Restoring Database Availability Group backups

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With IBM Storage® Protect Plus, you can restore a Microsoft™ Exchange Server Database Availability Group (DAG) backup to the original instance or to an alternative instance.

About this task

If you select the production restore method for the restore job, you must restore a replicated database copy to an active database copy. If you selected a passive database copy as the preferred target of backup operations, IBM Storage Protect Plus attempts to restore the database to this passive copy by default. The restore operation fails. In this situation, you can choose to restore the database to an alternative instance, and then select the active database copy.

If you select another restore method, the target location is a stand-alone recovery database that can be used on an active or passive DAG member.

Procedure

To define an Exchange restore job, complete the following steps:
  1. In the navigation panel, click Manage Protection > Databases > Exchange > 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 > Exchange.
    • 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.
  2. In the Source select page, complete the following steps:
    1. Click the View menu and select Database Availability Groups.
    2. In the Availability Groups list, click an Exchange instance to see the list of restore points for that instance and select the backup versions that you want to restore. You can also use the search function to search for available instances and toggle the displayed instances through the View filter.
    3. Click the add to restore list icon Add to restore list icon next to the database that you want to use as the source of the restore operation. You can select more than one database from the list.

      The selected sources are added to the restore list next to the database list. To remove an item from the list source, click the the remove from restore list icon icon next to the item.

    4. Click Next to continue.
  3. On the Source snapshot page, select the type of restore job that you want to create:
    On-demand: Snapshot
    Runs a one-time restore operation. The restore job starts immediately upon the completion of the wizard.
    On-demand: Point in Time
    Runs a one-time restore job from a point-in-time backup of a database. 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.
  4. 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 snapshot, single resource restore

    OptionDescription
    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 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 resources restore; or recurring restore. For point-in-time restore, only Site is available for Restore Location Type.

    OptionDescription
    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:
    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.

  5. In the Restore method page, choose from the following options:
    • Test. Choose this option to restore the data from the vSnap repository directly. This restore type might be used for testing purposes.
    • Production. Choose this option to restore the full database with a full-copy data restore operation. This restore operation is for permanent use of the restored database.

    Click Next to continue.

  6. In the Set destination page, specify where you want to restore the database and click Next.
    Restore to original instance
    Select this option to restore the database to the original server.
    Restore to alternate instance
    Select this option to restore the database to a local destination that is different from the original server, then select the alternative location from the list of available servers.
    Attention: When you choose the destination, you must select an active node as the destination; otherwise, the restore operation fails.
  7. Optional: On the Job options page, configure additional options for the restore job and click Next to continue.
    Recovery Options
    Choose from the following recovery options:
    No Recovery
    This option skips any rollforward recovery after the restore operation. The database remains in a Rollforward pending state until you decide whether you want to run the rollforward recovery manually.
    Recover until end of backup
    Restore the selected database to the state at the time the backup was created.
    Recover until end of available logs
    This option restores the database and applies all available logs (including logs newer than the backup that might exist on the application server) to recover the database up to the latest possible time. This option is available only if you selected Enable Log Backup in the backup job.
    Recover until specific point in time
    When log backups are enabled, this option restores the database and applies logs from the log backup volume to recover the database up to an intermediate, user-specified point in time. Choose the date and time by selecting from the By Time options.
    Application Options
    Set the application options:
    Maximum Parallel Streams per Database
    Set the maximum data stream from the backup storage per database. This setting applies to each database in the job definition. Multiple databases can still be restored in parallel if the value of the option is set to 1. Multiple parallel streams might improve restore speed, but high-bandwidth consumption might affect overall system performance.
    This option is applicable only when you are restoring an Exchange database to its original location by using its original database name.
    Advanced Options
    Set the advanced job definition options:
    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.
  8. Optional: On the Apply scripts page, select the Pre-Script or Post-Script to apply, or choose Continue job/task on script error. For more information about working with scripts, see Configuring scripts. Click Next to continue.
  9. Take one of the following actions on the Schedule page:
    • If you are running an on-demand job, click Next.
    • If you are setting up a recurring job, enter a name for the job schedule, and specify how often and when to start the restore job. Click Next.
  10. On the Review page, review your restore job settings and click Submit to create the job.
    The restore job is created, and you can check on its status in Jobs and Operations > Running Jobs.