x360Recover supports instant virtual disk exports in Microsoft Azure VHD format.  

This feature allows relatively easy virtual machine recovery -  directly into Azure from your x360Recover backup data. 

Essentially, all you do is export the virtual disk(s) from backup, upload them to Azure, and create a new virtual machine. 

• STEP 1. Export the protected system disks to Azure VHD format
• STEP 2. Check the virtual disk export
• STEP 3. Manually import virtual disks into Microsoft Azure
• STEP 4. Upload virtual disk(s) to Azure
• STEP 5. Create an Azure virtual machine Disk Image
• STEP 6. Create an Azure virtual machine (may take up to 30 minutes)

STEP 1. Export the protected system disks to Azure VHD format

To restore an Azure VM from Axcient x360Recover, the disk volumes for the protected system must be exported in the Azure VHD image format.

There are two methods available to complete this export:

Disk images can be 

• exported from the x360Recover vault or 
• generated from Recovery Center

Which export method should I use?

• Use the Recovery Center method if you have a Local Cache repository available for the protected system. For more details on using Recovery Center, see Virtual Disk Export with Recovery Center. 
• Otherwise, it will be faster to download the images directly from the vault using FTP.  For best FTP download performance see: LFTP Client for Windows. For more detailed information on performing exports, see Instant Disk Exports.

STEP 2. Check the virtual disk export  

Important Some FTP clients may mark downloaded virtual disk image files as 'Sparse' during the download process.  Microsoft Azure will not accept virtual disk files marked as 'Sparse' for virtualization.  To correct this issue: After downloading the file, open a CMD prompt using 'run as Administrator'  Then, use fsutil to remove the sparse flag To do this, run:fsutil sparse setflag "<filename>.vhdx  (Replace <filename> with the path and filename of your virtual disk file) To verify the change is applied correctly and to check the status of the sparse flag, run:  fsutil sparse queryflag "<filename>.vhdx  You should receive a confirmation message:  "This file is NOT set as sparse"

Before uploading the virtual disk to Azure, it is a good idea to verify the integrity of the disk export images.

1. Open the Disk Management utility on the Windows machine.

2. Press the Windows key + R simultaneously to open the run dialog.

3. Enter diskmgmt.msc and click OK.

4. Click Attach VHD from the Action menu and select the exported Azure disk image.

5. Verify the virtual disk mounted, and all volumes are readable by Windows.

Note: Mounted virtual disks are highlighted with a different color within Disk Manager.

6. Once you have verified the disk integrity, remove the virtual disk from the local system. Right-click the virtual disk and select Detach VHD. 

STEP 3. Manually import virtual disks into Microsoft Azure

Once you have downloaded your virtual disks, you need to upload them to Azure and create a virtual machine.

Prepare the Azure environment

1. Go to https://portal.azure.com/#home

2. Log in with your Microsoft account or common Azure account.

3. Enter ‘resource groups’ in the search bar and click on the Resource Groups service.

4. If you have an existing Resource Group you wish to use for the new virtual machine, select it and skip to #9. 

Otherwise, you will need to create a new Resource Group.

5. Click Create. 

6. Choose the Subscription to which this Resource Group will belong. 

7. Enter a name for the Resource Group and select a data center Region.

8. Click Review + create. Review the details then click Create to complete creation of the Resource Group. 

9. Click the name of your Resource Group to open it. 

10. Click Create. 

11. Enter ‘Storage Account’ in the search field, then click into Storage Account. 

12. Click Create.

13. Choose a Subscription and Resource group.  Enter a Storage account name and select a data center Region. All other settings can remain at their defaults. Click Review + create. Review the selections then click Create.


Note: Deployment of the storage account can take up to 40 minutes.

STEP 4. Upload virtual disk(s) to Azure

1. Open the Storage Account and click Open in Explorer.  If you have not yet installed Azure Storage Explorer, click the provided link to download and install it.

2. Within Azure Storage Explorer, expand your Subscription, expand Storage Accounts, expand the Storage Account you created for this virtual machine, and right-click on Blob Containers. Click Create Blob Container.

Note: If you don’t see your subscription within Azure Storage Explorer, you may need to sign in. Click sign in from the top toolbar. A new browser window will open for you to sign in with your Azure subscription.  When finished, return to Azure Storage Explorer.

3. Click to select your new Blob Container, then click Upload. Click Upload Files. 


Note: You can select multiple virtual disks to store all disks in a single blob. 

4. Click the Blob type dropdown and select Page Blob. Select your VHD image file(s) and click Upload.

Uploading your virtual disk images may take some time.

Note: If you are uploading a virtual disk image created with Recovery Center, you may have to first set permissions on the file. (Recovery Center exports are set with permissions by default to allow only Hyper-V administrators to access the data.)

• Right-click the file and click Properties.  Navigate to the security tab and click Advanced, Permissions, Continue, then Add. Click Select Principle.  
• Type 'Users’ and click Check Names, then click OK. 
• Select Full Control and click OK.

STEP 5. Create an Azure virtual machine Disk Image

1. Log in to Azure and open your Resource Group. Click Create.

2. Enter ‘Image’ in the search and click to select Image. 


3. Click Create. 

4. Enter a Name for the virtual machine and select a data center Region. 

For OS type, select Windows. 

For VM generation: 

• For Legacy BIOS / MBR protected systems, select Gen1.
• For Modern EFI protected systems, select Gen2.

Select the Storage Blob containing your protected system boot disk.

For Account type, Standard HDD is recommended. 

For Host caching, Read/write is recommended. 

Select an option for Encryption Type. 

If your protected system has additional disks, specify additional disk LUN numbers as needed and select the blob object representing each disk.

Click Review + create. 

5. Review your selections and click Create. 

STEP 6. Create an Azure virtual machine (may take up to 30 minutes)

1. Go to your Azure Image and click Create VM. 
You may search for ‘Image’, click image, then click your image name to open the Image. 

2. Enter a Virtual machine name, choose an Image and a Size, and specify Administrator account credentials. 

3. Specify firewall inbound ports. RDP is recommended to enable easy remote access to the protected system virtual machine. 
Specify Windows OS license type and click Next: Disks >.

4. Specify disk options; you may specify disk types, and add or remove additional disks to the VM if necessary.

On the Management tab, you can also disable boot diagnostics and/or OS updates. 

Click Review + Create then click Create.  Deployment may take about 30 minutes.

Note: It’s possible your deployment will time out and fail with an error similar to this:


This is OK, check back later and verify that the deployment succeeded in the background.

Once the virtual machine is created and running, it will be assigned a public IP address. Find this IP address on the VM details page and use it to connect via Remote Desktop Connection (RDP).