Macrium viBoot
Macrium viBoot enables you, to instantly create, start and manage Microsoft Hyper-V virtual machines using one or more Macrium Reflect image files as the basis of the virtual machine storage sub-system.
At a minimum, viBoot enables you to boot into the images you have made using Macrium Reflect, for validation purposes, or to retrieve data from old applications stored on a bootable image. At an enterprise level, you could recover an entire network environment in minutes.
Macrium viBoot is now built upon new technology that allows it to instantly present a Macrium Reflect image file as a Microsoft Virtual Disk (.VHDX) file.
When creating a new virtual machine Macrium viBoot will create two Microsoft Virtual Hard Disk (.VHDX) files for each of the disks described within the selected Macrium Image file. The first VHDX file is incomplete and only contains enough information to describe the disk layout and a signature to mark it as a Macrium viBoot VHDX. The data for the disk is retrieved from the Macrium Image File by the Macrium Virtual Disk Provider filter driver as required. Because the data is not stored with the VHDX, it size will never exceed a few megabytes. The second VHDX file is a standard differencing disk that will receive any modifications made to during the lifetime of the virtual machine.
As with any differencing VHDX, this file can grow dramatically in size, depending on the usage of the virtual machine.
These VHDX files are stored in the designated Macrium viBoot repository and remain open until the Macrium viBoot virtual machine is deleted from within viBoot.
Info |
---|
Note: The default location for the viBoot VHDX files is C:\ProgramData\Macrium\viBoot. This is configurable from within the Macrium viBoot UI. |
Info |
---|
Note: viBoot only supports Microsoft’s Hyper-V running on a minimum of Windows 8.0 or Windows Server 2012. |
Booting an image directly from Macrium Reflect
An image that contains the Windows System and Boot partition(s) can be directly booted from the 'Restore' view in Macrium Reflect.
Boot architecture | Partitions |
---|---|
MBR - Master Boot Record | Boot partition: This may be the same partition as drive 'C:' but is likely to be a separate small (100 to 300 MB) partition named the Microsoft System Reserved partition or MSR. Windows partition: This is the partition that contains the Windows OS and will be drive C: |
UEFI - Unified Extensible Firmware Interface | UEFI System Partition: A small FAT32 formatted partition that doesn;'t have a drive letter. Windows partition: This is the partition that contains the Windows OS and will be drive C: |
If an image contains the partitions required for booting then the image will show an active 'Boot Image' Link:
Otherwise the link will be disabled:
To boot an image directly with viBoot.
- Click the 'Restore tab.
- Select the bootable image.
Click the 'Boot Image' link.
Info Note: If viBoot cannot run on your Windows installation then you will receive an error message indicating the reason(s):
- If viBoot can launch, the viBoot Hyper-V settings dialog will start.
- Make any changes to the VM properties and click 'Finish'
The VM will now start and boot directly into Windows.
Starting the viBoot create Virtual Machine Wizard from Macrium Reflect.
Take the 'Restore' > 'Launch Macrium viBoot' menu option
Or, click the 'Launch Macrium viBoot' task link on the Restore tab.
This will start the the viBoot Virtual Machine User Interface.
Launching viBoot as a standalone application
viBoot is installed by default during the standard Macrium Reflect installation and can be started using the installed shortcut:
Anchor | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
|
The Macrium viBoot main window allows you to see at a glance, which Macrium Reflect image files you have mounted (2), and which virtual machines are connected to those drives (1).
The “Virtual Machines” view (1), displays the name of the viBoot created virtual machine, the current state of the virtual machine (Off, Running, etc) and the current CPU usage of the virtual machine. Selecting a Hyper-V virtual machine in the “Virtual Machines” view (1) will update the “Mounted Images” view (2) to list the Macrium Reflect images that are being referenced by the virtual machine.
The “Mounted Images” view (2), displays the path of the image file(s) used to create the virtual drive(s), the physical drive number assigned to the drive by Windows, the partition type of the drive (MBR or GPT) and the drive capacity.
The "Log" view (3), shows a record of the actions taken by viBoot.
Macrium viBoot can only monitor the state of virtual machines and drives while it is running. Clicking the Windows close button will minimize viBoot.
Main Window Commands
Macrium viBoot menu:
Menu Item | Sub Menu Item | Description |
---|---|---|
Virtual Machine | Connect | Connect to a virtual machine. |
New... | Displays the viBoot Wizard which allows you to create a new virtual machine. | |
Delete... | Deletes the currently selected virtual machine. | |
Start | Starts the currently selected virtual machine. | |
Shut down | Shuts down the currently selected virtual machine. | |
Turn off | Turns off the currently selected virtual machine. | |
Pause | Pauses the currently selected virtual machine. | |
Reset | Resets the currently selected virtual machine. | |
Exit | Exit the Macrium viBoot application. | |
Tools | Log | Toggles the display of the Log window. |
Options... | Configure the virtual machine repository folder, and logging options. | |
Refresh | Instructs viBoot to refresh it's view of the virtual machines and mounted images. | |
Help | Contents... | Displays this help content. |
About Macrium viBoot... | Displays the viBoot version and copyright notice. |
Panel | ||
---|---|---|
| ||
You can right-click on the virtual machine pane to display the "Virtual Machine" menu as a context menu. |
Macrium viBoot toolbar:
New - Displays the viBoot Wizard which allows you to create a new virtual machine. | |
Deletes the currently selected virtual machine. | |
Refresh the list virtual machines and states. | |
Options - Configure the virtual machine repository folder, and logging options. | |
Help - Displays this help content. |
Anchor | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
|
The Macrium viBoot Wizard will configure and start a Microsoft Hyper-V virtual machine from one or more Macrium Reflect image files.
The "Welcome" page provides a brief introduction and explains some of the limitations of virtualization.
Select Image Files allows you to add one or more Macrium Reflect image files to be used for the virtual machine. Anchor 2 2
The first boot-able disk will be marked as the boot disk. If there are multiple disks that are boot-able, these can be set to be the boot disk by selecting the disk and clicking the "Set as Boot" button.
Hyper-V VM Settings allows you to configure the virtual machine. The RAM and CPU are limited to match the host computer. If the number of processors is set to "Automatic", viBoot will interrogate the Windows settings from the image files to set the correct number of processors. A Virtual Switch of "<None>" ensures that the new virtual machine is not connected to the network.
Info |
---|
Please note that no changes whatsoever, are made to the original image files. |
Include Page | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
|
Macrium viBoot demonstration video
Widget Connector | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|