Backup and Import in Cisco UCS Central
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 or, you can perform an immediate backup operation. There are two types of scheduled and immediate backup operations.
You can schedule the following backup policies separately for both Cisco UCS Central and Cisco UCS domains:
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Full state backup policy: Backs up database.
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Config all export policy: Backs up the configuration in XML format.
For a UCS domains, these policies can either be defined locally or defined in Cisco UCS Central
Scheduled backup policies are disabled by default. If you want to backup Cisco UCS Central or the registered UCS domains, you must enable the backup state for both. 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.
Remotely configured policies are restricted to use the Cisco UCS Central repository for backups which is internally mounted by Cisco UCS Manager.
When you schedule regular backups, 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 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 any one of the protocol such as, TFTP, FTP, SCP, or SFTP.
Important
You must have Cisco UCS Manager, release 2.2(2x) in registered Cisco UCS domains to specify a global backup policy with the option to store the image file in a remote location. If you do not have Cisco UCS Manager, release 2.2(2x) in the Cisco UCS domain, the global backup policy with remote backup will not work.
When you schedule the backup, you can also specify the maximum number of backup files you want to save for either system.
Restoring Configuration
You can use the saved configuration from the backup repository to restore and configure any of the managed Cisco UCS domains. Make sure to use full-state backup for recovery situations. Use TFTP protocol to access the backup configurations. You can use both Cisco UCS Central GUI or CLI to copy the backup file URL and use it to configure a new domain.
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 to which 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.
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.
Enabling Backup in Cisco UCS Central
By default the backup operation is disabled. You much enable the backup policy for Cisco UCS Central to automatically backup the database or system configuration.
Procedure
Command or Action | Purpose | |||
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Step 1 |
UCSC # connect policy-mgr |
Connects to operation manager mode. |
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Step 2 |
UCSC(policy-mgr) # scope org |
Enters into the organization. |
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Step 3 |
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org # scope device-profile |
Enters device profile mode. |
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Step 4 |
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/device-profile # scope backup-policy {cfg | full-state} hostname |
Enters system backup mode for the specified hostname. |
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Step 5 |
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/device-profile/cfg # set adminstate {enable | disable} |
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Step 6 |
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/device-profile/cfg # commit-buffer |
Commits the transaction. |
Example
The following example shows how to enable backup for Cisco UCS Central:
UCSC# connect policy-mgr
UCSC(policy-mgr)# scope org
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org #scope device-profile
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/device-profile # scope backup-policy cfg default
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/device-profile/cfg # set adminstate enable
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/device-profile/cfg* # commit-buffer
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/device-profile/cfg #
Creating an On Demand Backup for Cisco UCS Central
Before you begin
Obtain the backup server IPv4 or IPv6 address and authentication credentials.
Procedure
Command or Action | Purpose | |||
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Step 1 |
UCSC# connect operation-mgr |
Enters operations manager mode. |
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Step 2 |
UCSC(ops-mgr)# scope system |
Enters the system mode. |
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Step 3 |
UCSC(ops-mgr) /system # create backup URL backup-type {disabled | enabled} |
Creates a backup operation. Specify the URL for the backup file using one of the following syntax:
You can save multiple backup operations, but only one operation for each hostname is saved. If you use the enable keyword, the backup operation automatically runs as soon as you enter the commit-buffer command. If you use the disable keyword, the backup operation does not run until it is enabled. When enabling a backup operation, you must specify the hostname you used when creating the backup operation. |
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Step 4 |
UCSC(ops-mgr) /system # commit-buffer |
Commits the transaction. |
Example
The following example shows how to create a full-state backup operation for hostname host35 and commit the transaction:
UCSC# connect operation-mgr
UCSC(ops-mgr)# scope system
UCSC(ops-mgr) /system* # create backup scp://user@host35/backups/fullstate.tgz disabled
Password:
UCSC(ops-mgr) /system* # commit-buffer
UCSC(ops-mgr) /system # show fsm status
Creating a Config-All Export Policy for Cisco UCS Central
Procedure
Command or Action | Purpose | |||
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Step 1 |
UCSC# connect policy-mgr |
Enters policy manager mode. |
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Step 2 |
UCSC(policy-mgr) # scope org |
Enters org mode. |
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Step 3 |
UCSC(policy-mgr)/prg # scope device-profile |
Enters device profile mode. |
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Step 4 |
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/device-profile # create backup-policy cfg default |
Enters device profile configuration mode. |
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Step 5 |
(Optional) UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/device-profile/cfg* # set adminstate {disable | enable} |
(Optional)
If you use the enable keyword, the backup operation automatically runs as soon as you enter the commit-buffer command. If you use the disable keyword, the backup operation will not run until it is enabled. When enabling a backup operation, you must specify the hostname you used when creating the backup operation. |
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Step 6 |
(Optional) UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/device-profile/cfg* # set descr description |
(Optional)
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Step 7 |
(Optional) UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/device-profile/cfg* # set remote-file |
(Optional)
Selects the backup location. |
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Step 8 |
(Optional) UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/device-profile/cfg* # set protocol|ftpsftp|scp|tftp |
(Optional)
Specifies the protocol. |
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Step 9 |
(Optional) UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/device-profile/cfg* # set max-copies |
(Optional)
Specifies the maximum number of backups (1 to 30 copies) |
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Step 10 |
(Optional) UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/device-profile/cfg* # set schedule {bi-weekly | daily | weekly} |
(Optional)
Specifies the schedule for the backup. |
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Step 11 |
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/device-profile/cfg* # commit-buffer |
Commits the transaction. |
Example
The following example shows how to create a disabled all-configuration backup operation and commit the transaction. The backup schedule is bi-weekly and 25 copies are saved:
UCSC# connect policy-mgr
UCSC(policy-mgr)# scope org
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org* # create backup-policy cfg default
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/device-profile/cfg*# set adminstate disabled
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/device-profile/cfg*# set remote-filenfs-copy
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/device-profile/cfg*#set protocolftpsftpscptftp
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/device-profile/cfg*# set max-copies 25
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/device-profile/cfg*#set schedule bi-weekly
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/device-profile/cfg*#commit-buffer
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/device-profile/cfg*#