Restore a machine to a cloud powered by VMware

You can restore a backup created with Veeam Agent from the Selectel repository to a VMware-based public cloud.

For recovery to be possible, before restoring, you must create a system image with the required drivers (Linux) or a bootable disk (Windows); for details, see the instructions on how to Prepare for recovery using Veeam Recovery Media.

For recovery, you will need:

a machine backup created in Entire computer mode or containing the necessary partitions;
resources in a cloud powered by VMware:
- a virtual data center;
- a vApp;
- a network with internet access.

For more information about connecting the public cloud, see the VMware-based Public Cloud: Quick start instructions.

After restoration, the server name, login, and root password match the original ones from the backup. They can be overridden using guest OS recustomization or manually.

To restore a virtual machine:

Create an empty virtual machine.
Optional: install VMware Remote Console.
Start the empty virtual machine.
Load Tools virtual device drivers (Windows only).
Restore the backup to the virtual machine.
Configure the network environment.
Deploy a virtual machine with Windows Server (Windows only).
Install VMTools.
Configure backups on the restored machine.

1. Create an empty virtual machine

In the control panel, open the Cloud Director panel: in the top menu, click Products → VMware-based Cloud → Cloud Director.
Open the virtual data center page.
Go to Compute → vApps.
On the vApp card, click ACTIONS.
Click Add → Add VM.
Click Add virtual machine.
In the Name field, enter a name for the virtual machine.
In the Computer name field, enter the host name.
In the Type field, select New.
In the OS family field, select the OS family as on the original server (backup source).
Specify Operating System — the OS as on the original server (backup source).
Specify Boot image:
- for Linux: veeam-recovery-media-5.0.2.4567_x86_64.iso;
- for Windows: Veeam recovery media.
In the Virtual CPUs field, specify the number of vCPUs.
In the Memory field, specify the amount of memory.
In the Storage section, delete all disks. They will be added later.
To select a storage policy for the virtual machine, select the Use custom storage policy checkbox and select the required policy in the Storage Policy field. If no policy is selected, the default policy will be applied.
In the Networking section, click CUSTOMIZE.
In the Network column, select a network — default_net or another network with internet access.
In the Network Adapter Type column, select VMXNET3.
In the IP Mode column, select the mode appropriate for the selected network.
Click OK.
Check the settings of the new VM and click ADD.
Open the vApp page → Virtual Machines section.
Open the virtual machine page.
Go to Hardware → Hard Disks.
Click EDIT.
Click ADD.
Configure each virtual disk to match the disks on the source machine:
- Size — size sufficient to restore the original data;
- Policy — any;
- Bus Type — Paravirtual (SCSI);
- Bus Number, Unit Number — default.
Click SAVE.

2. Optional: install VMware Remote Console

VMware Remote Console is required to use the mouse in the virtual machine console.

In the control panel, open the Cloud Director panel: in the top menu, click Products → VMware-based Cloud → Cloud Director.
Open the virtual data center page.
Go to Compute → vApps.
Open the vApp page → Virtual Machines section.
Open the virtual machine page.
Click ALL ACTIONS → VM Console → Download VM Remote Console. Downloading requires a VMware Customer Connect account, which can be registered when downloading VMware Remote Console.

3. Start the empty virtual machine

In the control panel, open the Cloud Director panel: in the top menu, click Products → VMware-based Cloud → Cloud Director.
Open the virtual data center page.
Go to Compute → vApps.
On the vApp card, click ACTIONS.
Click Power → Power on.
In the virtual machine menu, click VM Console → Launch Remote Console or Launch Web Console. The Veeam Recovery Media environment will boot automatically. If the environment does not boot, check the settings.
Wait for Veeam Recovery Media to load network and SSH configurations (if DHCP is available). If SSH is not required, click Proceed without SSH. After 60 seconds, the automatically configured network and access parameters will be displayed.

Verify Veeam Recovery Media settings

If Veeam Recovery Media does not load, check the settings.

In the control panel, open the Cloud Director panel: in the top menu, click Products → VMware-based Cloud → Cloud Director.
Open the virtual data center page.
Go to Compute → vApps.
Open the vApp page → Virtual Machines section.
Open the virtual machine page.
Go to Hardware → Removable Media.
Make sure that the correct boot disk is selected in the CD/DVD drive field:
- for Linux: veeam-recovery-media-5.0.2.4567_x86_64.iso
- for Windows: Veeam recovery media.
Go to General.
Make sure that Enabled is set in the Enter BIOS Setup field.
Reboot the virtual machine.

4. Load Tools virtual device drivers (Windows)

Drivers only need to be loaded for Windows-based machines.

In Veeam Recovery Media, go to Tools.
Select Load Driver.
For SAS Controller and Ethernet Controller drivers, click Install driver.
Make sure both drivers have Online status.
Select the Inject these drivers into operating system while performing bare metal recovery checkbox.
Click OK.

5. Restore the backup to a virtual machine

Use the instructions on how to Restore a virtual machine for the required OS.

6. Configure the network environment

By default, the virtual machine network adapters do not match the network adapters of the original machine. Configure the settings according to the requirements of the new network environment.

7. Deploy a virtual machine with Windows Server

If you have Windows, use the instructions on how to Deploy a virtual machine with Windows Server.

8. Install VMTools

Ubuntu/Debian
RHEL/CentOS/Fedora
SuSE
Windows

Install VMTools (Perl required):
```
sudo apt install open-vm-tools
```
Make sure the service is running:
```
systemctl status open-vm-tools
```
If virtual network adapter drivers or open-vm-tools are missing, the virtual machine will not be connected to the network. In this case, follow steps 1–4 from the Install VMware Tools instructions.
Verify if the disk with VMTools is mounted automatically on the virtual machine:
```
mount
```
Command output:
```
/dev/cdrom on /mnt/cdrom
```
If the disk is not mounted, mount it, taking into account the file device paths and mount points depending on the distribution:
```
sudo mkdir /mnt/cdrom
sudo mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom
```
Check if the .tar.gz archive with VMTools is present on the mounted device:
```
ls /mnt/cdrom
```
Extract the archive to the /tmp directory:
```
tar -zxpf /mnt/cdrom/<vmwaretools.tar.gz> -C /tmp
```
Specify <vmwaretools.tar.gz> — the name of the archive with VMware Tools, depends on the version.
Go to the directory with the extracted archive:
```
cd /tmp/vmware-tools-distrib
```
Run the installation script:
```
sudo ./vmware-install.pl
```
Follow the installer instructions.
After installation, reboot the virtual machine.

9. Configure backups

For backing up VMware virtual machines, the VMware-based Cloud Backup service is available.

Linux
Windows

Veeam agents use the BIOS UUID to identify machines. The restored machine has a new BIOS UUID, so existing backup chains in Veeam Agent might fail to continue.

Remove the Veeam agents:

Ubuntu, Debian:

sudo apt remove veeamma veeam

RHEL, CentOS, Fedora:

sudo yum remove veeamma veeam

SuSE:

sudo zypper remove veeamma veeam

Install the management agent and backup agent again.