Restore files and folders from a VMware virtual machine backup

To restore individual files and folders from a VMware virtual machine (VM) backup:

1. In the Management Console of the Backup & Disaster Recovery appliance, go to Clients › VMware.

2. Select a registered VM to restore files and folders from.

3. Click Browse and Restore on the actions toolbar, or right-click the selected VM, and then click Browse and Restore in the context menu.

   

   The Browse and Restore wizard opens.

4. In the open wizard, select a backup job associated with the VM to restore files and folders from, and then click Next.

   

5. Select the type of files to browse and restore, and then click Next.

   Component Files

   Browse and restore files that make up (define) the VM. This includes its OVF and VMDK files. Typically, these files are only useful if you need access to the low-level technical information regarding the VM.

   Contained Files

   Browse and restore files contained on the VM hard disks. Each disk can be explored independently using the special file system browser. This is useful to restore files from within the VM without the need to restore (and possibly create) the entire thing.

   

6. If you selected Contained Files, select the path to restore the files to, and then click Next.

   Option	Description
   Restore full path	Retain the parent folder hierarchy of the selected files and folders
   Restore selected items only	Discard the parent folder hierarchy and place the selected files and folders directly into the restore location

   

7. Review the restore settings and details, and then click Finish.

   Wait until the system makes copies of the VM disks to work with and mounts them.

   

8. In the file and folder browser dialog:

   1. Select where to restore files and folders to.

      If you selected Component Files, you can restore only to the appliance network share.

      If you selected Contained Files, you can restore to the current VM client, or to a different VM client, or to the appliance network share.

      To restore to a VM client, the VM must be registered with appliance, powered on, and run the version of the VMware Tools for the managing entity (vCenter, ESXi, or else) it belongs to. Also, you have to provide credentials of an admin account available on the VM to gain access to the file system and save the restored files.

   2. Select files and folders to restore.

   3. Click Restore to start restoring, and wait for the process to complete.