Section 13 - Backup / Restore VMware Virtual Machines

This section describes how to backup and restore virtual machine running on VMware.

13.1.10 How to restore virtual machines on VMware ESXi / ESX Server through vCenter

Refer to the following instructions to restore VM running on VMware ESXi or ESX Server.
VM can be restored to the original location with the following condition:




• If the VM to be restored does not exist on the original hypervisor, the VM will be restored as a new virtual machine.
• If the VM to be restored still exist on the original hypervisor, the existing VM will be replaced by the backed up version.



Table of contents:




• 13.1.10.1 Using the OBM user interface


• 13.1.10.2 Using the Web console interface

13.1.10.1 How to restore virtual machines to the original hypervisor

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• Login to the backup application's user interface.



Double-click on the OBM desktop icon or right-click on the system tray icon:






• Select the [Restore] button and the corresponding backup set.




• Select the virtual machines to be restored and choose [Original Location] for restore files to.






vCenter Items	Description
Hosts and Clusters	VM host and cluster, virtual hard disk information.
VM Templates	Contains virtual machine templates.
Datastores and Datastore Clusters	Contains information about the data stores and data store cluster in the inventory.
Networking	Configuration of vSphere distributed switch and network settings.
Settings - Licensing	vCenter and host information.
Settings - Server Settings	vCenter server settings such as licensing, statistic and timeout information etc.
Settings - Custom Attributes	Custom attributes for the VM summary.
Settings - Message of the Day	Message of the day in vCenter.
Settings - Roles	Information on the login user privilege.
Settings - Host Profiles	Configuration details of a specific host.
Settings - Scheduled Tasks	Scheduled action for the VM



• Click the [Start Restore] button to begin the restore process.
• User will be prompted if a virtual machine selected to be restored exist on the hypervisor.




• When the restore process is completed, the virtual machines will be restored to the original hypervisor.
• For any virtual disk that was not restored (e.g. original backup source did not include all hard disks configured for the VM).



Continue to the next steps for instruction to remove the missing hard disk from the virtual machine's configuration.





For original virtual machine with no snapshot



• Open VMware vSphere Client to access the vCenter.
• Under inventory, right click on the newly restored virtual machine, select [Edit Settings].




• For each virtual disk that was not restored, remove the corresponding [Hard disk] from [Hardware].




• Start the virtual machine afterward.




For original virtual machine with snapshot (non-VDDK mode)




• Open VMware vSphere Client to access the vCenter.
• Under inventory, right click on the newly restored virtual machine, select [Edit Settings].




• For each virtual disk that was not restored, remove the corresponding [Hard disk] from [Hardware].




• Remove the VM from inventory.
• Right click on the newly restored virtual machine; select [Remove from Inventory].




• Locate the virtual machine's folder location on the hypervisor.



Important
Serious problem may occur if the configuration files are incorrectly modified; it may prevent the virtual machine from starting.

Please only perform the following procedures if you have in-depth knowledge on VMware product.




• Delete the lines of the removed virtual disk.


• Open the corresponding ${VM-Name}.vmsd file at the following location with a text editor.

${VM-Location}\${VM-Name}.vmsd



• Locate the line of all non existing virtual disk.



Example:

Snapshot 1, SCSI (0:2) Disk 2 is removed.




.encoding = "UTF-8"
snapshot.lastUID = "1"
snapshot.numSnapshots = "1"
snapshot.current = "1"
snapshot0.uid = "1"
snapshot0.filename = "Windows 2008 Snapshot1.vmsn"
snapshot0.displayName = "Snapshot1"
snapshot0.description = ""
snapshot0.createTimeHigh = "309233"
snapshot0.createTimeLow = "1291281261"
snapshot0.numDisks = "3"
snapshot0.disk0.fileName = "Windows 2008-1.vmdk"
snapshot0.disk0.node = "scsi0:0"
snapshot0.disk1.fileName = "Windows 2008-1.vmdk"
snapshot0.disk1.node = "scsi0:1"
snapshot0.disk2.fileName = "Windows 2008-2.vmdk"
snapshot0.disk2.node = "scsi0:2"



• Remove the corresponding lines.

.encoding = "UTF-8"
snapshot.lastUID = "1"
snapshot.numSnapshots = "1"
snapshot.current = "1"
snapshot0.uid = "1"
snapshot0.filename = "Windows 2008 Snapshot1.vmsn"
snapshot0.displayName = "Snapshot1"
snapshot0.description = ""
snapshot0.createTimeHigh = "309233"
snapshot0.createTimeLow = "1291281261"
snapshot0.numDisks = "3"
snapshot0.disk0.fileName = "Windows 2008-1.vmdk"
snapshot0.disk0.node = "scsi0:0"
snapshot0.disk1.fileName = "Windows 2008-1.vmdk"
snapshot0.disk1.node = "scsi0:1"



• Perform the same steps for each snapshot.
• Save the changes afterward.


• Update the number of virtual disk.


• Open the corresponding ${VM-Name}.vmsd file at the following location with a text editor.

${VM-Location}\${VM-Name}.vmsd



• Locate the numDisks parameter.




Example:



Snapshot 1, if one of the disks is removed, updates the value of snapshot0.numDisks

.encoding = "UTF-8"
snapshot.lastUID = "1"
snapshot.numSnapshots = "1"
snapshot.current = "1"
snapshot0.uid = "1"
snapshot0.filename = "Windows 2008 Snapshot1.vmsn"
snapshot0.displayName = "Snapshot1"
snapshot0.description = ""
snapshot0.createTimeHigh = "309233"
snapshot0.createTimeLow = "1291281261"
snapshot0.numDisks = "3"
snapshot0.disk0.fileName = "Windows 2008-1.vmdk"
snapshot0.disk0.node = "scsi0:0"
snapshot0.disk1.fileName = "Windows 2008-1.vmdk"
snapshot0.disk1.node = "scsi0:1"



• Modify the line from:

snapshot0.numDisks = "3"

To

snapshot0.numDisks = "2"

.encoding = "UTF-8"
snapshot.lastUID = "1"
snapshot.numSnapshots = "1"
snapshot.current = "1"
snapshot0.uid = "1"
snapshot0.filename = "Windows 2008 Snapshot1.vmsn"
snapshot0.displayName = "Snapshot1"
snapshot0.description = ""
snapshot0.createTimeHigh = "309233"
snapshot0.createTimeLow = "1291281261"
snapshot0.numDisks = "2"
snapshot0.disk0.fileName = "Windows 2008-1.vmdk"
snapshot0.disk0.node = "scsi0:0"
snapshot0.disk1.fileName = "Windows 2008-1.vmdk"
snapshot0.disk1.node = "scsi0:1"



• Perform the same steps for each snapshot.
• Save the changes afterward



• Add the VM back into the inventory.




• Remove any existing snapshot.



Important:
The restored virtual machine does not support the reversion of previous snapshots if they contain virtual disks not restored.




• Start the virtual machine.

13.1.10.2 How to restore virtual machines to another hypervisor

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• Login to the backup application's user interface.



For backup client computer on Windows, double-click on the OBM desktop icon or right-click on the system tray icon:






• Click on the [Restore] button and the corresponding backup set.




Alternate location

Select this option if you want to use AhsayOBM to search the available hypervisor.






• Select the virtual machines to be restored and choose [Alternate location] for restore files to. One VM can be selected at a time. (All the available ESX/ESXi will be listed accordingly.)



Note:
The setting is not available for the restore to 'Alternation location'.




• Click the [Start Restore] button to begin the restore process.
• When the restore process is completed, data of the selected virtual machines will be restored and registered to the specific location.
• For any virtual disk that was not restored (e.g. original backup source did not include all hard disks configured for the VM).



Continue to the next steps for instruction to remove the missing hard disk from the virtual machine's configuration.

Alternate location (Raw File) (non-VDDK mode)

Select this option if you want to transfer the VM files to another hypervisor manually.






• Select the virtual machines to be restored and choose [Alternate location (Raw File)].
• Click on the [Change] button and select the path to save the restore files.
• Click the [Start Restore] button to begin the restore process.
• Transfer the VM files to another hypervisor manually.
• Open VMware vSphere Client
• Add VM to the inventory.




For original virtual machine with no snapshot




1. Open VMware vSphere Client.
2. Under inventory, right click on the newly restored virtual machine, select [Edit Settings].




3. For each virtual disk that was not restored, remove the corresponding [Hard disk] from [Hardware].




4. Start the virtual machine afterward.





For original virtual machine with snapshot (non-VDDK mode)




• Open VMware vSphere Client.
• Under inventory, right click on the newly restored virtual machine, select [Edit Settings].




• For each virtual disk that was not restored, remove the corresponding [Hard disk] from [Hardware].




• Remove the VM from inventory.
• Right click on the newly restored virtual machine; select [Remove from Inventory].




• Locate the virtual machine's folder location on the hypervisor.



Important
Serious problem may occur if the configuration files are incorrectly modified; it may prevent the virtual machine from starting.

Please only perform the following procedures if you have in-depth knowledge on VMware product.




• Delete the lines of the removed virtual disk.


• Open the corresponding ${VM-Name}.vmsd file at the following location with a text editor.

${VM-Location}\${VM-Name}.vmsd




Locate the line of all non existing virtual disk.

Example:

Snapshot 1, SCSI (0:2) Disk 2 is removed.





.encoding = "UTF-8"
snapshot.lastUID = "1"
snapshot.numSnapshots = "1"
snapshot.current = "1"
snapshot0.uid = "1"
snapshot0.filename = "Windows 2008 Snapshot1.vmsn"
snapshot0.displayName = "Snapshot1"
snapshot0.description = ""
snapshot0.createTimeHigh = "309233"
snapshot0.createTimeLow = "1291281261"
snapshot0.numDisks = "3"
snapshot0.disk0.fileName = "Windows 2008-1.vmdk"
snapshot0.disk0.node = "scsi0:0"
snapshot0.disk1.fileName = "Windows 2008-1.vmdk"
snapshot0.disk1.node = "scsi0:1"
snapshot0.disk2.fileName = "Windows 2008-2.vmdk"
snapshot0.disk2.node = "scsi0:2"



• Remove the corresponding lines.

.encoding = "UTF-8"
snapshot.lastUID = "1"
snapshot.numSnapshots = "1"
snapshot.current = "1"
snapshot0.uid = "1"
snapshot0.filename = "Windows 2008 Snapshot1.vmsn"
snapshot0.displayName = "Snapshot1"
snapshot0.description = ""
snapshot0.createTimeHigh = "309233"
snapshot0.createTimeLow = "1291281261"
snapshot0.numDisks = "3"
snapshot0.disk0.fileName = "Windows 2008-1.vmdk"
snapshot0.disk0.node = "scsi0:0"
snapshot0.disk1.fileName = "Windows 2008-1.vmdk"
snapshot0.disk1.node = "scsi0:1"



• Perform the same steps for each snapshot.
• Save the changes afterward.


• Update the number of virtual disk.


• Open the corresponding ${VM-Name}.vmsd file at the following location with a text editor.

${VM-Location}\${VM-Name}.vmsd



• Locate the numDisks parameter.




Example:

Snapshot 1, if one of the disks is removed, updates the value of snapshot0.numDisks




.encoding = "UTF-8"
snapshot.lastUID = "1"
snapshot.numSnapshots = "1"
snapshot.current = "1"
snapshot0.uid = "1"
snapshot0.filename = "Windows 2008 Snapshot1.vmsn"
snapshot0.displayName = "Snapshot1"
snapshot0.description = ""
snapshot0.createTimeHigh = "309233"
snapshot0.createTimeLow = "1291281261"
snapshot0.numDisks = "3"
snapshot0.disk0.fileName = "Windows 2008-1.vmdk"
snapshot0.disk0.node = "scsi0:0"
snapshot0.disk1.fileName = "Windows 2008-1.vmdk"
snapshot0.disk1.node = "scsi0:1"



• Modify the line from:

snapshot0.numDisks = "3"

To

snapshot0.numDisks = "2"

.encoding = "UTF-8"
snapshot.lastUID = "1"
snapshot.numSnapshots = "1"
snapshot.current = "1"
snapshot0.uid = "1"
snapshot0.filename = "Windows 2008 Snapshot1.vmsn"
snapshot0.displayName = "Snapshot1"
snapshot0.description = ""
snapshot0.createTimeHigh = "309233"
snapshot0.createTimeLow = "1291281261"
snapshot0.numDisks = "2"
snapshot0.disk0.fileName = "Windows 2008-1.vmdk"
snapshot0.disk0.node = "scsi0:0"
snapshot0.disk1.fileName = "Windows 2008-1.vmdk"
snapshot0.disk1.node = "scsi0:1"



• Perform the same steps for each snapshot.
• Save the changes afterward


• Add the VM back into the inventory.




• Remove any existing snapshot.



Important:
The restored virtual machine does not support the reversion of previous snapshots if they contain virtual disks not restored.




• Start the virtual machine.



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