Running a Virtual Machine from a Backup (Instant Restore)

You can run a virtual machine direct from a disk-level backup that contains an operating system. This

     

operation, also known as instant recovery, enables you to bring up a virtual server in seconds. The virtual 


disks are emulated directly from the backup and thus do not consume space on the datastore (storage). 


The storage space is required only to keep changes to the virtual disks.



It is recommend to run this temporary virtual machine for up to three days. Then, you can completely remove 


it or convert it to a regular virtual machine (finalize) without downtime. This feature current applicable only to 


Vmware. As long as the temporary virtual machine exists, retention rules cannot be applied to the backup 


being used by that machine. Backups of the original machine can continue to run. 



Use this when you plan to


Disaster recovery 

Instantly bring a copy of a failed machine online.

 

Testing a backup 

Run the machine from the backup and ensure that the guest OS and applications are functioning properly.

 

Accessing application data 

While the machine is running, use application's native management tools to access and extract the required data. 


Prerequisites 

 At least one Agent for VMware or Agent for Hyper-V must be registered in the backup service. 



 The backup can be stored in a network folder or in a local folder of the machine where Agent for VMware or

 

Agent for Hyper-V is installed. If you select a network folder, it must be accessible from that machine. A virtual 


machine can also be run from a backup stored in the cloud storage, but it works slower because this 


operation requires intense random-access reading from the backup. 



 The backup must contain an entire machine or all of the volumes that are required for the operating

 

system to start. 



 Backups of both physical and virtual machines can be used. Backups of Virtuozzo containers cannot be used. 



Steps:


1. Do one of the following: 

  • Select a backed-up machine, click Recovery, and then select a recovery point. 
  • Select a recovery point on the Backups tab. 

      

           

2. Click Run as VM

    

The software automatically selects the host and other required parameters. 

    




3. [Optional] Click Target machine, and then change the virtual machine type (ESXi or Hyper-V), the host,

 

or the virtual machine name. 



4. [Optional] Click Datastore for ESXi or Path for Hyper-V, and then select the datastore for the virtual 


machine. Changes to the virtual disks accumulate while the machine is running. Ensure that the selected 


datastore has enough free space. 



5. [Optional] Сlick VM settings to change the memory size and network connections of the virtual machine. 



6. [Optional] Select the VM power state (On/Off). 



7. Click Run now


The machine will appear in the web interface with one of the following icons: 



or



The virtual machines cannot be selected for backup. 

Did you find it helpful? Yes No

Send feedback
Sorry we couldn't be helpful. Help us improve this article with your feedback.