Image Exports

Topic

This article explains how you can manage your image exports in the new Recovery Launchpad.

Environment

  • Datto Partner Portal
  • New Recovery Launchpad

Description

You can manage your image exports directly from the Partner Portal home page.

IMPORTANT  If you are restoring to a backup point created before May 3rd, 2020, you may have to update the agent software on the protected machine after the restore is completed.

Creating an image export

  1. From the Partner Portal, navigate to Status > BCDR Status.

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  1. Click the name of the device for which you wish to create an image export.

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  1. Click RECOVERY LAUNCHPAD at the top right of the page.

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  1. Click START IMAGE EXPORT.

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  1. Select the system, export format, and your desired recovery point. Click the date under the Choose Recovery Point column to select a recovery point.

You will only see systems listed that are capable of image export. If a system is not listed, you will need to choose a different restore method. You'll see the latest recovery point displayed by default.

  • VMDK: VMDK: Compacted complete VMDK image (supports resizing and other advanced VMFS features).
    Disk Space Required: VMDK image exports require approximately 200 MB of free disk space on the destination hypervisor.
    Files produced: A single drive system results in 1 file: C.vmdk. A second file, configuration.vmx, will also be present if you are restoring an agentless VMware-based system. The boot volume will always be the first volume of the image export; when restoring a virtual machine, you must attach this as the first drive in the VM configuration.
  • VHD: Converted raw to VHD.
  • Files produced: A single drive system results in 2 files; boot.vhd and C.vhd.
  • VHDx: Compacted complete VHDx image
  • Files produced: A single drive system results in 1 file; C.vhdx.


  1. Click EXPORT IMAGE.


The Launchpad will automatically remove exports 30 days after the date you created them.

Converting a cloud Virtualization to an Image Export

You can also convert an existing virtualization to an image export or file restore from the Recovery Launchpad.

  1. From the Virtualizations pane select the ellipsis icon for the virtualization that you want to convert.
  2. Click Convert to Image Export


  1. Select the desired file type and check the box acknowledging that the Convert process will first shutdown the virtualization if you have not done so already.


  1. Select Convert to start the process.

IMPORTANT  Once initiated the conversion process will begin and the virtualization will be deleted as part of the conversion.

Downloading an image export

  1. To download the export you've created, click the icon under the DOWNLOAD field.

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  1. A Download Image Export modal window will appear.
    • If SFTP credentials already exist, they will be displayed here and you can click LAUNCH SFTP. This will open the default SFTP client installed on your computer.
    • If they don’t exist, you can use the button to Create New Credentials to generate new SFTP credentials.

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  1. When no longer needed, you can click the Delete Credentials button, to remove the credentials.

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Deleting an image export

  1. Access the Image Exports pane by navigating to the Partner Portal and selecting Status > BCDR Status. Click the name of the device for which you wish to delete an image export, then click RECOVERY LAUNCHPAD at the top right of the page.

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  1. Click the wastebasket icon to the right of the desired export, then click DELETE IMAGE EXPORT in the modal window that follows.

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  1. Click Close.

NOTE  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.

Additional Resources