This is an archive version of the document. To get the most up-to-date information, see the current version.

Performing File-Level Recovery

In case a disaster strikes, you can recover corrupted or missing files of an Azure VM from a cloud-native snapshot or image-level backup.

Important

If Azure Disk Encryption is enabled for virtual disks attached to the selected VMs, Veeam Backup for Microsoft Azure will not be able to perform the file-level recovery operation. File-level recovery for the Azure VMs with the Azure Disk Encryption option enabled is not supported in the current Veeam Backup for Microsoft Azure version. For more information on Azure Disk Encryption, see Microsoft Docs.

You can recover files and folders from the following file systems only:

  • Microsoft Windows systems — FAT, FAT32, NTFS.
  • Linux systems — ext2, ext3, ext4, XFS, Btrfs.

Veeam Backup for Microsoft Azure supports file-level restore only for Microsoft Windows basic volumes.

Tip

If you want to restore files from file systems that are not supported by Veeam Backup for Microsoft Azure, you can add a repository that contains backups of Azure VMs to the Veeam Backup & Replication infrastructure as an external repository, and perform the file-level recovery operation as described in the Veeam Backup & Replication User Guide.

How File-Level Recovery Works

To recover files and folders of a backed-up Azure VM, Veeam Backup for Microsoft Azure performs the following steps:

  1. Launches a worker instance in either of the following Azure regions:
  • To restore files and folders from a cloud-native snapshot, the worker instance is launched in the region where the cloud-native snapshot resides.
  • To restore files and folders from an image-level backup, the worker instance is launched in the region in which a backup repository storing backed-up data resides
  1. Attaches virtual disks of the Azure VM to the worker instance.

The disks are not physically extracted from the backup — Veeam Backup for Microsoft Azure emulates their presence on the worker instance. The source backup itself remains in the read-only state.

  1. Launches the File Level Recovery for Veeam Backup browser.

The File Level Recovery for Veeam Backup browser displays the file system tree of the backed-up Azure VM. In the browser, you select the necessary files and folders to restore.

  1. Saves the selected files and folders to the local machine.
  2. Detaches the virtual disks from the worker instance.
  3. Removes the worker instance from the Microsoft Azure environment.

Before You Begin

To recover files and folders of an Azure VM from a backup that is stored in the archive backup repository, you must retrieve the archived data manually before you begin the file-level recovery operation. For more information on data retrieval, see Retrieving Data from Archive.

How to Perform File-Level Recovery

To perform a file-level recovery, do the following:

  1. Launch the File-Level Recovery wizard.
  2. Select a restore point.
  3. Specify a restore reason.
  4. Start a restore session.
  5. Download the restored files and folders.
  6. Stop the recovery session.