Restore Azure Files with PowerShell

This article explains how to restore an entire file share, or specific files, from a restore point created by the Azure Backup service using Azure PowerShell.

You can restore an entire file share or specific files on the share. You can restore to the original location, or to an alternate location.

Fetch recovery points

Use Get-AzRecoveryServicesBackupRecoveryPoint to list all recovery points for the backed-up item.

In the following script:

• The variable $rp is an array of recovery points for the selected backup item from the past seven days.
• The array is sorted in reverse order of time with the latest recovery point at index 0.
• Use standard PowerShell array indexing to pick the recovery point.
• In the example, $rp[0] selects the latest recovery point.

$vault = Get-AzRecoveryServicesVault -ResourceGroupName "azurefiles" -Name "azurefilesvault"
$Container = Get-AzRecoveryServicesBackupContainer -ContainerType AzureStorage -Status Registered -FriendlyName "afsaccount" -VaultId $vault.ID
$BackupItem = Get-AzRecoveryServicesBackupItem -Container $Container -WorkloadType AzureFiles -VaultId $vault.ID -FriendlyName "azurefiles"
$startDate = (Get-Date).AddDays(-7)
$endDate = Get-Date
$rp = Get-AzRecoveryServicesBackupRecoveryPoint -Item $BackupItem -VaultId $vault.ID -StartDate $startdate.ToUniversalTime() -EndDate $enddate.ToUniversalTime()
$rp[0] | fl

The output is similar to the following.

FileShareSnapshotUri : https://testStorageAcct.file.core.chinacloudapi.cn/testAzureFS?sharesnapshot=2018-11-20T00:31:04.00000
                       00Z
RecoveryPointType    : FileSystemConsistent
RecoveryPointTime    : 11/20/2018 12:31:05 AM
RecoveryPointId      : 86593702401459
ItemName             : testAzureFS
Id                   : /Subscriptions/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/resourceGroups/testVaultRG/providers/Micros                      oft.RecoveryServices/vaults/testVault/backupFabrics/Azure/protectionContainers/StorageContainer;storage;teststorageRG;testStorageAcct/protectedItems/AzureFileShare;testAzureFS/recoveryPoints/86593702401462
WorkloadType         : AzureFiles
ContainerName        : storage;teststorageRG;testStorageAcct
ContainerType        : AzureStorage
BackupManagementType : AzureStorage

After the relevant recovery point is selected, you restore the file share or file to the original location, or to an alternate location.

Restore an Azure file share to an alternate location

Use the Restore-AzRecoveryServicesBackupItem to restore to the selected recovery point. Specify these parameters to identify the alternate location:

• TargetStorageAccountName: The storage account to which the backed-up content is restored. The target storage account must be in the same location as the vault.
• TargetFileShareName: The file shares within the target storage account to which the backed-up content is restored.
• TargetFolder: The folder under the file share to which data is restored. If the backed-up content is to be restored to a root folder, give the target folder values as an empty string.
• ResolveConflict: Instruction if there's a conflict with the restored data. Accepts Overwrite or Skip.

Run the cmdlet with the parameters as follows:

Restore-AzRecoveryServicesBackupItem -RecoveryPoint $rp[0] -TargetStorageAccountName "TargetStorageAcct" -TargetFileShareName "DestAFS" -TargetFolder "testAzureFS_restored" -ResolveConflict Overwrite

The command returns a job with an ID to be tracked, as shown in the following example.

WorkloadName     Operation            Status               StartTime                 EndTime                   JobID
------------     ---------            ------               ---------                 -------                   -----
testAzureFS        Restore              InProgress           12/10/2018 9:56:38 AM                               9fd34525-6c46-496e-980a-3740ccb2ad75

Restore an Azure file to an alternate location

Use the Restore-AzRecoveryServicesBackupItem to restore to the selected recovery point. Specify these parameters to identify the alternate location, and to uniquely identify the file you want to restore.

• TargetStorageAccountName: The storage account to which the backed-up content is restored. The target storage account must be in the same location as the vault.
• TargetFileShareName: The file shares within the target storage account to which the backed-up content is restored.
• TargetFolder: The folder under the file share to which data is restored. If the backed-up content is to be restored to a root folder, give the target folder values as an empty string.
• SourceFilePath: The absolute path of the file, to be restored within the file share, as a string. This path is the same path used in the Get-AzStorageFile PowerShell cmdlet.
• SourceFileType: Whether a directory or a file is selected. Accepts Directory or File.
• ResolveConflict: Instruction if there's a conflict with the restored data. Accepts Overwrite or Skip.

The additional parameters (SourceFilePath and SourceFileType) are related only to the individual file you want to restore.

Restore-AzRecoveryServicesBackupItem -RecoveryPoint $rp[0] -TargetStorageAccountName "TargetStorageAcct" -TargetFileShareName "DestAFS" -TargetFolder "testAzureFS_restored" -SourceFileType File -SourceFilePath "TestDir/TestDoc.docx" -ResolveConflict Overwrite

This command returns a job with an ID to be tracked, as shown in the previous section.

Restore Azure file shares and files to the original location

When you restore to an original location, you don't need to specify destination- and target-related parameters. Only ResolveConflict must be provided.

Overwrite an Azure file share

Restore-AzRecoveryServicesBackupItem -RecoveryPoint $rp[0] -ResolveConflict Overwrite

Overwrite an Azure file

Restore-AzRecoveryServicesBackupItem -RecoveryPoint $rp[0] -SourceFileType File -SourceFilePath "TestDir/TestDoc.docx" -ResolveConflict Overwrite

Restore multiple files or folders to original or alternate location

Use the Restore-AzRecoveryServicesBackupItem command by passing the path of all files or folders you want to restore as a value for the MultipleSourceFilePath parameter.

Restore multiple files

In the following script, we're trying to restore the FileSharePage.png and MyTestFile.txt files.

$vault = Get-AzRecoveryServicesVault -ResourceGroupName "azurefiles" -Name "azurefilesvault"

$Container = Get-AzRecoveryServicesBackupContainer -ContainerType AzureStorage -Status Registered -FriendlyName "afsaccount" -VaultId $vault.ID

$BackupItem = Get-AzRecoveryServicesBackupItem -Container $Container -WorkloadType AzureFiles -VaultId $vault.ID -FriendlyName "azurefiles"

$RP = Get-AzRecoveryServicesBackupRecoveryPoint -Item $BackupItem -VaultId $vault.ID

$files = ("FileSharePage.png", "MyTestFile.txt")

Restore-AzRecoveryServicesBackupItem -RecoveryPoint $RP[0] -MultipleSourceFilePath $files -SourceFileType File -ResolveConflict Overwrite -VaultId $vault.ID -VaultLocation $vault.Location

Restore multiple directories

In the following script, we're trying to restore the zrs1_restore and Restore directories.

$vault = Get-AzRecoveryServicesVault -ResourceGroupName "azurefiles" -Name "azurefilesvault"

$Container = Get-AzRecoveryServicesBackupContainer -ContainerType AzureStorage -Status Registered -FriendlyName "afsaccount" -VaultId $vault.ID

$BackupItem = Get-AzRecoveryServicesBackupItem -Container $Container -WorkloadType AzureFiles -VaultId $vault.ID -FriendlyName "azurefiles"

$RP = Get-AzRecoveryServicesBackupRecoveryPoint -Item $BackupItem -VaultId $vault.ID

$files = ("Restore","zrs1_restore")

Restore-AzRecoveryServicesBackupItem -RecoveryPoint $RP[0] -MultipleSourceFilePath $files -SourceFileType Directory -ResolveConflict Overwrite -VaultId $vault.ID -VaultLocation $vault.Location

The output will be similar to the following:

WorkloadName         Operation         Status          StartTime                EndTime       JobID
------------         ---------         ------          ---------                -------       -----
azurefiles           Restore           InProgress      4/5/2020 8:01:24 AM                    cd36abc3-0242-44b1-9964-0a9102b74d57

If you want to restore multiple files or folders to alternate location, use the scripts above by specifying the target location-related parameter values, as explained above in Restore an Azure file to an alternate location.

Next steps

Learn about restoring Azure Files in the Azure portal.