Topic: Restore AFFA backup of ESXi

[mblake4u]

Hi,

I'd like to know the easiest/best way to restore an AFFA backup of ESXi to a new server, and also the same server (different path) for testing.

Many thanks,
Michael

[janet]

mblake4u

If you can type, you can read, so please look at the Wiki articles first.
Your question seems to be answered here, in the Introduction paragraphs.
http://wiki.contribs.org/Backup_of_ESXi_Virtual_Machines_using_Affa

[mblake4u]

Hi All,

I didn't mention in my previous post that I can't find anything in the Wiki docs that specifically relates to restoring ESX VM backups.

In the AFFA doc I see two restore commands which may be applicable, the first using the RDIR variable and the rsync command. This is a bit cumbersome for restoring all the VM files.

The second command is the 'affa --full-restore <JOB> [<ARCHIVE>]' command. This uses the job details to do the restore, but I'm unsure how to use this command to restore to the same host, but a different path.

If someone could tell me how they'd restore a full VM backup to the same/different host, but different path, that would be great.

Many thanks,
Michael

[janet]

mblake4u

In the link provided earlier it says:

"A restore of a VM can be done by simply copying back all archived files to the original location on the ESXi host. It is also possible to copy the files to a different directory (or to another ESXi server) and add the vmx file to the inventory. Alternatively with SambaShare=yes the VMWare Converter tool can be used. "

If you are capable of using VMWare, I assume you would know the steps involved to copy the files.

[mblake4u]

I've read that section many times, but it still doesn't answer my question!

[Stefano]

I've read that section many times, but it still doesn't answer my question!

what's your problem?

Mary's last answer told you exactly what to do..

Stefano

[mblake4u]

I tried using the RDIR variable and the rsync command to restore just a single file, but nothing was copied to the ESX server.

I'd also like to know if the 'affa --full-restore <JOB> [<ARCHIVE>]' command is applicable to ESX. If it is, I'd like to figure out how to restore to the original server, but different path.

Many thanks,
Michael

[janet]

mblake4u

the affa commands are not required,
"simply copy back all archived files to the original location on the ESXi host"

[mblake4u]

Ok, that would work fine with my daily.0 archive as there are only a few files, e.g.:

[root@smeserver1 daily.0]# ls -R
.:
esxi-testvm-setup.pl  root  vmfs

./root:

./vmfs:
volumes

./vmfs/volumes:
4a00974d-9c05548a-7d11-002219b7f002

./vmfs/volumes/4a00974d-9c05548a-7d11-002219b7f002:
testvm

./vmfs/volumes/4a00974d-9c05548a-7d11-002219b7f002/testvm:
testvm-000006-delta.vmdk  testvm-Snapshot16.vmsn  testvm.vmsd
testvm-000006.vmdk        testvm-Snapshot1.vmsn   testvm.vmx
testvm-flat.vmdk          testvm.vmdk
[root@smeserver1 daily.0]#



But when it comes to daily.6 for example it wouldn't work:

[root@smeserver1 daily.6]# ls -R
.:
esxi-testvm-setup.pl  ls.txt  root  vmfs

./root:

./vmfs:
volumes

./vmfs/volumes:
4a00974d-9c05548a-7d11-002219b7f002

./vmfs/volumes/4a00974d-9c05548a-7d11-002219b7f002:
testvm

./vmfs/volumes/4a00974d-9c05548a-7d11-002219b7f002/testvm:
testvm-000006-delta.vmdk.affa-chunked  testvm-Snapshot1.vmsn  testvm.vmsd
testvm-000006.vmdk                     testvm-Snapshot2.vmsn  testvm.vmx
testvm-flat.vmdk.affa-chunked          testvm.vmdk

./vmfs/volumes/4a00974d-9c05548a-7d11-002219b7f002/testvm/testvm-000006-delta.vmdk.affa-chunked:
00

./vmfs/volumes/4a00974d-9c05548a-7d11-002219b7f002/testvm/testvm-000006-delta.vmdk.affa-chunked/00:
00

./vmfs/volumes/4a00974d-9c05548a-7d11-002219b7f002/testvm/testvm-000006-delta.vmdk.affa-chunked/00/00:
00

./vmfs/volumes/4a00974d-9c05548a-7d11-002219b7f002/testvm/testvm-000006-delta.vmdk.affa-chunked/00/00/00:
00

./vmfs/volumes/4a00974d-9c05548a-7d11-002219b7f002/testvm/testvm-000006-delta.vmdk.affa-chunked/00/00/00/00:
00

./vmfs/volumes/4a00974d-9c05548a-7d11-002219b7f002/testvm/testvm-000006-delta.vmdk.affa-chunked/00/00/00/00/00:
00

./vmfs/volumes/4a00974d-9c05548a-7d11-002219b7f002/testvm/testvm-000006-delta.vmdk.affa-chunked/00/00/00/00/00/00:
00

./vmfs/volumes/4a00974d-9c05548a-7d11-002219b7f002/testvm/testvm-000006-delta.vmdk.affa-chunked/00/00/00/00/00/00/00:
00.bz2  02.bz2  04.bz2  06.bz2  08.bz2  0a.bz2  0c.bz2  0e.bz2  10.bz2  12.bz2
01.bz2  03.bz2  05.bz2  07.bz2  09.bz2  0b.bz2  0d.bz2  0f.bz2  11.bz2

./vmfs/volumes/4a00974d-9c05548a-7d11-002219b7f002/testvm/testvm-flat.vmdk.affa-chunked:
00

./vmfs/volumes/4a00974d-9c05548a-7d11-002219b7f002/testvm/testvm-flat.vmdk.affa-chunked/00:
00

./vmfs/volumes/4a00974d-9c05548a-7d11-002219b7f002/testvm/testvm-flat.vmdk.affa-chunked/00/00:
00

./vmfs/volumes/4a00974d-9c05548a-7d11-002219b7f002/testvm/testvm-flat.vmdk.affa-chunked/00/00/00:
00

./vmfs/volumes/4a00974d-9c05548a-7d11-002219b7f002/testvm/testvm-flat.vmdk.affa-chunked/00/00/00/00:
00

./vmfs/volumes/4a00974d-9c05548a-7d11-002219b7f002/testvm/testvm-flat.vmdk.affa-chunked/00/00/00/00/00:
00

./vmfs/volumes/4a00974d-9c05548a-7d11-002219b7f002/testvm/testvm-flat.vmdk.affa-chunked/00/00/00/00/00/00:
00  02  04  06  08  0a  0c  0e  10  12  14  16
01  03  05  07  09  0b  0d  0f  11  13  15

./vmfs/volumes/4a00974d-9c05548a-7d11-002219b7f002/testvm/testvm-flat.vmdk.affa-chunked/00/00/00/00/00/00/00:
00.bz2  1a.bz2  34.bz2  4e.bz2  68.bz2  82.bz2  9c.bz2  b6.bz2  d0.bz2  ea.bz2
01.bz2  1b.bz2  35.bz2  4f.bz2  69.bz2  83.bz2  9d.bz2  b7.bz2  d1.bz2  eb.bz2
02.bz2  1c.bz2  36.bz2  50.bz2  6a.bz2  84.bz2  9e.bz2  b8.bz2  d2.bz2  ec.bz2
03.bz2  1d.bz2  37.bz2  51.bz2  6b.bz2  85.bz2  9f.bz2  b9.bz2  d3.bz2  ed.bz2
04.bz2  1e.bz2  38.bz2  52.bz2  6c.bz2  86.bz2  a0.bz2  ba.bz2  d4.bz2  ee.bz2
05.bz2  1f.bz2  39.bz2  53.bz2  6d.bz2  87.bz2  a1.bz2  bb.bz2  d5.bz2  ef.bz2
06.bz2  20.bz2  3a.bz2  54.bz2  6e.bz2  88.bz2  a2.bz2  bc.bz2  d6.bz2  f0.bz2
07.bz2  21.bz2  3b.bz2  55.bz2  6f.bz2  89.bz2  a3.bz2  bd.bz2  d7.bz2  f1.bz2
08

and so on ....

Any ideas on what to do in this situation?

Regards, Michael

[Stefano]

Any ideas on what to do in this situation?

what about opening a bug in bugzilla?

Stefano