Restoring files from Snapshot copies

Why you restore files

You might need to restore a file from a Snapshot copy if the file was accidentally erased or corrupted.

Note
If you have purchased the SnapRestore option, you can automatically restore files or volumes from Snapshot copies with one command. To restore a volume, see Deciding when to use SnapRestore. To restore a single file, see Reverting a file to a selected Snapshot copy.

How to restore a file

To restore a file from a Snapshot copy, complete the following steps.

Step	Action
1	If the original file still exists and you do not want it overwritten by the snapshot file, then use your UNIX or Windows client to rename the original file or move it to a different directory.
2	Locate the Snapshot copy containing the version of the file you want to restore.
3	Copy the file from the .snapshot directory to the directory in which the file originally existed.

Snapshot restoration using Shadow Copy Client tools

You can access and restore Data ONTAP Snapshot files using the Windows Shadow Copy Client. The Shadow Copy Client provides a Previous Versions tab in the Properties menu from which you can view and restore Data ONTAP Snapshot images.

The Shadow Copy Client software for Windows 2003 is called the Previous Versions Client. Downloads available from Microsoft allow you to use Shadow Copy client tools on most older versions of Windows. Consult the Microsoft documentation for more information about Shadow Copy Client or Previous Versions Client software.