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Undo FSAUtility restore operation?

voxg
Level 3

Hello,

I was troubleshooting some archived files that would not open as habitual. When I tried to restore the folder on which the files were using the FSAUtility command, it would end with the following error message:

"Error: The path \\fileserver\d$\parent folder\child folder\grand-child folder is not associated with an archived volume. If you migrated placeholders to this location, let the File System Archiving task process the volume, then stop the task and re-run this command"

So what I did was to restore the parent folder, which ran successfully, however it restored folders that had been moved around (migrated) in the last 6 months to different locations.

What's the easiest way to undo this operation without losing current data?

Thank you.

14 REPLIES 14

plaudone1
Level 6
Employee

Hi voxg,

FSAUtility will restore data to the path where it was originally archived as FSA does not perform moved item reconcilliation. The only way to remove the data is manually.  If the task was run with a full logging mode (-l 0) then all the paths should be within the log file under the Reports > FSAUtility folder.  

Regards,

Patrick 

Hi Voxg

I've been there done that and have the t-shirt  unfortunately the FSAUtitliy is limited when it comes to restoring file archives.

Are you archiving using Place Holders or Internet links?

Hi Voxg

If you archiving using place holders the items would restore to the location where the Place holder are currently. Now with internet shortcuts it a different story as when you restore it, it will restore to the location it was originally archive.
We have a tool that can assist you. PM me with your details and we can contact you to assist.

Where do I check to see if I'm using Place Holders or Internet links?

Hi Voxg

On your file server that you are archiving. you will see the differences a place holder would look like the original items with a small x in the image if I’m not mistaken I have not worked with it for some time. the internet shortcut would look a a normal web link with the file name of the item it has archived

Hello,

They are “placeholders”. Archived files are greyed and have a small x on them.

So, if I understand this archiving process... If you move a folder that contains placeholders of archived files, you won't be able to open (recall) or restore them with FSAUtility??

Thank you.

Hi

If I’m not mistaken if a placeholder is moved from one location to another on the same file server it should work fine with retrieval. The same go for restore as it should restore the item in it current location.

Only if you where using internet links the items would be restored to it orignal location where it was archive.

Has the file been migrated to a new  file server has the new server been added to the VSA

I think I missed the hold point here, you have already restored the items but its has restored all items and now you want to remove the file that were restored. Unfortunately you will need to remove the files manually. if the placeholders remain and have not been deleted you can short by file and delete the files not needed

Hello,

One of the top folders of the file system has been renamed, for example :

D:\Data\SharedFolder has been renamed to D:\Data\GroupFolder.

All archived files (with the x symbol) under the new name would not open at this new location.

And when I tried to restore using the FSAUtility it would end with the "is not associated with an archived volume" error message.

What do you recommend?

 

That's correct, the files have already been restored but it has restored files and folders that had previously changed location.

Since I didn't use the -l 0 option, the FSAUtility XML log file doesn't show much, therefore I don't know which files have been restored that happen to already exist elsewhere.

We also have NetBackup, and I was looking at the backup "shapshot" of the directory tree before I did the FSAUtility restore. But it's tedious and time consuming to go through each folder and subfolder and compare it with the backup image in order to determine which files and folders do delete.

What would you suggest?

plaudone1
Level 6
Employee

Hi,

Are you using the old name in the command for FSAUtility?  You would have to use a re-directed destination since the original is no longer present.  For instance: 

fsautility -s \\server\share\folder -d \\server\share\newfolder 

Regards,

Patrick 

plaudone1
Level 6
Employee

Hi, 

You could run the restore in report mode adding the -r option to the command.  This will give you a list of all the items that should be restored and the paths.  You may be able to get more information from that report as to where the items are located. 

Regards,

Patrick 

Hello,

I've just ran the restore in report mode using the -r option to the command and it generated a list of all files that had been restored in my previous operation.

Now how do I know which files and folders were restored that didn't exist previously in that location previous to the restore, for example because they were moved, renamed or deleted?

plaudone1
Level 6
Employee

Hi,

There is no real way to know where the folder/files were moved to as they are not tracked in the database.  It only maintains where the item was when archived.  If a shortcut is found in another location it is not archived or checked to see if has moved. 

Regards,

Patrick