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VSRawat
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

vCenter Server 5.5 rebuild process ?

I have vCenter server 5.5 and SQL DB server where vCenter Database are hosted.

Suppose if my vCenter server OS crashed and now it is not recoverable. What I need to do rebuild my vCenter server ?

If I install new vCenter server with existing database, It will be on same stage as earlier one or I need to create datacenter, clsuter, connect ESXi host to vCenter, create resource pool and etc.

If any one done this in past please guide me.

2 Replies
scott28tt
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

Moderator note: As this is a product question, I've moved it from the VCAP forum area to the vCenter Server area.


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RyanH84
Expert
Expert

Hi,

I've had the pleasure of rebuilding many vCenter servers recently. In essence you are correct; as long as you have your SQL database, all the main configuration will be kept.

The things that you might lose out on are: Inventory and SSO configuration. Realistically though, both can be backed up and are not the end of the world to re-configure. There is an inventory service backup built into vCenter which should be apart of your backup routine (ideally). The same is true to backup the SSO configuration, the KB for SSO 5.5 can be found here. Even losing these things isn't a super huge deal; unless your configurations are particularly complex.

When it's all said and done, vCenter (and components) are just applications that run on a server that talk to a DB to get their information. They are re-installable and easily re-build able as long as sufficient backups are taken of your core data in SQL! Make sure there is a good maintenance plan and backup strategy around it!


I hope this helps, happy to answer any further questions.

Regards,

Ryan

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Regards, Ryan vExpert, VCP5, VCAP5-DCA, MCITP, VCE-CIAE, NPP4 @vRyanH http://vRyan.co.uk
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