Guest Files Restore Failed Since VeeamBR 13 Upgrade

[AlexLeadingEdge]

Case # 07960361

I have just gone to do my first file restore since the upgrade to VeeamBR 13 and the backup copies are failing to open, citing an issue with the Mount. The backups open but I'm unable to copy any files from the selected backup, the OK button is greyed out after I've select what folder I want it to go into. I also can't restore back to the original server, it times out and fails.

[Mildur]

Hi Alex

Regarding backup copies failing to open — our support team has noted that some backup files are missing. Please continue working with them so they can properly investigate the issue.

As for Copy To, it’s a documented limitation introduced with V13.

If the Veeam Backup & Replication console is launched on the backup server, the Copy to operation does not allow copying files to the backup server. You can only copy files to a network shared folder.

Best,
Fabian

[AlexLeadingEdge]

Hi Fabian,

As for Copy To, it’s a documented limitation introduced with V13.

Is that a bug or a feature?

[AlexLeadingEdge]

For security reasons the backup server is not a part of the domain, that way a computer virus on the domain can't destroy the backups (as recommended by Veeam!!!), so we have to save the files locally to the backup server then move them across to the domain using domain credentials. I did try the restore back to the original location using the domain credentials but it just hung and then timed out (and no cancel button so I had to wait for it to time out, thankfully there was a timeout otherwise I would have had to crash out of VeeamB&R 13).

Knowing this new limitation I was able to save the files to the backup server through the network using its UNC path name, and then copied them across to the domain. A bit painful!

[Mildur]

Hi Alex,

This was done intentionally, so it’s not a bug.
However, we’re currently exploring options to make it possible to re-enable this feature optionally for customers who still require this functionality.

For security reasons the backup server is not a part of the domain, that way a computer virus on the domain can't destroy the backups (as recommended by Veeam!!!)

For security purposes we also recommend using a dedicated management server with the backup console installed to manage the backup server. That would immediately resolve the “Copy To” situation.

In general, there’s no need for anyone to work directly on the backup server — doing so may only increases the risk of a “computer virus” becoming active on the backup server, especially if those user accounts have local administrative permissions.
Did you have considered the approach with a dedicated management machine?

Best regards,
Fabian

[AlexLeadingEdge]

Did you have considered the approach with a dedicated management machine?

No, I assume we would have to build one for each client, so that wouldn't really be practical given how many backups servers we have.


Going back to the original issue, it was two different issues which complicated / compounded the situation. The second one seems to be that the backup drive I tried to restore from was a rotated drive, hence the error message about the backup file being missing. That's on me for not realising that it wasn't a read error but rather the file just wasn't there. In hindsight I should have realised that, but unfortunately I can't copy and paste the error message to check if the file was there, I'd have to try type it in manually to do a file search. Perhaps R&D could add a copy & paste feature to its pop-up error messages. That option is available by right-clicking on (non-popup) errors in VeeamB&R.



Perhaps R&D can update the error message with something a bit more meaningful? VeeamB&R knows which drives are rotated as it needs to be specified in Backup Infrastructure > Backup Repositories, perhaps it can say that the backup source is not currently available and the rotated drive may have been changed?



Or instead of even getting an error message, perhaps have VeeamB&R check to see if the backups currently exist when offering the list of backups to restore from, perhaps a "status" column, rather than selecting one and having it fail because the drive currently connected doesn't have the backups listed?

As an example, I've just changed the backup drive and these are the currently available backups to restore from (apparently!):



Comparing the list above to the list of actual backups below none of them are in the current restore options.



I expect this, because I had to rebuild the backup copy as it was in a legacy format that VeeamB&R 13 wouldn't / couldn't handle, but if I tried to restore any of these backup copies restore point they would all fail today because none of the listed restore points are currently available.