Bare metal restore: identical hardware "Boot Failed: Windows Boot Manager"

[DDIT]

[using Veeam Agent 3.0.2]
[support case #04490891]
Hi,

I have two identical Dell PowerEdge R540's - identical specs and hardware; disks, controllers, firmware, bios, etc. Boot disks are 2 x 256GB SSD's in RAID1 (using Perc hardware controller)

I took an volume level backup (C drive only) of one server, which has Hyper-v 2019 installed and want to restore it on the other server. The restore completes successfully, but the server does not boot.

See error here: https://i.imgur.com/x5GOHCc.png

If I reboot into the Veeam recovery media again and run Startup Repair, that fails. I'm surprised this doesn't work when using identical hardware. How can I fix this?

FYI: During restore, I have to perform a manual disk mapping, as only the 1st and 2nd partitions auto-map correctly https://i.imgur.com/MAUugSD.png. When I manually map the 3rd (primary) partition, I get a warning that the volume is larger than the specified destination and it offers to shrink it https://i.imgur.com/ieJp0pA.png, which completes successfully and lets the restore continue.

[HannesK]

Hello,

How can I fix this?

I recommend to follow the instructions of support. Probably it's a configuration issue.

If it is a more serious technical issue, then only support can help.

Best regards,
Hannes

[DDIT]

Hi,

Support reached out and asked a bunch of questions about the machine, such as BIOS or UEFI mode, disk setup, RAID hardware/software, boot order etc. Upon checking all this for my reply, I noticed an odd thing in the boot order, which showed as...

1. Unavailable: Windows Boot Manager
2. PXE Device 1: Embedded NIC 1, Port 1
3. Integrated RAID Controller: Windows Boot Manager

This was different to how the source server, which looked like

1. Windows Boot Manager
2. PXE Device 1: Embedded NIC 1, Port 1

So on the restored server, I simply moved 3 to the top and the server booted correctly. I'm not sure what went on here, but provided I document the steps in my recovery procedure I'm happy with the solution.

[HannesK]

thanks for posting the solution - it might help others