Manage Administrative Backup and Restore in UE-V 2.1 SP1
As an administrator of Microsoft User Experience Virtualization (UE-V) 2.1 SP1, you can restore application and Windows settings to their original state. You can also restore other settings when a user adopts a new device.
Restore settings in UE-V 2.1 SP1 when a user adopts a new device
To restore settings when a user adopts a new device, you can put a settings location template in backup or roam (default) profile using the Set-UevTemplateProfile PowerShell cmdlet. This lets computer settings sync to the new computer, in addition to user settings. Templates assigned to the backup profile are backed up for that device and configured on a per-device basis. To backup settings for a template, use the following cmdlet in Windows PowerShell:
Set-UevTemplateProfile -ID <TemplateID> -Profile <backup>
<TemplateID>is the UE-V template ID.<Backup>can either be Backup or Roaming.
When replacing a user's device, if the user's domain, username, and device name all match, UE-V automatically restores settings. All synchronized and any backup data is restored on the device automatically.
You can also use the PowerShell cmdlet, Restore-UevBackup, to restore settings from a different device. To clone the settings packages for the new device, use the following cmdlet in Windows PowerShell:
Restore-UevBackup -Machine <MachineName>
<MachineName>is the computer name of the device.
Templates such as the Office 2013 template that include many applications can either all be included in the roamed (default) or backed up profile. Individual apps in a template suite follow the group. Office 2013 in-box templates include both roaming and backup-only settings. Backup-only settings can't be included in a roaming profile.
As part of the Backup/Restore feature, UE-V added last known good (LKG) to the options for rolling back to settings. In this release, you can roll back to either the original settings or LKG settings. The LKG settings let users roll back to an intermediate and stable point ahead of the pre-UE-V state of the settings.
How to backup/restore templates with UE-V
These are the key backup and restore components of UE-V:
Template profiles.
Settings packages location within the Settings Storage Location template.
Backup trigger.
How settings are restored.
Template profiles
A UE-V template profile is defined when the template is registered on the device or post registration through the PowerShell/WMI configuration utility. The profile types include:
Roaming (default)
Backup
BackupOnly
All templates are included in the roaming profile when registered unless otherwise specified. These templates synchronize settings to all UE-V enabled devices with the corresponding template enabled.
Templates can be added to the Backup Profile with PowerShell or WMI using the Set-UevTemplateProfile cmdlet. Templates in the Backup Profile back up these settings to the Settings Storage Location in a special Device name directory. Specified settings are backed up to this location.
Templates designated BackupOnly include settings specific to that device that shouldn't be synchronized unless explicitly restored. These settings are stored in the same device-specific settings package location on the settings storage location as the backed-up settings. These templates have a special identifier embedded in the template that specifies they should be part of this profile.
Settings packages location within the settings storage location template
Roaming Profile settings are stored on the settings storage location. Templates assigned to the Backup or the BackupOnly profile store their settings to the Settings Storage Location in a special Device name directory. Each device with templates in these profiles has its own device name. UE-V doesn't clean up these directories.
Backup trigger
The same events that trigger a UE-V synchronization also trigger backup.
How settings are restored
Restoring a user's device restores the currently registered Template's settings from another device's backup folder and all synchronized settings to the current machine. Settings are restored in these two ways:
Automatic restore
If the user's UE-V settings storage path, domain, and Computer name match the current user then all of the settings for that user are synchronized, with only the latest settings applied. If a user signs in to a new device for the first time and these criteria are met, the settings data is applied to that device.
Note
Accessibility and Windows Desktop settings require the user to re-logon to Windows to be applied.
Manual Restore
If you want to assist users by restoring a device during a refresh, you can choose to use the Restore-UevBackup cmdlet. This command causes the user's settings to be downloaded from the Settings Storage Location.
Restore application and Windows settings to original state
WMI and Windows PowerShell commands let you restore application and Windows settings to the settings values that were on the computer the first time that the application started after the UE-V Agent was installed. This restoring action is performed on a per-application or Windows settings basis. The settings are restored the next time that the application runs, or the settings are restored when the user signs in to Windows.
To restore application settings and Windows settings with Windows PowerShell for UE-V 2.1 SP1
Open the Windows PowerShell window.
Enter the following Windows PowerShell cmdlet to restore the application settings and Windows settings.
Restore-UevUserSetting <TemplateID>Restores the user settings for an application or restores a group of Windows settings.
To restore application settings and Windows settings with WMI
Open a Windows PowerShell window.
Enter the following WMI command to restore application settings and Windows settings.
Invoke-WmiMethod -Namespace root\Microsoft\UEV -Class UserSettings -Name RestoreByTemplateId -ArgumentList <template_ID>Restores the user settings for an application or restores a group of Windows settings.
Note
UE-V doesn't provide a settings rollback for Windows apps.