MARS agent and system disk recovery

Jan Vávra 316

Hello.
I've tried backup of System state and Files and folders of C:.
Now I want to restore machine to a new empty Windows Server.

How should I proceed to restore whole C:\ volume. ?
I was copying data from recoevery_disk:\c_col to C:\ but obviously on running system not all files can be overwritten.

I've successfully gone through System state recovery. Under System state I image it is a subset of registry settings for IIS configuration, certificates, etc.

Is the correct way to use a Bare Metal backup ?

SadiqhAhmed-MSFT 45,436 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2023-09-14T13:51:24.8733333+00:00

Hello @Jan Vávra Thank you for reaching out to us on Microsoft Q&A platform. Happy to answer any questions you may have!

If you are using Microsoft Azure Recovery Services Agent (MARS), you would be able to restore to an alternate machine. Also, you can restore "Individual files and folders" or a complete "Volume". For instructions, refer to the link - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/backup/backup-azure-restore-windows-server#use-instant-restore-to-restore-data-to-an-alternate-machine

Hope this helps. Feel free to write back to us if you have any questions!

If the response helped, do "Accept Answer" and up-vote it
Jan Vávra 316 Reputation points

2023-09-14T14:27:49.6966667+00:00

I was proceeding according to the manual
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/backup/backup-azure-restore-windows-server#use-instant-restore-to-restore-data-to-an-alternate-machine

For Recovery Mode I've selected Volume, choosen C:\ and time.
There is greyed out Original Location:

I can select Another location c:\ but it creates a folder c:\c_vol.

How should I continue then ?
It is not legal to copy all files from c:\c_vol\Windows to c:\Windows because the OS is runnig.

I couldn't find any docs how to backup & restore operating system using MARS.
SadiqhAhmed-MSFT 45,436 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2023-09-14T20:38:27.1766667+00:00

@Jan Vávra I think what you’re looking for is a System State restore. You can’t do just a file level restore of the entire C drive since the OS is up and running.

Restore System State to a Windows Server - Azure Backup | Microsoft Learn
Jan Vávra 316 Reputation points

2023-09-15T06:38:32.3533333+00:00
Well. My steps were:

Create a new Azure VM with the same Windows version 2019

Restore system state. It finished sucessfully.

On the original system there were a Sql Server, IIS and our php app installed. The Sql Server couldn't be started because there were missing its files in "c:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server".

I cannot find anywhere any docs describing how should I make a restore to another system.
Eg. Copy all files to C:\ except C:\Windows ...
Or mount new server's vhd in another OS and copy all files including c:\windows.
I do not really know ...
SadiqhAhmed-MSFT 45,436 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2023-09-18T06:07:04.4333333+00:00

@Jan Vávra Using system state restore to do SQL restore is not a good approach. Please refer to - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/backup/restore-sql-database-azure-vm
Jan Vávra 316 Reputation points

2023-09-18T07:00:39.11+00:00

I am quite sad you're avoiding the merits of the matter. The Sql Server was an example of typical Windows app that uses registry and has some files on system driver.

Of course I know that I should use Sql Server Agent and make regular backups of data files, transaction logs.

But I am writing about restoring lost VM using MARS agent. The Sql Server has another systems setups that are not part of database files, eg. connectivity settings, certificates, file system rights.

So how could I restore an unspecified app that uses Windows registry and files in c:\program files?
SadiqhAhmed-MSFT 45,436 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2023-09-18T11:55:28.0266667+00:00

@Jan Vávra If you want to restore an unspecified app that uses Windows registry and files in C:\Program Files, you can use the "Restore Files and Folders" option in the MARS agent. This option allows you to restore specific files and folders from a recovery point, using the faster transfer speed of the full volume restore. However, this option doesn't provide the convenience of browsing files and folders in the recovery point using the Instant Restore option.

Note that you may need to manually configure the app after restoring the files and folders, as the restore process only restores the files and folders themselves, not any associated registry settings or other configuration data.
Jan Vávra 316 Reputation points

2023-09-18T12:47:03.0866667+00:00
I thought that System State backups all registry settings. Is somewhere described what subsets of registry is backed up.

At https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/system-center/dpm/back-up-system-state-and-bare-metal?view=sc-dpm-2022&tabs=RestoreBMR is

"System state backup: Backs up operating system files, enabling you to recover when a machine starts but you've lost system files and registry."

I understand this sentence that the entire registry will be backed up.

When I use "Restore Files and Folders" how should I copy to c:\Program Files when the system is running ?

How should I proceed when my original server was Windows Server with IIS configured.
IIS configuration file is located in %windir%\system32\inetsrv\config. So I have to copy some files into c:\windows. In the time of recovery the operator is very stressed about time. The easiest way is to copy all files form c:\c_vol\Windows to c:\Windows. How to do it on running OS?

I made some tries.
a. I restored system state, it finished ok

b. I copied all from c:\c_vol to c:, Windows included. It complained about rewriting opened files obviously. I skipped rewriting some files. Finally I got Windows with Sql Server and IIS running, the ssl certs included.

And I am whole time curious for the right procedure for rewriting system files in c:\windows.

1 answer

Amardeep Saini 1,175 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2023-09-20T12:00:44.2833333+00:00

@Jan Vávra - Ideally if you have a server with SQL and other application installed on your server. Then system state backup will install the system files in it and ideally you should install the application separately to bring it up.

Also, in this situation BMR backup is better option as it gets the application also restored if it is installed on C drive, but MARS does not support BMR backup. You should use WSB or DPM\MABS to do BMR backup. But as you have mentioned that it is a Azure VM so BMR restore is also not supported on Azure VM.

The best solution for you would be taking Azure VM backup from Azure portal which could help you to restore the VM in case of disaster.
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SadiqhAhmed-MSFT 45,436 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2023-09-22T18:15:14.2233333+00:00

@Jan Vávra Have you had a chance to see the previous response by @amardeep? If the suggestions were helpful, click “Accept Answer” and Up-Vote. Feel free to reach out to us if you've additional questions in this regard.

SadiqhAhmed-MSFT 45,436 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2023-09-25T07:26:16.39+00:00

@Jan Vávra We haven't heard back from you. Please reply if you have any questions in this matter and we will gladly continue the discussion.

Jan Vávra 316 Reputation points

2023-09-26T07:27:08.5566667+00:00

I have still a scenario with on premises OS and a need for disaster recovery to Azure.
For where it is a Hyper-V or vmWare virtual machine I can use Azure Site Recovery

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/site-recovery/hyper-v-azure-tutorial
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/site-recovery/vmware-azure-tutorial

and for physical serevers I've found
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/site-recovery/physical-azure-architecture
and I hope it will be valid also for KVM virtual machines.

Anyway could anybody tell me what is System state backup good for?
I can imagine I can do IIS settings restore

backup of %windir%\system32\inetsrv\config

Files and Folder backup of c:\inetpub.

SadiqhAhmed-MSFT 45,436 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2023-09-28T07:39:31.1266667+00:00

@Jan Vávra About using Azure Sit Recovery for KVM VMs. Azure Site Recovery does not currently support replication of KVM virtual machines**.** Azure Site Recovery supports replication of VMware virtual machines, Hyper-V virtual machines, and physical servers. However, Microsoft is constantly updating and improving Azure Site Recovery, so it's possible that support for KVM virtual machines may be added in the future.

If you need to set up disaster recovery for KVM virtual machines, you can consider using other solutions such as open-source disaster recovery tools.

Regarding your question about using system state backup to restore IIS settings. You can restore IIS (Internet Information Services) settings with a system state backup in Azure Backup. When you perform a system state backup, it includes the IIS configuration files, which contain the settings for your IIS websites and applications.

To restore IIS settings from a system state backup, you can follow these steps:

Open the Azure Backup console on the server where you want to restore the IIS settings.

Click on the "Recover Data" tab and select "System State" as the recovery type.

Select the backup that contains the system state data that you want to restore.

In the "Select Items to Recover" window, expand the "System State" node and select the "Internet Information Services (IIS)" option.

Click on the "Next" button and follow the prompts to complete the restore process.

Once the restore process is complete, the IIS settings will be restored to the state they were in at the time of the system state backup. Note that restoring the IIS settings may require a restart of the IIS service or the server itself, depending on the specific settings that were restored.

It's important to note that restoring IIS settings from a system state backup will not restore any website or application data that may have been lost. To restore website or application data, you will need to perform a separate restore of the data from a backup that includes the specific files or databases that you need to restore.

SadiqhAhmed-MSFT 45,436 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2023-10-03T14:35:36.4633333+00:00

@Jan Vávra Checking in to see if the above answer helped. If yes, please do "Accept Answer" and Up-Vote it. Let us know if there are still any additional issues we can help with.

SadiqhAhmed-MSFT 45,436 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2023-10-04T14:46:36.0033333+00:00

@Jan Vávra We haven't heard back from you. Please reply if you have any questions in this matter and we will gladly continue the discussion.

Jan Vávra 316 Reputation points

2023-10-11T11:40:09.02+00:00

There is no option for pickuping only the IIS settings for system state in the MARS agent / Recovery

and also there is no option in mmc / Local Backup / Restore:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/backup/backup-azure-restore-system-state (Apply restored ...)

So this is all in one. So if I had installed a Sql Server instance at the machine, the restored system state (its Windows registry) will also contain an original networking settings.

Back to the IIS scenario. It has also a config stored in %windir%\system32\inetsrv\config\ directory. Eg. applicationHost.config file. So I have to know what files are necessary for a particular app?

I am thinking about a way: In the MARS set backup of C:\Windows a C:\Program Files.
And restored would be.

Create an empty Windows VM.

Run System State Recovery on that VM

Shutdown the VM.

Attach VM's vhd to another machine.

Run Files Recovery on another machine.

Overwrite Windows and Program Files folders on the attached disk.

Would it be a proper way to do a full recovery?

Timothy Trotter 0 Reputation points

2024-03-29T00:43:13.72+00:00

Hi Jan,

I'm currently have this same issue. Did you ever find a resolution to this?

SadiqhAhmed-MSFT 45,436 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2024-03-29T07:03:45.6266667+00:00

@Timothy Trotter Please reach out to Azure technical support team by creating a support ticket.
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