Disaster Recovery for x86 Appliances

• Disaster Recovery Image (see next section)
• Internet connectivity
• Endian hardware Appliance target machine
• Recent backup
• USB Flash Drive with nightly backups of the appliance (OPTIONAL)

The image file of Disaster Recovery can be downloaded from

 https://network.endian.com/downloads_key.php

Once you have downloaded the file, you need to create an Installation USB Flash Drive: see the Installation USB Flash Drive document for detailed information.

• After your machine got unusable (due to some kind of disaster) plug the Disaster Recovery USB Flash Drive into the replacement machine. Make sure that the backup you want to use is located on the USB Flash Drive or plug another USB Flash Drive with the nightly backups into the replacement machine (see next section).
• Connect the replacement machine to the Internet.
• Boot from USB.
• Unplug the Disaster Recovery USB Flash Drive.
• Update the system.
• Your machine is recovered.

Disaster Recovery searches for the backup on:

1. a second device (USB Flash Drive, hard disk, etc.)
2. the Disaster Recovery USB Flash Drive itself

The first device where a backup is found will be used.
Once the device containing the backups is selected, Disaster Recovery searches for the most recent backup on that device in the directories:

/, /efw-backups

• Make sure the machine boots from USB. If not, you may need to set the proper boot order via serial console.
• Put your desired backup on the Disaster Recovery Flash Drive or plug a Backup USB Flash Drive into the target machine.
• Plug the Disaster Recovery USB Flash Drive into the target machine.
• Connect the target machine to the Internet.    
• Boot the target machine
• You will hear an accelerating acoustic signal which announces the start of disaster recovery
• After hearing this signal all data on your target machine will be erased as the system will be reinstalled from scratch
• Wait about 5 minutes for another acoustic signal, which notifies you about the end of the installation
• Note: if you do not hear the acoustic signals, see the "Troubleshooting" section.
• Unplug the Disaster Recovery USB Flash Drive.
• The machine will automatically reboot.
• Your system is now backed up and running with a minimum of functionality and the configuration of the most recent backup you provided. The system is also registered on Endian Network.
• The download process may take a long time depending on your connection speed.
• You can now access the web GUI which will redirect you to the updates page. The missing functionalities will automatically be downloaded from Endian Network and installed.
• After the installation is finished you can update your system from the same page.

• Do a downgrade to an older version.
• Rollback an upgrade which had issues.
• Recover quarantine files, proxy caches, installable signatures.
• Recover customized scripts and templates.
• Recover a software appliance. In case you need to recover a software appliance ask for a new CD-ROM image.

• If you do not hear the acoustic signals please check the boot order or the USB Flash Drive integrity.
• If you chose to have the backups on a second USB Flash Drive, pay attention that the second USB Flash Drive is not bootable.
• After recovery is completed, remove the Disaster Recovery USB Flash Drive from your appliance. Otherwise, the disaster recovery will automatically start again at the next reboot.
• Mark your Disaster Recovery USB Flash Drive as such and put it away. Booting from that USB Flash Drive does not ask before it erases and re-installs your system.
• If you do not have all functionalities working after recovery (e.g. no proxies), there was something wrong with your Internet uplink or the product is not activated/registered on Endian Network. In this case, try a reboot, which installs missing packages in recovery mode.