Restore Azure Managed Disks using Azure CLI

This article describes how to restore Azure Managed Disks from a restore point created by Azure Backup using Azure CLI.

Important

Support for Azure Managed Disks backup and restore via CLI is in preview and available as an extension in Az 2.15.0 version and later. The extension is automatically installed when you run the az dataprotection commands. Learn more about extensions.

Currently, the Original-Location Recovery (OLR) option of restoring by replacing the existing source disk from where the backups were taken isn't supported. You can restore from a recovery point to create a new disk in the same resource group of the source disk or in any other resource group, which is called Alternate-Location Recovery (ALR).

Here, let's use an existing Backup vault TestBkpVault, under the resource group testBkpVaultRG in the examples.

Restore to create a new disk

Setting up permissions

Backup vault uses managed identity to access other Azure resources. To restore from backup, Backup vault’s managed identity requires a set of permissions on the resource group where the disk is to be restored.

Backup vault uses a system-assigned managed identity, which is restricted to one per resource and is tied to the lifecycle of this resource. You can grant permissions to the managed identity by using the Azure role-based access control (Azure RBAC). Managed identity is a service principal of a special type that may only be used with Azure resources. Learn more about Managed Identities.

Assign the relevant permissions for vault's system-assigned managed identity on the target resource group where the disks will be restored/created as mentioned here.

Fetching the relevant recovery point

List all backup instances within a vault using az dataprotection backup-instance list command, and then fetch the relevant instance using the az dataprotection backup-instance show command. Alternatively, for at-scale scenarios, you can list backup instances across vaults and subscriptions using the az dataprotection backup-instance list-from-resourcegraph

az dataprotection backup-instance list-from-resourcegraph --datasource-type AzureDisk --datasource-id /subscriptions/xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx/resourcegroups/diskrg/providers/Microsoft.Compute/disks/CLITestDisk
[
  {
    "datasourceId": "/subscriptions/xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx/resourcegroups/diskrg/providers/Microsoft.Compute/disks/CLITestDisk",
    "extendedLocation": null,
    "id": "/subscriptions/xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx/resourcegroups/testBkpVaultRG/providers/Microsoft.DataProtection/BackupVaults/TestBkpVault/backupInstances/diskrg-CLITestDisk-3df6ac08-9496-4839-8fb5-8b78e594f166",
    "identity": null,
    "kind": "",
    "location": "",
    "managedBy": "",
    "name": "diskrg-CLITestDisk-3df6ac08-9496-4839-8fb5-8b78e594f166",
    "plan": null,
    "properties": {
      "currentProtectionState": "ProtectionConfigured",
      "dataSourceInfo": {
        "baseUri": null,
        "datasourceType": "Microsoft.Compute/disks",
        "objectType": "Datasource",
        "resourceID": "/subscriptions/xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx/resourcegroups/diskrg/providers/Microsoft.Compute/disks/CLITestDisk",
        "resourceLocation": "westus",
        "resourceName": "CLITestDisk",
        "resourceType": "Microsoft.Compute/disks",
        "resourceUri": "/subscriptions/xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx/resourcegroups/diskrg/providers/Microsoft.Compute/disks/CLITestDisk"
      },
      "dataSourceProperties": null,
      "dataSourceSetInfo": null,
      "datasourceAuthCredentials": null,
      "friendlyName": "CLITestDisk",
      "objectType": "BackupInstance",
      "policyInfo": {
        "policyId": "/subscriptions/xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx/resourcegroups/testBkpVaultRG/providers/Microsoft.DataProtection/BackupVaults/TestBkpVault/backupPolicies/DiskPolicy",
        "policyParameters": {
          "dataStoreParametersList": [
            {
              "dataStoreType": "OperationalStore",
              "objectType": "AzureOperationalStoreParameters",
              "resourceGroupId": "/subscriptions/xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx/resourceGroups/snapshotrg"
            }
          ]
        },
        "policyVersion": null
      },
      "protectionErrorDetails": null,
      "protectionStatus": {
        "errorDetails": null,
        "status": "ProtectionConfigured"
      },
      "provisioningState": "Succeeded"
    },
    "protectionState": "ProtectionConfigured",
    "resourceGroup": "testBkpVaultRG",
    "sku": null,
    "subscriptionId": "xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx",
    "tags": null,
    "tenantId": "xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx",
    "type": "microsoft.dataprotection/backupvaults/backupinstances",
    "vaultName": "TestBkpVault",
    "zones": null
  }
]

Once the instance is identified, fetch the relevant recovery point using the az dataprotection recovery-point list command.

az dataprotection recovery-point list --backup-instance-name diskrg-CLITestDisk-3df6ac08-9496-4839-8fb5-8b78e594f166 -g testBkpVaultRG --vault-name TestBkpVault
{
"id": "/subscriptions/xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx/resourcegroups/testBkpVaultRG/providers/Microsoft.DataProtection/BackupVaults/TestBkpVault/backupInstances/diskrg-CLITestDisk-3df6ac08-9496-4839-8fb5-8b78e594f166/recoveryPoints/5081ad8f1e6c4548ae89536d0d45c493",
"name": "5081ad8f1e6c4548ae89536d0d45c493",
"properties": {
"friendlyName": "0f598ced-cbfe-4169-b962-ee94b0210490",
"objectType": "AzureBackupDiscreteRecoveryPoint",
"policyName": "DiskPSPolicy2",
"policyVersion": null,
"recoveryPointDataStoresDetails": [
{
"creationTime": "2021-06-08T09:01:57.708319+00:00",
"expiryTime": "2021-06-15T09:01:57.708319+00:00",
"id": "c2ad4629-f2ef-49b6-b3f8-50f3eb5404f4",
"metaData": null,
"rehydrationExpiryTime": null,
"rehydrationStatus": null,
"state": "COMMITTED",
"type": "OperationalStore",
"visible": true
}
],
"recoveryPointId": "5081ad8f1e6c4548ae89536d0d45c493",
"recoveryPointTime": "2021-06-08T09:01:57.708319+00:00",
"recoveryPointType": "Incremental",
"retentionTagName": "Default",
"retentionTagVersion": "637553616953961153"
},
"resourceGroup": "testBkpVaultRG",
"systemData": null,
"type": "Microsoft.DataProtection/backupVaults/backupInstances/recoveryPoints"
},
{
"id": "/subscriptions/xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx/resourcegroups/testBkpVaultRG/providers/Microsoft.DataProtection/BackupVaults/TestBkpVault/backupInstances/diskrg-CLITestDisk-3df6ac08-9496-4839-8fb5-8b78e594f166/recoveryPoints/039322cc563049bcbdb77bd695d4c02c",
"name": "039322cc563049bcbdb77bd695d4c02c",
"properties": {
"friendlyName": "af6512b6-aa38-4966-b8e1-660c4eccdc0d",
"objectType": "AzureBackupDiscreteRecoveryPoint",
"policyName": "DiskPSPolicy2",
"policyVersion": null,
"recoveryPointDataStoresDetails": [
{
"creationTime": "2021-06-08T05:01:55.426507+00:00",
"expiryTime": "2021-06-15T05:01:55.426507+00:00",
"id": "c2ad4629-f2ef-49b6-b3f8-50f3eb5404f4",
"metaData": null,
"rehydrationExpiryTime": null,
"rehydrationStatus": null,
"state": "COMMITTED",
"type": "OperationalStore",
"visible": true
}
],
"recoveryPointId": "039322cc563049bcbdb77bd695d4c02c",
"recoveryPointTime": "2021-06-08T05:01:55.426507+00:00",
"recoveryPointType": "Incremental",
"retentionTagName": "Default",
"retentionTagVersion": "637553616953961153"
},
"resourceGroup": "testBkpVaultRG",
"systemData": null,
"type": "Microsoft.DataProtection/backupVaults/backupInstances/recoveryPoints"
}
]

For example, the following query returns the latest recovery point.

az dataprotection recovery-point list --backup-instance-name diskrg-CLITestDisk-3df6ac08-9496-4839-8fb5-8b78e594f166 -g testBkpVaultRG --vault-name TestBkpVault --query "[0].id"

"/subscriptions/62b829ee-7936-40c9-a1c9-47a93f9f3965/resourceGroups/testBkpVaultRG/providers/Microsoft.DataProtection/backupVaults/sarath-vault/backupInstances/clitest-clitest-3165cfe7-a932-11eb-9d24-9cfce85d4fae/recoveryPoints/5081ad8f1e6c4548ae89536d0d45c493"

Preparing the restore request

Construct the ARM ID of the new disk to be created with the target resource group, to which permissions were assigned as detailed above, and the required disk name. We'll use an example of a disk named CLITestDisk2, under a resource group targetrg, under a different subscription.

$targetDiskId = /subscriptions/xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx/resourceGroups/targetrg/providers/Microsoft.Compute/disks/CLITestDisk2

Use the az dataprotection backup-instance restore initialize-for-data-recovery command to prepare the restore request with all relevant details.

az dataprotection backup-instance restore initialize-for-data-recovery --datasource-type AzureDisk --restore-location southeastasia --source-datastore OperationalStore --recovery-point-id 5081ad8f1e6c4548ae89536d0d45c493 --target-resource-id /subscriptions/xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx/resourceGroups/targetrg/providers/Microsoft.Compute/disks/CLITestDisk2 > restore.json
{
  "object_type": "AzureBackupRecoveryPointBasedRestoreRequest",
  "recovery_point_id": "77594ce0470849e79b86a6875b726dca",
  "restore_target_info": {
    "datasource_info": {
      "datasource_type": "Microsoft.Compute/disks",
      "object_type": "Datasource",
      "resource_id": "//subscriptions/xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx/resourceGroups/targetrg/providers/Microsoft.Compute/disks/CLITestDisk2",
      "resource_location": "southeastasia",
      "resource_name": "CLITestDisk2",
      "resource_type": "Microsoft.Compute/disks",
      "resource_uri": ""
    },
    "object_type": "RestoreTargetInfo",
    "recovery_option": "FailIfExists",
    "restore_location": "southeastasia"
  },
  "source_data_store_type": "OperationalStore"
}

You can also validate if the JSON file will succeed in creating new resources using the az dataprotection backup-instance validate-for-restore command.

az dataprotection backup-instance validate-for-restore -g testBkpVaultRG --vault-name TestBkpVault --backup-instance-name diskrg-CLITestDisk-3df6ac08-9496-4839-8fb5-8b78e594f166 --restore-request-object restore.json

Trigger the restore

Use the az dataprotection backup-instance restore trigger command to trigger the restore with the request prepared above.

az dataprotection backup-instance restore trigger -g testBkpVaultRG --vault-name TestBkpVault --backup-instance-name diskrg-CLITestDisk-3df6ac08-9496-4839-8fb5-8b78e594f166 --restore-request-object restore.json

Tracking job

Track all jobs using the az dataprotection job list command. You can list all jobs and fetch a particular job detail.

You can also use Az.ResourceGraph to track all jobs across all Backup vaults. Use the az dataprotection job list-from-resourcegraph command to get the relevant job that can be across any Backup vault.

az dataprotection job list-from-resourcegraph --datasource-type AzureDisk --operation Restore

Next steps

Azure Disk Backup FAQ