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Veritas NetBackup™ for VMware Administrator's Guide

Last Published: 2019-06-28

Product(s): NetBackup (8.2)

Instant Recovery options on the nbrestorevm command

NetBackup provides a command-line interface for instant recovery of virtual machines: the nbrestorevm command.

The following is a list of the available nbrestorevm options for performing Instant Recovery of a VMware virtual machine. The options are listed in man page format.

Note:

Although the nbrestorevm command has additional options, only the options that are described in this topic apply to Instant Recovery.

To initiate Instant Recovery (activate the virtual machine)

Options without brackets are required.

nbrestorevm -vmw -ir_activate -C vm_client 
      -temp_location temp_location_for_writes
      [-S master_server] [-vmpo] [-vmInstanceId] [-vmsn] [-vmst] 
      [-vmserver vm_server] [-vmproxy vm_proxy] [-vmkeephv] [-vmid]
      [-vmnewdiskuuid] [-s mm/dd/yyyy [HH:MM:SS]] 
      [-e mm/dd/yyyy [HH:MM:SS]]
      [-R absolute_path_to_rename_file]
      [-disk_media_server media_server]

Note:

Only -vmw, -ir_activate, -C, and -temp_location are required. If the other options are not specified, NetBackup automatically supplies values for those options from the backup. In most cases, if you do not restore the virtual machine to a different location, you can omit the bracketed options.

See “To restore a virtual machine with instant recovery”.

See Restoring individual files with Instant Recovery for VMware while the current virtual machine is running.

To list details about the activated virtual machine

nbrestorevm -ir_listvm

To deactivate or delete the virtual machine

nbrestorevm -ir_deactivate instant_recovery_identifier [-force]

To complete the VM instant recovery job after the data is migrated

nbrestorevm -ir_done instant_recovery_identifier

To reactivate a virtual machine that was interrupted during recovery

nbrestorevm  -ir_reactivate instant_recovery_identifier [-force]
nbrestorevm -ir_reactivate_all -vmhost vm_host -media_server 
      media_server_activate_vm [-force]

See Reactivating a restored virtual machine with Instant Recovery for VMware.

Table: Options on the nbrestorevm command for Instant Recovery describes the nbrestorevm options for Instant Recovery of virtual machines. These options are also described in the NetBackup Commands Reference Guide, and in the man page for nbrestorevm.

Table: Options on the nbrestorevm command for Instant Recovery

Option	Description
-vmw	Indicates the type of virtual machine to restore (VMware).
-C virtual_machine	The name of the virtual machine as identified in the backup. For example, if the policy backed up the virtual machine by its host name, specify that host name. Note: If a virtual machine with the same name already exists on the target ESX host, the command fails. You can change the display name of the virtual machine in vCenter. As an alternative, use the -R option on nbrestorevm to change the display name or location of the restored virtual machine.
-ir_activate	Starts the restore by mounting the backup image of the virtual machine as an NFS datastore. The datastore becomes accessible to the ESX host where the virtual machine is to be restored. The following procedure has further details: See “To restore a virtual machine with instant recovery”.
-temp_location temporary_datastore	A temporary datastore on the ESX server where all writes occur until the virtual machine is restored. All writes occur on this datastore until Storage vMotion is complete or until you are finished with the virtual machine (such as for troubleshooting). Note: This datastore must exist before you run nbrestorevm.
-S master_server	Specifies a different master server, to restore a virtual machine from a backup that was made by that master.
-R rename_file_path	The absolute path to a file that contains directives for restore to a different location. The following are the entries that you can use in the file (each entry begins with change): change esxhost to new_ESX_host change resourcepool to new_resource_pool change vmname to new_virtual_machine_name change network to new_network Note: The `change` line should be entered exactly as it appears in this list, except for the variable at the end (such as new_virtual_machine_name). Replace that variable with the new name. For example: change esxhost to esx01.prod4.com change resourcepool to /Tech1/esx01.prod4.com/Res change vmname to T1vm5 Each `change` line must end with a carriage return. Note: If the file contains only one `change` line, (such as `change vmname to T1vm5`), that line must end with a carriage return. If you restore to a different ESX server, you may have to specify a different resource pool. (The original resource pool cannot be used to create a VM on a different ESX server.) You must specify a resource pool by including the following line in the rename file: change resourcepool to path_to_new_resource_pool
-vmst	Removes the virtual machine's tags.
-vmserver vCenter_server	The name of the vCenter server that manages the target ESX host for the restore. To restore to the same vCenter where the virtual machine originally resided, omit this option.
-vmproxy restore_host	The host to perform the restore (a NetBackup client). The default is the host that performed the backup.
-disk_media_server media_server	Specifies which media server performs the Instant Recovery. This option is useful if NetBackup storage is configured over several media servers, such as for load balancing. Without the -disk_media_server option, the Instant Recovery job may select any of the available media servers to do the restore. If only one of the media servers is configured for Instant Recovery, specify that server with the -disk_media_server option. See Notes on Instant Recovery for VMware.
-vmpo	Turns on the virtual machine after the restore.
-vmInstanceId	Retains the Instance UUID of the original virtual machine (note that the Instance UUID is a vCenter specific unique identifier of a virtual machine). The virtual machine is restored with the same Instance UUID that it had when it was backed up. If the restore of the virtual machine is to a standalone ESXi host, this option is disabled. If a virtual machine with the same Instance UUID exists at the target restore location, a message appears that the UUID is used already. In this case, the original instance UUID is not restored and a new UUID is assigned for the virtual machine.
-vmsn	Removes the virtual machine's network interface. See Restoring individual files with Instant Recovery for VMware while the current virtual machine is running.
-vmkeephv	Retains the virtual machine's hardware version: the virtual machine is restored with the same hardware version that it had when it was backed up. Without this option, the virtual machine is restored with the default hardware version of the target ESX server or vCenter. The default is typically the latest supported hardware version.
-vmid	Retains the BIOS UUID of the original virtual machine.
-vmnewdiskuuid	Generate new virtual machine disk UUIDs during an instant recovery. Use this option with the - ir_activate option. The VMs that activate with this option do not retain the new vmdk UUID during a subsequent - ir_reactivate operation. In such a scenario, the VMDKs revert to their UUIDs at the time of the backup.
-ir_deactivate instant recovery ID	Removes the virtual machine from the ESX host. If no other virtual machine uses the NetBackup NFS datastore, this option removes that datastore and releases its resources on the NetBackup media server. This option is for removing the virtual machine when you are finished copying its files and do not intend to keep it. Note: If the virtual machine has been migrated to a production datastore by means of vMotion, -ir_deactivate is the same as ir_done. Note: If vMotion is still in progress for this virtual machine, you should cancel the vMotion job before you use - ir_deactivate. See “To restore a virtual machine with instant recovery”.
-ir_done instant recovery ID	When vMotion migration of the virtual machine is finished, this option completes the virtual machine instant recovery job. It also removes the NetBackup NFS datastore if no other virtual machine uses it. When the datastore is removed, its resources are released on the media server. See “To restore a virtual machine with instant recovery”.
-ir_reactivate instant_recovery_identifier -ir_reactivate_all	Reactivates a restored virtual machine: remounts the NetBackup NFS datastore, and from the temporary datastore on the ESX host it registers the restored virtual machines on the ESX host. instant recovery ID is the virtual machine's numeric identifier from the -ir_listvm output. If more than one virtual machine needs reactivation: -ir_reactivate_all remounts the NetBackup NFS datastores on the media server and reactivates the virtual machines. For example: If VM1, VM5, and VM6 were mounted on the specified ESX server (-vmhost), and their datastores were mounted on the specified media server (-media_server), those three VMs are reactivated.
-vmhost vm_host	When you reactivate virtual machines, this option specifies the ESX host on which the virtual machines were mounted.
-media_server media_server_activate_vm	When you reactivate virtual machines, this option specifies the media server on which the NFS datastores that contain the backup images were mounted.
-force	For the -ir_deactivate, - ir_reactivate, or - ir_reactivate_all option, -force suppresses confirmation prompts.
-s start_time -e end_time	By default NetBackup selects the latest full backup plus Accelerator-enabled incremental backups (if any). This option limits the selectable backup images to those with the timestamps that fall within the specified period. NetBackup selects the latest suitable backup image within the range.