Backup and Restore
Cisco UCS Central enables you to backup and restore Cisco UCS Central and the registered UCS domains. You can schedule a backup and restore policy. You can also perform an immediate on-demand backup of Cisco UCS Central, or a selected domain.
From the Backup & Restore page, you can schedule a full state backup for Cisco UCS Central and the registered Cisco UCS Domains. For Cisco UCS domains, you can also create the full state backup policy locally.
Scheduled backup policies are disabled by default. If you want to back up Cisco UCS Central or the registered UCS domains, enable the backup state for both. The backup process does not interrupt or impact any server or network traffic. You can perform a backup while the domain is up and running. The backup operation saves information from the management plane.
Cisco UCS Central restricts remotely configured policies to using the Cisco UCS Central repository for backups, which is internally mounted by Cisco UCS Manager.
When you schedule a regular backup, the backup repository can start accumulating data. To manage the backup archives, you can specify the maximum number of backup versions that are saved. Use policy specifications to indicate the number of backups to maintain for each Cisco UCS domain.
Note |
The maximum number does not impact the number of backup image files you can store on a remote location. |
You can view the list of backups for each Cisco UCS domain from the Cisco UCS Central GUI and you can also delete saved or unused backup directories and configurations.
Important |
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Backup Image Files
You can save the database or configuration backup files in the following locations:
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Local File System: In a local file system.
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Remote Location: Remote locations using a protocol such as TFTP, FTP, SCP, or SFTP.
Important
You must have Cisco UCS Manager, release 2.2(2x) and above, registered with Cisco UCS Central to specify a global backup policy with the option to store the image file in a remote location.
When you schedule the backup, you can also specify the maximum number of backup files that you want to save for either system.
Restoring Configuration
You can restore the full state backup for Cisco UCS Central during setup only. For more information, see the appropriate Cisco UCS Central Installation and Upgrade Guide.
For Cisco UCS Manager, you can restore the full state backup configuration from the fabric interconnect's console during initial configuration.
Considerations and Recommendations for Backup Operations
Before you create a backup operation, consider the following:
- Backup Locations
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The backup location is the destination or folder on the network where you want Cisco UCS Central to export the backup file. You can maintain only one backup operation for each location where you plan to save a backup file.
- Potential to Overwrite Backup Files
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If you rerun a backup operation without changing the filename, Cisco UCS Central overwrites the existing file on the server. To avoid overwriting existing backup files, change the filename in the backup operation or copy the existing file to another location.
- Multiple Types of Backups
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You can run and export more than one type of backup to the same location. Change the backup type before you rerun the backup operation. We recommend that you change the filename for easier identification and to avoid overwriting the existing backup file.
- Scheduled Backups
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You can create a backup operation in advance and leave the admin state disabled, until you are ready to run the backup. Cisco UCS Central does not run the backup operation, save, or export the configuration file until you set the admin state of the backup operation to enabled.
- Incremental Backups
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You cannot perform incremental backups.
- Encryption of Full State Backups
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Full state backups are encrypted so that passwords and other sensitive information are not exported as clear text.
- Backups from Cisco UCS Manager
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Port configurations that include global VLANs and VSANs are not restored when you do an all-config backup in Cisco UCS Manager. Reconfigure the ports from Cisco UCS Central.
Backup Types
You can perform one or more of the following types of backups in Cisco UCS Central:
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Full-state— You can specify full state backup only during installation. Full state backup is a binary file that includes a snapshot of the entire system. You can use the file generated from this backup to restore the system during disaster recovery. You cannot use this file for an import.
Note
You can only use a full state backup file to restore a system that is running the same version as the system from which the backup file was exported.
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Config-all— All configuration back up is an XML file that includes all system and logical configuration settings. You cannot use this file for a system restore during installation.
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Config-logical— Logical configuration back up is an XML file that includes all logical configuration settings. These include service profiles, VLANs, VSANs, pools, policies, users, locales, LDAP, NTP, DNS authentication and administration settings. You can use the file generated from this backup to import these configuration settings. You cannot use this file for a full state system restore during installation.
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Config-system— System configuration back up is an XML file that includes statistics configuration and scheduler information. You can use the file generated from this backup to import these configuration settings. You cannot use this file for a full state system restore during installation.
Scheduling a Full State Backup for Cisco UCS Central
To watch a video on scheduling a backup, see Video: Creating Scheduled Backup for UCS Central.
Before you begin
If you specify a remote location, make sure that location exists. Make sure to have the following information ready for saving a backup file in the remote location:
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Absolute remote path. For example, if the transfer protocol is SCP: /home/user01/central
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Host name or IP address for the remote server
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User name and password for the remote server
Procedure
Step 1 |
In the Actions bar, type Schedule Central Backup and press Enter. |
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Step 2 |
(Optional) In the Central Backup dialog box Description field, enter a description for this backup policy. |
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Step 3 |
From the Schedule drop-down, choose a schedule for this backup:
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Step 4 |
In Maximum No of Backup Files field, specify the number of backup files you want to keep in the system. After the maximum number of backup files is reached, the oldest backup file is overwritten by the newest backup file. |
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Step 5 |
(Optional) If you want to save the backup file in a remote location, in the Remote Copy field, click Enabled.
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Scheduling a Full State Backup for Cisco UCS Domain
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You can create a full state backup for registered Cisco UCS domains only at the domain group level.
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To watch a video on scheduling a backup, see Video: Creating Scheduled Backup for a UCS Domain.
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To setup a manual backup, provide the Absolute remote path in this format: /path/filename.tgz
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To setup a scheduled backup, provide the home folder path (/) without the filename. For SFTP, you must create the path and the required subfolders/directories in the SFTP server before you provide the home folder path. Exportation will fail if the folder is not setup in advance. For example, if you want to setup the home folder path of the SFTP server to C:\sftp, and if no other folder is present in the hierarchy, and if you provide the Absolute remote path as C:sftp\abc the exportation will fail because no such directory would be present in the system.
Before you begin
If you specify a remote location, make sure that location exists. Make sure to have the following information ready for saving backup file in the remote location:
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Absolute remote path. For example if the transfer protocol is SCP: scp://user@<ip>/x/y/z
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Host name or IP address of the remote server
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Username and password for the remote server
Procedure
Step 1 |
In the Actions bar, type Schedule Domain Backup. |
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Step 2 |
Select a Domain Group for which you want to schedule the full state backup. This selection displays Schedule and No of Backup Files options. |
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Step 3 |
From the Schedule drop-down, select a schedule for this backup. |
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Step 4 |
In the Maximum No of Backup Files field, specify the number of backup files that you want to keep in the system. |
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Step 5 |
(Optional) If you want to save the backup file in a remote location, in the Remote Copy field, click Enabled. Complete the following fields to add the remote location-related information.
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Creating On-Demand Full State Backup
You can create a full state backup for Cisco UCS Central at any time, and save the file in both local and remote locations. However, for registered Cisco UCS domains, you can create a backup on a remote location only.
To watch a video on creating a on-demand backups, see Video: Creating On-Demand Backup for UCS Central or Video: Creating On-Demand Backup for a UCS Domain.
Before you begin
Make sure you have the following information ready to save the on-demand backup file in a remote location:
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Absolute remote path. For example if the transfer protocol is SCP: /home/test/central/file.tgz
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Host name or IP address of the remote server
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Username and password for the remote server
Procedure
Step 1 |
Click the System Tools icon and choose Backup & Restore. |
Step 2 |
In the UCS Central and Domains list, click UCS Central or select a domain group. |
Step 3 |
Click the Backup icon. |
Step 4 |
In the Backup dialog, choose whether to enable or disable Remote Copy. If you select Disabled, a local backup copy is made, and you can proceed to step 6. |
Step 5 |
Select the Transfer Protocol, and entire the required remote location information. |
Step 6 |
Click Create. |
Note |
To fix this error, resubmit the configuration. On successful
resubmission,
Cisco UCS Central
creates a backup file in the backup repository.
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Removing Full State Backup for Cisco UCS Domain
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When you remove a root domain group policy, backup/export policy is disabled.
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When you remove a subdomain group policy, backup/export policy is deleted.
Procedure
Step 1 |
On the menu bar, click the System Tools icon and choose Backup & Restore. |
Step 2 |
In the Backup and Restore page, click the Tools icon and choose Remove Domain Backup Schedule. |
Step 3 |
In the Domain Backup Schedule dialog box, select the Domain Group from which you want to remove the backup. |
Step 4 |
Verify the information in the fields that display after the selection to make sure that this is the backup schedule that you want to remove. |
Step 5 |
Click Remove. |
Removing Full State Backup for Cisco UCS Central
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When you remove a Cisco UCS Central policy, the backup/export policy is disabled.
Procedure
Step 1 |
Click the System Tools icon and choose Backup & Restore. |
Step 2 |
In the Backup and Restore page, click the Tools icon, and choose Remove Central Backup Schedule. |
Step 3 |
In the Central Backup Schedule dialog box, verify the information in the fields that display to make sure that this is the backup schedule that you want to remove. |
Step 4 |
Click Remove. |
Viewing Backup Files in Cisco UCS Central
Procedure
Step 1 |
Click the System Tools icon and choose Backup & Restore. |
Step 2 |
In the UCS Central and Domains list, choose UCS Central or a domain. |
Step 3 |
In the right side pane, view the list of backup files. For each backup file, you can view the status, schedule, maximum number of files and the location for the remote copy. |