Restoring data from a VMware backup
You can use several methods for restoring data from backups to a VMware virtual machine. The restore method depends on the type of backup and on the version of the backup-archive client software that you use to run the restore.
This feature is available only if the client operates as a data
mover for IBM Storage Protect for Virtual Environments: Data Protection for VMware.
- Full VM restore
- Use the restore vm command to restore an entire virtual machine from a full
VM backup. When you restore a full VM backup, the restored image replaces the virtual machine or a
new virtual machine is created. In a full VM restore, you restore all of the VMware files and the
system state on Windows systems. If
you have access to IBM® Storage Protect recovery agent, you
can restore individual files.
- Depending on the version of the backup-archive client that is running on the VMware client, use
the appropriate method to restore a full VM backup:
- Versions of the backup-archive earlier than 6.2.2:
- Restore the full VM backup by using VMware Consolidated Backup. For more information, see the
following topic:
Restoring full VM backups that were created with VMware Consolidated Backup
- Versions of the backup-archive client at 6.2.2 or later:
- Restore the full VM backup by using the vStorage API. The IBM Storage Protect 6.2.2 or later client can restore full VMware backups that were created with versions of the client that is earlier than version 6.2.2. For more information, see the following topic:
- File-level restore
- Use the restore command to restore individual files from a file-level VM
backup. Use this method when you cannot practically restore an entire VMware image.
File-level backups were created with the version 7.1 or earlier
backup-archive
clients.The following restrictions apply to file-level restores:
- You can use the file-level restore method only if a file-level backup of the virtual machine exists.
- You cannot restore an entire virtual machine from file-level backups because the restore command does not re-create Windows system states.
- You cannot use this method to restore individual files from a full VM backup of a virtual machine.
- Depending on the configuration of the virtual machine where you
restore the files, use the appropriate method to restore files from
a file-level backup:
- The backup-archive client is not installed on the VM:
- Restore the files from the vStorage backup server that backed up the virtual machine.
- The backup-archive client is installed on the VM:
- Restore the file from the backup-archive client that is installed on the virtual machine.