Re-creating VBM from scratch

[massimiliano.rizzi]

Hello Community and good day,

please consider the following scenario:

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1. We restored to a local helper repo 2 GFS backups stored on Tape. We referred to this guide for the restoring part: https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backu ... ml?ver=120
2. After we performed the restore from Tape, the backups became visible under Home -> Inventory -> Imported. As expected, we ended up with 2 separate chains of backup files (although the backup files staged on disk belong to the same job) and each chain contains data for 1 restore point for each VM included in the backup to tape job
3. As expected, there has not been any FastClone awareness between the 2 different restore points. In fact, each full backup (.VBK) file restored from Tape weighs about 3 TB on disk with no space saving
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As all backup files staged on disk belong to the same job, I am trying to find a way to efficiently use the Move Backup option (selecting as a destination either an on-prem backup repository which supports Fast Clone space saving or an object storage repository) and, at the same time, leverage block cloning. I did the following:

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1. I removed from configuration the 2 separate chains of backup files visible under Home -> Inventory -> Imported
2. On disk, I manually put only the 2 full backup files restored from Tape inside the same folder/path on the local helper repo server (see below)

3. From within the Veeam Backup & Replication console, I manually imported back the 2 full backup files. After importing back the 2 full backup files, the backups became visible again under Home -> Inventory -> Imported – but this time we ended up with a single chain containing 2 GFS points
4. Hoping to be all set for the pilot use of the Move Backup option leveraging block cloning, I received the error message depicted below when attempting the move operation

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As a result, I am trying to figure out if there is any script to manually have Veeam create a new .vbm file from scratch for these imported backups in order to be able to leverage block cloning when moving them to an on-prem backup repository which supports Fast Clone space saving or an object storage repository.

Any advice on this matter will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks and regards,

Massimiliano

[Mildur]

Hi Massimiliano

Our support team has a tool to recreate a VBM file from a VBK file.
Please open a support case and share with me the case number.

Best,
Fabian

[massimiliano.rizzi]

Please open a support case and share with me the case number.

Hi there Fabian,

Support Case # is 06162201.

Thanks !
Massimiliano

[Hepkat]

Dear Support Team,

I'm having the exact same problem, suddenly two weeks ago all my .vbm files went missing. I've been trying since then to recreate them to no avail. I would very much appreciate a copy of that tool mentioned above. My support case # is 07689195. THANK YOU for your help!!

/Kurt

[Mildur]

Hi Kurt,

Thank you for sharing the case number.

Please note that we are not the support team. This forum is managed by the Veeam Product Management (R&D) team.

We are unable to troubleshoot or resolve technical issues here. For assistance, please continue working with our support engineers through your support case.

Best regards,
Fabian

[Hepkat]

Hi Fabian,

Thanks for the info!

From my Google searches, it seems a LOT OF PEOPLE are facing this similar problem of accidentally deleted, lost or corrupted VBM files. It just seems to me that it would make a lot of sense to make this tool available online for download, thereby relieving the support team of all this work replying to such support cases. This would surely be a more efficient use of their time.

Just a thought!

Regards,
Kurt

[Hepkat]

Hi again,

It's been a week since I opened that ticket, but to date no word from tech support. I'm at my absolute wit's end and am clueless what to do. I could just delete everything and start all over, but that would mean losing a few YEARS of incremental metadata chain data, which by itself would be a huge tragedy. I also haven't been able to resume backups for the last 3 weeks since losing my VBM files.

If anyone has any advice on how to proceed or how to manually recreate the missing VBM files, I'd be very grateful! This entire fiasco only underscores my suggestion to the Powers That Be at Veeam: PLEASE make this tool that recreates VBM from VBK files available for general download! A LOT OF USERS are experiencing this issue, and since your tech support has limited time resources, it would make logical sense to relieve their workload by simply making this tool available as a free download. PLEASE, if anyone's listening, PLEASE have some compassion!

Regards,
Kurt

p.s. The status of my case # has just been changed to "closed". No idea why or what this means. Should I resubmit?

[Mildur]

Hi

You can import backups (entire backup chain) to a Veeam Backup & Replication server without the Metadata file. That will allow you restoring your historical data even without the VBM files.

p.s. The status of my case # has just been changed to "closed". No idea why or what this means. Should I resubmit?

The case was opened for the Community Edition. Support for our free product users is offered as best effort. If no support engineer is available to take on a free case, the case gets closed after one week. You may try again, or open the case for a license with active maintenance to get a response guarantee by our SLAs.
You can find more in our information about our SLAs and what you can expect as a free product user in our support policy.

Best,
Fabian

[stze1512ro]

Hi Guys,

just wanted to checkin if there are any plans to make that tool a part of the general release of Veeam or maybe as restricted Download for customers with commercial license?
We're having the same topic: We're having a bunch of VBK Backups where the VBM went missing and now we would like to be able to restore the VBK via Recovery Media to a hardware machine.

Maybe you're having an Idea

Best regards
Stefan

[Gostev]

Hi, you can restore directly from VBK, VBM is not required. Perhaps you missed the previous post. Thanks

[haarloser]

Exactly this is not working. I am also on this at the moment. I have a .vbk without .vbm. I imported the file to Veeam B&R and created a recovery Image. So far so good.
I will be able to do a Instant Recovery and migrate after but I need the Bare Metal Recovery on a dedicated Hardware. Without a .vbm-File the Backup is not shown and it doesn't matter if I connect to the Backupserver or to the share where the .vbk is located from the recovery iso.

So whats the way to create a .vbm ? Is it possible to download the tool ?

Kind regards

[Gostev]

You don't need a VBM to import backup. If something is not working like it is explained above, please open a support case.

[haarloser]

Folks, I found a solution.

In my case I had a Standalone .vbk file without .vbm but I think it would work also on backup chains as long as you are able to import them to B&R together like massimiliano.rizzi in his second try.


Lets go:

Once your Backup is imported to B&R and decrypted (I am sure everybody encrypts their backups ) you have to go to Veeam Powershell where you do the following:

- Get the imported Backup with " $backup = GET-VBRBACKUP -Name <Your Backup Name> "

- Get the needed Encryption Key by using " GET-VBREncryptionKey "

- Create the new .vbm with " New-VBRBackupMetadata -Backup $backup -PasswordId <Your encryption key ID> "

When this is successful it becomes a bit tricky. You need to remove the imported Backup from B&R without deleting it. In the Gui you just have the opportunity to delete. So go to the File-System and rename the Folder where the backup is located or move it anywhere. After that remove the Backup from the B&R console.

For the next step I moved my backup with the brand new .vbm-File to my repository and rescanned it. After the rescan it showed up again as Encrypted and after decrypting the backup I was able to handle it like every other backup. Also do a bare metal recovery via a recovery iso to a dedicated hardware.

[haarloser]

You don't need a VBM to import backup. If something is not working like it is explained above, please open a support case.

I think you do not understand the point: Without a .vbm it is not possible to do a bare metal recovery with a recovery iso to a dedicated hardware. Thats why it is needed in my case.

[Gostev]

VBM describes backup chain on the file system level and its presence is completely irrelevant once a backup set has been successfully imported, as at this point the product starts to operate with higher level abstractions like restore points, objects in backup etc.