How Indexing Works

When you run a backup job with the file indexing option enabled, Veeam Backup & Replication indexes the machine file system, collects indexing data and writes it to the GuestIndexData.zip file. The GuestIndexData.zip file is first stored in a temporary folder on the Veeam backup server.

As soon as the backup job completes, Veeam Backup & Replication notifies the local Veeam Backup Catalog service, and the service saves indexing data in the Veeam Backup Catalog folder on the Veeam backup server. During the next catalog replication session started on Veeam Backup Enterprise Manager, indexing data from the Veeam backup server is replicated to the Veeam Backup Catalog on Veeam Backup Enterprise Manager server. By federating indexing data from all connected Veeam backup servers, the Veeam Backup Catalog service on Veeam Backup Enterprise Manager creates a global catalog for the whole backup infrastructure.

Consider that Veeam Backup & Replication supports file-level restore not only for machines included in guest catalog, but also for those that were not indexed — for example, if indexing was disabled at restore point creation time, or if indexing operation failed. For such a machine, its selected restore point will be mounted to:

• A corresponding Veeam backup server (the one that manages the job processing this machine) — for Windows machines.
• A helper appliance — for non-Windows machines.

Then a user will be able to locate the necessary files and folders and perform restore operation. To learn more about mount operation, refer to the Veeam Backup & Replication User Guide and to the Search and Restore of Machine Guest Files section of this guide.