TOTAL DISASTER

Hi ​@skytouch-usa,

This scenario should work using a bare-metal recovery, here’s the link: How to Perform Bare Metal Recovery - Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows Guide

You need to have access to the recovery media you created from time to time (when upgrading the version e.g.), you insert the media into the new VMs and just run through the wizard as described in the article. Of course you need to have your Wasabi credentials for the bucket available.

Also I suggest to think about using Veeam Backup & Replication (also available in the Community Edition) when backing up VMs because this can make life easier. If you need some hints on that, just let us know.

I always recommend my customers to think about recovery strategies before running into an actual disaster (pre-planning) to aviod having massive RTOs - this is of course not an offence. :-)

Hope that helps. For more details just let us know.

Take care!

Best regards from Germany

Lukas

Hi and thank you for the reply ​@lukas.k .

Yes we have thought about recovery strategies, as we have recovered over HUNDEREDS of on-prem Windows Servers and Workstations using Veeam Agent

Yes we also have thought of connecting the recovery media in the USB slot of the DELL host, running esxi, and when we create a new VM with hard disks and resources, when we boot from the recovery media, most of the time there's no connection (gateway access), yes we have loaded NIC card drivers, and do so many various attempts, but never has access when searching for the media through esxi, to another repository where a local IP or offsite.

We tried this. 

Ok this seems to be an ESXi / vSphere issue. So do I get you right that you can boot from the recovery media within the VM and the wizard is starting up but it has no connection to access Wasabi, correct?

No connection to Wasabi, neither to any local IP (using NAS) with hybrid images on it created by Veeam.

Yes we are plugged into a local and functional Network, NO we are not being blocked by any firewalls (hate when people ask that), its pretty much an open network. Yes we can ping the host or a test server we would like to test this recovery on until we get the new server in hand.

So the network is there. When we recover like this as you mentioned, even in the past, a year ago, 2 years ago, in other and different situations, mounting the recovery media to the vm, and booting from that YES bring up the wizard, but the local NIC is not discovered.

Now, cant be an esxi/vmware issue because if we got this far, We are already on the system and esxi OS has been installed, which means it has a local IP on the physical NIC, sufficient Subnet, Gateway and DNS. We can hit the vmware GUI from anywhere in the office. Veeam just cant see the NIC - ever. Even in the past

Our only hope if this doesnt work is to fire up and build a Backup and Recovery 12 machine and try somehow to import the backups from Wasabi to migrate them to a new host

As far as I understand you have a VM on that you run the recovery media and the restore wizard. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

First of all - please open a Veeam support ticket. I recommend this as first action in case of any outages or failures, this is “just” a community section: Veeam Customer Support Portal

While the support is investigating the only way I can imagine that could help is (based on a Nutanix AHV Windows VM setup - as weird as it sounds):

Insert the recovery media into the VM, boot up, launch the wizard. As soon as you can pick a network / a driver (not 100% sure if you can pick a driver), try to mount a VMware tool ISO (or use the vSphere function) and select the driver from the image. If it doesn’t work or you can’t go through please try to repeat the steps but make sure that the E1000E network adapter is selected for the VM. By default in newer versions the vmxnet3 should be selected but this often required drivers - that you be an issue.

If that works please make sure to switch back after the restore.

By “switching” it can be required to delete the old vmxnet3-based netadapter and create a new one using E1000E but it could be an idea to simply create a second one for the VM with E1000E and remove it afterwards. Not sure if that works but worth a try.

Yes correct, We build a VM, because we need resources as though it was a new machine right>? We mount the recovery media as an ISO we have saved … and thats where we get nowhere .. ALWAYS

I can try all this for sure. A bit in depth, but haven't tried.

As for opening up a support ticket, I have done so many times. No one really deals with it, or take heart to your issue unless you mortgaged out your life and have paid Veeam 10’s of thousand of dollars in licenses. 

But I will try your steps and see if I get anywhere. This is one thing I haven't tried.

Just to add here the products are not mine so unsure why I was tagged the way I was.  If you are having issues accessing other boards then the administrators can help but there are boards that you cannot unless you are in a certain group.  I hope you resolve your issue.

Calm is needed in such cases ​@skytouch-usa 
What do you see in the Wasabi bucket with software like ‘CloudBerry Explorer’ ?

Just for the record

https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/agentforwindows/userguide/howto_baremetal_recovery.html?ver=60

Also, would be a good idea if you can check your backups, if you cannot recover the VMs, 
at least to see the data that conteins the backups:
Files and folders.
Have you tried to add the wasabi repo to a VBR Server, and explore those backups?
Have you tried to create a new VM, install the Veeam Agent, and explore the repos?

File level recovery isnt the best choice, but with some imagination, you can restore the data, or the disks as vmdk and create the vm attaching them, etc.

I normally not install agents in VMs when supported by VBR, prefer to run a little VBR and backup the Vms entirely with Veeam Backup and Replication.

Last comment, personal:

This is a community, we try to help and assist everybody with our best effort.

Also, we dont point with the finger nobody, so please dont do that.
Last, I do believe in findig a solution, not the gilty.

keep us posted,

Cheers.