Restore Image

The restore image command restores a file system or raw volume image that was backed up using the backup image command.

The restore obtains the backup image from the IBM Spectrum Protect server, or inside a backup set from the IBM Spectrum Protect server, when the backupsetname option is specified. This command can restore an active base image, or a point-in-time base image, with associated incremental updates.

Note:

The account that runs the backup-archive client must have administrator authority to successfully perform any type of image restore.
Using the incremental option with the restore image command to perform a dynamic image backup is not supported.
If you use IBM Spectrum Protect HSM for Windows or IBM Spectrum Protect for Space Management, and you restore a file system image backup and plan to run reconciliation, you must restore the files that were backed up after the image backup. Otherwise, migrated files that were created after the image backup expire from the HSM archive storage on the IBM Spectrum Protect server.

You can use the verifyimage option with the restore image command to specify that you want to enable detection of bad sectors on the destination target volume. If bad sectors are detected on the target volume, teh client issues a warning message on the console and in the error log.

If bad sectors are present on the target volume, you can use the imagetofile option with the restore image command to specify that you want to restore the source image to a file. Later, you can use a data copy utility of your choice to transfer the image from the file to a disk volume.

Considerations:

The API must be installed to use the restore image command.
Image restore is not supported for the Sun QFS file system.
Image restore is not supported for GPFS file systems on Linux x86_64, Linux on POWER® and Linux on System z®.
On Linux systems, some file systems such as ext2, ext3, ext4, btrfs, and xfs use a universally unique identifier (UUID) to identify themselves to the operating system. If you create an image backup of such a volume and you restore it to a different location, you might have two volumes with the same UUID. If you use UUID to define your file systems in /etc/fstab, be aware that the backup-archive client might be unable to correctly mount the restored file system because the UUIDs conflict. To avoid this situation, restore the image to its original location. If you must restore it to a different location, change the UUID of either the original or restored volume before you mount the restored file system. Refer to the Linux documentation for instructions on how to change a UUID. You might also need to manually edit the /etc/fstab file so the original volume, the restored volume, or both volumes can be mounted.
If you use the pick option, the following information is displayed for file system images that were backed up by the client:
- Image Size
- Stored Size - This value is the actual image size that is stored on the IBM Spectrum Protect server. The stored image on the server is the same size as the volume capacity.
- File system type
- Backup date and time
- Management class that is assigned to image backups
- Whether the image backup is an active or inactive copy
- The image name
If for some reason a restored image is corrupted, you can use the fsck tool to attempt to repair the image.

Considerations:

The IBM Spectrum Protect API must be installed to use the restore image command.
You can restore an NTFS or ReFS file system to a FAT32 volume or vice versa.
The destination volume to which you restore must exist and be the same size or larger than the source volume.
The physical layout of the target volume (striped, mirrored) can differ.
The target volume is overwritten with data contained in the image backup.
You do not have to format a target volume before you restore an image backup that contains a file system.
The client requires an exclusive lock to destination volume you are restoring. The client locks, restores, unlocks, unmounts, and mounts the volume during a restore operation. During the restore process, the destination volume is not available to other applications.
If you use the pick option, the following information is displayed for file system images that are backed up by the client:
- Image Size
- Stored Size - This value is the actual image size that is stored on the server. The imagegapsize option can be set so only used blocks in a file system are backed up. So, the stored image size on the server might be smaller than the volume size. For online image backups, the stored image can be larger than the file system based on the size of the cache files.
- File system type
- Backup date and time
- Management class that is assigned to image backup
- Whether the image backup is an active or inactive copy
- The image name
If a restored image is corrupted, use the chkdsk utility to check for and repair any bad sectors or data inconsistencies (unless the restored volume is RAW).

Supported Clients

Oracle Solaris operating systems Linux operating systems AIX operating systems This option is valid for AIX®, Linux, and Oracle Solaris clients.

Windows operating systems This command is valid for all Windows clients.

Syntax

Parameters

sourcefilespec: Specifies the name of a source image file system to be restored. Only a single source image can be specified; you cannot use wildcard characters.
destinationfilespec: Specifies the name of an existing mounted file system or the path and file name to which the source file system is restored. The default is the original location of the file system.
destinationfilespec: Specifies the name of an existing mounted file system or the path and file name to which the source file system is restored. The default is the original location of the file system. You can restore an NTFS or ReFS file system to a FAT32 volume or vice versa.

Table 1. Restore Image command: Related options
Option	Where to use
backupsetname	Command line only.
dateformat	Client user option file (dsm.opt) or command line.
dateformat	Client option file (dsm.opt) or command line.
deletefiles	Command line only.
fromnode	Command line only.
fromowner	Command line only.
imagetofile	Command line only.
inactive	Command line only.
incremental	Command line only.
noprompt	Command line only.
pick	Command line only.
pitdate	Command line only.
pittime	Command line only.
timeformat	Client user option file (dsm.opt) or command line.
timeformat	Client option file (dsm.opt) or command line.
verifyimage	Command line only.

Oracle Solaris operating systems Linux operating systems AIX operating systems The restore image command does not define or mount the destination file space. The destination volume must exist, must be large enough to hold the source, and if it contains a file system, must be mounted. If an image backup contains a file system, and you restore them to a different location, be aware of the following points:

Windows operating systems The restore image command does not define or mount the destination file space. The destination volume must exist, must be large enough to hold the source, and if it contains a file system, must be mounted. The destination volume must be mapped to a drive letter. If an image backup contains a file system, and you restore them to a different location, be aware of the following points:

If the destination volume is smaller than the source volume, the operation fails.
If the destination volume is larger than the source, after the restore operation you lose the difference between the sizes. The lost space can be recovered by increasing the size of the volume, which also increases the size of the restored volume.
If the destination volume is larger than the source, after the restore operation you lose the difference between the sizes. If the destination volume is on a dynamic disk, the lost space can be recovered by increasing the size of the volume. Increasing the size of the volume also increases the size of the restored volume.

Examples

Task: Restore the /home/test directory over which the logical volume is mounted, to its original location.
Command: dsmc rest image /home/test
Task: Restore the e: drive to its original location.
Command: dsmc rest image e:
Task: Restore the /home/proj directory over which the logical volume is mounted, to its original location and apply the changes from the last incremental backup of the original image that is recorded on the server. The changes include deletion of files.
Command: dsmc restore image /home/proj -incremental -deletefiles
Task: Restore the h: drive to its original location and apply the changes from the last incremental backup of the original image that is recorded on the server. The changes include deletion of files.
Command: dsmc restore image h: -incremental -deletefiles
Task: Restore the /usr file system to its original location. Use the verifyimage option to enable detection of bad sectors on the target volume.
Command: dsmc restore image /usr -verifyimage
Task: Restore the d: drive to its original location. Use the verifyimage option to enable detection of bad sectors on the target volume.
Command: dsmc restore image d: -verifyimage
Task: If bad sectors present on the target volume, use the imagetofile option to restore the /usr file system to the /home/usr.img file to avoid data corruption.
Command: dsmc restore image /usr /home/usr.img -imagetofile
Task: If bad sectors present on the target volume, use the imagetofile option to restore the d: drive to the e:\diskD.img file to avoid data corruption.
Command: dsmc restore image d: e:\diskD.img -imagetofile
Task: Restore the e: drive from the backup set weekly_backup_data.12345678 to its original location.
Command: restore image e: -backupsetname=weekly_backup_data.12345678