Cannot restore files from a Windows virtual machine using deduplication

Symptoms

When restoring a backup from a VM that runs on Windows Server 2012 or later and has deduplication enabled, the file-level restore completes successfully; however, only stub files are created.

Causes

Windows Server 2012 and later provide their own native deduplication capability. If a Windows Server VM has native deduplication enabled, file-level restores from backups are not supported because the backed up files are only stored as stubs.

Resolution

Use one of the following methods to restore files:

When using a Virtual Server Agent proxy on Windows Server 2012 or later with Windows deduplication enabled, use Live File Recovery to restore files that have been dehydrated by Windows deduplication. You must use a MediaAgent that runs Windows Server 2012 R2, or a version of Windows Server that is at or above the version of Windows Server that the guest VM runs. You must have the Virtual Server Agent installed and the Windows deduplication role enabled, and you must specify the as the VSA proxy when you restore the dehydrated files.

Note: When using a Virtual Server Agent proxy on Windows Server 2012 or later with Windows deduplication enabled, use Live File Recovery to restore files that have been dehydrated by Windows deduplication. You must use a MediaAgent that runs Windows Server 2012 R2, or a version of Windows Server that is at or above the version of Windows Server that the guest VM runs. The MediaAgent must have the Virtual Server Agent installed and the Windows deduplication role enabled, and you must specify the MediaAgent as the VSA proxy when you restore the dehydrated files.

To retrieve files from a backup for a Windows Server VM using deduplication, use the Virtual Machine files option on the Restore Options dialog to restore the virtual machine disk that contains the files.
Install a local file system agent on the Windows Server VM to enable file-level backups. As a result, the data is backed up in a rehydrated state so that you can restore file-level data from that backup.