How to back up esxi before upgrade to 5.5

[jdickerson]

Hi,

I want to upgrade esxi from 5.1 to 5.5 and need to back up my hosts before I proceed. Can someone confirm if the link below is the correct article for backing up esxi, and if it is not, can you please provide a link to the correct article. Thanks.

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=204214...

[brunofernandez1]

yes this is the official way to backup your configuration. take in mind: with this solution you have first to reinstall the server with esxi5.0 and then run the restore script...

if you have vms on the server i would also recommend to export them before you begin with the update...

another way would be to shutdown the esxi server and start the server with a boot cd like acronis...then you can take a offline backup of your server

[Noor2122]

To backup your host alternatively you can use vim-cmd command, please have a look here How To Backup & Restore Free ESXi Host Configuration | virtuallyGhetto

This method is also given in the KB#2042141 that you mentioned in your question.