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Summary

A step-by-step guide on how to restore all attributes of a Windows TS Remote Access Application.

 

Symptoms

Starting with W2K8, Microsoft introduced new functionality in the terminal services, namely Remote Access Applications. For more information, see:

technet.microsoft.com

You might want to restore certain applications by simply restoring the SYSTEM State and SYSTEM Table objects of the Terminal Server which hosts the remote applications.

In some cases, this approach might be enough for some applications, in the case with the Terminal Server remote applications, some of the attributes need additional items to be restored in order for complete restore to be achieved.

Following is a possible scenario:

1. Configure the TS RemoteApp and makes certain applications available remotely. An example set up can be seen in the screen below. Note the Type, Path, and Name fields.

2. A full block level backup of the system volume of the Windows Terminal Server hosting the applications is made.

3. An application is deleted from the list of available applications in the RemoteApp Manager as follows:

4. Restore SYSTEM STATE and TABLE expecting Applications to be restored in their backup time state but in fact some attributes of the remote applications are missing. An example can be seen in the screen below. Note the difference with the first screen.

5. Without additional steps the connection type of the application is changed to remote desktop connection which might be unacceptable in some cases.

 

Resolution

As mentioned in this case, additional steps need to be taken to restore all attributes:

  1. Restore <System volume>:\Windows\RemotePackages\RemoteApps folder.
  2. Restore SYSTEM TABLE object.
  3. Restore SYSTEM STATE object.
  4. Reboot restore target.

After this, the remote apps which were present during the backup in the remote RDWeb access page are restored with connection type RemoteApp.

Note: This is not a DPX flaw but rather a third-party application specific fact which should be handled by an administrator. Both BMR and this subsequent solution show that DPX is diligently backing up everything that is needed for an adequate restore.