Operation Manual

2.12 Advanced operations with virtual machines

2.12.1 Running a virtual machine from a backup

You can run a virtual machine from a disk-level backup that contains an operating system. This

operation, also known as instant recovery, enables you to spin up a virtual server in seconds. The

virtual disks are emulated directly from the backup and thus do not consume space on the datastore

(storage). The storage space is required only to keep changes to the virtual disks.

We recommend running this temporary virtual machine for up to three days. Then, you can

completely remove it or convert it to a regular virtual machine (finalize) without downtime.

As long as the temporary virtual machine exists, retention rules cannot be applied to the backup

being used by that machine. Backups of the original machine can continue to run.

Usage examples

 Disaster recovery

Instantly bring a copy of a failed machine online.

 Testing a backup

Run the machine from the backup and ensure that the guest OS and applications are functioning

properly.

 Accessing application data

While the machine is running, use application's native management tools to access and extract

the required data.

Prerequisites

 At least one Agent for VMware or Agent for Hyper-V must be registered in the backup service.

 The backup must be stored in a network folder or in a local folder of the machine where Agent

for VMware or Agent for Hyper-V is installed. If you select a network folder, it must be accessible

from that machine.

Important A virtual machine cannot be run from a backup stored in the cloud storage. This is because this

operation requires intense random-access reading from the backup.

 The backup must contain an entire machine or all of the volumes that are required for the

operating system to start.

 Backups of both physical and virtual machines can be used. Backups of Virtuozzo containers

cannot be used.

2.12.1.1 Running the machine

1. Do one of the following:

 Select a backed-up machine, click Recovery, and then select a recovery point.

 Select a recovery point on the Backups tab (p. 48).

2. Click Run as VM.