Objectives for 7.3 are broke down as the following
- Backup and restore distributed switch configurations
- Backup and restore resource pool configurations
- Export Virtual Machines to OVA/OVF format
- Use a Host profile to recover an ESXi host configuration
Create, edit and clone a vSphere Data Protection backup job
Virtual distributed switches can be easily backed up and restored. To backup a vDS go to Web Client - Networking - vDS - Actions - Settings - Export Configuration
Choose to export the full vDS with all port groups or the vDS only.
Click ok and choose to save the export.
It will export as a .zip file, give the file a name and location then save.
To restore the settings I can use an exported .zip file Web Client - Networking - vDS - Actions - Settings - Restore Configuration
It is also possible to import a vDS from an exported .zip file. Web Client - Networking - Datacenter - Actions - Distributed Switch - Import Distributed Switch
The same options are available for individual port groups within a vDS. Web Client - Networking - vDS - Actions - Distributed Port Group - Import Distributed Port Group
Backup and restore resource pool configurations
To backup a resource pool requires you to disable DRS, as you go to disable DRS you will be prompted to save a snapshot of the resource pools.
Save the file.
To restore a resource pool, select a DRS enabled cluster Actions - Restore Resource Pool Tree
Point to the snapshot and import.
Export Virtual Machines to OVA/OVF format
It is possible to export a VM as .ovf template to import into another vCenter. The VM must be powered off to do this. Find the VM - Actions - Template - Export OVF Template
Give the export a name and choose a location. From here you can choose the format between OVA or OVF. Choose to export BIOS UUIS, MAC address and extra configuration under the advanced options.
Use a Host profile to recover an ESXi host configuration
Host Profiles can be used to check compliance for a ESXi host, the profile can include all the required settings then applied to the host to bring it into compliance. I have covered host profiles in a previous chapter see here.