IBM Tivoli Storage Manager, Version 7.1

Scenario: Restoring file-level VM backups

On Microsoft Windows systems, you can restore specific files from a file-level backup of a VMware virtual machine. A file-level restore is useful for restoring individual files that might be lost or damaged. You cannot use this method to restore files that were part of a full VM backup. Before you can restore files from the off-host backup server onto the VMware virtual machine, the off-host backup server must be configured as a proxy server.

For prerequisite information, see the following topics:

For information about how to configure the off-host backup server as a proxy server, see the following topic:
Preparing the environment for file-level backups of VMware virtual machines
.
For information about how to create a file-level VM backup, see the following topic:
Creating file-level backups for VMware virtual machines

Important: Use the restore command to run a file-level restore. Do not use the restore vm command.

The following assumptions are made for this scenario of a file-level restore:

The goal is to restore files that were previously backed up to the Tivoli® Storage Manager server.
The files were previously backed up on a VMware virtual machine called Orion, with the host name orion. For this scenario, the Orion VM fails and some of the files must be restored.
Files on Orion were backed up to file spaces that match the lowercase form of the computer host name. The file space names are expressed in Universal Naming Convention (UNC) format, for example:
- Files that are backed up from the C: drive on Orion, are stored in the \\orion\c$ file space.
- If Orion has a D: drive, files that are backed up from that drive are stored in the \\orion\d$ file space.
In this scenario, the files are restored from the C:\mydocs directory that was on Orion to the C:\restore_temp directory on a different computer. The computer that you restore file to can be another VMware virtual machine or a physical computer.
The computer that runs the restore has a different host name and node name than the virtual machine Orion. During the restore, you must specify the source file specification in the complete UNC format and use one of the following parameters to access Orion:
-virtualnodename

Specifies the Tivoli Storage Manager node for which you are restoring a backup. Use this parameter if you are restoring files to the computer where you are currently logged on.

-asnodename

Specifies the Tivoli Storage Manager node for which you are restoring a backup. Use this parameter if you are restoring files to a computer for which you have proxy authority.

Complete the following steps to run a file-level restore for the computer Orion:

Query the Tivoli Storage Manager server to determine the file spaces that are registered for Orion:
```
dsmc query filespace -virtualnode=orion
```

Restore files for the Orion file space, by running one of the following commands:

Restore files to the computer where you are currently logged on:

Assume that you are currently logged on to the computer called Orion. Run one of the following commands:

If you know the password for the node that you are restoring, use the -virtualnodename option in the restore command. For example, run the following command to restore the files to Orion:
```
dsmc restore \\orion\c$\mydocs\ c:\restore_temp\ -sub=yes 
-virtualnodename=orion
```
If you have proxy authority, you can restore files on behalf of the target node. Proxy authority must be granted from the agent node, in other words the node of the computer that the restore is run from. You must know the password for the agent node so that you can access the target node. For example, run the following command to restore the files to Orion:
```
dsmc restore \\orion\c$\mydocs\ c:\restore_temp\ -sub=yes 
-asnodename=orion
```

Table 1. Components for the restore command when you restore files to the same computer
Command component	Description
`\\orion\c$mydocs\`	Source file specification on the Tivoli Storage Manager server. This location contains the backed up files that you are restoring. The files are backed up for the `orion` VM, so the file specification must be in UNC format.
`c:\restore_temp\`	Destination file specification on the computer where you are currently logged on. The files are restored to this location.
`-sub=yes`	Specifies that all subdirectories in the source file specification are included when you run the restore operation.
`-virtualnodename=orion`	Notifies the Tivoli Storage Manager server that the backup is running from the node `orion`.
`-asnodename=orion`	Notifies the Tivoli Storage Manager server that the backup is running from the node `orion`.

Restore files to a different computer:

To restore the files from the Tivoli Storage Manager server to a computer other than the one you are logged on to, run the following command. You can use this command only if you are logged in with authority to write to the remote computer as controlled by the operating system.

dsmc restore \\orion\c$\mydocs\ \\orion\c$\restore_temp\ -sub=yes 
-virtualnode=orion

Table 2. Components for the restore command when you restore files to a different computer
Command component	Description
`\\orion\c$mydocs\`	Identifies the source file specification on the Tivoli Storage Manager server. This location contains the backed up files that you are restoring. The files are backed up for the `orion` VM, so the file specification must be in UNC format.
`\\orion\c$\restore_temp\`	Identifies the destination file specification on a computer other than the computer where you are logged on. The You are restoring the files to the `orion` VM over the network, by using a Microsoft feature that identifies network locations in UNC notation.
`-sub=yes`	Specifies that all subdirectories in the source file specification are included when you run the restore operation.
`-virtualnodename=orion`	Notifies the Tivoli Storage Manager server that the backup is running from the node `orion`.

Feedback