Before You Begin

Before you restore VM guest OS files from storage snapshots, check the following prerequisites:

• If you plan to restore VM guest OS files for ReFS, make sure that Veeam Backup Free Edition is installed on a machine running Microsoft Windows Server 2012 or Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2.

• If you plan to restore VM guest OS files to their initial location, VMware Tools must be installed on the target VM.
• The storage system must be added to the backup infrastructure.

• [For HP 3PAR StoreServ storage systems and NetApp storage systems working over Fibre Channel] The ESX(i) host that you select for storage snapshots mounting must meet the following requirements:

1. The ESX(i) host must have access to the storage over a Fibre Channel connection.
2. The ESX(i) host must be added to the list of servers having access to storage snapshots from which you plan to restore VM guest OS files.
3. [For NetApp storage system] You must create an initiator group on the NetApp storage system. The initiator group must contain a WWN of the ESX(i) host to which you plan to mount the storage snapshot.

• [For NetApp storage systems] Depending on the storage type, you may need to install additional licenses on the storage system. For more information, see Veeam Backup & Replication User Guide for VMware vSphere.

Mind the following limitations:

• You cannot restore files directly to the original location if disks of the VM are located on NetApp SnapVault or SnapMirror. Use the Copy to option instead.
• VMs with virtual disk files located on different storage volumes are not supported. You will be able to restore VM data only from VM disks residing on the same datastore as the VMX file.