and the destination vApp)
Customize the restored VM name, the destination vApp and the network connection according to your needs.

For testing purposes, we recommend disconnecting the network interface or setup a test network to avoid conflicts between the restored virtual machine and the original one (if the original virtual machine is still running).
Optionally, you can choose to power on the virtual machine or not.
Then, click on Finish.

Do the proper recovery tests according to your needs.

Then, you have two (2) options to complete the Instant Recovery process: Keep the restored virtual machine or remove the restored virtual machine.

- To remove the restored virtual machine, go in the Instant Recovery tab and click on Stop Publishing. Then, click on Yes.

The restored virtual machine will now be deleted.

- To keep the restored virtual machine, go in the Instant Recovery tab and click on Migrate to Production.

If you have more than one (1) storage policy, you can select another storage policy if needed. Then, click on Next.

Entire VM Restore

Select the virtual machine to restore from the list and click on Entire VM Restore
Select the desired restore point from the list and click on Next.
On the Restore Mode section, select ”Restore to a new location, or with different settings” to display additional restore options (like the VM name, the network configuration and the destination vApp)
Customize the restored VM name, the destination vApp and the network connection according to your needs.

For testing purposes, we recommend disconnecting the network interface or setup a test network to avoid conflicts between the restored virtual machine and the original one (if the original virtual machine is still running).
Specify a different storage policy for the restored virtual machine if needed. Then, click on Next.

Note: For a virtual machine with multiple disks and multiple storage policies, you will have to restore the virtual machine to one (1) single policy first, then move other disks to the desired storage policy.
Optionally, you can choose to power on the virtual machine or not.
Then, click on Finish.

Wait for the restore to complete.