BackupPC-users

[BackupPC-users] Windows bare metal restore

2009-11-22 01:22:20
Subject: [BackupPC-users] Windows bare metal restore
From: Chris Bennett <chris AT ceegeebee DOT com>
To: backuppc-users AT lists.sourceforge DOT net
Date: Sun, 22 Nov 2009 16:32:03 +1030
Hi All,

I'm hoping to catch the eye of some clever combined BackupPC/Windows
admins that can tell me what I'm trying to do will not work, or can
help me to understand why what I'm doing isn't working... :)

In a test environment, I'm trying to perform a file-level backup of a
Windows 2003 R2 server using BackupPC, along with any additional
metadata required, in order to perform a bare metal restore in the
future.

The backup procedure I'm using is:
- Cygwin 1.7, rsync 3.0.6, OpenSSH on Windows server
- backup via rsync method from BackupPC
- dump of file acl's using fileacl and subinacl
- ntbackup of systemstate to c:\systemstate.bkf
- performing VSS snapshot and backing the logical mapped drive via
  backuppc

Recovery procedure tested so far:
- new VM/hard disk
- partition / make active / NTFS formate via Win2003 Recovery Console
- copy data via Linux rescue cd to NTFS volume (from backuppc
  recovered zip file)
- re-apply filesystem permissions via a second virtual machine (map
  the VMWare .vmdk file to a working Win2k3 machine, then restore
  acl's via fileacl or subinacl (tried both))
- run fixboot / fixmbr from Windows recovery console

Booting the system results in:
  STOP:c0000218 {Registry File Failure}
  The registry cannot load the hive (file):
  \SystemRoot\System32\Config\DEFAULT
  or its log or alternate.
  It is corrupt, absent, or not writable.

I've also tested a straight cygwin/rsync between VSS snapshot, and a second
drive accessible in the source Windows machine, and applying ACL's, installing
boot loader, and then trying to boot from that second drive, with the same
results.

Is this a case of not possible?  I've seen enough references to performing an
ASR restore followed by a file-level for data, and that is a possibility for my
final solution, but I'd like to konw if a purely file-level + required metadata
is possible.

I'm yet to work out how to perform a system-state restore without an already
working system too - that may be another way to make the system bootable after 
the above restore procedure.

I do know that a Repair Install of Win2k3 R2 does bring the system back to
life, but that seems so invasive on the file-level restore.

Any responses / advice / feedback would be much appreciated.

Regards,

Chris Bennett
cgb

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