Restore files and folders

Every MoorNest backup is a complete restore point, so a restore is one choice: which night. You pick the files you need, or everything, and MoorNest writes them to a new folder on the server you choose. Restoring never changes the backup, and the original files stay as they are.

Before you start

• Restores must be allowed on the receiving server. Servers are backup-only until an administrator allows restores. Open the server, go to the Server details tab, find Restores to this server and click Allow restores. Confirm with your password and a fresh code. You can do this ahead of time, or when you need it. Stop restores turns it off again.
• You need the Administrator role. Operators and viewers can browse restore points but cannot start a restore.
• The receiving server must be online. Offline servers cannot be picked as the target.

Restore step by step

1. Click Restore in the left rail and pick the server whose backup you want, or click Restore on the server page.
2. Choose a restore point. The newest is first. Each one shows its date, plan, storage and whether it is readable (it passed its read-back check) or not checked yet. Click Show all to see more than the latest 12. Click Continue.
3. Choose what to restore. Pick Pick files and folders to browse the backup, or Everything in this backup.
4. If you are picking, open folders and tick what you need. A ticked folder includes everything inside it. You can tick up to 256 items; to restore more, tick the folders that contain them. Click Continue.
5. Where should it go? Pick the server that receives the data: the same server or another one. Servers that cannot receive restores are shown greyed out with the reason. Click Continue.
6. Check and start. Check the summary and click Start restore. Confirm with your password and a fresh authenticator code.

Progress shows on the page and on Activity. When it is done, the page says Restore finished and the files were written to a new folder and matched the backup.

You can also start from a server's Restore points tab: click Restore next to the night you want.

Where restored files go

Restored files never overwrite anything. Each restore goes to a new folder in the restore area on the receiving server, keeping the folder structure from the backup:

• Windows: under C:\ProgramData\MoorNest\restore
• Linux: under /var/lib/moornest/restore

Check the files there, then copy them to where they belong.

Permissions

• Windows: restored files and folders get their original NTFS permissions back, including owner and group. The restore folder above them is private to SYSTEM and Administrators. An item whose permissions grant neither SYSTEM nor Administrators is restored with exactly those permissions, so an administrator has to take ownership to open it, as with the original. Backups taken with older agents restore with default Windows permissions.
• Linux: restored files keep their permission bits and modified times. Owner, group and POSIX ACLs are not restored.

A backup of a Windows server can only be restored to a Windows server.

Cancel a restore

Click Cancel on the running restore and confirm. Files already written stay in the restore folder.

Restore after ransomware

• Pick a night from before the attack. Backups from before a server was compromised stay intact; ones taken after it may hold damaged files.
• Restore to a clean server rather than the one that was attacked. The clean server needs the agent installed and restores allowed.
• The agent on a compromised server cannot read, change or delete the backups already stored, and it cannot start a restore on its own.

Large backups

The file browser reads the list of files in the backup first, which can take a moment. It loads up to 5,000 items and shows up to 400 in one folder. To restore something that is not shown, tick a folder that contains it, or choose Everything in this backup.

If a server cannot be chosen

Hover over a greyed-out server, or click it, to see why. The common reasons:

• Restores to this server are not approved. Allow restores on its Server details tab.
• The agent settings on this server do not allow restores yet. The server's own configuration turns restores off. Agents installed with the current installer allow restores; reinstall the agent if needed.
• Offline right now. Check the server is on and its agent is running.
• Its agent needs an update to restore single files. Update the agent, or restore the whole backup instead.

See Troubleshooting for more.