Restoring the Nutanix AHV virtual machines
NetBackup can restore your Nutanix AHV virtual machines using the restored disk files from console and the restore virtual machine utility.
Restore process includes the following high-level steps:
Restore the disk files of the VM from the console to the Nutanix file server container on the whitelisted backup host. This step restores the VM disk data on the Nutanix file server container.
For more information on whitelisting the backup host, See Adding a backup host to the Acropolis Cluster access list.
Note:
To restore the disk files to a Nutanix file server container, mount the file server container on the backup host using NFS. Then restore the files on the mount point.
After the disk files are restored, unmount the file server container from the Backup host. If you do not unmount the file server container, the subsequent backups of the VMs on the mounted file server containers can fail.
Run the utility from the command line on the backup host and verify the status of the restore process from the Nutanix Prism. This step creates the VM on the Acropolis cluster.
The metadata.json file contains the details of the VM such as metadata of the VM, allocated memory, network details, and the disks that are present. The metadata.json file is created for each VM during a backup. You can update the metadata.json file if you want to restore the VM with a different configuration.
Few important options in the metadata.json file | Description |
|---|---|
vm_uuid | UUID of the virtual machine. |
memory_mb | Memory to be allocated to the VM in MBs. |
name | VM name. |
num_cores_per_vcpu | Number of the cores that are allocated per CPU for the VM. |
num_vcpus | Number of CPUs allocated to the VM. |
storage_container_name | Storage container name where the VM is restored. |
mac_address | MAC address of the VM. |
Warning:
Be sure there are sufficient available system resources before you change the values in metadata.json file.
Refer to the following table to understand the scenarios where you must modify the metadata.json file:
Table: Restore scenarios
Scenario | Required Action |
|---|---|
Restore a VM to the same cluster or a different cluster and the cluster does not contain a VM with the same vm_uuid or mac_address value. | Do not modify |
Restore a VM to the same cluster or different cluster and the cluster already contains a VM with the same vm_uuid, mac_address, or the name value. Note: This scenario is useful if you want to test the restore process without disturbing the existing VM. | Modify the |
Restore a VM with a modified configuration to the same cluster or different cluster. For example, if you restore the disk files from the console to a new container, change the vm_disk:storage_container_name value. | Modify the |
To restore a virtual machine:
Before you continue the restore process:
If you want to restore a VM to the Nutanix Acropolis cluster or container that you have deleted, you must first recreate the cluster or container. After this recreation is complete, then start the restore process.
Identify the Nutanix containers that the VM disks belong to. Then create directories for those containers on the backup host, and mount the containers as an NFS path.
If you plan to create the directory at the root level, ensure that the directory name in the root directory is different than the container name. If you create the directory at the root level with a name that matches the container name, ensure that you delete the directories after a restore.
Ensure that a
/.restorefolder is available in each of the mounted container.NetBackup creates a
/.restorefolder when you specify the folder as a restore destination from the Backup, Archive, and Restore UI.
- From the NetBackup Administration Console, select Backup, Archive, and Restore.
- Select the Restore Files tab and click Specify the machines to use and policy type for the backup or restore.
- In the Specify the machines to use and policy type for the backup or restore dialog box, enter the following values and then click OK.
Option
Value
Server to use for backup and restores
Host name of the master server
Source client for restores
Nutanix VM name that you want to restore
Destination client for restores
The Backup host that you selected in the BigData Policy
Policy type for restores
BigData
- Select Restore type as Normal Backups.
- In the Browse Directory field, enter / to view the backed-up Nutanix VM data that you can restore.
- In the Directory Structure navigation pane, select / to display the storage containers of the VM and the
metadata.jsonfile in the Contents of the selected directory pane on the right side. - Select the individual VM disk files and the associated metadata.json file and click Restore.
- Select Restore individual directories and files to different locations.
- Select the disk file or metadata.json file, and for each file entry, click Change Selected Destination(s) and complete the following steps:
For the metadata.json file, restore the file to any location on the backup host.
For the disk file, enter the path of the mounted Nutanix container in the following format:
/<path_to_mounted_Nutanix_container>/.restore/<restore_disk_file_ID>Note:
Add
/.restoreto the default destination path in the given format from the BAR UI.For example, if a Nutanix container named Container1 is mounted at
/mnt/Container1, the destination path is:/mnt/Container1/.restore/<restore_disk_file_ID>
- Click Start Restore.
- After the restore successfully completes, open the following location on the backup host:
/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/goodies - Run the restore VM utility using the following command:
nbaapi_ahv_vm_restore --metadata_file_path <metadata_restore_location> --username <Nutanix_username> --password <Nutanix_password> --cluster_name <cluster_name> --cluster_port <port_number>
Here,
metadata_file_path is the path where the
metadata.jsonfile residesusername is the user name of the Nutanix Acropolis Cluster
password is the password of the Nutanix Acropolis Cluster
cluster_name is the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) of the Nutanix Acropolis Cluster
cluster_port is the port number of the Nutanix Acropolis Cluster
Note:
If a VM with the same UUID exists, then the restore utility fails. You can restore virtual machines so that they have the same names but different UUIDs. The UUIDs are displayed using the vm_uuid option on the
metadata.jsonor VM ID in the Prism Console. If you recreate a VM with the same name and UUID, then the utility runs but the Prism task fails. - Use the task UUID to track the progress of the virtual machine restoration process from the Nutanix Prism Console's View All Tasks menu.
- After the restore is complete, the VM is in a turned off state. You must turn on the virtual machine manually.
- Delete the disk files from the storage container's restore directory and unmount the container from the backup host.