VMware vSphere

 View Only

  • 1.  ESXi running on USB key, how to back up?

    Posted Nov 18, 2013 08:37 PM

    Hello:

    We are currently running several hosts on ESXi 5.0.0 U1, where ESXi is installed on the internal USB or SD media.  I am looking for a way to back up the USB and SD media, without having to shut down and/or remove the internal media from the host.   For example, in Linux you can clone a live disk to another and/or do a bare metal backup.  Is this possible to do in the ESXi shell for example?  I've been looking at various ways to do this, and so far have not found a solution.  Basically, I'm looking for a way to simply plug in a USB key to an external slot, and back up the internal media to it (block/block copy would probably be most suitable).  Please advise, and thank you for your help.

    --

    Chris



  • 2.  RE: ESXi running on USB key, how to back up?

    Posted Nov 20, 2013 12:11 AM

    Chris,

    This would be nice.   I am not aware of any solution like you suggest.  A while ago I was on the phone with VMware support trying to restore a customers corrupted ESXi install.  Vmware support asked the key question... how long have you been on the phone... my response 3 hours... how long to reinstall ESXi and configure it back into the cluster ... my response 30 minutes... I would just reinstall if I were you (vmware's response).  At this point if you have host profiles you can store everything about a host and re-install from media in a half an hour at most... I consider that my backup plan.. of course I run the ESXi OS off the SAN (boot from SAN) so I don't have the USB doggle failure concerns.

    Thanks,

    J



  • 3.  RE: ESXi running on USB key, how to back up?

    Posted Nov 26, 2013 02:23 PM

    Thanks for the additional info.  I agree that using a host profile is one way to do it, using a re-install of ESXi.  In our case however we have additional modules installed like Cisco Nexus 1000v, which, can be re-installed fairly easily but a backup would definitely be faster and easier.   One option would be to boot the host to the Clonezilla Live CD, then back up the internal USB or SD storage to a spare USB stick as an image.  I've had excellent luck using Clonzilla for doing backups and restores like this.  In the event of a failure, Clonezilla can be used either on the host or another PC, and we could then restore the ESXi partition to the new USB/SD storage and boot from it in the host.  I haven't tested this but I don't see any reasons why it would not work.



  • 4.  RE: ESXi running on USB key, how to back up?

    Posted Nov 27, 2013 07:17 PM

    Clonzilla should work but host profiles/vCenter is your best bet and do a rebuild.

    We run redundant mirrored SD cards for added security. Never tried USB.