Restoring Windows to the Cloud Powered by VMware

This instruction describes the process of restoring backups created with Veeam Agent™ from the Selectel repository to the cloud powered by VMware.

Learn more about the terms of service provision and limitations of the Cloud powered by VMware service in the following instructions:

Prerequisites when using Veeam Recovery Media are provided in the vendor’s documentation.

Getting Started

To get started, you will need:

  1. A backup of the virtual machine, which should be created in the Entire Computer mode (or should contain everything you need, including System State Data Backup).

  2. Resources in the cloud powered by VMware:

    If you already have the above-mentioned resources, you can use them.

  3. An empty virtual machine of the required configuration, created according to the instructions below.

Creating an Empty Virtual Machine

To create an empty virtual machine inside a vApp:

  1. In the vApp card, click ACTIONS.
  2. Click Add → Add VM.
  3. Click ADD VIRTUAL MACHINE.
  4. Fill in the Name filed.
  5. Select creating an empty VM by turning the switch to New.
  6. Select the OS family and Operating System as on the source server (backup source).
  7. Select Boot image: Veeam recovery media (Windows).
  8. Select Custom Sizing Options and specify the required CPU and Memory.
  9. Delete all disks under Storage. They will be added later.
  10. To select a storage policy for a virtual machine, check the Use custom storage policy field and select the required policy in the Storage Policy field. Otherwise, the default policy will be applied.
  11. Configure the network:
    • Network: default_net or another network with Internet access;
    • Network Adapter Type: VMXNET3;
    • IP Mode: DHCP by default, or a mode suitable for the selected network.
  12. Click OK. Check the parameters of the new VM. Click ADD.
  13. In a few minutes, a new VM with the specified parameters will be created.
  14. Go to vApp, open the list of virtual machines, and open the characteristics of the created VM by clicking on its name.
  15. In the Hardware ⟶ Hard Disks section, click EDIT.
  16. Click ADD to add disks, specifying their size, and the number of disks required to restore data from a backup:
    • Size — the volume sufficient to restore original data;
    • Policy — at your discretion, focusing on speed and price;
    • Bus Type (important) — Paravirtual (SCSI);
    • Bus Number — leave as default;
    • Unit number — leave as default.
  17. Click SAVE to save the selected disk configuration.

Your virtual machine is ready.

To work with the virtual machine console, install VMRC (VMware Remote Console) according to the instructions below.

Installing VMware Remote Console

To use a mouse in a virtual machine console, install VMware Remote Console (VMRC).

You can download VMRC by following the link in the context menu of the virtual machine: VM Console ⟶ Download VM Remote Console. You’ll need a VMware Customer Connect account (you can register by following the same link from the context menu). After installing VMRC, you can proceed to recovery.

Recovery

To recover a backup to the virtual machine:

  1. Turn on the VM: Actions → Power On.
  2. Connect to the VM console by selecting VM Console → Launch Remote Console from the virtual machine menu.
  3. The boot image was selected when creating a VM. Veeam Recovery Media will boot automatically.

If Veeam Recovery Media won’t boot:

  • make sure the correct boot disk is selected — Hardware → Removable Media → CD/DVD drive: Veeam recovery media (Windows) in the VM properties;
  • check the boot sequence in BIOS, make sure boot from CD/DVD is available. The BIOS is entered when the VM is booted and is enabled in the VM → General → EDIT → Enable BIOS Setup properties;
  • reboot the VM.

When the Veeam Recovery Media recovery environment is booted, go through the menu items specified in the instructions.

Installing Tools (Virtual Device Drivers)

To install virtual device drivers:

  1. Open the Tools section.
  2. Select Load Driver in the opened window.
  3. The required drivers for the SAS Controller and Ethernet Controller devices are included in the boot image. Install them by clicking Install driver for each of them:
  4. Make sure the status of all devices is Online.
  5. Make sure the Inject these drivers into operating system while performing bare metal recovery option is selected (the checkbox is checked).
  6. Click ОК.

Return to the original recovery disk menu.

Bare Metal Recovery

Run the Bare Metal Recovery wizard:

  1. Select the Network Storage option on the Backup Location tab and click Next.

  2. Select the Veeam Cloud Connect Repository option on the Network Storage tab and open the Configure Network Settings additional menu.

  3. In the new Configure network settings window, select the network adapter and click Properties.

  4. Configure the network adapter properties according to the requirements of the network to which the VM is connected. In the new vApp, you can use DHCP at the recovery stage.

  5. Click ОК.

  6. To connect to the Veeam Cloud Connect cloud repository, where the backup of the restored server is located, from the Service Provider tab:

    • enter the vcc.selectel.ru address in the DNS name or IP address field;
    • enter 6180 in the Port field.

  7. After entering the properties, click Next.

  8. Enter the username and password for connecting to the Veeam Cloud Connect cloud repository (corresponds to the Company Name on the vac.selectel.ru portal) on the Credentials tab and click Next.

  9. On the Backup tab, select which backup you want to restore from and click Next.

  10. On the Restore Point tab, select the restore point and click Next.

  11. On the Restore Mode tab, select the restore mode.

    Please note that in this guide, we will consider a scenario with an entire server recovery — Entire Computer.

  12. Check the automatic distribution of data on disks by going to the View automatically detected disk mapping additional menu.

    Please note that if you need to choose what computer volumes you want to restore and manually allocate disk space on restored volumes, use the Manual Restore (advanced) mode.

    Learn more about additional features in the vendor’s documentation. In this case, the mapping is performed manually with the ability to resize the volume.

  13. The wizard is ready to start the restore process.

  14. Click Restore on the Summary* tab to start the restore process.

  15. Wait for the restore to complete on the Progress tab and click Finish.

    Please note that the Saving restore logs error does not affect the restoration process and can be ignored. The data from the backup was restored to the disks of the new virtual machine.

  16. To reboot the VM, click Yes.

The backup data has been restored to the disks of the new virtual machine.

For correct operation, configure the VM according to the instructions below.

After Recovery

After recovery, pay attention to the additional requirements:

  1. For correct operation and support of the VM, install VMware Tools:
    • in the VMware Cloud Director interface, select Install VMware Tools in the ACTIONS virtual machine menu;
    • run setup64.exe from the connected DVD in the VM and perform Typical installation;
    • reboot the VM.
  2. After recovery, the server name, admin login, and password match the original ones from the backup. They can be overridden using the vCD Guest OS Customization mechanism or manually.
  3. The VM network adapters do not match the network adapters of the original server. Configure the settings according to your new network neighborhood.
  4. For correct activation of the restored system with KMS Selectel, follow the instructions How to deploy a VM with Windows Server.
  5. Ensure that the Veeam management agent and Veeam agent™ for Windows are operating properly. Choose one of the options:
    • run Active Full Backup to create a new chain of restore points;
    • disable creating backups to save the previously created restore points.

The cloud powered by VMware backup service is available for backing up virtual machines.