Windows operating systems

Full VM instant restore cleanup and repair scenarios

When an instant restore operation fails after the VM is powered on, manual cleanup and repair tasks are required.

An instant restore operation that fails with storage vMotion running creates either of the following situations:
  • The instant restore operation generates an error message.
  • The instant restore operation suspends indefinitely and the VM is not responsive.
To determine the cause of the problem, perform a detailed query of the VM by using the following command:
dsmc q vm * -vmrestoretype=instantrestore -detail
In the output that is produced by this command, for each VM in the output, look for the line that contains Action Needed. Use the following Action Needed paragraphs to recover from failed instant restore operation, depending on the Action Needed status.

Action Needed: Cleanup

In the output of the query vm * -vmrestoretype=instantrestore -detail command, verify that the storage vMotion status is successful (vMotion Status: Successful) and that all VM disks are physical disks (Disk Type: Physical). This status confirms that the VM was restored and cleanup of orphaned components, such as iSCSI mounts, is needed.

This type of failure occurs as a result of either of the following situations:

To clean up any orphaned components, run the restore vm command with the -VMRESToretype=VMCLeanup parameter. For example:
dsmc restore vm original_vmname -vmname=new_vm_name -VMRESToretype=VMCLeanup

Action Needed: Repair

In the output of the query vm * -vmrestoretype=instantrestore -detail command, verify that the iSCSI device that is attached to the VM is dead (status is Disk Path: Dead).

This type of failure occurs as a result of one of the following three situations:
  • The VM that is used as a data mover or the physical data mover machine failed.
  • A network failure occurred between the data mover and the ESX host or the data mover and the Tivoli® Storage Manager server.
  • The Data Protection for VMware Recovery Agent Service failed.
The iSCSI device must be returned to an active state before any other instant operation is attempted.
To attempt to recover from a data mover failure, complete the following steps:
  1. Investigate that cause of the failure and restart the data mover machine if it does not start automatically. This action starts an automatic recovery of the mounted iSCSI disks.
  2. In the output of the query vm * -vmrestoretype=instantrestore -detail command, verify that the VM disks are active (Disk Path: Active). This status means that the VM was restored and is available for use.
  3. Restart storage vMotion in the vSphere client and monitor its progress in the vSphere client status bar.
  4. If storage vMotion processing completed successfully, run the restore vm command with the -vmrestoretype=VMCLeanup parameter to clean up the iSCSI disks. For example:
    dsmc restore vm original_vmname -vmname=new_vm_name -VMRESToretype=VMCLeanup
To attempt recovery after a network failure, complete the following steps:
  1. Repair the network issue so that communication between the data mover and the ESX host, and the data mover and the Tivoli Storage Manager server resumes.
  2. In the output of the query vm * -vmrestoretype=instantrestore -detail command, verify that the VM disks are active (Disk Path: Active). This status means that the VM was restored and is available for use.
  3. If the network failure did not cause storage vMotion to time out, no action is required.
  4. If the network failure caused storage vMotion to time out, and the error message indicates that the source disk is not responding, restart storage vMotion in the vSphere client. When storage vMotion processing completes, run the restore vm command with the -vmrestoretype=VMCLeanup parameter to clean up the iSCSI disks. For example:
    dsmc restore vm original_vmname -vmname=new_vm_name -VMRESToretype=VMCLeanup
To attempt recovery after a Data Protection for VMware Recovery Agent service failure, complete the following steps:
  1. Investigate that cause of the failure and restart the Data Protection for VMware Recovery Agent service if it does not start automatically. This action starts an automatic recovery of the mounted iSCSI disks.
  2. In the output of the query vm * -vmrestoretype=instantrestore -detail command, verify that the VM disks are active (Disk Path: Active). This status means that the VM was restored and is available for use.
  3. If the Data Protection for VMware Recovery Agent service failure did not cause storage vMotion to time out, no action is required.
  4. If the Data Protection for VMware Recovery Agent service failure caused storage vMotion to time out, and the error message indicates that the source disk as not responding, restart storage vMotion in the vSphere client. When storage vMotion processing completes, run the restore vm command with the -vmrestoretype=VMCLeanup parameter to clean up the iSCSI disks. For example:
    dsmc restore vm original_vmname -vmname=new_vm_name -VMRESToretype=VMCLeanup

Full cleanup

If you are not able to recover from a failure and want to remove the VM and its components, run the restore vm with the -vmrestoretype=VMFULLCLeanup parameter. For example:
dsmc restore vm original_vmname -vmname=new_vm_name -VMRESToretype=VMFULLCLeanup
A VMFULLCLeanup operation forces removal of the VM and all of its components, regardless of the state of the virtual machine. Do not start a full clean up operation while vMotion is still migrating a virtual machine.