vcbrestore

[-stijn-]

I would like to restore a snaphot of VM TESTSTIJN created with vcbmounter to another location, however I almost find no information about this....

I know I have to give the following command on the ESX server itself (and that I have to change the catalog):

vcbRestore -h servername -u USERNAME -p PASSWORD -s /location_of_snapshot -a /location_of_catalog_copy_file

But what do I hav to change in the catalog file? Only the following 2 lines?

config.suspenddir= "\[SAN_ESX_vol6] TESTSTIJN/"

config.snapshotdir= "\[SAN_ESX_vol6] TESTSTIJN/"

Or are there any other lines that I have to change as well?? What about for example:

disk.scsi0:0.diskname= "\[SAN_ESX_vol6] TESTSTIJN/TESTSTIJN.vmdk"

config.vmx= "\[SAN_ESX_vol6] TESTSTIJN/TESTSTIJN.vmx"

I need to do this because the VM TESTSTIJN is having troubles, they asked me to restore it to a point in time when everything was still ok. To minimize downtime I need to restore it to a different location, then stop the original VM, then rename the original directory to TESTSTIJN_OLD. After that I have to rename the restored dir to TESTSTIJN and boot up the VM again.

Anybody any suggestions, recommendations? Thanks in advance!!

[RParker]

So simply using snapshot manager inside the VC, doesn't do this for you?

If you want to restore to a certain point, use REVERT, and not DELETE.

Have you tried that? If you right click the VM inside the VC, you can see the option for snapshot manager... Or are you saying the snapshot isn't attached to the VM config anymore?

[bjmoore]

The easiest way to do a restore from an offline "snapshotted" VMDK file is to use VMWare Converter to re-import the machine with a different name. It's wizard-driven and relatively easy to figure out.

You can grab it here:

http://www.vmware.com/download/vi/

I believe that the enterprise and regular versions of Converter will import VMDK files to new VMs, which will minimize your total downtime.

Hope this helps you.

As mentioned above, using snapshot manager will let you restore a snap if it is still "attached"

[-stijn-]

It is indeed an "offline" snapshotted vmdk.

thanks for the information about VMWare convertor, however, I am still wandering about the command line vcbrestore (and catalog) ....

[bjmoore · Accepted solution]

You'll need to change the datastore, folder path and resource pool name in the catalog file. You can see specific instructions on how to do so in http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_vm_backup.pdf starting on page 61.