Datto Endpoint Backup for PCs Bare Metal Restore: Getting started

Topic

This article describes the Datto Endpoint Backup for PCs Bare Metal Restore (BMR) process. The Bare Metal Restore utility is a tool that performs a total re-image of target hardware.

Environment

  • Datto Utilities
  • Datto Endpoint Backup for PCs Bare Metal Restore

Description

Is a Bare Metal Restore the best option?

If you need help to determine which restore method will work best for your situation, review our other restore articles or reach out to support.

Considerations

  • The Bare Metal Restore feature is not a deployment or migration tool. You should only use it in an emergency recovery situation.
  • A Bare Metal Restore will cause the target device to perform a full backup when the restore finishes.
  • Due to the wide range of touchpad drivers, custom drivers, and hardware configurations available for both laptops and all-in-one workstations, restoration support for these platforms is 'best-effort' only.
  • Operating systems restore as a single partition.
  • Support of RAID hardware is dependent on compatibility with the Bare Metal Restore environment's kernel and version. See Ubuntu's list of certified compatible hardware for compatibility guidelines.
  • Bare Metal Restore does not support software RAID or FakeRAID (also known as 'HostRAID' or 'BiosRAID').
  • EFI system partitions are not included in the backup, but are recreated during the restore process. If this partition is non-standard, as in the case with the patches release by Microsoft of systems effected by the vulnerability CVE-2023-24932, the partition would be created standardly. In cases like these, please reach out to Microsoft on re-applying the patch if desired.
  • Restore speed is dependent on the network speeds on location, target device r/w speeds, size of dataset, and other factors. As such support does not provide estimated restore times.

Prerequisites

General

  • A USB drive that is at least 8 GB.
  • Performing a Bare Metal Restore of a BitLocker-protected system will result in a non-encrypted restored machine. For more information, see our BitLocker Considerations article.
  • Storage controllers are automatically detected and are injected as needed by the restore process.

Drivers

Non standard drivers may need to be re-installed (or installed if restoring to dissimilar hardware).

  • Touchscreens may not work after a Bare Metal Restore their drivers are re-installed.
  • Collect any drivers needed to be applied after the imaging is complete.
  • Some drivers may be required to boot on new hardware, such as drivers associated with RAID cards.

Target hardware:

Datto recommends verifying that the target hardware is healthy, including checking the SMART values on hard drives to ensure healthy target disks.

  • Must be able to boot from USB.
  • BMR requires internet access via Ethernet. WiFi is not supported.
  • Must be 64-bit hardware.
  • Port 3262 must be open outbound for Bare Metal Restore functionality.
  • The hardware must be able to support the system image you are restoring to it fully.
  • ATA devices on the target machine should be set to AHCI mode (not RAID). If set to RAID, it will emulate a software RAID, making the BMR impossible.

Process

Overview

  • The BMR process will auto-partition the desired machine to the same configuration used by the original hardware.
  • The BMR process will then auto-image the target hardware from the cloud snapshot you select.

Procedure

  1. Image a USB stick with the latest version of the Datto Utilities Image. For more information about this process, see Imaging a USB Drive with Datto Utilities
  2. Once the imaging process completes successfully, unplug the USB stick, and proceed to the article Datto Utilities: Booting the target machine from USB.