5 1 0:SEP sesam BSR Pro – Recovery
Overview
This article describes recovering Windows with SEP sesam BSR Pro version ≥ 2.1. SEP sesam BSR Pro is based on O&O DiskImage and fully substitutes the old SEP sesam BSR 2.3 (also known as BSR dissimilar).
To successfully recover your Windows system from a disaster, all preparation steps have to be performed properly. For details, see SEP sesam BSR Pro – Backup Configuration.
When recovering your system, you must first start it from the bootable disk (CD/DVD/USB drive), network share or local space where the ISO image is stored. Only then can you restore the system configuration that was backed up by BSR backup task. Note that you cannot restore individual files from the BSR Pro backup set. At present, only FULL restore is supported.
Available disaster recovery methods
There are two recovery methods available. The selection of a method depends on the size of your Windows client system volumes.
- Direct recovery with SEP sesam BSR Pro, option Quick Start
- This is the simplest and the recommended method, suitable for all savesets that are smaller than 120 GB. For recovering savesets that are larger than 120 GB, consider using the alternative 2-step network share recovery.
- 2-step recovery via network share – manual restore + option start restoration
- This is the recommended method for recovering large savesets (>120 GB). It requires a manual restore of the latest BSR backup image file to a network share before the SEP sesam BSR Pro option Start Restoration is used. This method is advantageous for large system volumes because it allows greater throughput via network share (direct restore throughput is 30-60 GB/h, while the 2-step recovery allows 30-300 GB/h for phase 1 and 100 GB/h for phase 2). Note that the given estimates are only approximate and depend on each individual environment.
To find out more about restoring an image on a computer with different hardware, see O&O DiskImage documentation about M.I.R. (machine independent restoration).
Prerequisites
- BSR Pro can only access data that is stored on SEP sesam data store. If the savesets are stored on tape, you have to migrate the required data to a SEP sesam data store or restore it to the network share before starting a recovery.
- A BSR Pro bootable disk (CD/DVD/USB drive) or network share with the ISO image must be created. For details, see Preparing for a disaster recovery. If several Windows systems were set up with similar configuration, you can use the same bootable disk to recover similar systems.
- If you are restoring your system to dissimilar hardware and any of the drivers is missing, you have to add the missing driver(s) manually during recovery.
- If you are performing a 2-step recovery via network share, your BSR backup saveset must first be restored to a network share so that it is available for recovery. It is recommended that you schedule your BSR restore task to run daily after your NEWDAY schedule. For preparation steps, see section 2-step recovery via network share.
- Regardless of which recovery method you choose, before starting the recovery procedure open a shell on the SEP sesam Server or RDS (depending on where your data was stored), and execute the command below. This command enables you to contact the server even if the reverse name resolution does not work on the new client.
sm_glbv w gv_stpd_auth NONE
Direct recovery: Execute BSR Pro Quick Start
There are two different methods for restoring a Windows client with BSR Pro. Direct recovery is the recommended method for savesets that are smaller than 120 GB.
- In the Windows system you want to recover, insert the BSR Pro bootable disk (CD/DVD/USB drive) that you have created as a part of preparation procedure for disaster recovery (see Creating a bootable image on a Windows client), or boot over the network from the stored ISO image.
- If any of the required drivers are missing, load them manually (pay special attention to the network driver). For details, see O&O DiskImage 12: Loading drivers.
- Make sure that the network is correctly configured. Then start the SEP sesam BSR Pro application.
- If neither the hosts file nor DNS are being used, you have to address the SEP sesam Server via its IP address. Start SEP sesam BSR Pro and click the settings icon at the top-right corner of the BSR Pro window. Switch to the Security tab, click Edit and then modify the settings of the Network path/server by inserting the SEP sesam Server's IP address.
- In the SEP sesam BSR Pro, click Execute BSR Pro Quick-Start.
- In the BSR Quick Start window, select the client you want to recover and the source saveset for recovery. Click OK.
- After the recovery, remove the device with your ISO boot image file (USB drive, CD or DVD) from the client and restart the operating system to boot from the freshly recovered system.
- Restore any missing client data from the full backup.
If you have problems with non-existing savesets or clients, check Troubleshooting SEP sesam BSR Pro for Windows.
There are two different methods for restoring a Windows client with BSR Pro. The 2-step recovery via network share is the recommended method for restoring large savesets (>120 GB). This method requires the additional preparation step – the image file to be restored to a network share before starting the recovery.
To perform a network share restore, you must restore the required (usually the latest) BSR backup saveset to a network share for disaster recovery.
Tip | |
You can create a daily restore task to have your recent savesets already available for disaster recovery. |
You have to configure the following restore task if you intend to perform a network share restore instead of a direct recovery with SEP sesam BSR Pro. This step is also required if your savesets are stored on tape media. In this case, they must be restored to the network share or migrated to a SEP sesam data store to be available for recovery with SEP sesam BSR Pro.
For details on the prerequisites and configuration of a restore, see Standard Restore Procedure. This section deals only with BSR-specific information.
- From the SEP sesam GUI menu bar, select Activities -> Restore. The New Restore Task window appears.
- From the drop-down list, select the BSR task name, choose Show external results and click Next.
- The search results are displayed. Select the latest savesset from the saveset list and click Next.
- In the Target Settings window, the name of the restore task is generated automatically. You can rename the task and give it a meaningful name, e.g., Client_XY_Restore_every_day_10am.
- From the Target node drop-down list, select the target server for restore.
- Click the Expert Options button and select the Task Type tab. Select the option Write saveset into file and click OK.
Note The Expert Options button for specifying advanced restore options is available only in advanced UI mode (formerly expert GUI mode). To use Expert Options, make sure your UI mode is set to advanced (formerly expert). For details, see Selecting UI mode. - Under the Target path settings, enter (or browse for) the target path and the file name in the Name of dump file field.
- Under the Execution options drop-down list, select the option Overwrite existing items. This replaces the BSR file on the target server with the restored version.
- Start your restore task.
- Optionally, to set up a regular schedule for the BSR data restore you can create a schedule for the restore task and a corresponding restore event. For details, see Scheduling Restore.
Step 2: BSR Pro – Start Restoration
- In the Windows system you want to recover, insert the BSR Pro bootable disk (CD/DVD/USB drive) that you have created as a part of preparation procedure for disaster recovery (see Creating a bootable image on a Windows client), or boot over the network from the stored ISO image.
- If any of the required drivers are missing, load them manually (pay special attention to the network driver). For details, see O&O DiskImage 12: Loading drivers.
- Make sure that the network is correctly configured. Then start the SEP sesam BSR Pro application.
- If neither the hosts file nor DNS are being used, you have to address the SEP sesam Server via its IP address. Start SEP sesam BSR Pro and click the settings icon at the top-right corner of the BSR Pro window. Switch to the Security tab, click Edit and then modify the settings of the Network path/server by inserting the SEP sesam Server's IP address.
- In the SEP sesam BSR Pro, click Start Restoration. Browse for your image file and select it.
- In the Drive Restoration window, select the whole disk, then select the target drive. Click Start drive restoration to begin the restoration.
- To set additional options, click More options. The option Then adapt the different hardware (M.I.R) adapts the operating system to a different hardware platform and should only be selected if you want to use different hardware. To find out more about restoring an image on a computer with different hardware, see O&O DiskImage documentation about M.I.R.. Make sure that you are aware of M.I.R. restrictions. For details, see O&O DiskImage Restrictions of M.I.R.
Click Start. - Select Completely delete target drive.
- After the recovery, remove the device with your ISO boot image file (USB drive, CD or DVD) from the client and restart the operating system to boot from the freshly recovered system.
- Restore your client's data from the full backup. For details, see Standard Restore Procedure.
Restoring individual files or directories from BSR backup
If you need to restore only a few specific files or directories from a BSR backup, you can perform selective restore by mounting the BSR backup. The procedure differs depending on the type of datastore where the BSR backup is located. BSR backup in a regular datastore can be mounted directly. However, if the BSR backup is stored on tape or in an Si3 datastore, it must be restored into dump file, before it can be mounted.
Prerequisites
- The Windows client must have SEP sesam BSR Pro and the mount drivers installed.
Note | |
The mount driver is installed when you select MOUNT DRIVE under TOOLS in the BSR GUI. If it is missing, BSR Pro offers to install the driver when you select the backup file. Alternatively, you can open Apps and Features in Windows settings, select SEP sesam BSR Pro and click Modify to install the VIRTUAL DISK DRIVER. Note that mount driver installation usually requires restarting the system. |
- For mounting the backup, the client requires access to the datastore directory.
- For restoring the backup to a dump file, the client requires sufficient disk space.
Steps
If your BSR backup is stored on tape or Si3 datastore, or if it is compressed or encrypted, it cannot be mounted directly. Such backups first need to be restored to a dump file that has the .omg file extension. For more information see Standard Restore Procedure.
- Open the BSR Pro on the client computer and navigate to TOOLS - MOUNT DRIVE.
- Browse for the correct file. You can search for the restored dump file, or in a regular datastore, you can search for a saveset using saveset ID.
- In the BSR Pro window, select the desired partition and mount it to a drive letter.
- Use Windows Explorer or a file browser to search for and copy the desired files from the mounted drive to your preferred destination.
Restore recommendation in case of network problems
If the network connection to the SEP sesam Server is limited, i.e., there are different network problems (e.g., DNS problems, performance limitations, currently not adjustable control of the network by virus scanner or firewall, etc.), you should try to perform the BSR recovery as follows:
- Identify the BSR backup by checking its ID. If the SEP sesam Server is still accessible, you will find the desired backup ID via the results of the client's backups in the GUI or Web UI. See Monitoring SEP sesam environment.
- If this is not possible (for example, because the SEP sesam Server is no longer available), you can identify the desired BSR backup by using the datastore's *.info files. These files are available on the datastore, in the directory of the media pool where the backups are stored, and hold the most important information about the respective *.data (data files). Here you can identify the desired BSR backup at a command line with a simple command:
- If the saveset ID is found, proceed as follows:
- In the directory with the found ID there is also a *.data file. This contains all the data of the BSR backup and must now be made available to the client.
- Copy the *.data file to a USB disk or via the network to the target location (for example, a local second hard disk in the client's PC) and rename the file to *.omg.
- Once copied, start the client with the ISO boot image created during the first backup.
- If the GUI of BSR Pro has opened on the client, simply select the menu item RESTORATION on the right in the start screen.
- Use the file browser to select the directory with the data file and start the restore.
- Typically, select DISK0 as the source (left side) and DISK0 as the destination (right side).
- Confirm that you want to overwrite all data. The restore process will start automatically. After the restore process is finished, the client can be restarted.
findstr /R /C:"^task=TASKNAME" *.info
or
findstr /R /C:"^client=CLIENTNAME" *.info
Replace the TASKNAME or CLIENTNAME with the desired task/client. If neither is known, you can also open the *.info files with a simple text editor and examine the lines with task=... or client=... to find the desired saveset ID. It may be possible to identify the job via other entries in the *.info file.
See also
O&O DiskImage documentation about M.I.R. – SEP sesam BSR Pro – Backup Configuration – Restoring System State