Cloning a running VCenter

[HMorris]

Good Day,

I am using Vsphere 6.5upd1  and the same version on a Vcenter appliance.    Is it OK to make a clone of the Vcenter server itself while it is running?   I am doing this for backup purposes only.   We are a small shop only 4 hosts and not running HA so things would be kind of quiet when I do this.  But  I do have concerns if the backup clone would work correctly if I ever needed it.

I have used the backup routine inside the appliance itself and that works fine.   But if cloning it while running is OK it would make things easier.

Thank you,

HRM

[Deso1ator]

I do not recommend cloning vCenter for backup purposes. Here's a couple ideas. If you can upgrade to vCenter 6.7, then you can schedule backups. Same backup process as you are doing within the appliance with your current version and then adds the ability to schedule the backup. Are you using a 3rd party backup application? If so, you can back it up that way. Then restore directly to a host if you ever need to.

[Vijay2027]

Yes you can clone vcsa while it's running.

IMHO, VAMI based backup is best option available.

http://www.vmwarearena.com/ultimate-cheat-sheet-backup-restore-vcsa-6-5/

[Alex_Romeo]

Hi,

another solution is Veeam Backup & replication 9.5 (free edition)

https://www.ituda.com/veeam-how-to-backup-restore-the-vmware-vcenter-server-appliance/

ARomeo