Like many things in a secure world, restoring deleted/corrupted files to an Azure VM with encrypted disks is not as straight forward as restoring unencrypted files.

File and folder stores are not available and even though you can download the entire virtual hard drive from backup, it is unusable due to the encryption.

The encrypted restoration process requires you to restore the entire VM in Azure from a desired restore point. This essentially gives you two copies of this VM in your subscription.  You then need to run a PowerShell script with VM specific information in various spots.  Once that’s complete you will be able to start the restored VM, login into it and copy off the file(s) you need to recover.

Tricks of the Trade:

1. Establish an Azure support plan to get in touch with tech support (you do have a support plan don’t you?) who can provide the PowerShell script.
2. Engage a Microsoft tech to assist in locating and modifying the Powershell script.
3. Move the data off to a VM with the same name as an existing VM, essentially forcing you to copy the data to another intermediary server first.

Still have questions or unsure how to proceed? Contact us at asi-info@adaptivesolutions.com.