Verifying the integrity of a VM backup from the command line

To verify the integrity of a backup image of a virtual machine (VM) without restoring the VM or disks to the Hyper-V host, run a full VM instant access operation on the data mover command line.

Before you begin

Review the information in Running instant access operations.

Procedure

Complete the following steps on the data mover command line on the Hyper-V host or cluster:

Run a VM instant access operation by using the restore vm command.
Because the existing VM is running, you must provide a new name for a temporary VM by adding the new name to the vmname option. You must also add the -VMRESToretype=INSTANTAccess option to the command line to indicate that the operation is an instant access restore operation.

If you want the temporary VM to be automatically powered on, use the -vmautostartvm=yes option.
For example, you want to verify that the backup image of the VM named Orion can be used for restore operations. Enter the following command to prepare a VM named "Orion_verify" for instant access. You can use this VM to verify that the backup image can be restored.
```
dsmc restore vm Orion -vmname=Orion_verify -vmrestoretype=instantaccess
```
Important: If the VM that you are restoring is using a static IP address, a network IP address conflict will occur between the original VM and the temporary VM. To avoid this conflict, change the IP address of the temporary instant access VM after the VM is created.
Optional: Select an inactive or active VM backup from a particular date or time, list the versions of the VM backup by using the inactive or pick options, or the pittime or pitdate options.
For example, to display a list of backup versions of the Orion VM, issue the following command:
```
dsmc restore vm Orion -vmrestoretype=instantaccess -pick
```
Temporary data that is created by the instant access operation is stored in the cache of the IBM Spectrum Protect™ recovery agent.
To verify the integrity of the disks and data, use a utility such as chkdsk, or a utility or application of your choice, to verify the virtual disks and data. If the temporary VM passes the integrity checks, you can remove the temporary resources that were created to support the instant access restore operation.

Example

Run an instant access operation for a VM backup named "Ritza2-VM" and restore the VM temporarily to "Ritza2-VM_Verify". In this example, the target node name is "RITZA_HV_TGT", and the data mover node name is "RITZA_HV_DM":

dsmc restore vm "Ritza2-VM" -vmname="Ritza2-VM_Verify" -vmrestoretype=instantaccess 
-optfile="dsm.RITZA_HV_DM.opt" -asnode="RITZA_HV_TGT"

IBM Spectrum Protect
Command Line Backup-Archive Client Interface
  Client Version 8, Release 1, Level 7.0
  Client date/time: 07/19/2018 13:06:23
(c) Copyright by IBM Corporation and other(s) 1990, 2018. All Rights Reserved.

Node Name: RITZA_HV_DM
Session established with server ASANA2: Linux/x86_64
  Server Version 7, Release 1, Level 9.000
  Server date/time: 07/19/2018 13:04:32  Last access: 07/19/2018 13:03:56

Accessing as node: RITZA_HV_TGT
Restore function invoked.



Restore VM command started.  Total number of virtual machines to process: 1


Restore of Virtual Machine 'Ritza2-VM' started


Starting instant access of VMware Virtual Machine 'Ritza2-VM' target node name=
'RITZA_HV_TGT', data mover node name='RITZA_HV_DM'

Starting Instant VM Access process

Restoring VM configuration information for 'Ritza2-VM'
Checking the state of the hypervisor host 'RITZA'...
Checking Hyper-V target path 'C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Hyper-V' from host 'RITZA'

Gathering iSCSI information from Hyper-V host 'RITZA' ...

The Windows iSCSI Initiator name is "iqn.1991-05.com.microsoft:ritza.tsmdev.local".

Mounting a snapshot of VM 'Ritza2-VM' from disc 'Hard Disk 1'. Please wait...

Connecting the iSCSI targets with the data mover...

Creating a virtual machine on the hypervisor host...

Successful Full VM restore of Virtual Machine 'Ritza2-VM'
ANS2408I The virtual machine named 'Ritza2-VM_Verify' is ready for Instant Access


Successful instant access of VMware Virtual Machine 'Ritza2-VM' target node name=
'RITZA_HV_TGT', data mover node name='RITZA_HV_DM'


Total number of objects restored:             1
Total number of objects failed:               0
Total number of bytes transferred:            0  B
Data transfer time:                        0.00 sec
Network data transfer rate:                0.00 KB/sec
Aggregate data transfer rate:              0.00 KB/sec
Elapsed processing time:               00:01:03