cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Symantec System Recovery 2013 - restore to new VM

wakatashi
Level 3

We're running Symantec System Recovery 2013 on Windows Server 2012.  It's scheduled to create recovery point sets with a "full" backup once a week, then "incremental" ones in between.  That's all working fine, and we can restore individual files from the backups with no problems.

However, we'd also like this to work as a form of disaster recovery, in that if the building were to burn down, we'd like to be able to restore an offsite copy of the latest recovery point to a new virtual machine at a datacentre.  I've been testing this process by creating a new VM, and booting with the Symantec Recovery DVD to perform the restore.  Although the restore process runs to completion, there seems to be a problem with drivers, and the newly-created VM doesn't boot properly to Windows.  The "Restore Anywhere" feature of Symantec System Recovery 2013 is definitely enabled.

The newly-created VM gets most of the way through the initial boot process but, before the logon screen is reached, an alert box appears "Windows Setup could not configure Windows to run on this computer's hardware".  I'm using the latest version of Oracle Virtualbox for the VM host, with default virtual hardware, which normally Windows Server 2012 supports with no problems.  I've also tried using a virtual IDE drive or virtual SCSI drive for my VM, instead of the default SATA virtual hardware.  The original physical server has an Fujitsu SAS 6Gb/s RAID 5/6 512MB (D2616) Adapter and a RAID-5 array.

I've also tried using the feature built in to Symantec System Recovery which allows the conversion of the latest recovery point to a VHD file.  I've tried the file it creates both with Virtualbox and with "proper" Hyper-V running under Windows Server 2012 R2, and in both cases I get the same error message when the VM boots.

I'm not clear why this isn't working - any ideas, please?  I'm assuming it's something to do with mass storage drivers, but perhaps I'm barking up the wrong tree?

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions

wakatashi
Level 3

The issue isn't resolved.  I'm still unsure whether Symantec Tech. Support will allow us to open a support case regarding this without giving them some money first.  They require proof of purchase, but it's more complicated than it might be because it's not separately itemised on the invoice.

The forum moderators are keen to close this thread, so I'll do that for now, and open a new, identical thread if it transpires that we're unable to open a support case.

View solution in original post

11 REPLIES 11

TRaj
Level 6
Employee Accredited

is it NTFS or REFS volume ? if it is REFS it will not support Incremental backups

Please check this : https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/blogs/symantec-system-recovery-2013-supports-windows-server-...

wakatashi
Level 3

All partitions are NTFS, and both full and incremental backups are working fine.  I can restore individual files fine.  The problem is when I try to restore an entire recovery point to a newly-created virtual machine.

criley
Moderator
Moderator
Employee Accredited

Oracle Virtualbox as the VM host is not officially supported - see here: http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH201318.

However, you mention you see the same issue with Hyper-V on Windows 2012 R2. I would recommend you open a support case for this.

wakatashi
Level 3

Thanks Chris.  Presumably all licensed users are able to create support cases - it's not a chargeable extra, is it?

criley
Moderator
Moderator
Employee Accredited

Just having a license doesn't necessarily mean you also have access to support.

If you are not sure about this, phone in and check:

http://www.symantec.com/support/techsupp_contact_phone.jsp

TRaj
Level 6
Employee Accredited

Please mark the post as solved if all your queries are answered !

wakatashi
Level 3

I will, but it's been the weekend so I haven't had a chance to contact the phone number Chris suggested above.  My query is not answered at the moment at all - I still have the same non-functioning product in a supported environment.  Give us a chance!

wakatashi
Level 3

When I call the support number, an automated prompt asks if I have a "Customer ID" or a "Support ID".  Since I wasn't aware of having either, I waited until I was connected to a support agent.  It seems that support is a chargeable extra.  Having said that, he was very helpful, gave me his e-mail address and asked me to forward proof of purchase for the product and a description of the problem, and he'd "see what he can do".

So the jury's out on whether Symantec Tech. Support will be willing to open a support case without further payment.  I'll update this post when I have more news, and if there's a resolution, I'll post it here too.

wakatashi
Level 3

The issue isn't resolved.  I'm still unsure whether Symantec Tech. Support will allow us to open a support case regarding this without giving them some money first.  They require proof of purchase, but it's more complicated than it might be because it's not separately itemised on the invoice.

The forum moderators are keen to close this thread, so I'll do that for now, and open a new, identical thread if it transpires that we're unable to open a support case.

TRaj
Level 6
Employee Accredited

Please don't take this wrong , but the way you posted about trying to determine wheather or not tech support will speak to the customer in order to get the original invoice could have been posted prior forum moderaters asking you to mark the comment as solved.
We are not keen to close the thread we are just keen to understand issues of the customers are resolved.
As after some comments many customers fail to respond back.

You need to hold shift and tic on the restore anywhere bow. This should open a window for you to turn off/on windows mini setup. Could be one of the other tic boxes in the restore proccess but it is there. Just hold shift and tic or un-tic the box.