Restore a VMware ESX Server 3.x Virtual Machine Disk Image

You can use the VMware vcbRestore utility to restore a Disk Image for a VMware Virtual Machine, whether the backup was performed from a VCB Proxy Server or from the Service Console. This type of restore will overwrite all existing data for the particular Virtual Machine if restored to the existing location.

Required Capability: See Capabilities and Permitted Actions

To restore a corrupted or missing VMware Virtual Machine using vcbRestore

1. Check the Virtual Machine Web Console to ensure that the VMware Virtual Machine to be restored is in the "power off" state (if it still exists.)
2. Create a directory on an available datastore on the ESX Server. In this case we have created the directory restorevm on an available SAN disk located at /vmfs/volumes/SanBackup1.
3. From the CommCell Console, use the Windows or Linux File System iDataAgent to browse and select the Virtual Machine Disk Image, then click Recover All Selected. From the Restore Options (General) dialog box, select Unconditional Overwrite and Restore to Same Paths. Thereafter, continue your restore. The image file should be restored directly to /vmfs/volumes/SanBackup1/restorevm or restored out of place and transferred to this directory.
4. When the restore job completes, execute the following command from the command line on the ESX Server:

   vcbRestore -h esxserver.mydomain.com -u root -p password -M 1 -s /vmfs/volumes/44c529af-b8365ad6-7307-0011435b35d5/restorevm

   Where:
   -h        ESX Server Host Name
   -u        ESX Server root login
   -p        ESX Server root password
   -M 1      Restore the VM(vmsys1-flat.vmdk)to a single file
   -s <dir>  Directory of backup image files
             dir=/vmfs/volumes/SanBackup1/restorevm

   NOTES

   • In the example vcbRestore command, the directory unique identifier (44c529af-b8365ad6-7307-0011435b35d5) was used instead of the directory link name, SanBackup1; this may be required by vcbRestore. vcbRestore also supports many more options than shown here. For more information, refer to the VMware Virtual Machine Backup Guide.
5. You will see output similar to the following during the restore:

   [2006-07-25 16:23:29.924 'App' 3076452480 info] Current working directory: /root/scripts
   [2006-07-25 16:23:29.972 'BaseLibs' 9620400 warning] [Vmdb_Unset] Unsetting unknown path: /vmomi/
   Converting "/vmfs/volumes/Vmfs3Vol1//restorevm/vmsys1.vmdk" (VMFS (flat)):
   0%=====================50%=====================100
   **************************************************

   VMware ESX Server Question:

   Registering the virtual machine

      "/ha-folder-root/ha-datacenter/vm/adoniswin23"

   would replace the already registered VM

      "[Vmfs3Vol1] /adoniswin23/adoniswin23.vmx".

   How do you want to proceed?
      0) Abort Restore
      1) Keep Existing
      2) Replace Existing
   Please choose a number [0-2]:

   At the prompt, select 2 to replace the existing entry in the ESX Sever inventory.

   NOTES

   • The original Virtual Machine Disk Image may have been removed from the disk, but not from the ESX Server internal inventory (unless it was already manually removed.) By specifying #2, the ESX Sever inventory is updated with the information from the most recent restore.
6. From the Virtual Infrastructure screen you will see that this Virtual Machine is now ready for use. Use the Virtual Machine Web Console to restart the Virtual Machine.
7. The source directory for the backup image files, /vmfs/volumes/SanBackup1/restorevm, is no longer needed and can be deleted.

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