// Module included in the following assemblies:
//
// backup_and_restore/application_backup_and_restore/oadp-vmfr/oadp-vmfr.adoc
// virt/backup_restore/virt-recovering-individual-files-from-vm-backups.adoc

:_mod-docs-content-type: CONCEPT
[id="oadp-vmfr-overview_{context}"]
= What problem is {oadp-short} VMFR solving

[role="_abstract"]
Recover individual files from virtual machine (VM) backups without restoring the entire VM. Browse multiple backups simultaneously and retrieve only the files you need through standard tools such as a web browser or `rsync`.

Current VM backup recovery workflows require you to restore an entire virtual machine to access a single file. This uses substantial cluster resources and time. The virtual machine file restore (VMFR) feature addresses this problem by providing a Kubernetes-native mechanism for file-level recovery from VM backups created by {oadp-short}.

The VMFR feature uses a two-phase approach:

. *Backup discovery*: Identify which Velero backups contain a specified virtual machine by creating a `VirtualMachineBackupsDiscovery` (VMBD) custom resource (CR).
. *File restore*: Make the discovered backup files accessible for browsing and downloading by creating a `VirtualMachineFileRestore` (VMFR) CR.

{oadp-short} VMFR offers the following benefits:

* You can recover individual files from VM backups without restoring the entire VM.
* You can browse and compare files across multiple backup versions simultaneously.
* You can access restored files through a web browser or SSH-based tools such as `rsync`, `scp`, and `sftp`.
* All operations are managed within the cluster by using standard Kubernetes resources.
* Temporary namespaces isolate file-serving resources and are cleaned up automatically.
