SUMMARY
Cannot perform file-level recovery of a Windows VM that uses dynamic disks
ISSUE
Resolve issues with file-level recovery of a Windows virtual machine that uses dynamic disks.
Description
When you perform a file-level recovery of a Windows virtual machine using iSCSI, the iSCSI disk cannot be brought online or is marked as invalid.
Cause
The iSCSI disk and the original disk on the server have the same UUID.
Resolution
Access your files through CIFS/Samba instead of iSCSI. If iSCSI must be used, mount the iSCSI disk to a different Windows machine and recover the files from there. Please note only single disks are supported. in the case of a mirrored volume we will be able to perform FLR on either of the 2 drives in a mirror, but, spanned disks across multiple virtual drives using a dynamic disk cannot be supported. If you must recover files from a VM using spanned disks, you must fully recover the VM to production to do so and cannot use FLR. For machines using disk configurations other than basic MBR NTFS volumes, unitrends recommends the use of a file agent to protect the machine and not a VM backup.
Mount the iSCSI disk to a different Windows machine and recover the files from there.
For more information about FLR and performing FLR on dynamic disks, see the following section of the Unitrends Administrator's Guide:
Recovering files from virtual machine backups