Merge pull request #205051 from MicrosoftDocs/release-restorepoints-ga

Release restorepoints ga--scheduled release at 8AM of 7/19

Author: huypub

articles/virtual-machines/TOC.yml

@@ -1941,8 +1941,6 @@
     - name: Overview
       href: ../backup/backup-azure-vms-introduction.md?context=/azure/virtual-machines/context/context
       dispayName: backup VMs, Azure Backup, recovery
-    - name: Creating restore points
-      href: virtual-machines-create-restore-points.md
     - name: Quickstarts
       items:
       - name: CLI
@@ -1987,6 +1985,28 @@
       href: ../site-recovery/azure-to-azure-tutorial-failover-failback.md?context=/azure/virtual-machines/context/context
     - name: Fail back a VM to the primary region
       href: ../site-recovery/azure-to-azure-tutorial-failback.md?context=/azure/virtual-machines/context/context
+  - name: VM restore points
+    items:
+    - name: Overview
+      href: virtual-machines-create-restore-points.md
+    - name: Quickstarts
+      items:
+      - name: Create VM restore points
+        href: create-restore-points.md
+    - name: Manage VM restore points
+      href: manage-restore-points.md 
+    - name: Tutorials
+      items: 
+      - name: CLI
+        href: virtual-machines-create-restore-points-cli.md
+      - name: PowerShell
+        href: virtual-machines-create-restore-points-powershell.md
+      - name: Portal
+        href: virtual-machines-create-restore-points-portal.md
+    - name: Support matrix
+      href: concepts-restore-points.md
+    - name: Troubleshooting
+      href: restore-point-troubleshooting.md  
   - name: Move and migrate VMs
     items:
     - name: Change subscription or resource group

articles/virtual-machines/concepts-restore-points.md

@@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
+---
+title: Support matrix for VM restore points
+description: Support matrix for VM restore points
+author: dikethir
+ms.author: dikethir
+ms.service: virtual-machines
+ms.topic: conceptual
+ms.date: 07/05/2022
+ms.custom: template-concept
+---
+
+# Support matrix for VM restore points
+
+This article summarizes the support matrix and limitations of using [VM restore points](virtual-machines-create-restore-points.md).
+
+
+## VM restore points support matrix
+
+The following table summarizes the support matrix for VM restore points.
+
+**Scenarios** | **Supported by VM restore points**
+--- | ---
+**VMs using Managed disks** | Yes
+**VMs using unmanaged disks** | No
+**VMs using Ultra Disks** | No. Exclude these disks and create a VM restore point.
+**VMs using Ephemeral OS Disks** | No. Exclude these disks and create a VM restore point.
+**VMs using shared disks** | No. Exclude these disks and create a VM restore point.
+**VMs with extensions** | Yes
+**VMs with trusted launch** | Yes
+**Confidential VMs** | Yes
+**Generation 2 VMs (UEFI boot)** | Yes
+**VMs with NVMe disks (Storage optimized - Lsv2-series)** | Yes
+**VMs in Proximity placement groups** | Yes
+**VMs in an availability set** | Yes. You can create VM restore points for individual VMs within an availability set. You need to create restore points for all the VMs within an availability set to protect an entire availability set instance.
+**VMs inside VMSS with uniform orchestration** | No
+**VMs inside VMSS with flexible orchestration** | Yes. You can create VM restore points for individual VMs within the virtual machine scale set flex. However, you need to create restore points for all the VMs within the virtual machine scale set flex to protect an entire virtual machine scale set flex instance.
+**Spot VMs (Low priority VMs)** | Yes
+**VMs with dedicated hosts** | Yes
+**VMs with Host caching enabled** | Yes
+**VMs created from marketplace images** | Yes
+**VMs created from custom images** | Yes
+**VM with HUB (Hybrid Use Benefit) license** | Yes
+**VMs migrated from on-prem using Azure Migrate** | Yes
+**VMs with RBAC policies** | Yes
+**Temporary disk in VMs** | Yes. You can create VM restore point for VMs with temporary disks. However, the restore points created don't contain the data from the temporary disks.
+**VMs with standard HDDs** | Yes
+**VMs with standard SSDs** | Yes
+**VMs with premium SSDs** | Yes
+**VMs with ZRS disks** | Yes
+**VMs with server-side encryption using service-managed keys** | Yes
+**VMs with server-side encryption using customer-managed keys** | Yes
+**VMs with double encryption at rest** | Yes
+**VMs with Host based encryption enabled with PMK/CMK/Double encryption** | Yes
+**VMs with ADE (Azure Disk Encryption)** | Yes
+**VMs using Accelerated Networking** | Yes
+**Frequency supported** | Three hours for app consistent restore points. One hour for [crash consistent restore points (preview)](https://github.com/Azure/Virtual-Machine-Restore-Points/tree/main/Crash%20consistent%20VM%20restore%20points%20(preview))
+
+## Operating system support
+
+### Windows
+
+The following Windows operating systems are supported when creating restore points for Azure VMs running on Windows.
+
+- Windows 10 Client (64 bit only)
+- Windows Server 2022 (Datacenter/Datacenter Core/Standard)
+- Windows Server 2019 (Datacenter/Datacenter Core/Standard)
+- Windows Server 2016 (Datacenter/Datacenter Core/Standard)
+- Windows Server 2012 R2 (Datacenter/Standard)
+- Windows Server 2012 (Datacenter/Standard)
+- Windows Server 2008 R2 (RTM and SP1 Standard)
+- Windows Server 2008 (64 bit only)
+
+Restore points don't support 32-bit operating systems.
+
+### Linux
+
+For Azure VM Linux VMs, restore points support the list of Linux [distributions endorsed by Azure](../virtual-machines/linux/endorsed-distros.md). Note the following:
+
+- Restore points don't support Core OS Linux.
+- Restore points don't support 32-bit operating systems.
+- Other bring-your-own Linux distributions might work as long as the [Azure VM agent for Linux](../virtual-machines/extensions/agent-linux.md) is available on the VM, and as long as Python is supported.
+- Restore points don't support a proxy-configured Linux VM if it doesn't have Python version 2.7 or higher installed.
+- Restore points don't back up NFS files that are mounted from storage, or from any other NFS server, to Linux or Windows machines. It only backs up disks that are locally attached to the VM.
+
+## Other limitations
+
+- Restore points are supported only for managed disks. 
+- Ultra-disks, Ephemeral OS disks, and Shared disks aren't supported. 
+- Restore points APIs require an API of version 2021-03-01 or later. 
+- A maximum of 500 VM restore points can be retained at any time for a VM, irrespective of the number of restore point collections. 
+- Concurrent creation of restore points for a VM isn't supported. 
+- Movement of Virtual Machines (VM) between Resource Groups (RG), or Subscriptions isn't supported when the VM has restore points. Moving the VM between Resource Groups or Subscriptions won't update the source VM reference in the restore point and will cause a mismatch of ARM processor IDs between the actual VM and the restore points. 
+ > [!Note]
+ > Public preview of cross-region creation and copying of VM restore points is available, with the following limitations: 
+ > - Private links aren't supported when copying restore points across regions or creating restore points in a region other than the source VM. 
+ > - Customer-managed key encrypted restore points, when copied to a target region or created directly in the target region are created as platform-managed key encrypted restore points.
+ > - No portal support for cross region copy and cross region creation of restore points
+
+## Next steps
+
+- Learn how to create VM restore points using [CLI](virtual-machines-create-restore-points-cli.md), [Azure portal](virtual-machines-create-restore-points-portal.md), and [PowerShell](virtual-machines-create-restore-points-powershell.md).

articles/virtual-machines/create-restore-points.md

@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+---
+title: Create Virtual Machine restore points
+description: Creating Virtual Machine Restore Points with API
+author: dikethir
+ms.author: dikethir
+ms.service: virtual-machines
+ms.subservice: recovery
+ms.date: 02/14/2022
+ms.topic: quickstart 
+ms.custom: template-quickstart 
+---
+
+# Quickstart: Create VM restore points using APIs
+
+You can protect your data by taking backups at regular intervals. Azure VM restore point APIs are a lightweight option you can use to implement granular backup and retention policies. VM restore points support application consistency for VMs running Windows operating systems and support file system consistency for VMs running Linux operating system. 
+
+You can use the APIs to create restore points for your source VM in either the same region, or in other regions. You can also copy existing VM restore points between regions.
+
+## Prerequisites
+
+- [Learn more](concepts-restore-points.md) about the requirements for a VM restore point.
+- Consider the [limitations](virtual-machines-create-restore-points.md#limitations) before creating a restore point.
+
+## Create VM restore points
+
+The following sections outline the steps you need to take to create VM restore points with the Azure Compute REST APIs.
+
+You can find more information in the [Restore Points](/rest/api/compute/restore-points), [PowerShell](/powershell/module/az.compute/new-azrestorepoint), and [Restore Point Collections](/rest/api/compute/restore-point-collections) API documentation.
+
+### Step 1: Create a VM restore point collection
+
+Before you create VM restore points, you must create a restore point collection. A restore point collection holds all the restore points for a specific VM. Depending on your needs, you can create VM restore points in the same region as the VM, or in a different region.
+To create a restore point collection, call the restore point collection's Create or Update API. 
+- If you're creating restore point collection in the same region as the VM, then specify the VM's region in the location property of the request body. 
+- If you're creating the restore point collection in a different region than the VM, specify the target region for the collection in the location property, but also specify the source restore point collection ARM resource ID in the request body.
+ 
+To create a restore point collection, call the restore point collection's [Create or Update](/rest/api/compute/restore-point-collections/create-or-update) API.
+
+### Step 2: Create a VM restore point
+
+After you create the restore point collection, the next step is to create a VM restore point within the restore point collection. For more information about restore point creation, see the [Restore Points - Create](/rest/api/compute/restore-points/create) API documentation.
+
+> [!TIP]
+> To save space and costs, you can exclude any disk from either local region or cross-region VM restore points. To exclude a disk, add its identifier to the `excludeDisks` property in the request body.
+
+### Step 3: Track the status of the VM restore point creation
+
+Restore point creation in your local region will be completed within a few seconds. Scenarios, which involve the creation of cross-region restore points will take considerably longer. To track the status of the creation operation, follow the guidance in [Get restore point copy or replication status](#get-restore-point-copy-or-replication-status). This is only applicable for scenarios where the restore points are created in a different region than the source VM.
+
+## Get restore point copy or replication status
+
+Creation of a cross-region VM restore point is a long running operation. The VM restore point can be used to restore a VM only after the operation is completed for all disk restore points. To track the operation's status, call the [Restore Point - Get](/rest/api/compute/restore-points/get) API on the target VM restore point and include the `instanceView` parameter. The return will include the percentage of data that has been copied at the time of the request.
+
+During restore point creation, the `ProvisioningState` will appear as `Creating` in the response. If creation fails, `ProvisioningState` is set to `Failed`.
+
+## Next steps
+- [Learn more](manage-restore-points.md) about managing restore points.
+- Create restore points using the [Azure portal](virtual-machines-create-restore-points-portal.md), [CLI](virtual-machines-create-restore-points-cli.md), or [PowerShell](virtual-machines-create-restore-points-powershell.md).
+- [Learn more](backup-recovery.md) about Backup and restore options for virtual machines in Azure.

articles/virtual-machines/index.yml

@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ landingContent:
             url: trusted-launch.md
           - text: VM applications in Azure Compute Gallery 
             url: vm-applications.md
+          - text: VM restore points 
+            url: virtual-machines-create-restore-points.md
 
   # Card (optional)
   - title: Linux quickstarts

articles/virtual-machines/manage-restore-points.md

@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+---
+title: Manage Virtual Machine restore points
+description: Managing Virtual Machine Restore Points
+author: dikethir
+ms.author: dikethir
+ms.service: virtual-machines
+ms.subservice: recovery
+ms.topic: how-to
+ms.date: 07/05/2022
+ms.custom: template-how-to
+---
+
+# Manage VM restore points
+
+This article explains how to copy and restore a VM from a VM restore point and track the progress of the copy operation. This article also explains how to create a disk from a disk restore point and to create a shared access signature for a disk.
+
+## Copy a VM restore point between regions
+
+The VM restore point APIs can be used to restore a VM in a different region than the source VM. 
+Use the following steps:
+
+### Step 1: Create a destination VM restore point collection
+
+To copy an existing VM restore point from one region to another, your first step is to create a restore point collection in the target or destination region. To do this, reference the restore point collection from the source region as detailed in [Create a VM restore point collection](create-restore-points.md#step-1-create-a-vm-restore-point-collection).
+
+### Step 2: Create the destination VM restore point
+
+After the restore point collection is created, trigger the creation of a restore point in the target restore point collection. Ensure that you've referenced the restore point in the source region that you want to copy and specified the source restore point's identifier in the request body. The source VM's location is inferred from the target restore point collection in which the restore point is being created.
+See the [Restore Points - Create](/rest/api/compute/restore-points/create) API documentation to create a `RestorePoint`.
+
+### Step 3: Track copy status
+
+To track the status of the copy operation, follow the guidance in the [Get restore point copy or replication status](#get-restore-point-copy-or-replication-status) section below. This is only applicable for scenarios where the restore points are copied to a different region than the source VM.
+
+## Get restore point copy or replication status
+
+Creation of a cross-region VM restore point is a long running operation. The VM restore point can be used to restore a VM only after the operation is completed for all disk restore points. To track the operation's status, call the [Restore Point - Get](/rest/api/compute/restore-points/get) API on the target VM restore point and include the `instanceView` parameter. The return will include the percentage of data that has been copied at the time of the request.
+
+During restore point creation, the `ProvisioningState` will appear as `Creating` in the response. If creation fails, `ProvisioningState` is set to `Failed`.
+
+## Create a disk using disk restore points
+
+You can use the VM restore points APIs to restore a VM disk, which can then be used to create a new VM.
+Use the following steps:
+
+### Step 1: Retrieve disk restore point identifiers
+
+Call the [Restore Point Collections - Get](/rest/api/compute/restore-point-collections/get) API on the restore point collection to get access to associated restore points and their IDs. Each VM restore point will in turn contain individual disk restore point identifiers.
+
+### Step 2: Create a disk
+
+After you have the list of disk restore point IDs, you can use the [Disks - Create Or Update](/rest/api/compute/disks/create-or-update) API to create a disk from the disk restore points.
+
+## Restore a VM with a restore point
+
+To restore a full VM from a VM restore point, you must restore individual disks from each disk restore point. This process is described in the [Create a disk](#create-a-disk-using-disk-restore-points) section. After you restore all the disks, create a new VM and attach the restored disks to the new VM.
+You can also use the [ARM template](https://github.com/Azure/Virtual-Machine-Restore-Points/blob/main/RestoreVMFromRestorePoint.json) to restore a full VM along with all the disks.
+
+## Get a shared access signature for a disk
+
+To create a Shared Access Signature (SAS) for a disk within a VM restore point, pass the ID of the disk restore points via the `BeginGetAccess` API. If no active SAS exists on the restore point snapshot, a new SAS is created. The new SAS URL is returned in the response. If an active SAS already exists, the SAS duration is extended, and the pre-existing SAS URL is returned in the response.
+
+For more information about granting access to snapshots, see the [Grant Access](/rest/api/compute/snapshots/grant-access) API documentation.
+
+## Next steps
+
+[Learn more](backup-recovery.md) about Backup and restore options for virtual machines in Azure.