About instant recovery of a VMware virtual machine

Last published : Apr 02, 2026
Backup Exec lets you recover a virtual machine instantly without waiting to transfer the virtual machine's data from a backup set. Backup Exec starts the instantly recovered virtual machine directly from the backup set and users can access it on the vCenter or ESX/ESXi host immediately. The startup time on the Backup Exec server depends on the network speed and storage speed, not on the size of the virtual machine.
To fully restore the virtual machine, use VMware Storage vMotion to migrate the virtual machine data files from the backup set to the vCenter or ESX/ESXi host. After you migrate the instantly recovered virtual machine, you can use the Agent for VMware to back up the virtual machine.
You can use an instantly recovered virtual machine to perform the same operations as a virtual machine. An instantly recovered virtual machine can be used to do the following:
  • Access and restore individual files and folders on a virtual machine.
  • Test a patch on an instantly recovered virtual machine before you apply the patch to production systems.
  • Troubleshoot a virtual machine or host, such as when the production ESX host is unresponsive. You can use the instantly recovered virtual machine until the production system is back online.
  • Verify the backup set for a virtual machine.
  • Copy a vmdk file, and then remove the virtual machine.
  • Verify an application on a virtual machine.
  • Recover the virtual machine permanently with Storage vMotion.
If you need to perform a disaster recovery, you can instantly recover a virtual machine and then schedule a migration to move it to permanent storage on the vCenter or ESX/ESXi host. The instantly recovered virtual machine remains available during the migration, which decreases the amount of downtime.
Instantly recovered virtual machines use Backup Exec server storage. If you remove an instantly recovered virtual machine, any changes that you made to the virtual machine are lost. In order to avoid losing your changes, migrate the virtual machine from Backup Exec server storage if any changes are made to the instantly recovered virtual machine.
Because Backup Exec has recently enhanced the resiliency of Instant Recovery, changes that you made to the virtual machine are no longer lost if you restart the Backup Exec server or encounter a network connectivity issue. However, the virtual machine cannot be used until the server restart is complete or network connectivity is restored.
Ensure that you remove the virtual machine from Backup Exec server storage when it is no longer needed or has been migrated.
The following table describes the instant recovery process for a virtual machine.

Table: Instant recovery process for a virtual machine

Step Description
Step 1 You run an instant recovery job from a backup of a VMware virtual machine.
Step 2 Backup Exec virtualizes the backup set.
Step 3 Backup Exec creates a share as an NFS datastore on the Backup Exec server.
The datastore becomes accessible to the host where the virtual machine will be instantly recovered. The host uses the NFS datastore as read-only.
Note: Since Windows Server for NFS is not secure, the share that Backup Exec creates will be available on the network.
Step 4 Backup Exec creates a virtual machine on the host and configures the virtual machine with write access to the datastore.
Step 5 Backup Exec creates a snapshot of the virtual machine.
Step 6 Backup Exec starts up the virtual machine automatically if you select the option to power on the virtual machine.
Step 7 You can use Storage vMotion to migrate the virtual machine from Backup Exec server storage if you want to save any changes that were made to the virtual machine.
Step 8 You can run a job to do one of the following\:
- Remove an instantly recovered virtual machine that you no longer need to use.
- Remove the instantly recovered virtual machine from Backup Exec server storage after you use Storage vMotion to migrate the virtual machine. Warning: You cannot upgrade Backup Exec until you remove all of the instantly recovered virtual machines.
Differences between an instantly recovered virtual machine and a restored virtual machine
The following table describes the differences between an instantly recovered virtual machine and a restored virtual machine.

Table: Differences between an instantly recovered virtual machine and a restored virtual machine

Item Instantly recovered virtual machine Restored virtual machine
Data transfer Does not transfer virtual machine data to the instantly recovered virtual machine. Transfers all data from the backup set to the host.
Job time Instant recovery takes less time and jobs are not dependent on the virtual machine size. Restore time is dependant on the size of the virtual machine and the network and storage speed.
Read and write operations Uses the backup set image for all of the read operations. Uses a snapshot on the VMware host for all write operations. Data is moved to the VMware host.
Data storage Uses Backup Exec server storage until you migrate the instantly recovered virtual machine Uses Vmware host storage.
Server restart Because the Instant Recovery resiliency has been enhanced, if the Backup Exec server is restarted, the instantly recovered virtual machine remains accessible. As soon as the restart is complete or network is reconnected, the instantly The Backup Exec server and the VMware host can be restarted.
recovered virtual machine is brought back online automatically.
In the case of network connectivity issues, the instantly recovered virtual
machine is accessible after connectivity is restored.
See Requirements for instant recovery of a VMware virtual machine.
See Notes about instant recovery of a VMware virtual machine.
See Creating an instant recovery job for a VMware virtual machine.
See Removing an instantly recovered VMware virtual machine.