Multiple computer recovery media on single USB

[tdc-ma]

i understand i could add drivers when creating recovery media, but is there a way to add multiple recovery media profiles onto one USB drive?

[JaxIsland7575]

You can create multiple .iso files but I do not know of a way to have a single USB drive boot into multiple images.

Cheers!

[Vitaliy S.]

Currently it is not possible.

[UniSys]

Hi tdc-ma,

I use "YUMI – Multiboot USB Creator" tool to put multiple ISO images on single USB stick. It shows Multiboot menu during PC startup so you can select ISO you need.

I do not know if this trick does exactly what you need, but it works for me. I guess other multiboot USB tools could help also.

[Dima P.]

It’s indeed possible with third party tools. Additionally, we have one of these “multi boot removable drive” device at the QA premises and it’s pretty handy. You place any number of the .iso images and then using the built in controller choose which one to use as a boot image. I wish I had one of these ten years ago...

[lowlander]

Hi,

We are aiming to backup all out laptops with Veeam Endpoint Backup. In total we have 10 different hardware platforms for laptops. Is it possible to create 1 universal USB stick as Recovery Media, so we can use this one stick for all our 10 different laptops ?

Next question is : What should be the best approach to accomplish this, regarding creating and testing the 10 different hardware platforms ?

[jeancharles]

Hello,

I would recommend using "double driver 4.1" to export storage and network drivers of all required hardware (locally or remotely) and injecting them in the Recovery Media build.

Here is a copy of the executable : https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=E ... file%2czip

I recommend using one media and always having handy all your drivers in a folder structure just in case.

[Dima P.]

Good advice, but do not forget - you may need to include the multiple driver’s versions: drivers for operating system may vary due the windows version.

[rader]

This is my version of the bootable stick with multiple restore choices. Just worked it out today for the same reason as you did.

Bootable ISO image should be created on each platform type you need to support. One for Windows 7/8/10/2008/2011/2012 32-bit (if warranted) and one the corresponding 64-bit flavors.
Veeam Endpoint Backup installed.
Create recovery media, on PC Start Button, Veeam, Tools, Create Recovery Media.

Select relevant options and ISO image file as the media type.
Save ISO file to local folder of your choosing.
Change name of ISO file to something descriptive of the OS, click Next and Create on the next screen.
Close when process is complete.

Download and run Yumi on a PC.
Select the format option for the first ISO load to clear the USB stick.
Select a distribution: Unlisted Bootable ISOs: Try Unlisted ISO (GRUB)
Browse to ISO files created earlier.
First ISO loaded now. Click Next to continue.

Process is complete. If you want to add other ISO versions, click Yes to add other Veeam ISO’s.

Important: Leave the boxes unchecked, select the same distribution as before, browse to the next Veeam ISO file and then click Create.

Click next to continue. Add more ISO’s as needed. Rinse and repeat.
Click No to finish creating USB Boot drive.

Remove USB and try it in a computer now.
Boot from USB (of course) and select the GRUB Bootable ISOs and Windows XP/7/8 -> selection.
Now you should have all the bootable ISOs listed in your menu that you created with the Yumi tool.

Mine happen to be:
Boot Win7-32bit.iso
Boot Win7-64bit.iso
Boot Win8.1-64bit.iso

Select the appropriate OS and bits choice for your recovery.
Important !! When you see the “Press any key to boot from CD or DVD”, make sure you press any key. This is just like starting from the CD/DVD boot option from the BIOS.

Now you boot to the Veeam Recovery Console as normal and choose your recovery options based on your need. Mine happen to be recovering the Entire Computer from a Shared Network location.
Enter in the path to the backup file, network credentials as needed, then select the backup file to restore to the computer.

FYI – I also built a boot USB in the same manner using the “Try unlisted ISO (GRUB from RAM) build and it works the same way. Only difference was during the pre-load of Windows RE files. Instead of watching the loading files status bar, before the “Cylon” loading screen, the RAM version displays a RAM loading counter before the “Press any key” prompt. Then it continues normally into the Veeam Recovery Console. Overall there wasn’t that much time difference from startup to Veeam Recovery screen times between the two methods.

FYI #2 – As a test I backed up a Windows 7 32bit to a network share. I then loaded the Windows 74 64bit Veeam Recovery console, selected my 32bit backup from the network share and the Recovery console warned of the different OS platforms and that there may be some drivers issues.

I would have added pictures, but first post probably doesn't allow that.

YMMV of course.
Good luck.

[Dima P.]

Hello Randall,
WOW. That is HUGE! Thanks for sharing your solution - it’s awesome to see how people come to the community forums not to ask question but to share their own experience. Thanks again!

[rader]

Your welcome.
After many, and continuing, years of using the great talent found on the Internet, it's always good to give back.

Randy

[tym]

Hi,

is it possible to use a recovery usb stick for more than one computer? I plan to use VEB for a few office pcs, and I dont want to create a recovery media for every single one of them.

Best,
Tim

[tym]

thx for pointing me to this thread! will try yumi now.

[steveSi]

Hi,
I was wondering if you had tried my free multiboot solution http://www.easy2boot.com.
For most ISOs, you simply just copy them to the USB stick. If they are PE-based, you may need to rename the extension to .isoPE01.
You can also UEFI-boot. Just drag-and-drop the ISO onto the MPI_FAT32 desktop shortcut (use the MPI Tool Pack download) and copy the .imgPTN file to the USB stick and you can boot multiple UEFI payloads from the one USB stick (any number).
http://www.easy2boot.com/add-payload-fi ... oad-files/ is a list of currently tested payloads.
If you have any problems, I would be happy to help.
HTH
Steve

[Dima P.]

Hi Steve,
Thanks for joining the discussions. I bet many of will want to test your solution – thanks for sharing!

[mlabbe]

I've been using XBoot for some time, added many types of bootable ISOs to it and it worked well for awhile, until I tried to add Win10 installation iso to it and spent a couple hours (again) trying to adjust config to boot it properly. While searching for help on proper config for win10 iso, I found a couple mentions about Easy2boot and gave it a try. Let me tell you it's night & day.

I haven't tried YUMI but it appears to be similar to XBoot (basically a GRUB installer and then you need to edit menus & configs manually).

I confirm Easy2Boot is alot easier to use: most of the time you just need to copy the iso files (and sometime rename the extension, as mentioned by Steve) they are autodetected and just work. You can even create .key files to avoid needing to type the same win install key over and over again.

Btw, VEB is #224 in E2B's long list of tested working ISOs

[Dima P.]

Thanks for sharing Michael!

VEB is #224 in E2B's long list of tested working ISOs

Good to know. Does that list has some kind of ranking or its just a list verified recovery iso?

[mlabbe]

Does that list has some kind of ranking or its just a list verified recovery iso?

I believe there is no particular ranking and newly tested ISOs are just added at the end of the list.

[Dima P.]

Got it – then, I guess, there is nothing to worry about. Though, a bit disappointed that I can’t somehow push Veeam iso to be the first in the list

[B.F.]

When updating the VEB ISO's using E2B, does one need to "MAKE_THIS_DRIVE_CONTIGUOUS.cmd" each time there's an ISO change?

[Dima P.]

If I understood this post correctly you have to use it only when an error occurs in order to fix it quick.

[Glen.R]

Apologies if this is a newbie question, but I will be running Endpoint Backup on a number of PCs at home and want to create recovery media in case I need to do a bare metal restore on any of them. When creating the media I know it will grab the drivers for network, etc., but I don't want to have a boot media for every PC. Is it possible to have one bootable recovery USB but have it work across multiple PCs with different driver requirements? If so, how do you configure it?

[Dima P.]

Hello and welocme Glen.R,

Generally we advise to keep one recovery media per OS you are backing up (don’t forget about the OS x32/x64 capacity). I’ve merged your post to existing discussion as it contains some workarounds and advises you may want to use.

[Glen.R]

OK. So the OS that the recovery media boots to must match the OS it is restoring? I'm moving off WHS and recovery for that had a default boot OS and just loaded network drivers for the specific hardware then allowed restore of whatever was backed up. VEB doesn't take that approach?

[Anguel]

I must admit I have not examined the solutions listed here but here is a video that shows multiboot for Veeam ISOs and IMHO this guy knows what he is doing:
https://youtu.be/qPijxv-oElk

Anguel

[Dima P.]

Glen.R,

The main requirement is correct drivers and OS capacity (mainly because of the drives since they follow the OS capacity). Recommended approach it to have the unique recovery for every PC you have because it simplifies the recovery process.

[Glen.R]

Thanks. The tip by Anguel looks useful, that may help keep things simple.

[Geert]

Hi, is it possible to use a bootable recovery media created with an earlier version of Veeam Endpoint Backup to restore a backup made with a recent version of Veeam Endpoint Backup?
Can you use one recovery media for more desktops when they are identical? Or do you have to create for each desktop a different recovery media?

[Dima P.]

Hi Geert,

use a bootable recovery media created with an earlier version of Veeam Endpoint Backup to restore a backup made with a recent version of Veeam Endpoint Backup?

It's possible but not recommended. Latest version has bug fixes and performance improvements included, so it better to use the latest version.

Can you use one recovery media for more desktops when they are identical?

Yes, kindly review this thread for the known limitations and possible workarounds. Thanks.

[Geert]

Thanks for quick responding, Dima.