Previous Versions in Windows with Qumulo Core

IN THIS ARTICLE

Outlines how to use previous versions in Windows with Qumulo Core

REQUIREMENTS

• Admin privileges required
• Cluster running Qumulo Core 2.11.2 and above

IMPORTANT! SMB2 specification treats previous versions as snapshots on the volume and Qumulo supports snapshots within a single volume (per-directory snapshots). As a result, if you mount an SMB2 share above a snapshot in the directory tree, that snapshot will not be visible because it does not apply to the whole “volume” that is presented to Windows. To work around this limitation, you can mount a share deeper in the directory tree so that the snapshot applies to the whole volume.

DETAILS

With the release of Qumulo Core 2.11.2, we now officially support Windows previous versions. Previous versions are copies of files and folders created by Windows that can be used as a restore point in case a file or folder is accidentally modified, deleted, or damaged. Depending on the type of file or folder, you can open, save to a different location, or restore a previous version. 

Select a timestamp for old data

• Right click on a share, select properties and click previous versions. Qumulo presents a list of all snapshots that cover this share at 1-second granularity. Double-click a specific timestamp to view the data as it existed in that snapshot.

View an entire SMB share at a previous version

• Right click the explorer background inside the share root and choose a timestamp

View a previous version of a specific directory

• Right click a directory and choose a timestamp

View a previous version of a specific file

• Right click a file and choose a timestamp

Restore from a snapshot for any of the scenarios above

• Click the Restore button in the previous versions view

Use GMT timestamp-formatted paths with previous versions

• Paste or type a specific GMT timestamp into an explorer path to get the path as it existed in that snapshot

Use `volrest` (or similar) combined with GMT timestamp-formatted paths in the Windows CLI

RESOLUTION

You should now be able to successfully use previous versions in Windows with Qumulo Core

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

QQ CLI: Comprehensive List of Commands 

Like what you see? Share this article with your network!