Forest Recovery: Create a cloud recovery site for Forest Recovery plan

Cayosoft Guardian offers automation of the recovery site deployment in the Microsoft Azure and AWS virtualization platforms. Once a recovery plan is created, Cayosoft Guardian can create virtual machines and other required resources in the selected cloud platform.

A forest recovery plan must be created and configured before you can start cloud recovery site deployment. Learn more in: Forest Recovery: Create, configure, verify and run forest recovery plan.

Add a cloud service

You need an Azure subscription or AWS account to create the cloud resources that serve as a recovery site.

When adding a cloud service, you specify the identity Cayosoft Guardian uses to access the cloud platform. For Azure, you can use a Cayosoft Guardian-created Entra application or a customer-provided application account (Client ID with a Client secret or certificate); the first option does not require Global Administrator privileges.

The roles that the identity needs depend on how you deploy the recovery site:

• Cayosoft Guardian creates the resources (default). The identity must have the Contributor role in the subscription to create a resource group and all related resources. If you plan to use pre-created resource groups, the identity must have the Contributor role on those resource groups.
• You provide the resources (7.4 and later). The identity does not need the Contributor role. It needs the roles required to use your precreated resources, such as Storage Blob Data Contributor, Virtual Machine Contributor, Network Contributor, and Azure Relay Owner. For the full list, see Permissions for Forest Recovery in Cayosoft Guardian.

For AWS, an account with AdministratorAccess permission is required to create resources.

To add a cloud service:

1. Open the Cayosoft Guardian web portal.
2. Expand the Forest Recovery node.
3. Select the Cloud Services node.
4. Click Add.
5. Select AWS account or Azure account.
6. In the wizard, specify the connection settings and save.

Create an Azure recovery site

1. Open the Cayosoft Guardian web portal.
2. Expand the Forest Recovery node.
3. Select the Recovery plans node.
4. Open a configured forest recovery plan, or click Add to create a new one. Learn more in Forest Recovery: Create, configure, verify and run forest recovery plan.
5. Click Deploy recovery site, and then select Deploy to Azure or Deploy to AWS.
6. In the recovery site settings, available for Azure only, choose whether Cayosoft Guardian creates the recovery site resources or uses resources that you precreated:
   • Leave Use precreated resources cleared to let Cayosoft Guardian create the resource group, virtual network, subnet, network security group, temporary blob storage, and Relay.
   • Select Use precreated resources, and then select your existing Resource group, Virtual network, Storage account, and Relay. The virtual network must be in the same Azure region and subscription as the recovery site, and the required services must be enabled on it. Prepare these resources before you start. Learn more in Deploy Forest Recovery to customer-provided Azure resources and Manage cloud recovery sites.
7. Review and modify the settings if required.
8. Click Deploy and observe the deployment process.

After the cloud recovery site deployment is completed successfully, verify the forest recovery plan. Learn more about cloud recovery site management in Manage cloud recovery sites.

NOTE: A server with Desktop Experience is deployed in the Azure recovery site even if the backup was created on a Server Core server.