Merge pull request #313674 from akarshprabhu/main

Unmanaged disks retirement - VM backup update

Author: prmerger-automator[bot]

articles/backup/backup-azure-arm-restore-vms.md

@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ Azure Backup provides several ways to restore a VM.
 **Restore disk** | Restores a VM disk, which can then be used to create a new VM.<br/><br/> Azure Backup provides a template to help you customize and create a VM. <br/><br> The restore job generates a template that you can download and use to specify custom VM settings, and create a VM.<br/><br/> The disks are copied to the Resource Group you specify.<br/><br/> Alternatively, you can attach the disk to an existing VM, or create a new VM using PowerShell.<br/><br/> This option is useful if you want to customize the VM, add configuration settings that weren't there at the time of backup, or add settings that must be configured using the template or PowerShell.
 **Replace existing** | You can restore a disk, and use it to replace a disk on the existing VM.<br/><br/> The current VM must exist. If it's been deleted, this option can't be used.<br/><br/> Azure Backup takes a snapshot of the existing VM before replacing the disk. The snapshot is copied to the vault and retained in accordance with the retention policy.　<br/><br/> When you choose a Vault-Standard recovery point, a VHD file with the content of the chosen recovery point is also created in the staging location you specify. Existing disks connected to the VM are replaced with the selected restore point. <br/><br/> After the disk replacement operation is complete, the original disk is retained in the resource group. You can choose to manually delete the original disks if they aren't needed. <br/><br/>Replace existing is supported for unencrypted managed VMs, including VMs [created using custom images](/azure/virtual-machines/windows/tutorial-custom-images). It's unsupported for classic VMs, unmanaged VMs, and [generalized VMs](/azure/virtual-machines/windows/upload-generalized-managed).<br/><br/> If the restore point has more or less disks than the current VM, then the number of disks in the restore point will only reflect the VM configuration.<br><br> Replace existing is also supported for VMs with linked resources, like [user-assigned managed-identity](../active-directory/managed-identities-azure-resources/overview.md) or [Key Vault](/azure/key-vault/general/overview).
 **Cross Region (secondary region)** | Cross Region restore can be used to restore Azure VMs in the secondary region, which is an [Azure paired region](../availability-zones/cross-region-replication-azure.md).<br><br> You can restore all the Azure VMs for the selected recovery point if the backup is done in the secondary region.<br><br> During the backup, snapshots aren't replicated to the secondary region. Only the data stored in the vault is replicated. So secondary region restores are only [vault tier](about-azure-vm-restore.md#key-concepts-for-azure-vm-restore) restores. The restore time for the secondary region will be almost the same as the vault tier restore time for the primary region.  <br><br> This feature is available for the options below:<br><br> - [Create a VM](#create-a-vm) <br> - [Restore Disks](#restore-disks) <br><br> If the source machine has more than 16 disks, VHDs won't be created in Cross Region Restore. <br><br> We don't currently support the [Replace existing disks](#replace-existing-disks) option.<br><br> Permissions<br> The restore operation on secondary region can be performed by Backup Admins and App admins.
-**Cross Subscription Restore** | Allows you to restore Azure Virtual Machines or disks to a different subscription within the same tenant as the source subscription (as per the Azure RBAC capabilities) from restore points.  <br><br> Additionally, Cross Zone Restore supports restoring Azure non-zone pinned VMs from a Recovery Services vault configured with Zone-Redundant Storage (ZRS), enabling enhanced resiliency and flexibility in disaster recovery scenarios.  <br><br> Allowed only if the [Cross Subscription Restore property](backup-azure-arm-restore-vms.md#cross-subscription-restore-for-azure-vm) is enabled for your Recovery Services vault.  <br><br>  Works with [Cross Region Restore](backup-azure-arm-restore-vms.md#cross-region-restore) and [Cross Zonal Restore](backup-azure-arm-restore-vms.md#create-a-vm).   <br><br>   You can trigger Cross Subscription Restore for managed virtual machines only. <br><br> Cross Subscription Restore is supported for [Restore with Managed System Identities (MSI)](backup-azure-arm-restore-vms.md#restore-vms-with-managed-identities). <br><br> It's unsupported for [snapshots tier](backup-azure-vms-introduction.md#snapshot-creation) recovery points. <br><br>  It's unsupported for [unmanaged VMs](#restoring-unmanaged-vms-and-disks-as-managed) and [ADE encrypted VMs](backup-azure-vms-encryption.md#encryption-support-by-using-ade).
+**Cross Subscription Restore** | Allows you to restore Azure Virtual Machines or disks to a different subscription within the same tenant as the source subscription (as per the Azure RBAC capabilities) from restore points.  <br><br> Additionally, Cross Zone Restore supports restoring Azure non-zone pinned VMs from a Recovery Services vault configured with Zone-Redundant Storage (ZRS), enabling enhanced resiliency and flexibility in disaster recovery scenarios.  <br><br> Allowed only if the [Cross Subscription Restore property](backup-azure-arm-restore-vms.md#cross-subscription-restore-for-azure-vm) is enabled for your Recovery Services vault.  <br><br>  Works with [Cross Region Restore](backup-azure-arm-restore-vms.md#cross-region-restore) and [Cross Zonal Restore](backup-azure-arm-restore-vms.md#create-a-vm).   <br><br>   You can trigger Cross Subscription Restore for managed virtual machines only. <br><br> Cross Subscription Restore is supported for [Restore with Managed System Identities (MSI)](backup-azure-arm-restore-vms.md#restore-vms-with-managed-identities). <br><br> It's unsupported for [snapshots tier](backup-azure-vms-introduction.md#snapshot-creation) recovery points. <br><br>  It's unsupported for legacy recovery points from [VMs that used unmanaged disks](#restore-legacy-recovery-points-from-vms-that-used-unmanaged-disks) and [ADE encrypted VMs](backup-azure-vms-encryption.md#encryption-support-by-using-ade).
 **Cross Zonal Restore** |	Allows you to restore Azure Virtual Machines or disks pinned to any zone to different available zones (as per the Azure RBAC capabilities) from restore points. Note that when you select a zone to restore, it selects the [logical zone](/azure/reliability/availability-zones-overview#zonal-and-zone-redundant-services) (and not the physical zone) as per the Azure subscription you will use to restore to.           <br><br> You can trigger Cross Zonal Restore for managed virtual machines only. <br><br> Cross Zonal Restore is supported for [Restore with Managed System Identities (MSI)](#restore-vms-with-managed-identities). <br><br> Cross Zonal Restore supports restore of an Azure zone pinned/non-zone pinned VM from a vault with Zonal-redundant storage (ZRS) enabled. Learn [how to set Storage Redundancy](backup-create-rs-vault.md#set-storage-redundancy). <br><br> It's supported to restore an Azure zone pinned VM only from a [vault with Cross Region Restore (CRR)](backup-create-rs-vault.md#set-storage-redundancy) (if the secondary region supports zones) or Zone Redundant Storage (ZRS) enabled. <br><br> Cross Zonal Restore is supported from [secondary regions](#restore-in-secondary-region). <br><br> It's unsupported from [snapshots](backup-azure-vms-introduction.md#snapshot-creation) restore point. <br><br> It's unsupported for [Encrypted Azure VMs](backup-azure-vms-introduction.md#encryption-of-azure-vm-backups).
 
 >[!Tip]
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ Azure Backup provides several ways to restore a VM.
 Some details about storage accounts:
 
 - **Create VM**: When you create a new VM, VHD files are also copied when restoring VMs with disks < 4 TB or VMs containing < 16 disks from a Vault-Standard recovery point. These files are then moved to Managed storage. To prevent extra charges, delete VHDs from the Staging Storage Account.
-- **Restore disk**: The VM restore job generates a template, which you can download and use to specify custom VM settings. VHD files are also copied when restoring managed disks **< 4 TB** or VMs containing **< 16 disks** from a Vault-Standard recovery point, or when restoring unmanaged disks. These files are then moved to Managed storage. To prevent extra charges, delete VHDs from the Staging Storage Account.
+- **Restore disk**: The VM restore job generates a template, which you can download and use to specify custom VM settings. VHD files are also copied when restoring managed disks **< 4 TB** or VMs containing **< 16 disks** from a Vault-Standard recovery point, including legacy recovery points from VMs that used unmanaged disks. These files are then moved to Managed storage. To prevent extra charges, delete VHDs from the Staging Storage Account.
 - **Replace disk**: When replacing a managed disk from a Vault-Standard recovery point that's **< 4 TB** or a VM containing **< 16 disks**, a VHD file is created in the specified storage account. After replacement, source VM disks remain in the designated Resource Group, and VHDs stay in the storage account; you can delete or retain the source disk and the VHDs as needed.
 - **Storage account location**: The storage account must be in the same region as the vault. Only these accounts are displayed. If there are no storage accounts in the location, you need to create one.
 - **Storage type**: Blob Storage account isn't supported because the Premium Storage account  it requires is excluded for cost optimization.
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ As one of the [restore options](#restore-options), you can create a disk from a
 
 1. Select **Restore** to trigger the restore operation.
 
-When your virtual machine uses managed disks and you select the **Create virtual machine** option, Azure Backup doesn't use the specified storage account. In the case of **Restore disks** and **Instant Restore**, the storage account is used only for storing the template. Managed disks are created in the specified resource group. When your virtual machine uses unmanaged disks, they're restored as blobs to the storage account.
+When your virtual machine uses managed disks and you select the **Create virtual machine** option, Azure Backup doesn't use the specified storage account. In the case of **Restore disks** and **Instant Restore**, the storage account is used only for storing the template. Managed disks are created in the specified resource group. For legacy recovery points from VMs that used unmanaged disks, Azure Backup restores the disks as managed disks and uses the storage account only for restore metadata and temporary VHD files.
 
 While you restore disks for a Managed VM from a Vault-Standard recovery point, it restores the Managed disk and Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates, along with the VHD files of the disks in staging location. If you restore disks from an Instant recovery point, it restores the Managed disks and ARM templates only.
 
@@ -304,9 +304,9 @@ This feature is enabled for Recovery Services vault by default. However, there m
 >- If CSR is disabled but not permanently disabled, then you can reverse the operation by selecting *Vault* > **Properties** > **Cross Subscription Restore** > **Enable**.
 >- If a Recovery Services vault is moved to a different subscription when CSR is disabled or permanently disabled, restore to the original subscription fails.
 
-## Restoring unmanaged VMs and disks as managed
+## Restore legacy recovery points from VMs that used unmanaged disks
 
-You're provided with an option to restore [unmanaged disks](../storage/common/storage-disaster-recovery-guidance.md#azure-unmanaged-disks) as [managed disks](/azure/virtual-machines/managed-disks-overview) during restore. By default, the unmanaged VMs / disks are restored as unmanaged VMs / disks. However, if you choose to restore as managed VMs / disks, it's now possible to do so. These restore operations aren't triggered from the snapshot phase but only from the vault phase. This feature isn't available for unmanaged encrypted VMs.
+Recovery points from VMs that used [unmanaged disks](../storage/common/storage-disaster-recovery-guidance.md#azure-unmanaged-disks) can be restored only as [managed disks](/azure/virtual-machines/managed-disks-overview). Restore to unmanaged disks isn't supported. These restore operations are triggered only from the vault tier. This feature isn't available for unmanaged encrypted VMs.
 
 ![Restore as managed disks](./media/backup-azure-arm-restore-vms/restore-as-managed-disks.png)
 

articles/backup/backup-azure-vm-backup-faq.yml

@@ -220,11 +220,11 @@ sections:
 
       - question: Can I restore backups of unmanaged VM disks after I upgrade to managed disks?
         answer: |
-          Yes, you can use backups taken before disks were migrated from unmanaged to managed.
+          Yes, you can use backups taken before disks were migrated from unmanaged to managed. Azure Backup restores those legacy recovery points as managed disks.
 
       - question: How do I restore a VM to a restore point before the VM was migrated to managed disks?
         answer: |
-          The restore process remains the same. If the recovery point is of a point-in-time when VM had unmanaged disks, you can [restore disks as unmanaged](tutorial-restore-disk.md#unmanaged-disks-restore). If the VM had managed disks, then you can [restore disks as managed disks](tutorial-restore-disk.md#managed-disk-restore). Then you can [create a VM from those disks](tutorial-restore-disk.md#create-a-vm-from-the-restored-disk).
+          The restore process remains the same. If the recovery point is from a point in time when the VM had unmanaged disks, restore the disks as managed disks by following [unmanaged disks restore](tutorial-restore-disk.md#unmanaged-disks-restore). If the VM had managed disks, restore the disks as managed disks by following [managed disk restore](tutorial-restore-disk.md#managed-disk-restore). Then you can [create a VM from those disks](tutorial-restore-disk.md#create-a-vm-from-the-restored-disk).
 
           [Learn more](backup-azure-vms-automation.md#restore-an-azure-vm) about doing this in PowerShell.
 
@@ -279,11 +279,10 @@ sections:
 
       - question: How does restored disk SKU depend on target SA provided?
         answer: |
-          In the case of an unmanaged VM, the VM disk type is Premium SSD or HDD and depends on the SA in which VHDs exist. If you provide normal SA during restore, the VM disk would be HDD, and if you provide Premium SA, all disks would be Premium SSDs.
+          This guidance applied to older restore flows that restored disks as unmanaged VHDs. Recovery points from VMs that used unmanaged disks are now restored only as managed disks, so the target storage account doesn't determine the final disk type. The storage account is used only to hold restore metadata and temporary VHD files.
 
           >[!Note]
           >- Azure Backup currently doesn't support taking different SAs as inputs for different disks.
-          >- **Restore to original disks SA** is only available for snapshot tier, and it increases restore performance because data is copied faster to the same SA than to a different SA. It's not intended to support disk type, but can be used to retain it.
 
       - question: Can I delete JSON template and VHD files after the restore process is complete?
         answer: |

articles/backup/backup-azure-vms-automation.md

@@ -496,7 +496,7 @@ $restorejob
 Provide an additional parameter **TargetResourceGroupName** to specify the RG to which managed disks will be restored.
 
 > [!IMPORTANT]
-> It's strongly recommended to use the **TargetResourceGroupName** parameter for restoring managed disks since it results in significant performance improvements. If this parameter isn't given, then you can't benefit from the instant restore functionality and the restore operation will be slower in comparison. If the purpose is to restore managed disks as unmanaged disks, then don't provide this parameter and make the intention clear by providing the `-RestoreAsUnmanagedDisks` parameter. The `-RestoreAsUnmanagedDisks` parameter is available from Azure PowerShell 3.7.0 onwards. In future versions, it will be mandatory to provide either of these parameters for the right restore experience.
+> We recommend that you use the **TargetResourceGroupName** parameter for restoring managed disks since it results in significant performance improvements. The storage account is then used for the VM configuration file and temporary restore artifacts. Azure Backup doesn't support restoring disks as unmanaged disks. For legacy recovery points from VMs that used unmanaged disks, [restore them as managed disks](backup-azure-arm-restore-vms.md#restore-legacy-recovery-points-from-vms-that-used-unmanaged-disks).
 >
 >
 
@@ -630,7 +630,7 @@ After you restore the disks, use the following steps to create and configure the
 >
 > 1. AzureAz module 3.0.0 or higher is required. <br>
 > 2. To create encrypted VMs from restored disks, your Azure role must have permission to perform the action, **Microsoft.KeyVault/vaults/deploy/action**. If your role doesn't have this permission, create a custom role with this action. For more information, see [Azure custom roles](../role-based-access-control/custom-roles.md). <br>
-> 3. After restoring disks, you can now get a deployment template which you can directly use to create a new VM. YOu don't need different PowerShell cmdlets to create managed/unmanaged VMs which are encrypted/unencrypted.<br>
+> 3. After restoring disks, you can now get a deployment template which you can directly use to create a new VM. You don't need different PowerShell cmdlets to create managed VMs that are encrypted or unencrypted.<br>
 > <br>
 
 ### Create a VM using the deployment template