5 0 0:OLVM Restore

From SEPsesam


This is documentation for SEP sesam version 5.0.0 Jaglion.
This is not the latest version of SEP sesam documentation and, as such, does not provide information on features introduced in the latest release. For more information on SEP sesam releases, see SEP sesam Release Versions. For the latest documentation, check SEP sesam documentation.


Overview


Support for oVirt-based platforms within Oracle Linux Virtualization Manager (OLVM) enables consistent, agentless backups and restores of OLVM VMs.

Restoring OLVM virtual machines (VMs) is very similar to regular file system restore. There are two ways to restore your OLVM virtual machines (VMs) in SEP sesam: using the GUI restore wizard or via the web interface Restore Assistant. Although most options are the same in both restore interfaces, the web Restore Assistant is more intuitive and offers additional advanced options. Note that scheduling restore is only supported in GUI mode.

You can also perform single file restore (SFR) via the SEP sesam GUI or the web Restore Assistant. Single file restore (SFR) is supported only in advanced UI mode (formerly expert mode in the GUI). For details on switching the UI mode, see Setting the UI mode in the GUI and Setting the UI mode in the Restore Assistant.

Restore options

  • You can restore your VM to the original or to a different location with the same or a different VM name using relocation.
  • You can restore your VM to the same or a different single OLVM server or OLVM cluster.
  • You can perform a simple path restore of the selected OLVM VM configuration directly to a directory on any system instead of restoring and importing VM to the OLVM environment.
  • You can perform a single file restore (SFR) by mounting an OLVM virtual disk if your UI mode is set to advanced (formerly expert mode in the GUI). For details on switching the UI mode, see Setting the UI mode in the GUI and Setting the UI mode in the Restore Assistant.

Restore workflow

The restore process uses the following workflow:

  1. The VM configuration is restored to the SEP sesam data mover VM.
  2. The target VM is created from it.
  3. The disks of the target VM are created and attached to the SEP sesam data mover VM.
  4. Then the data is restored.
  5. The disks are detached from the data mover VM and attached to the target VM.

Prerequisites

To ensure error-free operation of SEP sesam and improve performance, make sure that the following conditions are met:

  • Check the OLVM support matrix for supported OLVM versions.
  • Ensure that your OLVM environment is properly configured as described in OLVM Configuration.
  • SFR of backups from virtualization platforms requires the guestfs-tools package to be installed on Linux in order to access and mount VM disk image on Linux. If the package is not installed on your SEP sesam Server or Linux RDS, it is not possible to mount VMDK and perform SFR. Refer to Installing guestfs-tools on Linux.
  • Make sure that there is enough free space on the target system to which you are restoring your data.
Note
  • During restore, the virtual disk consumes complete thick provisioned space on the target storage. For example, if you backed up 1 TB VM disk, there must be 1 TB free on the target pool where the VM was created.
  • The operations and options available after logging in may differ depending on the user type. Other GUI and Web UI display restrictions may depend on the custom roles with specific permissions and the UI mode.
    For details, see About Authentication and Authorization and User Roles and Permissions.

Restoring an OLVM virtual machine

Depending on the interface you are using, follow the appropriate procedure to restore an OLVM VM:

Note that you can only restore one VM at a time.

VM restore via the GUI

Create a new restore task for the OLVM Manager client.

  1. In the SEP sesam GUI menu bar, select Activities -> Restore. The New Restore Task window opens.
  2. Select what you want to restore. You can search savesets by task name or filename or path.
    • When searching by task name, use the drop-down list of available tasks and select the one you want to restore. This option is enabled by default.
    • If you are searching by filename/path, select the option Filename or path in a saveset and enter your search expression in the search pattern field.
  3. In the Saved in period drop-down lists, specify the time frame for which you want to conduct the search. Click Next.
  4. Select the OLVM saveset you want to restore. The options Complete restore of selected task and Generation restore are enabled by default. Click Next.

  5. Review your restore task configuration and set additional options, if required.
  6. Details of the selected saveset are displayed at the top and at the bottom (Optional data source selection) of the window. The name of the restore task is automatically generated in the Restore task name field. You can edit the name and insert a comment below.
    Target data
    You can restore the OLVM VM to the original VM (if the Target node is the same server from which the data was backed up, i.e., when the source and target server are the same) or under a new VM name. If you want to restore the VM under a different name, select the option Restore with new VM name and enter a new VM name or use the Browser button.
    Target node
    It shows the target server to which the data will be restored. By clicking Change VM target selection you can restore a task from a cluster to a different standalone server by selecting the appropriate OLVM target node and data store path. If no target path is defined, the VM is restored to the default location of the OLVM server or cluster.
    VM restore options
    Select one of the following from the drop-down list:
    • Do not overwrite existing items (default): The VM will be restored only if it does not exist on the target server.
    • Overwrite existing items: If the VM exists on the target server, it will be replaced with its restored version.
    • Create a new version: The VM will be restored under a new name.
    • You can also select whether the VM should be started automatically after the restore by selecting Start virtual machine after restore/Do not start (selected by default).


  7. The Expert Options (available only in advanced UI mode (formerly expert mode)) allows you to specify additional options for the restore, such as changing the log level settings, disabling generation restore, define the pre/post script for the restore, etc. For example, if you want to restore only the actual size of the VMs, you can use the dd utility to create a thin-provisioned (sparse) disk file: Click the Expert Options button and enter the following under Restore options: -a use_dd.

  8. In the final step of the restore wizard, you can review all of your restore task settings. You can also edit the settings by using Change Selection button. If you want to start your restore immediately, click Start. If you want to save the restore task, click Save.

In the GUI, a restore task can be scheduled like any other task. If you want to add a restore task to the schedule, see Scheduling Restore.

VM restore via the Restore Assistant

You can access the Restore Assistant in one of the following ways:

via the GUI: by clicking the Restore Assistant icon in the toolbar or from Activities -> Restore Assistant

from SEP sesam Web UI: left menu -> Restore Assistant

or by entering the following address in the browser bar: http://[sesamserver]:11401/sep/ui/restore/.

Note
  • If you cannot access the web Restore Assistant, check if you have received the appropriate permissions for online restore.
  • The operations and options available after logging in may differ depending on the user type. Other Web UI display restrictions may depend on the custom roles with specific permissions and the UI mode.

For details, see About Authentication and Authorization and User Roles and Permissions.

Steps

The following steps are performed in simple UI mode. They cover the most common restore cases and are the recommended method for performing a restore. For more experienced users, some additional restore options are available in the advanced restore mode (click the Advanced View option), e.g. you can restore a single file, write the VM to a file system, write the backup to a dump file, set additional restore options, etc. For details, see Standard Restore Procedure.

  1. Open the Restore Assistant in the browser.
  2. In the start window, select Oracle Linux Virtualization Manager and click Next.

  3. In the Virtual Machine window, under Selection of the server, select your target OLVM server to which the data will be restored.
    Then, under Selection of the virtual machine select the VM you want to restore and click Next.

  4. In the Task window, under Task selection, select your source backup task.
    Then, under Backup selection, select the exact backup version you want to restore. Note that Generation restore is selected by default. You can use the calendar function in the upper right corner to set a date range for the displayed backups.
    Click Next.

  5. In the Target window, under the Target selection select your target environment for restore. You can use the drop-down list to select or filter VMs by name. You can also select if you want to restore an existing VM with a new name.
  6. Click Next.

  7. Modify or set additional restore options under the Virtualization restore options:
  8. Data mover: Select the data mover.
    Recovery options: Specify whether or not to start the VM after restore.
    Under Target options of the virtual machine select Storage Container (OLVM) from the drop-down list.
    Click Next.
  9. In the last step, check the summary of your restore task (restore type (based on task type, selected backup, its date and details, restore options, etc.) and click Start restore.

Restoring single files (SFR)

You can perform single file restore – item-level restore of files, folders, and volumes from the COPY backup of OLVM virtual machine by mounting a virtual disk on the device server and browsing the content of a virtual disk file.

Depending on the interface you are using, follow the appropriate procedure to restore individual OLVM VM files:

Restoring a single file (SFR) is supported only in advanced UI mode (formerly expert mode in the GUI). For details on switching the UI mode, see Setting the UI mode in the GUI and Setting the UI mode in the Restore Assistant.

SFR via the GUI

Make sure your UI mode is set to advanced (formerly expert) and create a new restore task for the individual item(s) you want to restore.

  1. From the SEP sesam GUI menu bar, select Activities -> Restore. The New Restore Task window opens.
  2. Select what you want to restore. You can search savesets by task name or by filename or path.
    • When searching by task name, use the drop-down list of available tasks and select the one you want to restore from. This option is selected by default.
    • If you are searching by filename/path, select the option Filename or path in a saveset and enter your search expression in the search pattern field.
  3. Under the Saved in period drop-down lists, specify the time frame for which you want to conduct the search. Click Next.
  4. The search results are displayed. From the list of savesets matching your query, select the version from which you want to restore an individual file. Then select the check box Mount virtual disk(s).
    Note
    • To be able to access and mount VM disk image on Linux, the guestfs-tools package must be installed on your SEP sesam Server or Linux RDS. If the guestfs-tools package is not installed on your SEP sesam Server or Linux RDS, it is not possible to mount VMDK and perform SFR. Refer to Installing guestfs-tools on Linux.
    • Mounting is not possible if the savesets are stored on tapes or if the data is compressed or encrypted. Some other XPRFS restrictions also apply to mounting.
  5. You can also select RDS to mount from the drop-down list and specify advanced mount options.

  6. Mount is triggered and your virtual disk is mounted to the device server. This may take a few seconds. Click OK.
  7. In the Select Files window, select the folders or files you want to restore, for example, the home directory, and click Next.
  8. In the fourth step of the restore wizard (Target Settings), select a restore target where you want to restore your files.
  9. In the last step of the restore wizard, you can check all settings of your restore task. You can start your SFR immediately by clicking Start. If you want to save the restore task, click Save.
  10. Click OK to unmount the saveset and close your restore session.

SFR via the Restore Assistant

You can access the Restore Assistant in one of the following ways:

  • via the GUI: by clicking the Restore Assistant icon in the toolbar or from Activities -> Restore Assistant
  • from SEP sesam Web UI: left menu -> Restore Assistant
  • or by entering the following address in the browser bar: http://[sesamserver]:11401/sep/ui/restore/.
Note
  • If you cannot access the web Restore Assistant, check if you have received the appropriate permissions for online restore.
  • The operations and options available after logging in may differ depending on the user type. Other Web UI display restrictions may depend on the custom roles with specific permissions and the UI mode.
    For details, see About Authentication and Authorization and User Roles and Permissions.

You can restore individual files of an OLVM VM in the web interface in the advanced UI mode if you have the appropriate permissions. For more details on the UI mode, see Setting UI mode in the Restore Assistant.

  1. Open the Restore Assistant in the browser.
  2. In the Start window, select Oracle Linux Virtualization Manager. Then select the option Advanced View. The VM or single file restore option is selected by default. Click Next.

  3. In the Virtual Machine window, under Selection of the server, select your target OLVM server to which the data will be restored.
    Then, under Selection of the virtual machine select the VM you want to restore and click Next.

  4. In the Task window, under Task selection, select your source task. A backup task defines the source data that was backed up by the client.
  5. Then, under Backup selection, select the exact backup version you want to restore. You can use the calendar function in the upper right corner to set a date range for the displayed backups. Select the Single file restore option (in the lower right corner) and click Next.
  6. In the Files window, select the SEP sesam Server or RDS to which you want to mount the backup. You can also specify an alternate mount path and/or advanced mount options. Then click the button Mount this backup in filesystem. A new window will appear showing the progress of the mount process.
  7. Note
    • To be able to access and mount VM disk image on Linux, the guestfs-tools package must be installed on your SEP sesam Server or Linux RDS. If the guestfs-tools package is not installed on your SEP sesam Server or Linux RDS, it is not possible to mount VMDK and perform SFR. Refer to Installing guestfs-tools on Linux.
    • Mounting is not possible if the savesets are stored on tapes or if the data is compressed or encrypted. Some other XPRFS restrictions also apply to mounting.
  8. Once a virtual disk is mounted on the device server, select the files you want to restore and click Next.
  9. In the Target window, under Target selection, select your target environment for the restore. You can use the drop-down list to select or filter VMs by name. You can also select a custom target path by browsing.
  10. Under the Execution options, set additional restore options:
    Do not overwrite existing items: Files are only restored if they do not already exist on the target system.
    Create new version: Restore files under a new name.
    Overwrite existing items: If the data exists on the target server, it is replaced with the restored version.
    Then decide how you want to restore your data (keep the original tree structure or flat):
    Keep original tree structure: When restoring to the original location, the Keep original tree structure option is selected by default. The directory structure of the restored files is the same as the original directory structure of the backed up data.
    Restore all items flat in the selected target directory: The backup is simply restored to a file without recreating the directory structure.
    You can also select to skip ACL settings during restore.
    Click Next.
  11. In the Options window, you can specify additional advanced options, such as selecting a data source (media pool, drive, etc.), set include/exclude filters, etc. For details on the available options, see Standard Restore Procedure.
    Click Next.
  12. In the last step, check the summary of your restore task (restore type (based on task type, selected backup, its date and details, restore options, etc.) and click Start restore.

Monitoring restore

You can monitor the restore progress using the Web UI (Monitoring -> Restores) or view the status in the GUI (Main Selection -> Job State -> Restores). The restore overview provides detailed information on the last run of restore jobs, including task name, status (successful, error, in queue...), start and stop time of the last backup, data size, throughput, etc. For details, see SEP sesam Web UI or Restores by State in the GUI.


See also

Installing guestfs-tools on LinuxStandard Restore ProcedureRestore AssistantOLVM ConfigurationOLVM Backup

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