ADSM for Mac OS X: Restoring Files

This page explains how to restore files or directories from the ACCC's ADSM TSM backups. You won't usually back files up manually, but see "Start Your First Full ADSM Backup Manually" in ADSM TSM Backup for Mac OS X : Installation for a brief outline of the procedure.

1. In your Mac X Applications folder, open your TSM client folder, then open the TSM Tivoli Storage Manager. Exactly how you do this depends on which version you are using. If you are restoring only your files, you can use the Tivoli Storage Manager. If you are restoring other files, use the tool for administrators.
   • If you're using Password Generate, TSM will open.
   • If you aren't using Password Generate, you will be asked to enter the name and password of your ADSM account; do so and click OK to continue.
   • The same things will happen if you open TSM for Administrators, but you will also be asked to enter an administrator account Name and Password.
     
     
2. You should now see the TSM Main Menu screen. Click on the Restore button (a computer with an arrow pointing in).
   
   
   
3. The Restore window will open.
   
   
   1. You select the files you want to backup on this window, from the File Level, starting at Macintosh HD. Click the blue triangle beside a directory name to expand that directory; click in the gray box by any directory or file name that you want to restore. The details of the boxes varies depending on the version of TSM you are using.
      
      
      
   2. To search for files, click on Edit menu -> Find. Select a start path (at least Macintosh HD; starting closer to the file that you're searching is a lot better; most likely you have a lot of files on your Macintosh HD), type the name of a file or directory you want to search for and click Search.
      
      
      
   3. To perform a Point In Time restore that restores the selected files to what they were like at a selected dated and time, click the Point In Time button, select the Point in Time date, and click OK, then select the file(s) and/or directories you want to restore. The Point in Time date will be displayed in the Restore window, beside the Point in Time button. (See the illustration in point 4 below.)
      • TSM will restore the backup file/directory versions from the most recent backup before your Point in Time date. (On the assumption that the point in time date was the last time that you know the file/directory was good.)
      • If the Point in Time date is before any the oldest version of a file/directory in the backups, that file/directory won't be restored.
      • TSM can not restore a file that was created after the Point in Time date, but if you are restoring a directory, files that were created after the Point in Time date and still exist in the directory will not be deleted. (Which might not be what you want if you're recovering from a virus infection.)
        
        
4. Say for example, I messed my Stickey Notes folder up on June 26, 2008, sometime in the afternoon. To get it back, I will do a Point in Time backup, from June 25, 2008,, because I know the notes were OK then. So if TSM chooses the most recent backup before that time, the notes it restores will be OK. Here's what the Restore window will look like.
   
   Note that the time date and time I choose for the Point in Time are shown beside the Point In Time button.
   Also, I expanded Stickey Notes folder on the Macintosh HD -- I double-clicked in the box beside its name and the directory is now expanded. Note the checks beside Dreamweaver.txt and Pantone and transparency.txt? Those two files that I want restored.
   
   
5. When I finished selecting files/directories that I want TSM to restore, I clicked Restore.
   
   
6. The Restore Destination dialog box opens. The choices are the following: (Both sets are radio buttons.)
   • Original location or
   • Following location:
     • Restore complete path
     • Restore partial path
     • Restore partial path without base directory, or
     • Do not preserve directory structure
       
       
7. These are my Stickey Notes, and I want them back in my Stickey Notes folder, so I selected Original location. If a file(s) already exist(s), TSM will ask if I want to replace it:
   
   If you want to replace your current file(s) with the restored file(s), click Replace; if not click Cancel. And click the Apply action to all remaining files if that applies. Because I'm restoring a folder that I messed up, I clicked Apply action to all remaining files, and clicked Replace.
   
   
8. The Task List dialog box will show the progression of the restore.
   
   
   
9. When the restore is finished, you'll receive a TSM message telling you that it's finished; click OK to close the dialog box.
   
   
10. There will also be a Restore Report dialog box, giving the transfer rate and the number of objects restored and the number of objects that failed to restore. Click on the red dot on the left hand side to close this window.
    
    
    
11. Exit the TSM client: Tivoli Storage Manager -> Quit Tivoli Storage Manager

Active or inactive files?

We keep multiple copies of each file in the ADSM backups (see How Many Backup Copies Does ADSM Keep and How Long? for details). So the first decision that you have to make -- after you decide which file(s) or folder(s) you want to restore -- is whether you want to restore the most recent backup copy or the backup from some past date.

If you just deleted or messed up the files/folders today, then you want the most recent backup, which TSM calls the active backup. These are the files that TSM restores by default. If this is what you want, then just open the Restore window, select the files or directories you want to restore and click Restore. Don't worry about dates.

If you have discovered that your files/folders were corrupted by a software bug or virus or your mistake some time ago, you should do a Point In Time backup, specifying a time that you know is before the corruption occurred. The example in the previous section is a Point in Time backup. You still don't really have to worry about dates, except for telling the client when the latest time you know the file was good. Other than that, TSM does it for you. That's really neat.

You'll need to restore your whole disk when your hard drive dies or when you get a virus that totally trashes things or, heaven forbid, when someone steals your laptop. But this is the reason that you're using ADSM/TSM. And you will be happy that you did.

TSM can only recover your files if you can run the client. If the disk that's lost is the one that the client was on, you'll have to reinstall the client before you can recover your files.

Also, if the disk that you lost was the one that the operating system and the networking software was on, you'll have to reinstall them before you can use the TSM client and connect to the TSM server. To re-setup your OS, networking software, and TSM client, you'll need to know this info, which you should get now, before you get into trouble.

1. Record the IP address, subnet mask, default router, and name servers in the TCP/IP Control Panel. You will use this information to reconfigure TCP/IP when you reinstall Mac OS.
2. Record your nodename, TCP Server address, and TCP Port number from the Communications panel of the Preferences editor. The nodename information comes from the General panel in the Preferences editor. You will need this information to configure Tivoli Storage Manager so you can restore your data.
3. Re-install the Mac OS from your Macintosh installation CD to access the network.
4. Install the Tivoli Storage Manager for Macintosh.
5. Open the TSM Client, click in the gray box next to Macintosh HD (or whichever disk you need to restore) and click Restore. You'll want to Restore to Original Location, most likely.

Restoring a whole disk is going to take a long while. But even if it does, remember that TSM, and your using it to back up your Mac, is saving the day for you.

A complete set of IBM/Tivoli manuals for ADSM are available online; there are links in the Related Links page.