x360Recover - How to recover a protected system from the vault to a new appliance

If your appliance has failed entirely, or if the appliance storage pool has failed, you can recover protected systems from the vault. This recovery process includes the following steps:

• Stop and disable the x360Recoveragent service on the protected systems.
• Replace disks on the faulty appliance or prepare a new appliance.
• Recover protected systems from the vault.
• Enable and start the x360Recover agent service on the protected system.
• Verify that backups and replications begin for each protected system.

Note: Ensure the vault and the new appliance have both been upgraded to the latest x360Recover version.

Note on minimum storage space requirements: When migrating a protected system from one device to another (appliance to appliance, or vault to vault) the protected system data is first sent to the new device and stored in the aristosbay folder, and then imported into the ZFS pool.  Because of this, the new BDR device needs to have enough storage space to hold both copies of the data during the migration process. Since data is stored twice on the receiving unit while a migration is in flight, the new unit must have enough total capacity to hold all of the protected systems you wish to migrate and still retain enough free space to hold a second copy of the largest protected system being migrated

Step 1: Stop and Disable the x360Recover Agent on Protected Systems

As a first step, you will need to stop and disable the x360Recover agent on each protected system being protected by the faulty appliance.

1. On the protected system (local machine), launch Windows Services.

2. Find the x360Recover agent service, right-click the service, and select Stop. x360Recover backups are now paused.

3. Right-click the x360Recover agent service and select Properties.

4. In the Startup Type drop-down menu, select Disabled.

5. Click OK to save your settings. The x360Recover agent service is now disabled.

Step 2a: Replace Disks on the Faulty Appliance (Option A)

If the original appliance is still working but requires new disks, you will need to install replacement disks and create a new storage pool.

1. Log in to the original appliance web interface.

2. In the left-hand navigation menu, click the Protected Systems tab. 

3. In the Protected Systems page, click the delete icon next to each protected system.

Note: Do not delete replication configurations; only delete each protected system that displays in the Protected Systems page.

4. To destroy an existing storage pool on your device, please contact Axcient Support for assistance. Enable Remote Assist on the target device (as well as on your Manangement Portal) and open a ticket requesting that the storage pool be destroyed.

5. When you are ready, return to the appliance web interface and create a new storage pool. For instructions, please reference the Managing the Storage Pool Knowledgebase article.

Step 2b: Prepare a New Appliance (Option B)

Alternatively, if the appliance has completely failed, you will need to provision and configure a new appliance.

Note: The new appliance should be configured to have the same IP address as the old appliance. If this is not possible, you will need to edit the aristos.cfg file on each protected system (located within the agent installation folder) and update it with the new IP address.

1. Install the x360Recover software onto the new appliance and configure appliance settings. For complete instructions, please reference the Install the x360Recover OS Knowledgebase article.

Note: The new appliance must be configured for the same customer account as the previous appliance, but the location assigned can be different. 

Important: The customer/location containing the protected systems to be recovered must be active within the license portal in order to perform a vault recovery. DO NOT delete the original customer location. If you Factory Reset the original appliance, (which will deactivate the location,)  you must provision the new appliance to the original location to re-activate it.

If you provision the new appliance to a new location, complete the vault recovery of all protected systems before deleting the location in the license portal, or factory resetting the original appliance.

2. In the left-hand navigation menu, click the Manage Storage tab and create a new storage pool. For instructions, please reference the Managing the Storage Pool Knowledgebase article.

3. In the left-hand navigation menu, click the Protected Systems tab. Make sure the Protected Systems page does not list any protected systems.

Step 3a: Recover Over the Internet (Option A)

After the faulty appliance is fixed, you can recover protected systems from the vault. You can recover over the Internet or using a USB device.

If you are planning to recover over the Internet, complete the steps below. These steps apply to both Axcient-hosted and self-hosted vaults.

Note: We recommend that you perform recovery on only one protected system at a time. 

1. Log in to the Appliance Web interface.

2. In the left-hand navigation menu, click the Protected Systems tab.

3. In the Protected Systems page, click the Recover button.

4. In the Recover Protected System pop-up window, enter the Vault IP address or URL (without https). Click the Test Connection button to confirm that the appliance can communicate with the vault.

5. When prompted, enter the Customer Location and the appropriate Protected System. Click the Recover button when you are finished.

Note: If no protected systems are listed, ensure that you entered the correct vault URL, and that you selected the correct customer account when provisioning the new appliance.

6. Repeat these steps for each protected system. We recommend that you perform recovery on only one protected system at a time.

Step 3b: Recover from an Axcient-Hosted Vault Using a USB Device (Option B)

You can also recover from an Axcient-hosted vault using a USB device.

Note: We recommend that you perform recovery on only one Protected System at a time. 

1. Open a ticket with Axcient Support, requesting a USB Recovery device for your Protected Systems. You will be billed for this service. Ensure you include:

• The full vault URL,
• The Protected System names,
• Shipping instructions, and
• An encryption password to be used.

Note: Do not lose this password. We cannot recover this password, and if it is lost, you will need to request a new USB Recovery device.

2. When you receive the USB device in the mail, attach the USB device to the appliance.

3. Log in to the Appliance Web interface.

4. In the left-hand navigation menu, click the Protected Systems tab.

5. In the Protected Systems page, click the Import button.

6. In the Import Protected System pop-up window, select the USB device, the Protected System, and the Encryption Password you configured.

7. Click the Import button when you are finished.

8. To monitor the import process, click the Jobs tab and then click the Systemsubtab.

9. Verify the import process was successful and that the Protected System is listed on the Protected Systems page.

10. Repeat these steps for each Protected System.

Step 3c: Recover from a Self-Hosted Vault Using a USB Device (Option C)

You can also recover from a self-hosted vault using a USB device.

Note: We recommend that you perform recovery on only one Protected System at a time. 

1. Attach a USB device to the vault.

2. Log in to the Vault Web interface.

3. In the left-hand navigation menu, click the Protected System tab.

4. In the Protected System page, find a Protected System you want to recover and click its Action button.

5. In the Protected System Details page, click the Recover – USB button.

6. In the Recover Through USB pop-up window, select the USB mount point and then configure an Encryption Password.

Note: Do not lose this password. We cannot recover this password, and if it is lost, you will need to request a new USB Recovery device.

7. Click the Recover button when you are finished.

8. To monitor the import process, click the Jobs tab and then click the System subtab.

9. When the recovery process completes, attach the USB device to the appliance.

10. Log in to the Appliance Web interface.

11. In the left-hand navigation menu, click the Protected Systems tab.

12. In the Protected Systems page, click the Import button.

13. In the Import Protected System pop-up window, select the USB device, the Protected System, and the Encryption Password when prompted.

14. Click the Import button when you are finished.

15. To monitor the import process, click the Jobs tab and then click the System subtab.

16. Verify the import process was successful and that the Protected System is listed on the Protected Systems page.

17. Repeat these steps for each Protected System.

Step 4: Verify Backups and Replication

After the recovery process is complete, the appliance will perform a full backup of the Protected System during the next backup cycle. When the full backup is complete, incremental backups and replication will automatically start as well.

Note: The full backup will be deduped and only changed data will be sent to the appliance and replicated to the vault.

To enable and verify backups and replication:

1. On each Protected System, launch Windows Services.

2. Right-click the x360Recover Agent Service and select Properties.

3. In the Startup Type drop-down menu, select Automatic and click OK to save your settings.

4. Find the x360Recover Agent Service, right-click the service, and select Start.

5. Log in to the Appliance Web interface and verify that all Protected Systems have registered with the appliance. 

a. Click the Protected Systems tab and verify that the Protected System is listed. 

Note: If the Protected System is not listed, check the aristos.log file within the agent installation directory on the Protected System for errors.

6. Verify that backups and replication have resumed:

a. Click the Jobs tab to verify that a full backup is in progress. Incremental backups will resume as well.

Note: The x360Recover agent should immediately begin a full scan of the Protected System; however, only incremental changes will be stored to the appliance.

b. Click the Schedule tab to verify that the schedule has been imported correctly.

c. Click the Protected System tab and then click the Action button.  In the Protected System Details page, click the Replication button and verify that replication has been imported correctly.

d. If applicable, click the Vault Settings tab to create a vault schedule. You can then return to the Protected Systems Details page and enable replication to the vault.

 

 

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