Run direct mount Backup and DR Workflows

The options you see when running an on-demand or scheduled direct mount Backup and DR Workflow depend on your application type.

Database applications

For database type applications, the direct mount on-demand run workflow page provides the following options for selection:

  • Provision New Virtual Application: Select this option if you want to create a new virtual application or database on a different server. You can also use this option to update or modify the options that were predefined in the Backup and DR Workflow, for example change the Backup and DR Workflow name.
  • Refresh an Existing Virtual Application: Select this option if you previously created a virtual application using this Backup and DR Workflow and now would like to refresh it, using a different point-in-time snapshot as the source.

Provision new virtual application

If you select Provision New Virtual Application, configure the new application by completing the following:

  1. Click the Source Image drop-down, and select an image.

  2. If the source application is protected by a snapshot policy that has enabled database log backups, and logs are available with the image, you can use them to roll forward to a specific point in time by changing these options in the Roll Forward Time section:

    • The date field contains all possible dates that the database can be rolled forward to—through the application of database transaction logs. Select which date you wish the database to be rolled forward to.
    • The time field contains a slider showing all possible times on the selected date that the database can be rolled forward to. If you select the latest possible date and then move the slider to the right most position, the job applies to all available logs. If you select the earliest possible date and move the slider to the left most position, the jobs apply no logs.
    • You can specify to roll forward using either User Time or Host Time. User Time is relative to the local time of the current user. Host Time is relative to the system that hosts the data to be mounted.

  3. From the Host drop-down, select the server on which to mount the image.

  4. Optionally, enable the Map to All Cluster Nodes option. You can see this option when one or more target hosts are a cluster node or a cluster host.

  5. You can see the following options only when one or more target hosts are VMware VMs:

    1. For Mount Mode, select one of the following:

      • NFS: By default NFS mode is selected. Backup and DR presents the data as a VMDK in an NFS datastore mounted from the backup/recovery appliance.
      • vRDM (virtual raw device mapping): VMware snapshots treat mounted vRDMs as independent and are not included in snapshots. Because of this, by default, Backup and DR does not include vRDMs when protecting a mounted VM. Backup and DR does provide an option where you can mark vRDMs as dependent. Although rarely used, when this option is enabled, vRDMs will be included in VMware snapshots. Backup templates can capture vRDMs marked as dependent. Note that this mount mode needs the ESXi host to have an iSCSI initiator, which by default is not enabled in Google Cloud VMware Engine.
      • pRDM (physical raw device mapping): For file-level restore operations, select this mode. Note that this mount mode needs the ESXi host to have an iSCSI initiator, which by default is not enabled in Google Cloud VMware Engine.

    2. From Map to ESX Hosts, select one of the following options. You can see the Map to ESX Hosts option only when you have selected vRDM or pRDM in the Mount Mode field.

      • One: Select One if you want to map only to the ESX host currently running the target VM.
      • Two: Select Two if you want to map to two ESX hosts, but not all ESX hosts in the cluster. On selecting Two, you are given the option to choose the second host, or choose Auto-select. Auto-select choose the second host based on logical pairs of ESX hosts and can always select the partner ESX host for the one currently running the target VM.
      • All: Select All if you want to map to all the ESX hosts present in the cluster. Note that selecting All may increase the duration for the job.

  6. Enable the Create New Virtual Application option and configure the new database. The options shown can vary depending on database types.

  7. Click Done to run the Backup and DR Workflow.

Refresh an existing virtual application

If you select Refresh an existing virtual application:

  1. From the Source Image drop-down, select an image to mount.

  2. If the source application is protected by a snapshot policy that has enabled database log backups, and logs are available with the image, you can use them to roll forward to a specific point in time by changing these options in the Roll Forward Time section:

    • The date field contains all possible dates that the database can be rolled forward to—through the application of database transaction logs. Select which date you want the database to be rolled forward to.
    • The time field contains a slider showing all possible times on the selected date that the database can be rolled forward to. If you select the latest possible date and then move the slider to the right most position, the job applies to all available logs. If you select the earliest possible date and move the slider to the left most position, the job can apply no logs.
    • You can specify to roll forward using either User Time or Host Time. User Time is relative to the local time of the current user. Host Time is relative to the system that hosts the data to be mounted.

  3. From the Host drop-down, select the server where the application is mounted.

  4. Select the application to refresh.

  5. Click Submit to refresh the Backup and DR Workflow.

All other applications

For all other applications, the On Demand Run Workflow page can show the Backup and DR Workflow details.

  1. From the Source Image drop-down, select an image to mount.
  2. From the Host drop-down, select the server on which to mount the image.
  3. Optionally, enable the Map to All Cluster Nodes option. You can see this option when one or more target hosts are a cluster node or a cluster host.

  4. You will see the following options only when one or more target hosts are VMware VMs:

    1. For Mount Mode, select one of the following:

      • NFS: By default NFS mode is selected. Backup and DR can present the data as a VMDK in an NFS datastore mounted from the backup/recovery appliance.
      • vRDM (virtual raw device mapping): VMware snapshots treat mounted vRDMs as independent and are not included in snapshots. Because of this, by default, Backup and DR does not include vRDMs when protecting a mounted VM. Backup and DR does provide an option where you can mark vRDMs as dependent. Although rarely used, when this option is enabled, vRDMs are included in VMware snapshots. Backup templates can capture vRDMs marked as dependent. Note that this mount mode needs the ESXi host to have an iSCSI initiator, which by default is not enabled in Google Cloud VMware Engine.
      • pRDM (physical raw device mapping): For file-level restore operations, select this mode. Note that this mount mode needs the ESXi host to have an iSCSI initiator, which by default is not enabled in Google Cloud VMware Engine.

    2. From Map to ESX Hosts, select one of the following options. You can see the Map to ESX Hosts option only when you have selected vRDM or pRDM in the Mount Mode field.

      • One: Select One if you want to map only to the ESX host currently running the target VM.
      • Two: Select Two if you want to map to two ESX hosts, but not all ESX hosts in the cluster. On selecting Two, you are given the option to choose the second host, or choose Auto-select. Auto-select choose the second host based on logical pairs of ESX hosts and can always select the partner ESX host for the one currently running the target VM.
      • All: Select All if you want to map to all the ESX hosts present in the cluster. Note that selecting All may increase the duration for the job.

  5. Click Submit to run the Backup and DR Workflow.