You can use SnapCenter to clone a backup. You can clone from primary or secondary backup. The capabilities of the clone operations depends upon the plug-in that you use.

Before you begin

You must have backed up the resources or resource group.
The default clone operation only clones storage objects. Clone operations at the application level can only be performed if the custom plug-in provides that capability.
You should ensure that the aggregates hosting the volumes should be in the assigned aggregates list of the storage virtual machine (SVM).

About this task

For SnapLock enabled policies, for ONTAP 9.12.1 and below version, if you specify a Snapshot copy locking period, the clones created from the tamper proof Snapshot copies as part of restore will inherit the SnapLock expiry time. Storage admin should manually cleanup the clones post the SnapLock expiry time.

Steps

In the left navigation pane, click Resources, and then select the appropriate plug-in from the list.
In the Resources page, filter resources from the View drop-down list based on resource type.

The resources are displayed along with information such as type, host or cluster name, associated resource groups and policies, and status.
Select the resource or resource group.

You must select a resource if you select a resource group.

The resource or resource group topology page is displayed.
From the Manage Copies view, select Backups either from the primary or secondary (mirrored or vaulted) storage systems.
Select the data backup from the table, and then click .

In the Locations page, perform the following:

For this field…	Do this…
Clone server	By default, the source host is populated. If you want to specify a different host, select the host on which the clone should be mounted and the plug-in is installed.
Clone suffix	This is mandatory when the clone destination is the same as the source. Enter a suffix that will be appended to the newly cloned resource name. The suffix ensures that the cloned resource is unique on the host. For example, rs1_clone. If you are cloning to the same host as the original resource, you must provide a suffix to differentiate the cloned resource from the original resource; otherwise, the operation fails.

For this field…

Do this…

Clone server

By default, the source host is populated.

If you want to specify a different host, select the host on which the clone should be mounted and the plug-in is installed.

Clone suffix

This is mandatory when the clone destination is the same as the source.

Enter a suffix that will be appended to the newly cloned resource name. The suffix ensures that the cloned resource is unique on the host.

For example, rs1_clone. If you are cloning to the same host as the original resource, you must provide a suffix to differentiate the cloned resource from the original resource; otherwise, the operation fails.

If the resource selected is a LUN and if you are cloning from a secondary backup, then the destination volumes are listed. Single source can have multiple destination volumes.

In the Settings page, perform the following:

For this field… Do this…

Initiator name

Enter the host initiator name, which is either a IQDN or WWPN.

Igroup protocol

Select Igroup protocol.

Settings page is displayed only if the storage type is LUN.
In the Scripts page, enter the commands for pre clone or post clone that should be run before or after the clone operation, respectively. Enter the mount command to mount a file system to a host.

For example:
- Pre clone command: delete existing databases with the same name
- Post clone command: verify a database or start a database.
  
  Mount command for a volume or qtree on a Linux machine: mount<VSERVER_NAME>:%<VOLUME_NAME_Clone /mnt>
In the Notification page, from the Email preference drop-down list, select the scenarios in which you want to send the emails.

You must also specify the sender and receiver email addresses, and the subject of the email.
Review the summary and click Finish.
Monitor the operation progress by clicking Monitor > Jobs.