Restoring from Linux, Unix and Other File Systems

You can restore individual files and folders from file systems of Linux-based OSes. For this purpose, Veeam Backup & Replication provides the multi-OS File-Level Restore wizard. The multi-OS restore wizard allows you to restore guest OS files for such OSes as Linux, Unix, BSD, macOS and others.

To restore files from VM guest OS, Veeam Backup & Replication uses a helper appliance. The helper appliance is a helper VM running a stripped-down Linux kernel that has a minimal set of components. When you perform file-level restore, Veeam Backup & Replication automatically starts the appliance and mounts VM disks to the helper appliance as virtual hard drives. Virtual disks are mounted directly from backup files, without prior extraction of the backup content. This makes the restore process much faster.

Before You Begin

Consider the following:

• Check the supported file systems. For details, see the File-Level Restore section in the Veeam Backup & Replication User Guide.
• You can restore guest OS files from a backup that has at least one successfully created restore point.

To check whether restore points are created, open the inventory pane of the Home view and select the Backups node. Then, expand the backup job and verify that there is at least one restore point available for the VM.

• You cannot restore files from a backup created in the reverse incremental mode if the backup job is being performed. If the backup is created in the incremental backup mode and the backup job is being performed, you can restore files from any available restore point.

• You cannot restore files from a VM being currently backed up or replicated.

Restoring Guest OS Files

To restore guest OS files from a Linux-based VM, do the following.

1. Open the Home view.
2. In the inventory pane, select the Backups > Disk node. Expand a backup job in the working area, right-click a VM and select Restore guest files > Linux and other to launch the Guest File Restore wizard.

3. At the Restore Point step of the wizard, select a restore point.

4. At the Helper Host leave the default settings.
5. At the Helper Appliance step of the wizard, click Customize to specify settings for the helper appliance. Select the ESXi host, resource pool and network on which the helper appliance will run.

If you are restoring files from the NSS file system, select the Restore from Novell Storage Services (NSS) file system check box.

6. At the Reason step of the wizard, specify the reason for restoring.
7. At the last step of the wizard, click Finish. Note that the helper appliance can boot about 20 seconds.
8. Veeam Backup & Replication will display the Backup Browser with the file system tree of the VM. Right-click a file or folder, select Copy To.
9. In the Select Destination window, do the following:

1. In the Server field, select the server to which you want to restore files.
2. In the Path to folder field, specify a destination folder.

10. Click Restore.

Reference

For more information on restoring guest OS files, see Restore from Linux, Unix and Other File Systems in the Veeam Backup & Replication User Guide.