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CD Recovery

The CD Recovery page restores volume backup images to the same machine or same type of machine that the backup was created on. CD Recovery requires the target machine be booted from a CD.

The CD Recovery method is useful when:

  • The network drivers on the agent's operating system are corrupted, so the agent cannot talk to the KServer.
  • The operating system itself is unbootable, and thus the agent cannot check in.
  • The hard disk is new and there is currently is no operating system.

The target machine must be physically connected to a network that provides access to the KServer. Once the target machine boots up from the CD, no further user interaction is required. The network card is configured automatically. The KServer automatically downloads and restores a backup image to the target machine.

Procedure

  1. Create an ISO file - If an ISO image file record doesn't already exist in the paging area, create a new ISO image file by clicking the Create New ISO button. The same ISO file is created each time this button is clicked, but with a different filename. It is the ISO filename on the recovery CD that tells the KServer which machine ID and backup image to restore from.

    Note: You can leave the machine ID and backup image unassigned or change the machine ID and backup image associated with an ISO image file at any time. This lets you create and distribute the recovery CD in advance to all the locations you manage. Then use this page to select the backup image you want to restore from just before the target machine is booted up from the CD. However, you must assign a machine ID and backup image before you start the restore or an error will result.

  2. Select a Machine ID - Associate a machine ID with the ISO file. The machine ID must specify an Image Location that contains the backup image you want to restore.
  3. Select a Backup Image - Associate a backup image timestamp with the ISO filename and machine ID.
  4. Download the ISO image - Download the created ISO file to a workstation that can write the ISO file to a CD.
  5. Create the Recovery CD - Use a CD recording application to write the ISO file as an image to a CD. Do not simply copy the ISO file to the CD as a data file.
  6. Boot the target machine using the recovery CD - The target machine must be physically connected to a network that provides access to the KServer. No further user interaction is required.

Dynamic Disk Restores

Dynamic storage involves dividing a physical disk into multiple volumes or combining a physical disk with other physical disks to form volumes that are greater in size than any one physical disk. A traditional disk volume is called a "basic" disk volume. BUDR supports the following basic and dynamic backup and restore combinations:

  • backup basic disks
  • backup dynamic disks
  • restore basic volumes to basic disks
  • restore basic volumes to dynamic disks
  • restore dynamic volumes to basic disks
  • restore dynamic volumes to dynamic disks

Note: While Universal Restore supports restoration of dynamic disks to similar hardware, it does not support restoration of dynamics disks to different hardware platforms that require new drivers. To restore to different hardware platforms, you must restore the dynamic disk backup to a basic disk.

Restore Failure

Restores can fail for the following reasons:

  • The Image Location points to a local drive letter - When Windows boots, drive letters are automatically assigned to hard drives starting with C:. With the disk manager, you can reassign these to any other unused drive letter. For example, you may decide to turn your D: drive into G: and set the Image Location path to G:\backups. The recovery boot process will not know about the drive letter mapping and will assign D: to the hard disk. The restore will then fail trying to access G:\backups. You can resolve this problem by setting your image location to D:\backups prior to selecting the restore options. Restore will then successfully access D:\backups.
  • Image stored on a USB drive - Similar to the issue above, when the recovery boot process assigns drive letters, it may assign the USB drive a different drive letter than Windows assigned it. You can resolve this problem by setting your Image Location to the new drive letter prior to selecting the restore options. Restore will then successfully access the USB drive.
  • Image stored on a network drive - If the remote drive, or the machine hosting the drive, is not turned on, or if the username and password have changed, then the recovery boot process will not be able to access the network drive.
  • Operation completed with errors - If you see Operation Completed with errors, the process has been unable to create a log file in the Image Location directory, even though the transfer may still be going. Rebooting at this time will cause the machine to not be bootable, since it is in the middle of restore. If you wait for the restore to finish, then the restore should be successful. See Kaseya KB article 301419.
  • Unable to establish a network connection - CD Recovery allows the recovery of an image without the need for the user to enter details such as the image to be restored, its location, the password, etc. Instead the machine connects to the KServer to retrieve this information. However, if there is a proxy between the managed machine and the KServer, or DHCP is not enabled, that machine may not be able to establish a network connection to get out to the internet and retrieve the settings. In cases where a DHCP server is not enabled or there is a proxy in place, use Universal Restore, as there is no way to configure network connection information for CD Recovery.

Create New ISO

Click Create New ISO to create a new ISO image file, if one does not already exist that you can use. Creating a new ISO image file creates a new record in the paging area.

Delete

Click the delete icon to delete an ISO image file record.

Edit

Click the edit icon to change the Title of an ISO image file record.

Share

By default, ISO images are private to the user that created it. You can share an ISO image with other users, user roles, or make the ISO image file public.

Title

A descriptive title of the backup image being restored.

Machine ID

Select a machine ID. The machine ID must specify an Image Location that contains the backup image you want to restore.

Backup Date

Select the backup image, by date, to restore from.