Backup and Restore VMware ESXi Host Configuration Process
VMware ESXi, the core of the VMware vSphere enterprise virtualization package, formerly called ESX up to version 4.1, is a bare-metal hypervisor installed directly on the physical server, providing direct access and control of core resources.
It lets you create and run multiple virtual machines using a single physical host. As with other types of data, virtual machine backup is an important protection measure to ensure that you quickly restore primary data and maintain business continuity.
But backing up VMware ESXi VM is different from backing up standard files in terms of concept and methodology.
Backup options for VMware ESXi
Generally, there are two main types of virtual machine backups:
- The image-based backup contains the operating system, configuration files, and disk data
- File-based backup makes a backup of the VM as a physical machine by installing an agent on the guest machine
File-based backups do not include a virtualized environment, so the best way to back up VMware ESXi virtual machines is image-based backups, especially when you have multiple VMs for protection.
Simply follow the steps shown here:
How can you safely back up VMware ESXi if you only have a standalone ESXi host without a vCenter server?
In this section, I will introduce two ways to backup VMware ESXi using built-in features.
Download VM files manually
VMware ESXi Web Client lets you download all VM files from the data store, including VMDK virtual disk and VMX configuration files. When recovering, you can attach these files and register a new VM on the original or another host.
Export VM to OVF template
Open Virtualization Format (OVF) is a file format that supports virtual machine exchange across products and platforms. Because OVF files are compressed, you can get faster downloads.
VM snapshots cannot substitute backups
VM snapshots can quickly restore the VM when the footage was taken, which is also helpful as a data protection measure before performing dangerous tests.
Nonetheless, VM snapshots cannot replace backups, and using only snapshots instead of backups can be very dangerous, and here are two main differences:
- The snapshots depend on the motherboard. If the motherboard is erased, the tape is insufficient for VM restoration. But backups are independent of the original VM, unaffected, and can be stored off-site
- VM snapshots may affect VM performance. Additional files on the disk can grow and take up a lot of space. Prolonged snapshots may affect VM performance. However, VM backups can be stored securely for a long time without affecting VM performance
Conclusion
I have covered the backup procedure for ESXi configuration in a nutshell. If your ESXi host is not wholesome and you cannot boot the host, there is the chance of backing up and restoring the configuration manually. The ESXi command-line interface is good because you don’t need to install additional software.
Consequently, the advantages of vSphere CLI are the ability to run commands remotely utilizing Linux machines and the capability to complete the backup ESXi configuration automated; Windows users may appreciate PowerCLI.
