Restore
Restore the System Image
Screenshots used for this guide are based on MS Windows System and will include screenshots for MS Windows System State if applicable.
- Login to AhsayOBM. You may refer to the Login section for more details.
Click the Restore icon on the main interface of AhsayOBM.
Select the backup set and destination.
You can select the temporary directory that will be used by clicking the Browse button.
Select to restore from a specific backup job, or the latest job available from the “Select what to restore” drop down menu.
Once done with the selection, click Next to proceed.
Select to restore the system image to a local volume or to a removable drive.
Click Show advanced option to configure other restore settings.
Verify checksum of in-file delta files during restore
By enabling this option, the checksum of in-file delta files will be verified during the restore process. This will check the data for errors during the restore process and create a data summary of the in-file delta files which will be included in the report.
Click Restore to start the restoration.
The following screen is displayed when the system image files are restored successfully.
To view the report, go to the Report > Restore
In the “Restore Report” screen, you can see the backup set with corresponding destination, completion date and time, and status.
Click the restore report and the summary of the restoration will be displayed. You can also click View log, that will redirect you to the log summary of your backup.
You can also search for restore reports from a specific date range. For example, we have the “From” date which is, 9 Mar 2023 and the “To” date which is, 15 Mar 2023. Then click the Go button to generate the available reports.
If this is a valid range of dates then restore reports will be displayed unless there were no restoration running on the specified dates. A message of “No records found” will be displayed instead.
The restored system image files are stored in the WindowsImageBackup folder in the restore location.
In addition to the system image files, the WindowsImageBackup folder includes catalog files that contain information about all backups done up to the current backup, and MediaId, that contains the identifier for the backup storage location.
This information is required to perform a recovery. Do not alter the directory structure or delete any file / folder within the WindowsImageBackup folder.
Copy the WindowsImageBackup folder with its content to the server that you want to perform the restore for or copy the folder to a network drive that is accessible to the server that you want to perform the restore for.
WindowsImageBackup folder must be stored at the root level of a volume (e.g. top-most level), unless you are copying the folder to a network drive.
- Continue to the next section which applies to the type of recovery you want to perform:
Recovering Your Server
For server platforms such as Server 2008 / 2008 R2 / 2012 / 2012 R2, you can recover individual files, folders, volumes, application, application data, operating system, or full-system (bare-metal) with the following tools:
| Tool | What you can recover |
|---|---|
| Recovery wizard (in Windows Server Backup) | Files, folders, volumes, application, and application data. |
| Windows setup disc / Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE) | Operating system (critical volume), and full server recovery (all volumes). |
You can also perform tasks using wbadmin command. For the syntax of the command, refer to the following: Wbadmin.
To determine what can be recovered from your restored system image, enter the following command in an elevated command prompt:
webadmin get versions
[-backupTarget:{<BackupTargetLocaton> | <NetworkSharePath>}]
Example (system image restored to D: volume):
C:\Users\Administrator>wbadmin get versions -backupTarget:d:
wbadmin 1.0 - Backup command-line tool
(C) Copyright Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Backup time: 17/1/2023 11:02 AM
Backup target: 1394/USB Disk labeled New Volume (D:)
Version identifier: 1/17/2023-03:02
Can recover: Volume(s), File(s), Application(s), Bare Metal Recovery, System State
Snapshot ID: {593d7d81-f934-4baa-8e80-866680eb04e9}
For non-server platforms such as Windows 7 / 8 / 8.1 / 10, you can recover the full-system (baremetal) with the following tools:
| Tool | What you can recover |
|---|---|
| Advanced startup option (in safe mode) | Full system recovery |
| Advanced startup option (Windows installation media) | Full system recovery |
You can also perform tasks using wbadmin command. For the syntax of the command, refer to the following: Wbadmin.
For instructions specific to recovering Active Directory Domain Services, refer to Recovering Active Directory Domain Services.
Windows System / System State Recovery Using the Windows Server Backup User Interface
To recover the Windows System Backup using the Recovery Wizard in the Windows Server Backup user interface, follow the instructions below:
Open Server Manager then click Tools and select Windows Server Backup.
In the "Actions" panel under "Windows Server Backup", click Recover.
On the "Getting Started" page, select A backup stored on another location, then click Next.
- On the "Specify Location Type" page, select:
- Local drives, if the system image was copied to a local volume on the server.
Remote shared folder, if the system image was copied to a network path accessible to this server.
On the "Select Backup Location" page, select the volume that contains the system image file.
Assuming that the WindowsImageBackup folder was copied to the following D:\WindowsImageBackup
On the "Select Server" page, select the server whose data you want to recover.
On the "Select Backup Date" page, select the point in time of the backup you want to restore from.
On the "Select Recovery Type" page, to recover the following:
Files and Folders
Select Files and folders, then click Next to proceed.
On the “Select Items to Recover” page, under “Available items”, expand the list until the folder you want is visible. Click a folder to display the contents in the adjacent pane, click each item that you want to restore.
On the “Specify Recovery Options” page, under “Recovery destination”, select Another location. Type the path to the location or click Browse to select it.
Modify the “When this wizard finds items in the backup that are already in the recovery destination” setting and the “Security settings” if necessary. Then click Next to proceed.
Recover Volumes
Select Volumes, then click Next to proceed.
On the “Select Volumes” page, select the check boxes associated with the volumes in the “Source Volume” column that you want to recover.
Then, from the associated dropdown list in the “Destination Volume” column, select the location that you want to recover the volume to then click Next.
Before clicking Next to continue, make sure that the destination volume is empty, or does not contain information that you will need later.
Applications
Select Applications, then click Next to proceed.
On the “Select Application” page, under “Applications”, click the application that you want to recover. Click Next.
If the backup that you are using is the most recent and the application you are recovering supports a "roll-forward" of the application database, you will see a check box labeled “Do not perform a roll-forward recovery of the application databases”.
Select this check box if you want to prevent Windows Server Backup from rolling forward the application database that is currently on your server.
On the “Specify Recovery Options” page, select Recover to another location. Type the path to the location or click Browse to select it. Click Next to proceed.
System State
Select System state, then click Next to proceed.
On the “Select Location for System State Recovery” page, select:
- Original location, to restore the system state to the same physical computer from which the system state backup was created.
Alternate location, to restore a copy of the system state as a set of files.
The options displayed are different for system state containing Active Directory Domain Services.
You will also need to start the server in Directory Services Restore Mode (DSRM) to restore system state data containing Active Directory Domain Services.
For instructions specific to recovering system state to Active Directory server, see Recovering Active Directory Domain Services.
- On the "Confirmation" page, review the details, and then click Recover to restore the specified items.
Files and Folders
Volumes
Applications
System State
On the “Recovery Progress” page, the status and result of the recovery operation are displayed. Click Close to end the process.
Files and Folders
Volumes
Applications
System State
For restore to Original location, the system state recovery cannot be stopped once it is started, or the system could become unbootable.
Recovering Operating System or Full System for Server and Non-Server Platforms
You can recover an operating system or full system by using Windows Recovery Environment, or by booting from a Windows setup disc.
For instructions specific to recovering system state to Active Directory server, see Recovering Active Directory Domain Services.
To launch in Windows Recovery Environment, insert the Windows setup disc that has the same architecture of the system that you are recovering into the CD/DVD drive and start or restart the computer. Press the required key to boot the disc.
Set the language, time and currency, and keyboard or input method, then click Next to proceed.
On the "Windows Setup" page, click Repair your computer.
On the “Choose an option” page, click Troubleshoot.
Click Advanced options.
Click System Image Recovery.
Confirm the target operating system. This opens the Re-image your computer page.
Login with an administrative account, by clicking on Administrator.
This screen will only be displayed for non-server platforms.
Choose Select a system image, then click Next.
Select the location that contains the system image to restore from.
If you do not see the image available, then:
Click Advanced and install the required driver for the removable drive to be accessed, if the system image was copied to a removable drive attached to the server.
To install a driver, the driver must be located on the local system. You cannot install a driver from the network.
Click Advanced and browse to the remote shared folder which contains the system image if the system image was copied to a network path.
For domain environment, if the backup storage location is on a computer that is a member of that domain, then the computer containing the storage location should be on the IPsec boundary, to be accessible by non-domain computer.
When a computer boots into Windows Recovery Environment, it becomes a non-domain computer, therefore, cannot access the usual network shares. Only those computers that allow non-domain computers to access the share can be used as a backup storage location in this way.
Select the date and time of the system image to restore:
On the “Choose additional restore options” page, tick the Format and repartition disks check box to delete existing partitions and reformat the destination disks to be the same as the backup.
Click the Exclude disks button, then select the check boxes associated with any disks that you want to exclude from being formatted and partitioned.
The disk that contains the backup that you are using is automatically excluded.
Select the Only restore system drives check box (not displayed in screenshot) to perform an operating system only recovery (instead of a full system recovery).
Click Install drivers to install device drivers for the hardware that you are recovering to.
Click Advanced to specify whether the computer is automatically restarted, and the disks are checked for errors immediately after the recovery. Click Next to proceed.
Confirm the details for the restoration, and then click Finish to start the recovery process.
Do not interrupt the restore process.
The recovery will succeed as long as all the critical volumes (e.g. volumes containing operating system components) are recovered.
If any data volume cannot be recovered, Windows will show a prompt with the un-recoverable volumes at the end of the recovery operation.
How-To