Backup and restore ESXi4 & VM

[Collin09]

Hello,

I have a single ESXi4.0 implemented with VM server and desktop. I have a raid5 setup and no SANdrive setup. I want to see if what will be the best way to do a backup and restore of ESXi configuration and guest VM before something happen.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Collin

[lamw]

If you're using the free unlicensed version of ESXi, the cheapest solution is: , else you can look into purchasing Veeam or other backup solutions which will required a licensed version of ESXi. Regarding backing up your ESXi configuration, you can take a look at vCLI *vicfg-cfgbackup, unfortunately to be able to initiate backups, you need a licensed version of ESXi (foundation or greater). So at this point, if you're looking for a complete 100% free solution, you can do backups but you won't be able to run backups of your ESXi host. You pay for what you get, right?

=========================================================================

William Lam

VMware vExpert 2009

VMware ESX/ESXi scripts and resources at:

VMware Code Central - Scripts/Sample code for Developers and Administrators

VMware Developer Comuunity

Twitter: @lamw

If you find this information useful, please award points for "correct" or "helpful".

[Collin09]

Thanks for a quick response.

I will try this option first and if I need to get further then I will have to get the license version. Thank you very much for the advice.

Thank you.

Collin

[lamw · Accepted solution]

np. Don't forget to award 'helpful' or correct points

=========================================================================

William Lam

VMware vExpert 2009

VMware ESX/ESXi scripts and resources at:

VMware Code Central - Scripts/Sample code for Developers and Administrators

VMware Developer Comuunity

Twitter: @lamw

If you find this information useful, please award points for "correct" or "helpful".

[Collin09]

One more thing.

I installed and tried vCLI but somehow I cannot get the command to work. It say the command is not recognizable. I think I am doing this wrong. Do you know a documentation or point me to the location of CLI backup documentation for ESXi 4.0

Thank you.

Collin

[lamw]

Take a look at the vCLI documentation: http://www.vmware.com/support/developer/vcli/

=========================================================================

William Lam

VMware vExpert 2009

VMware ESX/ESXi scripts and resources at:

VMware Code Central - Scripts/Sample code for Developers and Administrators

VMware Developer Comuunity

Twitter: @lamw

If you find this information useful, please award points for "correct" or "helpful".

[Collin09]

Thank you.