Recovering MySQL Database with Veeam U-Air

One question I get asked frequently is whether Veeam supports application-level recovery for specific databases. The interesting thing about this question is that the answer has nothing to do with which database you’re using — it’s always yes.

That’s because Veeam includes a powerful feature called U-AIR (Universal Application-Item Recovery) that makes application-level recovery possible for virtually any system.

Today, I want to walk you through a practical MySQL recovery scenario to show you how this works in practice.

Setting Up Our Scenario

For this example, I’m working with a MySQL 5.1.7 installation running on CentOS. The database is backed up using Veeam Backup & Replication with pre-freeze and post-freeze scripts to ensure data consistency.

If you need details on setting up those consistency scripts, Veeam has excellent documentation:

https://www.veeam.com/wp-consistent-protection-mysql-mariadb.html

Here’s what our test data looks like in the source database:

Now, let’s create our recovery scenario. After taking a backup of this MySQL server, something goes wrong and the veeamlab database becomes corrupted. Our goal is to recover this specific database while leaving the rest of the server running normally.

I’ll create a new empty database called veeamlab_recovered to serve as our recovery target, while the original MySQL server continues operating normally:

Starting the Recovery Process

The recovery begins with the Universal Lab Request Wizard. This is where we request access to a backup copy for recovery purposes. The process is straightforward:

First, specify the VM name. Veeam supports pattern matching, so you don’t need the exact name:

Select the most recent restore point:

Submit the request:

Now the U-AIR request is in the system, awaiting approval from the backup administrator.

The Administrator Approval Process

Switching over to the backup administrator view in Veeam Enterprise Manager, we can see the pending recovery request:

The approval process leverages Veeam’s SureBackup and Virtual Lab capabilities. If you’re not familiar with these technologies, I covered them in a previous post about verifying backup recoverability.

During approval, Veeam automatically locates the appropriate backup:

Then it selects the right Virtual Lab and SureBackup Job to create a temporary recovery environment:

Once approved, the database administrator receives connection details for the temporary recovery environment after a brief wait:

Extracting and Recovering the Data

Now for the interesting part. I can SSH into the recovery environment at 172.20.1.139, while my production MySQL server at 10.10.1.139 continues running normally.

Let’s verify the database state in our temporary environment:

Perfect — the data looks intact. Now I need to extract the corrupted database and transfer it back to our production server. I’ll use mysqldump for the extraction:

The extracted data is saved to /tmp/mysql/veeamlab.sql.

Back on our production server (10.10.1.139), I’ve configured Virtual Lab’s Static IP Mapping to make the recovery environment accessible at 10.10.1.138. This allows me to pull the dump file directly:

The restore command itself is beautifully simple:

Wrapping Up

And that’s it — our MySQL database recovery is complete. All the data from our corrupted veeamlab database is now safely restored in veeamlab_recovered.

The temporary U-AIR environment can be terminated manually by the database administrator or will automatically clean up when its time limit expires.

Why This Matters

What makes this approach powerful is its flexibility. The only prerequisite is using Veeam Backup & Replication — beyond that, U-AIR gives you the ability to recover any application data with the same level of control and precision I’ve demonstrated here.

Whether you’re dealing with databases, email servers, or custom applications, the U-AIR workflow provides a safe, isolated environment for recovery without impacting your production systems.

That’s the beauty of Veeam’s approach to application recovery — it’s comprehensive, it’s reliable, and it works with virtually any application you can throw at it.