The newly created virtual machine is bootable and is identical to the physical computer from which the virtual machine was converted. Conversion to a virtual machine enables business continuity for both Hyper-V and VMware environments.

You use one of the following backup options on the Backup and Restore tab to set up a conversion to a virtual machine with a backup job:

Alternatively, you can add a stage to a backup job to convert to a virtual machine. Two types of stages are available: Convert to Virtual Machine After Backup and Convert to Virtual Machine Simultaneously with Backup.

The option Convert to Virtual From Point-in-Time is also available. A conversion to a virtual machine from a point in time converts existing backup sets from a backup job in which all components that are necessary for a virtual machine conversion were selected. When a backup job has all necessary components selected, Backup Exec identifies that job as Fully selected and the Simplified Disaster Recovery option has a status of ON The option to convert to a virtual machine from a point in time is useful in a disaster recovery situation in which you want to quickly recover a failed server. The backup sets contain all of the critical components of the server. Additionally, you can select application data or user data to include in the conversion.

Regardless of the option that is used to initiate the conversion, Backup Exec does not power on the virtual machine after creating it. You should not power on the virtual machine to validate that the conversion completed successfully.

Backup Exec creates a snapshot of the virtual machine at the end of the conversion process. The snapshot is removed before the next job runs as long as the virtual machine is not powered on and the only snapshot on the virtual machine is the one that Backup Exec created. If you want to start using the virtual machine, you must manually remove the snapshot.

If the converted virtual machine's host fails and you bring the virtual machine online, the existing conversion job continues to run and then fails. In this situation, you must create a new conversion job.

See Requirements for conversion to virtual machines

See Creating a backup job with a simultaneous conversion to a virtual machine

See Creating a backup job with a conversion to a virtual machine after the backup