Restoring individual files or folders

You can restore one or more individual files or folders to an instance or to a target.

Depending on where you want to restore individual files or folders, see one of the following topics:

To access the Instances panel, in the navigation pane, click  Instances. Alternatively, in the Dashboard panel, click the Instances widget.

Restoring files or folders to an instance

You can restore one or more individual files or folders to the same or a new location on the original instance, or to a custom location on a different instance.

Prerequisites

  • The instance to which you are restoring data is up and running.
  • The target disk volume uses one of the supported file systems. For details, see the HYCU for Google Cloud Compatibility Matrix.

  • In the Google Cloud Console, there is a network firewall rule applied to the instances—either to the entire network or to individual instances through the use of network tags. For each target instance, the rule must allow ingress network traffic through a specific TCP port from the entire subnetwork that the instance belongs to. The port number depends on the guest operating system of the instance and connection server configuration:

    • GNU/Linux: TCP port 22 (or a different port if configured for SSH communication)

    • Microsoft Windows: TCP port 5986 (or a different port if configured for WinRM communication)

    Optionally, you can make the network firewall rule more restrictive so that it allows network traffic only from legitimate sources and to legitimate targets. To do so, add hycu-network-tag to the network firewall rule.

    For instructions on how to configure and apply the network firewall rule, see Google Cloud documentation.

  • For Linux instances:

    • On the original instance, an SSH server is installed and configured to use a TCP port (by default, 22) for SSH communication. The firewall is configured to enable inbound network traffic through this port.

    • Only if the SSH server is configured to use a non‑default TCP port or public key authentication, or OS Login is enabled on the instance in Google Compute Engine. An appropriate credential group is assigned to the original instance.

  • For Windows instances:

    • On the original instance, WinRM is configured to use a TCP port (by default, 5986) for HTTPS or HTTP communication. The firewall is configured to enable inbound network traffic through this port.
    • An appropriate credential group is assigned to the original instance, and the supplied credentials belong to a user account with sufficient privileges. Credential group assignment is performed automatically by HYCU for Google Cloud. For instructions on how to manually assign credential groups, see “Enabling access to data”.
    • Only if you plan to restore individual files or folders to a different instance. The discovery status of the instance to which you want to restore the individual files or folders is .

Limitations

  • You cannot restore individual files or folders located on an extended Master Boot Record (MBR) partition to their original location.

  • For restoring files or folders to a different instance:

    • You can restore individual files or folders only to an instance that is running the same operating system as the original instance and that belongs to the same protection set as the original instance.
    • Only if you plan to enable the Restore ACL option. An LDAP directory service or any similar directory information service is configured.

Considerations

  • HYCU for Google Cloud considers folders as containers of the file system objects. This means that in a restore task:

    • Folders are never renamed.

    • Folder access control lists (ACLs) are never restored and the original folder ACLs are kept on the file system.

  • For details on how the restored individual files or folders are named, see “Appendix A: Objects created by the service”.

  • For Linux instances: Depending on whether the instance has a credential group assigned in HYCU for Google Cloud, the following user accounts are used for the restore task:

    • No credential group is assigned: The HYCU Managed Service Account (HMSA).

    • A credential group is assigned: The user account that is specified in the credential group.

Restoring files or folders to the original instance

Procedure

  1. In the Instances panel, click the instance that contains the files or folders that you want to restore. The Details section appears at the bottom of the screen.

    n Note  The Details section appears only if you click an instance. Selecting the check box before the name of the instance does not open the Details section.

  2. In the Details section, select the desired restore point, and then click  Restore Files.

    If needed, click or to move between the pages, or enter a page number to go directly to that page. You can also adjust the number of items shown in a page.

  3. In the File Restore Options dialog box, select Restore to original instance, and then click Next.

  4. In the Restore Settings dialog box, do the following:

    1. From the Restore from drop-down menu, select which tier you want to use for the restore. Your restore point can contain one or more tiers among which you can select:

      • Automatic: This option ensures the fastest and most cost-effective restore.

      • Backup (Snapshot)

      • Backup (Target)

      • Copy

      • Archive—(daily, weekly, monthly, yearly)

    2. In the Disks drop-down menu, make sure only the disks with the files or folders that you want to restore are selected.
    3. Click Next.

  5. In the Choose Files and Folders dialog box, from the list of available files and folders, select the ones that you want to restore, and then click Next.

    If needed, click or to move between the pages, or enter a page number to go directly to that page. You can also adjust the number of items shown in a page.

    t Tip  You can also search for a file or a folder by entering its name in the Search field and then pressing Enter.

  6. In the Restore to Instance dialog box, do the following:

    1. Select the location on the instance where you want to restore the files or folders, and provide the required information:

      • Original location

        Select how the restore should save the files when there is a file with the same name at the original location (overwrite the file, rename the original file, or rename the restored file).

        For naming conventions, see “Appendix A: Objects created by the service”.

      • Alternate location

        Specify the path to an alternate location on the instance in the following format:

        • Linux:

          /<Path>/<FolderName>

        • Windows:

          <DriveLetter>:\<Path>\<FolderName>

        The restored file overwrites the file with the same name that might exist at the alternate location.

    2. Use the Restore ACL switch if you want to restore the original access control list. If enabled, HYCU for Google Cloud preserves original ACLs. If disabled, HYCU for Google Cloud applies inherited ACLs on the restored files (according to the file system ACL inheritance rules).

  7. Click Restore.

Restoring files or folders to a different instance

Procedure

  1. In the Instances panel, click the instance that contains the files or folders that you want to restore. The Details section appears at the bottom of the screen.

    n Note  The Details section appears only if you click an instance. Selecting the check box before the name of the instance does not open the Details section.

  2. In the Details section, select the desired restore point, and then click  Restore Files.

    If needed, click or to move between the pages, or enter a page number to go directly to that page. You can also adjust the number of items shown in a page.

  3. In the File Restore Options dialog box, select Restore to different instance, and then click Next.

  4. In the Restore Settings dialog box, do the following:

    1. From the Restore from drop-down menu, select which tier you want to use for the restore. Your restore point can contain one or more tiers among which you can select:

      • Automatic: This option ensures the fastest and most cost-effective restore.

      • Backup (Snapshot)

      • Backup (Target)

      • Copy

      • Archive—(daily, weekly, monthly, yearly)

    2. In the Disks drop-down menu, make sure only the disks with the files or folders that you want to restore are selected.

    3. From the Project drop-down menu, select the project that contains the instance to which you want to restore data.

      n Note  The list of available projects includes only the ones that belong to the currently selected protection set.

    4. From the Zone drop-down menu, select the zone to which the instance to which you want to restore data belongs.
    5. From the Instances drop-down menu, select the instance to which you want to restore data.
    6. Click Next.

  5. In the Choose Files and Folders dialog box, from the list of available files and folders, select the ones that you want to restore, and then click Next.

    If needed, click or to move between the pages, or enter a page number to go directly to that page. You can also adjust the number of items shown in a page.

    t Tip  You can also search for a file or a folder by entering its name in the Search field and then pressing Enter.

  6. In the Restore to Different Instance dialog box, do the following:

    1. Specify the path to a custom location on the instance to which you want to restore data in the following format:

      • Linux:

        /<Path>/<FolderName>

      • Windows:

        <DriveLetter>:\<Path>\<FolderName>

      The restored file overwrites the file with the same name that might exist at the custom location on the instance to which you want to restore data.

    2. Select how the restore should save the files when there is a file with the same name on the different instance (overwrite the file, rename the original file, or rename the restored file).

      For naming conventions, see “Appendix A: Objects created by the service”.

    3. Use the Restore ACL switch if you want to restore the original access control list. If enabled, HYCU for Google Cloud preserves original ACLs. If disabled, HYCU for Google Cloud applies inherited ACLs on the restored files (according to the file system ACL inheritance rules).

  7. Click Restore.

Restoring files or folders to a target

Prerequisite

At least one target is set up in the protection set that includes the project of the original instance. For information on how to add manually created targets, see “Adding a bucket to HYCU for Google Cloud as a target”.

Consideration

For details on how the restored individual files or folders are named, see “Appendix A: Objects created by the service”.

Procedure

  1. In the Instances panel, click the instance that contains the files or folders that you want to restore. The Details section appears at the bottom of the screen.

    n Note  The Details section appears only if you click an instance. Selecting the check box before the name of the instance does not open the Details section.

  2. In the Details section, select the desired restore point, and then click  Restore Files.

    If needed, click or to move between the pages, or enter a page number to go directly to that page. You can also adjust the number of items shown in a page.

  3. In the File Restore Options dialog box, select Restore to target, and then click Next.

  4. In the Restore Settings dialog box, do the following:

    1. From the Restore from drop-down menu, select which tier you want to use for the restore. Your restore point can contain one or more tiers among which you can select:

      • Automatic: This option ensures the fastest and most cost-effective restore.

      • Backup (Snapshot)

      • Backup (Target)

      • Copy

      • Archive—(daily, weekly, monthly, yearly)

    2. In the Disks drop-down menu, make sure only the disks with the files or folders that you want to restore are selected.
    3. Click Next.

  5. In the Choose Files and Folders dialog box, from the list of available files and folders, select the ones that you want to restore, and then click Next.

    If needed, click or to move between the pages, or enter a page number to go directly to that page. You can also adjust the number of items shown in a page.

    t Tip  You can also search for a file or a folder by entering its name in the Search field and then pressing Enter.

  6. From the Target name drop-down menu, select a target to which you want to restore data.

  7. Click Restore.