How to Backup And Restore VCSA 6.5 – The Ultimate Cheatsheet

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With vSphere 6.5, vCenter Server appliance 6.5 has inbuilt backup feature. It is in-built feature available with management interface of vCenter server appliance 6.5 (VAMI) page. With this native Backup and Restore VCSA 6.5 features removes the dependency on third-party native backup tools to backup and restore vCenter server appliance. Native Backup feature of VCSA 6.5 supports the backup and restore of vCenter server appliance and also platform services controller.

This native backup and restore vcsa 6.5 helps you to protect vCenter data and helps reduce the time required to restore your management stack. Backup of VCSA 6.5 process collects the important files into tar bundle and compress the bundle to reduce the load on the network. You too have option to encrypt the compressed file before transmission the backup files to the backup storage location. You can specify the password during encryption and specify the same password to decrypt the file during the restore process.

How to Backup And Restore VCSA 6.5

Backup and Restore VCSA 6.5 needs to be performed from different interface. Backup of VCSA 6.5 needs to be performed from VAMI (Appliance Management Interface) of vCenter Server appliance. In the Summary tab, Click on “Backup” to start the backup of the vCenter Sever appliance.

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VCSA backup can be backed and sent up to different location using different protocols:

  • FTP
  • FTPS
  • HTTP
  • HTTPS
  • SCP

Backup And Restore VCSA 6.5

In the below example, I will be using SCP to transfer my VCSA backup files to the remote location. Specify the credentials for accessing the remote location to store the VCSA backup files. You can optionally encrypt the backup data before transferring the files. Same password needs to be specified when restoring the backup.

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During VCSA backup, Minimum set of data needed to restore the appliance will be backed up by default. This includes the data such as OS, VC services, vCenter Server database,  inventory and configuration. In addition to that, you can also choose to backup additional things such as Historical data( Stats, Events, alarms and tasks ) in the vCenter Server database.

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Review the backup option selection and Click on Finish.

 

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Backup will take few secs to minutes to complete based on the data size of the vCenter server appliance. Once backup is completed, Click on Ok.

 

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Once the backup of VCSA is completed, Browse to the backup storage location and validate  the backup related files are stored on the defined backup location.  Backup of VCSA 6.5 process collects the important files into tar bundle and compress the bundle to reduce the load on the network.

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Restore vCenter Server Appliance 6.5

We are done with the backup of the vCenter server appliance 6.5. Restore the VCSA 6.5 from the backup file if it is required. Restore process is the straight forward process. Restore needs to be performed from the VCSA 6.5 installation media.  Launch the VCSA 6.5 installer, Click on Restore to restore VCSA from a previously created vCenter Server appliance backup.

Backup And Restore VCSA 6.5

Specify the backup location details and credentials to retrieve the backup metadata information. Restores option will restore vCenter server appliance to a brand new appliance with the existing backup data.

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Follow the wizard instructions to complete the restore of vCenter server appliance. That’s it. This post will help you to understand the backup and restore vCSA 6.5 using the native backup option. Thanks for Reading!!. Be social and share it in social media, if you feel worth sharing it.