Restoring Hyper-V data

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Hyper-V restore jobs support Instant VM Restore and Instant Disk Restore scenarios, which are created automatically based on the selected source.

Before you begin

Complete the following tasks:

Ensure that a Hyper-V backup job was run at least once. For instructions, see Backing up Hyper-V data.
Ensure that the destination that you plan to use for the restore job is registered in IBM Spectrum® Protect Plus. This requirement applies to restore jobs that restore data to original hosts or clusters.
Ensure that the latest Hyper-V integration services are installed.
For Microsoft Windows environments, see Supported Windows guest operating systems for Hyper-V on Windows Server.

For Linux® environments, see Supported Linux and FreeBSD virtual machines for Hyper-V on Windows.
Ensure that the appropriate roles for restore operations are assigned to the affected users. Grant users access to hypervisors and backup and restore operations in the Accounts pane. Roles and associated permissions are assigned during user account creation. For instructions, see Managing user access and Managing user accounts.
Windows file indexing and file restore on volumes residing on dynamic disks is not supported.
When restoring from a IBM Spectrum Protect archive, files will be migrated to a staging pool from the tape prior to the job beginning. Depending on the size of the restore, this process could take several hours.
When restoring a virtual machine by using clone mode and by using the original IP configuration, ensure that credentials are established through the Guest OS Username and Guest OS Password options within the backup job definition.

About this task

If a Virtual Hard Disk (VHDX) is selected for a restore job, IBM Spectrum Protect Plus automatically presents options for an Instant Disk Restore job, which provides instant writable access to data and application restore points.

An IBM Spectrum Protect Plus snapshot is mapped to a target server where the snapshot can be accessed or copied as required. All other sources are restored by using Instant VM restore jobs, which can be run in the following modes:

Production mode: Production mode enables disaster recovery at the local site from primary storage or a remote disaster recovery site, replacing original machine images with recovery images. All configurations are carried over as part of the recovery, including names and identifiers, and all copy data jobs that are associated with the virtual machine continue to run.
Test mode: Test mode creates temporary virtual machines for development, testing, snapshot verification, and disaster recovery verification on a scheduled, repeatable basis without affecting production environments. Test machines are kept running while they are needed to complete testing and verification and are then cleaned up. Through fenced networking, you can establish a safe environment to test your jobs without interfering with virtual machines that are used for production. Virtual machines that are created in test mode are also given unique names and identifiers to avoid conflicts within your production environment.

Clone mode: Clone mode creates copies of virtual machines for use cases that require permanent or long-running copies for data mining or duplication of a test environment in a fenced network. Virtual machines that are created in clone mode are also given unique names and identifiers to avoid conflicts within your production environment. With clone mode, you must be sensitive to resource consumption because clone mode creates permanent or long-term virtual machines.

Restriction: Moving from test mode to production mode is not supported for Hyper-V.

Procedure

To define a Hyper-V restore job, complete the following steps:

In the navigation panel, click Manage Protection > Virtualized Systems > Hyper-V > Create job, and then select Restore to open the Restore wizard.
Tips:
- You can also open the wizard by clicking Jobs and Operations > Create job > Restore > Hyper-V.
- For a running summary of your selections in the wizard, click Preview Restore in the navigation panel in the wizard.
- The wizard is opened in the default setup mode. To run the wizard in advanced setup mode, select Advanced Setup. With advanced setup mode, you can set more options for your restore job.
On the Select source page, take the following actions:
1. Review the available sources, including virtual machines (VMs) and virtual disks (VDisks). You can expand a source by clicking its name.
  
  You can also enter all or part of a name in the Search for box to locate VMs that match the search criteria. You can use the wildcard character (*) to represent all or part of a name. For example, vm2* represents all resources that begin with "vm2".
2. Click the plus icon next to the item that you want to add to the restore list next to the list of sources. You can add more than one item of the same type (VM or virtual disk).
  
  To remove an item from the restore list, click the minus icon next to the item.
3. Click Next.
On the Source snapshot page, select the type of restore job that you want to create:

On-demand

Runs a one-time restore operation. The restore job starts immediately upon the completion of the wizard.

Recurring

Creates a repeating point-in-time restore job that runs on a schedule.

Complete the fields on the Source snapshot page and click Next to continue.

The fields that are shown depend on the number of items that were selected on the Select source page and on the restore type. Some fields are also not shown until you select a related field.

Fields that are shown for an on-demand, single resource restore

Option	Description
Date range	Specify a range of dates to show the available snapshots within that range.
Backup storage type	All backups in the selected date range are listed in rows that show the time that the backup operation occurred and the service level agreement (SLA) policy for the backup. Select the row that contains the backup time and SLA policy that you want, and then take one of the following actions: Click the backup storage type that you want to restore from. The storage types that are shown depend on the types that are available in your environment and are shown in the following order: Backup Restores data that is backed up to a vSnap server. Replication Restores data that is replicated to a vSnap server. Object Storage Restores data that is copied to a cloud service or to a repository server. Archive Restores data that is copied to a cloud service archive or to a repository server archive (tape). Click anywhere on the row. The first backup type that is shown sequentially from the left of the row is selected by default. For example, if the storage types Backup, Replication, and Archive are shown, Backup is selected by default.
Use alternate vSnap server for the restore job	If you are restoring data from a cloud service or a repository server, select this box to specify an alternative vSnap server, and then select a server from the Select alternate vSnap menu. When you restore data from a restore point that was copied to a cloud resource or repository server, a vSnap server is used as a gateway to complete the operation. By default, the vSnap server that is used to complete the restore operation is the same vSnap server that is used to complete the backup and copy operations. To reduce the load on the vSnap server, you can select an alternative vSnap server to serve as the gateway.

Fields that are shown for an on-demand snapshot, multiple resource restore or recurring restore

Option	Description
Restore Location Type	Select a type of location from which to restore data: Site The site to which snapshots were backed up. The site is defined in the System Configuration > Storage > Sites pane. Cloud service copy The cloud service to which snapshots were copied. The cloud service is defined in the System Configuration > Storage > Cloud storage pane. Repository server copy The repository server to which snapshots were copied. The repository server is defined in the System Configuration > Storage > Repository servers pane. Cloud service archive The cloud archive service to which snapshots were copied. The cloud service is defined in the System Configuration > Storage > Cloud storage pane. Repository server archive The repository server to which snapshots were copied to tape. The repository server is defined in the System Configuration > Storage > Repository servers pane.
Select a location	If you are restoring data from a site, select one of the following restore locations: Demo The demonstration site from which to restore snapshots. This menu item is available only if you updated the product from IBM Spectrum Protect Plus 10.1.6 or earlier. Primary The primary site from which to restore snapshots. Secondary The secondary site from which to restore snapshots. If you are restoring data from a cloud or repository server, select a server from the Select a location menu.
Date selector	For on-demand restore operations, specify a range of dates to show the available snapshots within that range.
Restore Point	For on-demand restore operations, select a snapshot from the list of available snapshots in the selected date range.
Use alternate vSnap server for the restore job	If you are restoring data from a cloud service or a repository server, select this box to specify an alternative vSnap server, and then select a server from the Select alternate vSnap menu. When you restore data from a restore point that was copied to a cloud service or repository server, a vSnap server is used as a gateway to complete the operation. By default, the vSnap server that is used to complete the restore operation is the same vSnap server that is used to complete the backup and copy operations. To reduce the load on the vSnap server, you can select an alternative vSnap server to serve as the gateway.

On the Set destination page, choose the instance to be restored for the selected source and click Next:

Original Host or Cluster

Select this option to restore data to the original host or cluster.

Alternate Host or Cluster

Select this option to restore data to a local destination that is different from the original host or cluster, and then select the alternate location from the available resources. Test and production networks can be configured on the alternate location to create a fenced network, which keeps virtual machines used for testing from interfering with virtual machines used for production. From the vCenters section, select an alternative location. You can filter the alternative locations by either hosts or clusters.

In the VM Folder Destination field, enter the virtual machine folder path on the destination datastore. Note that the directory will be created if it does not exist. Use "/" as the root virtual machine folder of the targeted datastore.

When restoring a virtual disk to a new destination VM, select the virtual machine to which the virtual disk will be restored and the Destination Disk Mode. You can set the Destination Controller to select a supported SCSI controller. Changing the SCSI controller type replaces the existing controller with a new controller, applies the common settings of the existing controller to the new controller, and reassigns all SCSI devices to the new controller. Optionally, can also set the Destination Controller Address # and Destination Controller LUN # to select specific controllers or LUNs.

ESX host if vCenter is down

Select this option to bypass vCenter Server and to restore data directly to an ESXi host. In other restore scenarios, actions are completed through vCenter Server. If vCenter Server is unavailable, this option restores the virtual machine or virtual machines that contain the components that vCenter Server is dependent on.

When you select an ESXi host, you must specify the host user. You can select an existing user for the host or create a new one.

To create a user, enter a user name, the user ID, and the user password.
If the ESXi host is attached to a domain, the user ID follows the default domain\name format. If the user is a local administrator, use the local_administrator format.

To restore data to an ESXi host, the host must have a standard switch or a distributed switch with ephemeral binding. Review the information in Restoring data when vCenter Server or other management VMs are not accessible to ensure that you have the correct environment configured to use this option.
On the Set datastore page, take the following actions:
- If you are restoring data to an alternate Hyper-V host or cluster, select the destination datastore and click Next.
- If you are restoring data to the original Hyper-V host or cluster, this page is not displayed.
On the Set network page, specify the network settings to use for each chosen source and click Next.
- If you are restoring data to the original Hyper-V host or cluster, specify the following network settings:
  
  Allow OS to define IP configuration
  
  Select this option to allow your operating system to define the destination IP address. During a test mode restore operation, the destination virtual machine receives a new MAC address along with an associated NIC. Depending on your operating system, a new IP address can be assigned based on the original NIC of the virtual machine, or assigned through DHCP. During a production mode restore the MAC address does not change; therefore the IP address should be retained.
  
  Use original IP configuration
  
  Select this option to restore to the original host or cluster using your predefined IP address configuration. During the restore operation, the destination virtual machine receives a new MAC address, but the IP address is retained.
- If you are restoring data to an alternate Hyper-V host or cluster, complete the following step:
  In the Production and Test fields, set virtual networks for production and test restore job runs. Destination network settings for production and test environments should point to different locations to create a fenced network, which keeps virtual machines used for testing from interfering with virtual machines used for production. The networks that are associated with test and production modes will be used when the restore job is run in the associated mode.
On the Restore methods page, select the restore method to be used for source selection. Set the Hyper-V restore job to run in Production, Test, or Clone. When you run in production mode, you have the option to select Replace virtual disks only and retain virtual machine configuration. Enabling this option replaces the storage in the virtual machine with the virtual disks from a previous virtual machine backup. This restore method maintains the virtual machine configuration replacing only the storage. When production restore is selected, the virtual machine to which the disk replace is applied must be powered off and only restoring to the original location is supported. Additionally, options such as overwriting the virtual machine and restoring based on tags are not available because the virtual machine is not being recreated. After the job is created, it can be run in production or clone mode through the Job Sessions pane.
You can also change the name of the restored VM by entering the new VM name in the Rename VM (optional) field. The Rename VM option is not available when the production mode is used with the replace virtual disks option enabled. Click Next to continue.
Optional: On the Job Options (optional) page, configure advanced options and click Next.

Make IA clone resource permanent

Enable this option to move the virtual disk to permanent storage and clean up temporary resources. This action is accomplished by starting a Live Migration operation for the resources in the background. The destination of the Live Migration operation is the VM Configuration Datastore. The Instant Access disk is still available for read/write operations during this operation.

Power on after recovery

Toggle the power state of a virtual machine after a recovery is run. Virtual machines are powered on in the order in which they are recovered, as set in the Source step. If Use original IP configuration is selected, the Power on after recovery option is not honored.
Restriction: Restored virtual machine templates cannot be powered on after recovery.

Overwrite virtual machine

Enable this option to allow the restore job to overwrite the selected virtual machine. By default, this option is disabled.

Continue with restore even if it fails

Toggle the recovery of a resource in a series if the previous resource recovery fails. If disabled, the restore job stops if the recovery of a resource fails.

Run cleanup immediately on job failure

This option enables the automatic cleanup of backup data as part of a restore job if the job fails. This option is selected by default. Do not clear this option unless instructed by IBM® Software Support for troubleshooting purposes.

Allow to overwrite and force cleanup of pending old sessions

Enable this option to allow a scheduled session of a recovery job to force an existing pending session to clean up associated resources so the new session can run. Disable this option to keep an existing test environment running without being cleaned up.

Append suffix to virtual machine name

Enter a suffix to add to the names of restored virtual machines.

Prepend prefix to virtual machine name

Enter a prefix to add to the names of restored virtual machines. Click Save to save the policy options.
Optional: On the Apply scripts page, choose the following script options and click Next.
- Select Pre-script to select an uploaded script, and an application or script server where the prescript runs. To select an application server where the script will run, clear the Use Script Server check box. Go to the System Configuration > Script page to configure scripts and script servers.
- Select Post-script to select an uploaded script and an application or script server where the postscript runs. To select an application server where the script runs, clear the Use Script Server check box. Navigate to the System Configuration > Script page to configure scripts and script servers.
- Select Continue job/task on script error to continue running the job when the script that is associated with the job fails. When this option is enabled and the prescript completes with a nonzero return code, the backup or restore job continues to run and the prescript task status returns COMPLETED. If a postscript completes with a nonzero return code, the postscript task status returns COMPLETED. When this option is not selected, the backup or restore job does not run, and the prescript or postscript task status returns with a FAILED status.
Take one of the following actions on the Schedule page:
- To run an on-demand job, click Next.
- To set up a recurring job, enter a name for the job schedule, and specify how often and when to start the restore job. Click Next.
On the Review page, review your restore job settings and click Submit to create the job.

On-demand jobs will begin immediately; recurring jobs will begin at the scheduled start time.

What to do next

After the job is complete, select one of the following options from the Actions menu on the Jobs Sessions or Active Clones sections on the Restore pane:

Cleanup: Destroys the virtual machine and cleans up all associated resources. Because this is a temporary virtual machine to be used for testing, all data is lost when the virtual machine is destroyed.
Clone (migrate): Migrates the virtual machine to the datastore and virtual network that are defined as the test network.