This is a report of verification test about offline Backup and Restore for vCenter Virtual Appliance (VA) 6.0.
vCenter VA 5.5 or earlier was simple to deploy using OVF images. However vCenter VA 6.0 or later is not provided via OVF, and DNS and internet connection are required for installation. This requires VA deployment to be architected, and makes backup and recovery more details.
This vCenter VA offline backup operation helps vSphere 6 customer to protect vCenter VA easier.
>> Commpatibility
- vCenter Virtual Appliance (VA) 6.0 or later, running on ESXi 6.0 or later
- NetVault Backup 11.4 or later with VMware Plugin 11.4.5 or later
>> Environment
vCenter VA “VC235.tokyolab.local” is running on VMware ESXi server “esx233.tokyolab.local”. vCenter VA manages and controls VMware ESXi.
| > Test environment | |
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> vSphere Web client side view |
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> NetVault 11 side view |
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>Software - NetVault Server OS: Windows 2012 R2 NetVault: NetVault Backup 11.4.5 VMware Plugin 11.4.5 - vCenter VA 6.0U3 - VMware ESXi 6.0U3 |
>> Backup Procedure
| (1) |
To ensure application consistency, shutdown and power off vCenter VA “vc235.tokyolab.local”.
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| (2) |
To backup vCenter VA “vc235.tokyolab.local” offline via ESXi , add ESXi server “esx233.tokyolab.local” to VMware Plugin.
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| (3) |
Create backup job that selects vCenter VA “vc235.tokyolab.local” on ESXi server “esx233.tokyolab.local”.
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| (4) |
Backup job completes successfully.
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>> Restore Procedure
If vCenter Server Appliance fails, recover by the following operation.
| (1) |
Disassociate ESXi host “esx233.tokyolab.local” from vCenter VA “VC235.tokyolab.local”.
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NOTE: A feature introduced in vSphere 5 prevents you from restoring a virtual machine directly to an ESXi 5 host when the host is managed by a vCenter Server. To restore a virtual machine directly to the host, you must first disassociate the host from the vCenter Server. |
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| (2) |
Restore vCenter VA “VC235.tokyolab.local” to ESXi “esx233.tokyolab.local”
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| (3) | Restore job completes successfully. Now You can see the recovered vCenter VA “VC235.tokyolab.local” on ESXi “esx233.tokyolab.local”. |
| (4) |
Power on vCenter VA “VC235.tokyolab.local”. After vCenter VA “VC235.tokyolab.local” boots successfully, logon to vCenter VA “VC235.tokyolab.local” by vSphere WEB client |
| (5) |
Reconnect ESXi host“esx233.tokyolab.local” by vSphere WEB client
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| (6) |
Now, vCenter VA “VC235.tokyolab.local” is recovered, and able to manage ESXi host and other VM guests.
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