Windows Server Backup and disaster recovery

Shut down SRV01 for step 1. Then work on SRV01 as SAATLAB\adm.rahul in PowerShell as administrator.

1Add backup disks and install the feature

On your laptop:

VBoxManage createmedium disk --filename C:\Lab\VMs\SRV01\SRV01-backup.vdi --size 40960
VBoxManage storageattach SRV01 --storagectl SATA --port 7 --device 0 --type hdd --medium C:\Lab\VMs\SRV01\SRV01-backup.vdi
VBoxManage startvm SRV01

On SRV01:

Install-WindowsFeature Windows-Server-Backup | Out-Null
Get-Disk | Where-Object PartitionStyle -eq 'RAW' | Initialize-Disk -PartitionStyle GPT -PassThru |
    New-Partition -DriveLetter G -UseMaximumSize | Format-Volume -FileSystem NTFS -NewFileSystemLabel Backup -Confirm:$false | Out-Null
Get-Volume -DriveLetter G | Select-Object DriveLetter, FileSystemLabel, @{n='SizeGB';e={[math]::Round($_.Size/1GB)}}

You should see something like this:

DriveLetter FileSystemLabel SizeGB
----------- --------------- ------
G           Backup              40

✅ Checkpoint: Windows Server Backup is installed and G: (40 GB) is ready.

2Run a one-time backup of D:

On SRV01:

wbadmin start backup -backupTarget:G: -include:D: -quiet
wbadmin get versions -backupTarget:G:

You should see something like this:

wbadmin 1.0 - Backup command-line tool
(C) Copyright Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Retrieving volume information...
This will back up (D:) to G:.
The backup operation to G: is starting.
Creating a shadow copy of the volumes specified for backup...
Creating a backup of volume Data(D:), copied (100%).
The backup operation successfully completed.
Summary of the backup operation:
------------------
The backup of volume Data(D:) completed successfully.

Backup time: 20/10/2026 01:12
Backup target: Fixed Disk labeled Backup(G:)
Version identifier: 10/19/2026-19:42
Can recover: Volume(s), File(s)

The version identifier is in UTC and month/day/year format, exactly as in Lesson 32. Note it down.

✅ Checkpoint: wbadmin get versions lists a backup of D: on G: with its version identifier.

3Restore a single file to another folder

On SRV01, delete a file as if a user did it by mistake, then restore it:

Remove-Item D:\Shares\Finance\budget.txt
wbadmin start recovery -version:10/19/2026-19:42 -itemType:File -items:D:\Shares\Finance\budget.txt -recoveryTarget:D:\Restore -quiet
Get-ChildItem D:\Restore -Recurse | Select-Object FullName

You should see something like this:

Running a recovery operation for D:\Shares\Finance\budget.txt, copied (100%).
Successfully recovered D:\Shares\Finance\budget.txt to D:\Restore\.
The recovery operation completed.

FullName
--------
D:\Restore\budget.txt

Check it, then put it back:

Get-Content D:\Restore\budget.txt
Copy-Item D:\Restore\budget.txt D:\Shares\Finance\ ; Remove-Item D:\Restore -Recurse

Restoring to D:\Restore first lets you check you got the right version before anything is overwritten. For folders, add -recursive; to restore permissions too, use -recoverACL.

✅ Checkpoint: budget.txt came back from the backup and is in the Finance folder again.

4Schedule nightly backups with bare-metal recovery

On SRV01, find a disk to dedicate to scheduled backups (in the lab, use the same backup disk):

wbadmin get disks | Select-String 'Disk name|Disk identifier|Volumes'

You should see something like this (shortened):

Disk name: ATA VBOX HARDDISK
Disk identifier: {c3a6e2b1-4f0d-4c7e-9b8a-2d1e5f6a7b90}
Volumes: Backup[G:]

Enable the schedule (this reformats the disk, removing the one-time backup):

wbadmin enable backup -addtarget:{c3a6e2b1-4f0d-4c7e-9b8a-2d1e5f6a7b90} -schedule:21:00 -allCritical -include:D: -quiet
wbadmin get status

-allCritical includes every volume needed for bare-metal recovery (C:, the boot and recovery partitions). After you enable it, the disk is hidden from File Explorer and used only for backups. Run the first backup now from Server Manager or with wbadmin start backup using the same options, and check wbadmin get versions the next morning.

✅ Checkpoint: A daily 21:00 schedule exists with bare-metal recovery and D: included.

5Rehearse a bare-metal recovery (isolated)

This is the restore you hope never to need, so practise it once. On your laptop, create a new VM SRV01-BMR with the same OS type, 2 GB RAM and an empty 60 GB disk, and attach the Server 2025 ISO. Shut down SRV01 and move its backup disk to SRV01-BMR (a disk can only be attached to one VM at a time).

On your laptop:

VBoxManage storageattach SRV01 --storagectl SATA --port 7 --device 0 --medium none
VBoxManage storageattach SRV01-BMR --storagectl SATA --port 2 --device 0 --type hdd --medium C:\Lab\VMs\SRV01\SRV01-backup.vdi

Disconnect the new VM from the network so the restored copy can’t clash with the real SRV01:

VBoxManage modifyvm SRV01-BMR --cableconnected1 off
VBoxManage startvm SRV01-BMR

Boot from the ISO, choose Repair your computer, Troubleshoot, System Image Recovery. Windows finds the latest backup on the attached disk; accept it and let it format the empty disk and restore. When it restarts, you have SRV01 as it was at the backup time.

Check that C: and D: are back, then shut SRV01-BMR down and delete it. Detach the backup disk and reattach it to SRV01 on port 7 with the same storageattach command you used in step 1. Never connect a restored copy to the network while the original is running: two machines with the same name and identity confuse AD and DNS.

✅ Checkpoint: SRV01-BMR booted with SRV01’s data restored from bare metal, and was deleted without ever touching the network.