Topic
This article provides instruction for the image restore process for cloud and NAS backups.
Environment
Description
Image Restores Explained
The image restore process for cloud backups and NAS backups is similar to the process of file/folder restores, with the exception that the number of files that the NinjaOne Backup tool needs to process is limited to the number of volumes being restored. For example, if the backup plan creates 3 volumes, the tool would need to process a total of 3 files.
This also depends on the number of revisions that have been created for a given plan and how many changes there may have been at up until the point-in-time being restored. For example, if the plan is retaining 30 revisions and the primary drive has had many changes over the course of those 30 backups, then the image restore tool may need to access up to 30 different versions of the file in order to complete the restore.
Several factors need to be considered when evaluating the speed of a restore:
- The type of restore (offline restores will take longer than other restores due to the process required to create and store the archives).
- Offline restores are typically not recommended because it is a more complicated process that can significantly increase restore time.
- The speed of the target disk (restore target).
- For NAS restores, the speed of the disk on the NAS device.
- The speed of the internet connection or LAN connection.
- The stability of the connection.
- The CPU speed available for decompression and decryption.
- The destination disk must be larger than the original partition size.
As an example, if you have a 1GB network speed (high) but are restoring to a VM with 1 core and 2 GB of memory (low), this restore job may be slow to complete even though the network speed is high.
Performing Image Restores
Image Restore Manager
The first step to perform an image restore is to download the Image Restore Manager. There are two different locations where the Image Restore Manager may be downloaded.
Option 1
Navigate to Administration > Library > Downloads and click the link to download the Image Restore Manager.
Option 2
Navigate to a device with NinjaOne Backup enabled, hover over the backup icon (
), and select Download Image Restore Manager.
Image Authorization Key
You will also need an Image Authorization Key for the device whose data you would like to restore. An Image Authorization Key can be generated by following the same steps for Option 2 above. You will be prompted to set an expiration period when generating the Image Authorization Key. The default expiration period is 14 days.
Once an Image Authorization Key has been generated for a device, it can also be manually invalidated by hovering the backup icon for the device () > Invalidate Image Authorization Key. Please note that doing so will invalidate all generated image authorization keys for the device.
- An image authorization key can only be used one time. Once an authorization key has been used to grab the backup data, it cannot be used again.
- Multiple image authorization keys may be generated for a device.
When an Image Restore Key is created or invalidated it will display in the System Activities pane
Restore Options
Once you have downloaded the Image Restore Manager tool, you will see two different restore options and some restore functions under the Utilities section:
Restore Options:
Utilities:
Create Bootable Media for Image Restores
This option allows you to create bootable media that contains the Image Restore tool, which in turn allows you to boot a machine and perform a bare metal restore.
Browse to select the destination for your ISO image or select a USB flash drive from the dropdown menu. All available removable drives will automatically populate in this dropdown.
Additional drivers to install with the bootable media may also be selected here, when applicable. You must have the Windows ADK installed in order to inject drivers.
Indicate whether you are restoring Windows 10 (NinjaRE-10) or Windows 11 (NinjaRE-11). If you are restoring from Windows 11 use Win-RE11. For all other versions use WinRE-10.
Finally, select whether or not to continue with the bootable media creation process if errors are encountered, and click Create.
When creating a bootable USB or ISO, NinjaOne hosts a customized version of WinPE, which is how Microsoft refers to preinstallation environment (PE) images created on Windows 10 or newer. The compatibility of the image is the same as PE and the creation steps are similar, with the difference being the packages that can be enabled.
To boot the USB media, make sure the USB drive is selected as the boot drive in your BIOS. Then, follow the prompts on the screen to perform a bare metal restore.
Restoring to Hyper-V Virtual Machine
If you are restoring to a Hyper-V virtual machine, you must choose the appropriate generation of VM. To get information on making the correct choice, navigate in the NinjaOne console to the machine you are attempting to restore. Go to Backup > Manage > select your image plan. Take note of the Disk Layout of the volume your Windows operating system is installed on (usually C:).
- If the disk layout is MBR, you must choose Generation 1 for your virtual machine.
- If the disk layout is GPT, you must choose Generation 2 for your virtual machine.
This only applies to virtual machines running on Hyper-V. The rest of this documentation still applies to the remaining restore needs.
Restore Volume(s) or Disk(s)
This option allows you to recover full disks or individual volumes directly from the cloud, or from a local storage device (depending on where backup data is stored). You also have the option to restore from an offline image archive.
To begin the restore process:
- Select the source of the restore and enter a Restore Authorization Key.
- When using a downloaded image as the source, if you opted to download the image in non-.nja format, you can opt to select the JSON file and specified VHDX files to restore only specified volumes. Otherwise, simply select the .nja file only.
- Choose which plan and restore point you want to download. A preview of the backup content will be available in the window on the right.
- Drag and drop the backed-up data to its destination disk. You can choose to either drag an entire disk to a destination, or individual volumes.
Note that the disk initialization type must match between the original and destination disks (MBR or GPT). You can change the disk initialization type by clicking on a destination disk, clicking the trash can icon, and changing the disk initialization type in the dropdown menu.
- If a volume is dragged to a disk that does not have a boot partition, you will be prompted to choose whether to automatically add one.
- If a volume is dragged to a disk that does not have a boot partition, you will be prompted to choose whether to automatically add one.
- Finally, review and confirm the restore plan.
- Within the Image Restore Manager, if you drag and drop an individual volume, it will restore the volume. However, if you drag and drop the full disk, this will wipe the disk. It also may not keep the original drive letter since it is being restored.
- In the summary screen displayed for reviewing and confirming the restore, anything marked with an X is eliminated and anything with a + will be added.
Utilities: Downloading Offline Image for Use by Bootable Media
This option allows you to download a backup image from the cloud or a hybrid location and save it to a local storage device for use in an offline restore.
- This process is for customers who need to restore a specific file or folder from an Image Plan that is using a Local Only backup destination.
- If an Image Plan has the Backup Destination set to 'Local Only' users are required to download the entire partition where the needed file/folder resides.
- This process downloads a .VHDX file that contains the entirety of the backed-up data for the selected partition, so users must confirm that the device on which they are performing the download has enough space on the drive to download the file.
To begin the download process:
- Enter a Restore Authorization Key and choose where to download the image archive to and then click Select to proceed.
You can also opt to save the archive to .nja format, which in turn allows you to extract the VHDX files and layout files as standalone (which can be done using most archiving tools). You will be prompted with the following confirmation if you opt to do so:
- If you opt to not save the download in .nja format, then your files will be in the non-compressed, raw VHDX and JSON layout format. Alternatively, if you just need to cherry-pick files out of your image, you can use the cloud mounting option.
- Next, choose which plan and restore point you want to download. Then, choose the partition where the file/folder that you need to restore resides. A preview of the backup content will be available in the window on the right.
- Click Select to proceed.
- Confirm that all information is correct and then click Download to begin downloading the image.
- Once the download is complete, navigate to the download location of the .VHDX file.
- Right click the Hard Disk Image File(.VHDX) and select the Mount option.
This assigns a drive letter and allows you to navigate to and retrieve the needed file/folder.
Utilities: Injecting Drivers on Any Windows Installation Volume
This option allows you to add additional drivers to an offline Windows installation. When restoring on a physical device, it is important to note that the only network drivers available to the PE image are those that are shipped by default with Windows. Additional drivers are sometimes necessary when restoring to dissimilar hardware.
To begin the process of injecting drivers:
- Enter the path for the existing offline Windows installation and the path containing the drivers to install.
- Choose whether to continue the driver injection upon errors being encountered, and whether to include sub-folders from the path containing the drivers. You must have the Windows ADK installed in order to inject drivers.
Image Restore Resume
NinjaOne provides the ability to resume a restore job that has been cancelled or interrupted.
When an image restore is in progress and the partition is less than two terabytes, the system will create a staking point (or "checkpoint") every 5 minutes. Partitions greater than two terabytes have a 10-minute interval for staking points. If you click Cancel on an image restore, the system will make a last attempt to update the staking points. When resuming the image restore, you will pick up on the most recent staking point.
- The image restore manager must be online and have a working connection.
- Staking points can only lock in at a resumable point as long as it's fully continuous. If there is a thread that hasn't been fully committed, the progress for that will not be saved.
- You don't need a new restore token to resume.
- The image restore manager may also stake bytes on a disk, so it may start at a specific partition rather than at a checkpoint.
- Image restore resume is not compatible with offline sources at this time. It must be cloud or hybrid.
- Image Restore Key Activities creates system level activities when an Image Restore Key is created and invalidated.
- An activity message when someone resumes an image restore job: "Image restore resumed for Plan_Name on node Node_Name. The settings exist in Policy editor > Activities > Backup as "Image Restore Resumed."
To resume an image restore job:
- Start an image restore.
- Follow through the steps by clicking Select.
- Select the checkbox to agree to execute.
- Once the job has stopped and you receive an activity log notifying of the event, you can click Resume Previous Resume Job.
- Click Continue and go through the mapping steps.
Once you agree to execute, you will lose the previous staking point and resume where it previously left off. It may take a few moments for the data to be retrieved from the cloud. The Image Restore in Progress window displays the progress and details of the image restoration. 