4.0: file level restore directly to guest - but how?

[pgriessl]

Hi forum,

I just installed 4.0 to give the new feature "file-level restore directly to running Windows guest" a try
(highlighted in the What's New document) but cannot get it working. The restore process is exactly
like it was in 3.x and also documented in the new User's Guide p.71 - dialog box asking for a LOCAL
folder but no way to restore files directly to the running Windows guest.
Am I missing something? Or is this a not-yet-implemented feature?

Testing "file-level restore directly to Linux guests" with multi-OS file-level restore wizard: VMware
Player starting up and then hanging after "Freeing unused kernel memory" (tested with Player 2.5.3
and 3.0.0).

setup: Windows 2008R2 Standard, Firewall disabled, SQL 2005 Express (from Veeam-Setup), Veeam Trial License

Thanks for any hints,
Peter

[Gostev]

Peter, you've probably missed this new control, but you now have ability to specify UNC path to the folder on a target VM, for example \\vmname\c$\documents. In previous versions, you could only restore to Veeam Backup console itself, and there was no option to provide path to a folder on different computer.

The multi-OS file level restore may "hang" if you do not have DHCP setup in your environment; if this is not the case - please contact our support for assistance.

Thank you!

[pgriessl]

Hi again and thanks for the quick reply,

specifying the UNC path to the folder on a target VM works - almost: Logon failure
user name or bad password. Not really surprising as there are no user credentials
for the VM-connection asked (and Windows-VMs cannot be added to the Veeam Backup
Servers tree like Linux-VMs). Am I missing some point?

Multi OS file level restore (VMware Player) is working now (was missing DHCP),
restoring files to a Linux VM is really simple. One question: is there any way to
restore the original file owner and permisson settings? User "root" and "default
permissions" set by umask is - hmm - suboptimal.

Thanks again,
Peter

[Gostev]

Peter,

Yes, your account should have Local Administrator privileges on target VM to be able to restore to it.

For Linux - currently not possible to restore with permissions/ownership via UI, but we are addressing this. Current workaround is the following (this is experimental functionality): start inetd in the Virtual Appliance, and connect to ftp://appliance-ip (IP is shown in the appliance) with your FTP client. Now, you can restore files with permission and ownership - and many times faster too.

Thank you!

[pgriessl]

Hi again,

ok, Restore to Windows VM works now. I had to join the Veeam host to the domain and use
an active directory domain account (configured account domain\veeam with group membership
set to domain admins) for backup and restore. Drawback: this procedure works only for
file level restore to domain joined Windows VMs, not for standalone Windows VMs.

I think a simple dialog box asking for VM-connection credentials would make file level
restore really easier. A more complete User Guide on this topic would also help.

Peter

[ssrjazz]

Ok, you guys have GOT to fix this. This is still a problem in v6!!!! I should be able to specify alternate credentials for veeam to connect to the remote server as.

[foggy]

Jeff, with v6 you can take advantage of the new 1-Click FLR, which is available in Enterprise Manager and does not require credentials for the VMs you are restoring file to. Thanks.