Source:Citrix Hypervisor Single File Restore

Overview

SEP sesam supports single file restore – item-level restore of files, folders and volumes from the FULL, DIFF or INCR backup of the Citrix Hypervisor virtual machine if the saveset is stored on a SEP sesam data store (Path, Si3 deduplication store, etc.). By mounting the VHD, the operating system creates a virtual drive from the file, assigns it a drive letter, and makes the drive available locally on your server.

You can restore single files using the GUI restore wizard or via the web interface Restore Assistant (in v. ≥ 5.0.0 Jaglion). Although most options are the same in both restore interfaces, the web interface Restore Assistant is more intuitively designed and offers additional advanced options.

Note that this article only describes the procedure for restoring individual files of a Citrix VM. For details on complete VM restore, see Citrix XenServer GUI Restore or restore via web interface Restore Assistant.

Prerequisites

Before attempting to restore a single file, all preparation steps have to be performed properly, including configuration and VM backup. For details, see the Citrix documentation.

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

• SEP sesam Server version ≥ 5.0.0 Jaglion. For the list of supported systems, see Citrix Support Matrix.
• Backups must not be encrypted, compressed or stored on tape.
• To restore single files via the web interface Restore Assistant, appropriate permissions are required. For details, see About Authentication and Authorization.
• Before starting a restore, check the restrictions for mounting the virtual disk (VHD file).

Restore options

When restoring individual files from Citrix VM backups, you can choose from the following VM restore options to perform restore according to your needs:

• Do not overwrite an existing virtual machine: (default) The VM will not be restored if a VM with the same name already exists on the target server. In this case, the following error is displayed: Error: Restore failed. A virtual machine with the same name already exists.. A new VM name has to be specified as the target. The MAC address of a restored VM is recreated.
• Overwrite an existing virtual machine: If a VM with the same name exists on the target server, it will be replaced with the restored version, but its MAC address will remain the same. Note that if two VMs with the same name exist on the target server, the restore fails with: Error: Restore failed. A virtual machine with the same name already exists.
• Restore an existing virtual machine with a new name: Restores the VM under a new name.
• You can also choose whether to start your virtual machine automatically after restore by selecting Start virtual machine after restore/Do not start (selected by default).

Restoring single files

You can restore individual files via the SEP sesam GUI or the web Restore Assistant. Restoring a single file is only supported in the UI mode where all options are available, i.e. in the Expert UI mode when you perform a single file restore via the GUI or in the Advanced UI mode when you use the web Restore Assistant. For details on switching the UI mode, see Setting the UI mode in the GUI and Setting UI mode in the Restore Assistant.

Using the GUI restore wizard

After setting the UI mode to Expert, 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. In 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 Mount virtual disk(s) check box. Note that some restrictions apply.
You can also select RDS to mount from the drop-down list and specify advanced mount options.
5. Mount is triggered and all VHDs of the selected VM are mounted to the device server using one or more unused drive letters of the Windows system e.g., D:, E:, etc. This may take a few seconds. Click OK.
   
6. You can now either use the file explorer on your server to browse and copy the needed files directly to the target location, or click Next to select the required files in the Select Files dialog.
7. If you clicked Next, in the Select Files window select the data you want to restore and click Next.
8. On the fourth step of the restore wizard (Target Settings), select a restore target where you want to restore your files.
Then select an appropriate VM restore option (Overwrite existing virtual machine, etc.) as described in the above section.
9. In the final step of the restore wizard, you can review all the settings of your restore task. You can start your single file restore 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.>

Using the web Restore Assistant

You can restore individual files of a Citrix 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.

To familiarise yourself with the concept of user permissions, see About Authentication and Authorization.

1. Open the Restore Assistant in the browser. There are three ways to do this:
• 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/.
2. In the Start window, select Citrix Hypervisor restore type. 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 server.
Then, under Selection of the virtual machine, select the VM that you want to restore. 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.
Then, under Backup selection, select the exact backup version you want to restore. You can use the calendar feature in the upper right corner to filter a date range for the backups displayed. Select the Single file restore option and click Next.

5. In the Files window, you have to 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.

	Note
	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.




6. Once a virtual disk is mounted on the device server, select the files you want to restore and click Next.


7. In the Target window, under Target selection, select your target environment for restore. You can use the drop-down list to select or filter VMs by name.

Then select an appropriate VM restore option (Overwrite existing virtual machine, etc.) as described in the above section. Click Next.
File:Restore assistant SFR Citrix execution options Jaglion.jpg
8. In the Options window, you can specify additional advanced options, such as selecting a data mover and a data store, specifying target and recovery options, and so on. For details on the available options, see Restoring virtual machines in advanced UI mode.
Click Next.


9. In the final step, review your restore task and click Start restore.

Monitoring restore

You can view the status of your restores in the GUI (Job State -> Restores) or SEP sesam Web UI (Monitoring -> Restores). Restore overview provides detailed information about the last run of restore jobs, including the task name, status (successful, error, in queue ...), start and stop time of the last backup, data size, throughput, client, and message.