Backup/Clone of ESXI 5.5 USB boot drive

[OhioPyro]

I have read multiple articles on how to make a backup of a usb boot drive in my ESXI 5.5 host. I recently purchased some slc usb drives and want to replace my current usb sticks on my hosts. I have tried multiple pieces of software, and when the backup is created it will not boot. Has anyone had success and what software was used? The Clonzilla method of creating a vm in workstation with debian and configuring it looks like a pain. There has to be an easier way to accomplish this task. Thanks in advance.

Scott

[virtualg_uk]

Hi Scott,

If these drives are only used for running ESXi and do not contain other data, I would personally install a fresh build of ESXi onto the new drives.

You could also backup and restore your config if you didn't wan't to setup the networking etc again afterwards: VMware KB:    Backing up and restoring ESXi configuration using the vSphere Command-Line Interface a...

[continuum]

Did you try dd ?
Worked without problems every time I tried so far.

[OhioPyro]

Thanks, I will try this weekend when I can down the host.

Scott

[CoolRam]

If you want the ESXi boot image then you can take the stateless cache image into the USB take the backup. Please refer this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53Yubg6NMZY