Explore FOG images for file recovery?

[rrjustin]

Hi all,

To the point, is there a known method of file exploring uploaded images on the FOG server for file recovery purposes?

My idea being is that as we decommission user workstations, we can capture an image of the workstation and save it for a period of time to use for later file recovery purposes (if needed) without requiring physical media to be maintained. Ideal for post profile recovery and then a user notifies our techs they need a specific file that may have been stored in another location outside of the users profile.

I reviewed the Wiki and saw that there is a File Recovery tool for recovering lost data from hard drives, but it seemed vague and didn’t offer any explicit information on how the tool can be used.

Thanks!

[Junkhacker]

it can be done, but it would be easier to deploy the image to a computer (real or a VM) and recover the files from there

[ch3i]

@rrjustin There are some topics about that using gzip/partlcone tools/mount on the FOG forum. As said @Junkhacker the simple way is to restore to another computer/vm.

I’m working on a tool to decompress mount img via script and browse it via web UI.

[rrjustin]

@ch3i said:

@rrjustin There are some topics about that using gzip/partlcone tools/mount on the FOG forum. As said @Junkhacker the simple way is to restore to another computer/vm.

I’m working on a tool to decompress mount img via script and browse it via web UI.

That’s awesome, I hate to nag but since you’re developing a tool for a similar purpose, do you have any recommended resources that I can follow for performing the same task?

@Junkhacker said:

it can be done, but it would be easier to deploy the image to a computer (real or a VM) and recover the files from there

Thanks, that was going to be my fallback solution. I know that restoring an image to a VM isn’t always the most practical solution, and I’m spoiled by vRanger instant file recovery. I’ll start with the VM method until I can find/develop a solution closer to my goal.

[Junkhacker]

in order to explore the files for recovery, all you’ll need to do is decompress the partition images and then mount them on a Linux computer. i’ve never done it myself because of how long it takes to decompress the files and how quickly i can just deploy the image and recover the files i need

[ch3i]

@rrjustin Look at here : https://forums.fogproject.org/topic/5204/script-fog-tools to decompress an image. I’ve build this tool to change level compression of a FOG image and update database depending the new compression.

[rrjustin]

@ch3i said:

@rrjustin Look at here : https://forums.fogproject.org/topic/5204/script-fog-tools to decompress an image. I’ve build this tool to change level compression of a FOG image and update database depending the new compression.

Thanks @ch3i ! I’ll check it out and see how I can modify it to suit my needs, or if as Junkhacker stated the process may be easier to just virtualize the image again.

@Junkhacker said:

in order to explore the files for recovery, all you’ll need to do is decompress the partition images and then mount them on a Linux computer. i’ve never done it myself because of how long it takes to decompress the files and how quickly i can just deploy the image and recover the files i need

Thanks for your support @Junkhacker , I’ll take this into consideration. I’d ideally like to test both methods but if virtualizing is the quickest solution, I’ll take your suggestion and keep using it.