Backup vCenter VM

[fajarpri]

Hi all,

I saw this KB to backup vCenter.

Backing up and restoring vCenter Server 4.x and 5.0

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=102398...

Can I just backup the whole vCenter VM?

I'm thinking of using standalone VMware converter to do that.

Any objection from using this method? Any better way?

I'm on ESXi & vCenter 4.1

Thank you.
Fajar.

[Mouhamad]

Its all about your DB, is it sitting on the same VM or a standalone DB server?

Based on your DB location you can decide your vCenter backup best method.

[fajarpri]

Hi Mouhamad, it's on the same VM.

[aravinds3107]

I'm thinking of using standalone VMware converter to do that -  You cant backup your VM using VMware Converter, Converter is used for P2V and V2V operation.

If you are using any backup software you can use them to backup vCenter server as other Windows servers, The most imporatant is vCenter Database so you create separate vCenter database backup to a remote location.

[Mouhamad · Accepted solution]

Then your issue is when you restore, if you take a complete backup of the server using whatever tool, the problem will be when restoring the server in case of disaster.

You will loose some of the configuration, statistics, etc..

I'd rather you take backup for the DB only, and build a new server in case of disaster and point it to the restored DB instead of taking a full vCenter backup (to save storage space).

The best scenario is to put your DB on a different server.

[fajarpri]

I use VMware converter "as if" I convert the VM, in reality I use it to "copy" the VM from one location to another (backup).