Live recovery of virtual machines in a public cloud computing environment based on temporary live mount

A system comprising:

• a first computing device operating in a cloud computing environment, wherein the first computing device comprises one or more hardware processors, and wherein the first computing device is configured to:
• cause a virtual disk to be configured in the cloud computing environment,
• wherein the virtual disk corresponds to a backup copy of a first virtual machine,
• wherein the backup copy was previously generated by a data storage management system that is distinct from the cloud computing environment, and
• wherein the backup copy is stored outside the cloud computing environment;
• expose the virtual disk as an Internet Small Computer Systems Interface (iSCSI) target configured at the first computing device;
• issue a plurality of sequential requests for a next portion of data of the backup copy, wherein each sequential request causes each next portion of data of the backup copy to be restored as primary data to the virtual disk in the cloud computing environment;
• attach a second virtual machine to the virtual disk, wherein the second virtual machine operates in the cloud computing environment;
• concurrently with the plurality of sequential requests, intercept write commands issued by the second virtual machine, and write data intercepted in the write commands to the virtual disk;
• after all portions of data of the backup copy have been restored as primary data from the backup copy to the virtual disk, cause the second virtual machine to be powered off;
• and
• cause a third virtual machine to be powered on in the cloud computing environment,
• wherein the third virtual machine is attached to the virtual disk in the cloud computing environment, and
• wherein after being powered on, the third virtual machine has access to primary data in the virtual disk, including data restored from the backup copy and data written to the virtual disk while attached to the second virtual machine.