Direct Restore Utility

Topic

This article explains Datto's Direct Restore Utility.

Environment

Datto Direct Restore

Prerequisites

Windows XP or newer
Microsoft iSCSI initiator must be installed on the production system accessing the restore

Incompatibilities

Windows 2000 is unsupported
Recovery points from macOS will not mount as a logical drive in Windows

Overview

This utility is a Windows executable that lets you mount an iSCSI file restore of any recovery point from the Datto appliance with the following benefits:

The utility is easy to use.
Files retain their permissions when you transfer them from the utility back to your Windows desktop.
You can restore files touched by Windows deduplication.
You can restore files touched by Windows file encryption.

Procedure

1. Download the Direct Restore Utility.
2. Close all other applications.
3. Run the installer program. When installation is complete, launch the Direct Restore Utility.

Figure 1: Installation complete

4. In the Login dialog box, click the Host menu to see all Datto devices on the network.

Figure 2: Select the host

5. Enter the local user on the Datto Device as the Username, and fill in the Password field.

Figure 3: Enter username and password.

6. Choose the agent and snapshot you want to mount, then click Mount.

Make sure the Microsoft iSCSI service is running prior to mounting the iSCSI target. Otherwise, the target may fail to mount with an unspecified error.

Figure 4: File restore sessions

7. The restore is now mapped to the next available drive letter.

Figure 5: The restore shows up as the next available drive letter

8. With the restore mounted, you can copy files from the restore with Robocopy. To unmount a session, return to the Direct Restore Utility, click the session, and then click Unmount Selected or Unmount All.

Copying and pasting files from the restore through Windows Explorer may result in a loss of file/folder permissions. Datto recommends using Robocopy to copy files from the restore.

Technical Notes:

If your restore does not show up as a drive in Windows, open Disk Management, right click on the drive, and select Online. It should then show up with a drive letter.
If there is data corruption in the recovery point, you will not be able to chkdsk the disk. If you need help recovering from corruption, contact Technical Support.
Copying and pasting the files through Windows Explorer may result in a loss of file/folder permissions. Datto recommends using Robocopy to copy files from the restore.