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dsmithpdx
Contributor
Contributor

ESXi 5.0 Host Configuration Backup Problem Using vicfg-cfgbackup.pl

I am trying to use vicfg-cfgbackup.pl to backup the configurations of two new hosts running ESXi 5.0 U2.  The command is returning this error:

"Restore failed: A general system error occurred: Internal error"

Shortly thereafter, I receive an error via email from the vCenter server:

"Target: 10.1.x.x

Stateless event alarm

Alarm Definition:

([Event alarm expression: Host error] OR [Event alarm expression: Host warning])

Event details:

Issue detected on 10.1.x.x in ABC: Bootbank cannot be found at path '/usr/lib/vmware/hostd/docroot/downloads//firmware-backup.406124'

(2012-11-12T15:05:07.574Z cpu16:406129)"

I have tried using the following two syntaxes:

vicfg-cfgbackup.pl --server 10.1.x.x -s c:\temp


vicfg-cfgbackup.pl –save –server 10.1.x.x –username root –password password backup.bak

Both result in the same errors.  Any suggestions?  Thanks.

7 Replies
JLFG
Contributor
Contributor

Hi,

I am having a similar problem with one of my esxi host. I am using the ESXi version 5.0.0  and i am trying to update to 5.1.0(b). I logged to powercli, connect to my host using "Connect-VIServer "ESXihost"",then get-vmhostfirmware -backupconfiguration -destinationpath c:\temp and i got the error:

bootbank cannot be found at path '/usr/lib/vmware/hostd/docroot/downloads/firmware-backup.16772307' (2013-02-11T14:56:36.168Z cpu1:17056984) in vcenter.

Did you figure it out your issue? i will try to reboot the host and then try again. For us, this host is giving un false positive alarms in our local drives so, maybe a reboot could work for us; i will try that tonight a i will update this post.

Thanks

Pepe F. VCP
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dsmithpdx
Contributor
Contributor

Did either of you ever figure this out?  We're having the same issue backing up two of our ESXi 5.0 hosts, which we'd like to do before upgrading to 5.1.  Two of our hosts backup just fine (IBM x3650 M2 servers), but the other two throw this error (IBM x3650 M4 servers).  Thanks!

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admin
Immortal
Immortal

Hi,

have you opened a SR with VMware? If so, can you please PM me the SR number please?

Thank you.

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dsmithpdx
Contributor
Contributor

I never did open a SR.  However, this post reminded me that I never did get this working.  So I just installed vSphere CLI 5.1 (it was never installed on my new PC), and tried again, and it worked!  We have since upgraded the hosts to ESXi 5.1, so perhaps there's something in there that fixed this issue.

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admin
Immortal
Immortal

In some cases it's enough to create the missing directory by typing:

mkdir /scratch/downloads

KB 2053948 has been drafted and should be published soon.

skoch_ami
Contributor
Contributor

Worked a treat for me.  I had to do these commands separately, but result is the same.  Still no KB article though.

cd /

mkdir /scratch

mkdir /downloads

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DonovanV
Contributor
Contributor

We just ran into this issue today on our ESXi 6 U2 hosts. Can anyone tell me what set of permissions the /scratch/downloads directory should have? I tested creating it with full permissions on one of my hosts and it did solve the issue. I have not tested if the downloads directory will persist after a reboot.

Thanks much,

Donovan

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