Before You Begin

Requirements

• Your file system must be one of the file systems listed in the Platform Support section.
• You can restore VM guest OS files from a backup or replica that has at least one successfully created restore point.
• [For restore to the original location]The mount server must have access to the VM guest OS (if file-level restore is performed over the network) or vCenter Server and ESXi host where the target VM runs (if file-level restore is performed over VIX API/vSphere Web Services).
• [For restore to the original location] VMware Tools must be installed on the target VM.

ReFS

If you plan to restore files from a VM running Microsoft Windows ReFS, consider the following for the Veeam Backup & Replication components involved in the restore process:

• The server used as a mount point must be installed on a machine running Microsoft Windows Server 2012 or later.

• [ReFS 3.x] If you plan to restore files from a VM running Microsoft Windows ReFS 3.x, the server used as a mount point must be installed on machines running Microsoft Windows Server 2016 or later and the ReFS version must be supported on them.
• The version of Microsoft Windows Server on the server used as a mount point must be the same or newer than the version of the VM guest OS.

To learn which servers are used as mount points, see File-Level Restore Scenarios and Mount Points.

Data Deduplication

If you plan to restore files from a VM running Microsoft Windows Server 2012 or later and Data Deduplication is enabled for some VM volumes, consider the following for the  Veeam Backup & Replication components involved in the restore process:

• The server used as a mount point must be installed on a machine running Microsoft Windows Server 2012 or later.

• The version of Microsoft Windows Server on the server used as a mount point must be the same or newer than the version of the VM guest OS.

• Data deduplication must be enabled on the machine on which a mount point is created.

To learn which servers are used as mount points, see File-Level Restore Scenarios and Mount Points.

Limitations

• Processing of reparse points is supported only for NTFS.
• 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 VM guest OS files from a running replica or if the replication job with the necessary VM is being performed.