REMOTE, GRANULAR RESTORE FROM FULL VIRTUAL MACHINE BACKUP

In one embodiment, a backup application transmits a remote request to a virtual machine that includes an application to be backed up. The request solicits metadata from the application that describes a structure of the data stored by the application on the virtual storage devices of the virtual machine. Using the metadata, the backup application may identify objects within the virtual machine. Accordingly, a granular restore of data to the virtual machine may be possible without installing backup software within the virtual machine.