Bare metal recovery Windows Server 2012 R2: The processor architecture or OS version of Windows Recovery Environment is not the same as that of the computer that was backed up

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Bare metal recovery Windows Server 2012 R2: The processor architecture or OS version of Windows Recovery Environment is not the same as that of the computer that was backed up

Andreas Bischoff 0

Dear all,

having trouble since more than a week to get my domain controller back up and running.

I was using the built in Windows Server tools and created daily full backups including bare metal recovery.

Unfortunately the backups were on an iSCSI disk.

Under Windows 10 I could see the backups with wbadmin get versions when mounting the iSCSI disk.

Copying the content to an USB drive didn't work.

Copying the data to a RDX drive looked OK.

So I finally disassembled my PC and then connected the RDX drive to the server.

Now when booting from the original Server 2012 R2 DVD I just need to add the drivers for the INTEL RAID.

This works fine and I can see the disks on the server.

When starting the recovery it shows the latest backup.

Clicking through it seems to start the recovery, but then fails with: 

The processor architecture or OS version of Windows Recovery Environment is not the same as that of the computer that was backed up

The hardware is definitely the same as used for the backup.

The OS is also the same.

I can only assume that the Windows backup was updated (updating monthly) and that the original recovery environment from the installation DVD is not compatible anymore with the latest backups.

Any idea how to create a recovery image including a compatible version of the windows server recovery feature?

There are no ADKs for Windows Server 2012 R2 available for download anymore.

Can I just use a Windows server 2016 installation DVD for the recovery?

Thanks and Regards,

   Andreas

Andreas Bischoff 0 Reputation points

2023-06-12T10:51:35.2633333+00:00

I have a MAPS subscription so I have access to all currently available server installation DVDs if that helps.

1 answer

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Andreas Bischoff 0 Reputation points

2023-06-12T10:51:35.2633333+00:00

I have a MAPS subscription so I have access to all currently available server installation DVDs if that helps.

Answer 1

Limitless Technology 44,781

Hello there,

I would suggest to check the below limitation of bare metal.

Systems containing dynamic disks are suitable for bare metal recovery. The dynamic disks are converted to basic disks. Dynamic disks made up of stripes of multiple smaller disks are replaced with a single large disk.

If a disk uses the MBR partition table, the total size of its volumes must not exceed 2TB.

Mixed MBR/GPT partitions on the same disk are not supported. Mixed MBR/GPT disks can cause issues. If you have such a disk, recover only the boot drive through the bare metal recovery. Then restore the data drive separately, if needed.

Similar discussion here

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/cbd02bcb-bd04-4d21-b964-2f6132b1674a/windows-2012-r2-baremetal-restore-failed?forum=winserverfiles

Hope this resolves your Query !!

--If the reply is helpful, please Upvote and Accept it as an answer--

Andreas Bischoff 0 Reputation points

2023-06-13T23:06:19.3133333+00:00

Hi LT,

thanks for the suggestions, but I'm pretty sure I used the same settings for both the backup and the restore.

The backup directory contains a file: Esp.vdhx

In my understanding this is a backup of the EFI partition.

In the mean time I tried a different path:

I installed Windows server 2012 R2 from the original DVD and after some issues finding the right initial package to update windows update I was able to install all updates up to and including the May 2023 updates.

Then I was able to connect to the original iSCSI disk containing the backups.

I could restore my data partition.

I was also able to restore the C: drive to a different location just in case.

The server now has the same installation status as during the backup.

But I still get the same error when trying to restore the system state in safe mode:

PS C:\Users\Administrator> wbadmin start systemstaterecovery -version:06/02/2023-03:00 -backuptarget:R: -machine:w2k12base

wbadmin 1.0 - Backup command-line tool

(C) Copyright 2012 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Do you want to start the system state recovery operation?

[Y] Yes [N] No y

Note: The recovery operation will cause all replicated content (replicated

using DFSR or FRS) on the local computer to resynchronize after recovery.

The rise in network traffic due to resynchronization may cause potential

latency or outage issues.

System state recovery cannot be paused or cancelled once it has started.

It will need a restart of the server to complete the recovery operation.

Do you want to continue ?

[Y] Yes [N] No y

The specified backup is for a version of Windows that is different from the current version. System state recovery cannot be performed using the specified backup.

Any other ideas how to debug the issue further and fix it?

Thanks and Regards,

Andreas
Andreas Bischoff 0 Reputation points

2023-06-13T23:11:27.68+00:00

One additional question:

Since I was able to restore the C: drive to a different location, is there an option to restore all AD and other server settings from this copy?

Thanks and Regards,

Andreas
Andreas Bischoff 0 Reputation points

2023-06-14T09:05:55.8133333+00:00

And one more comment about the apparently recoverable items:

PS C:\Users\Administrator> wbadmin get items -version:06/02/2023-03:00 -backuptarget:R:

wbadmin 1.0 - Backup command-line tool

(C) Copyright 2012 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

EFI System Partition

Volume ID = {f5a51ac6-671d-4fda-b4aa-0ae0966a8c81}

Volume '', mounted at C: at the time the backup was created

Volume size = 511.48 GB

Can recover = Full volume

Volume ID = {85b44d8b-7c72-450c-821e-c6778979677f}

Volume 'data', mounted at H: at the time the backup was created

Volume size = 5076.87 GB

Can recover = Full volume

Volume ID = {9b7d397c-9e53-4d43-9ddc-8683d8fec164}

Volume 'VHDX', mounted at V:

Volume size = 761.87 GB

Can recover = Full volume

Volume ID = {21246ae0-6e91-41e4-b2f3-a56b9b270192}

Volume 'Recovery', mounted at <not mounted> at the time the backup was created

Volume size = 300.00 MB

Can recover = Full volume

Application = FRS

Component = 3DDF3CA7-CD69-40AE-9AAD-0E4D3ACE97CB-BEFF3791-477C-4941-B8A3-74C180FAD475 (SYSVOL\3DDF3CA7-CD69-40AE-9AAD-0E

4D3ACE97CB-BEFF3791-477C-4941-B8A3-74C180FAD475)

Application = AD

Component = ntds (C:_Windows_NTDS\ntds)

Application = Registry

Component = Registry (\Registry)

Application = HyperV

VM name: w2k16virt

VM caption: Online\w2k16virt

VM identifier: 1A2A82B1-9BA4-49CF-8001-A5608B624C67

Total Size: 500.64 GB

Application = HyperV

VM name: Host Component

VM caption: Host Component

VM identifier: Host Component

Total Size: 49.15 KB

So in my understanding everything seems to be there.

It is just a question of how to restore the data.

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Bare metal recovery Windows Server 2012 R2: The processor architecture or OS version of Windows Recovery Environment is not the same as that of the computer that was backed up

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