How to Backup VMware ESX Servers | VM /ETC

How to Backup VMware ESX Servers | VM /ETC

To perform the backup, a file can be generated using the following command:
# tar –cvf esx1-backup.datestamp.tar /etc/passwd /etc/shadow /etc/group /etc/grub.conf /etc/pam.d /etc/vmware /boot/ /home/

VMware ESX Server Host Restore

Normally, VMware ESX Server should be reinstalled and connected to the shared storage. If the above steps were conducted, complete restoration can be performed through the following steps:

1. Re-install ESX with the same partition configuration as the original host.
2. SFTP files back on.
3. Remove the /etc/vmware and /boot directories by typing the following commands
   
   
   # cd /
   # rm –Rf /etc/vmware
   # rm –Rf /boot
   
4. Restore the backup set on the new ESX host. Be sure to overwrite existing files on restore! For example, from the root directory you can issue the following command to restore from the original tarball:
   tar –xvf ..tar
   # tar –xvf esx1-backup.datestamp.tar
   
5. Reboot.