VMware Cloud Foundation 4.5

5.2 5.1 5.0 4.5
Deutsch Français Italiano 日本語 English

Recovery Plan for a
VMware Cloud Foundation
 Instance

This section describes the tasks required to perform the recovery of an entire
VMware Cloud Foundation
 instance

Recovery Timeline for the
VMware Cloud Foundation
 Instance

To minimize the time of overall recovery in
VMware Cloud Foundation
, you can perform recovery tasks across multiple workload domains by following this timeline, adapted for your setup. The timeline is for the following example setup:
  • 3 VI workload domains.
  • VI Workload Domain 1 and VI Workload Domain 2 are in the same vCenter Single Sign-On domain as the management domain. They are in Enhanced Link Mode (ELM).
  • VMware Cloud Foundation
     5.x only. VI Workload Domain 3 is in an isolated vCenter Single Sign-On (SSO) domain.
  • The restore pattern for VI workload domain in the same SSO domain can be extended if more VI workload domains are connected to the management vCenter Single Sign-On domain.
Task
Management Domain
VI Workload Domain 1 (ELM)
VI Workload Domain 2 (ELM)
VI Workload Domain 3 (Isolated SSO)
Notes
1
Prepare for Recovery
Prepare for Recovery
Prepare for Recovery
Prepare for Recovery
2
Deploy ESXi Hosts
Deploy ESXi Hosts
Deploy ESXi Hosts
Deploy ESXi Hosts
3
Deploy VMware Cloud Builder
4
Prepare for Partial Bring-Up
5
Perform Partial Bring-Up
6
  • Deploy vCenter Server from an OVA File
  • Deploy the first NSX Manager Node from an OVA File
  • Deploy of SDDC Manager from an OVA FIle
  • Deploy vCenter Server from an OVA File
  • Deploy the first NSX Manager Node from an OVA File
  • Deploy vCenter Server from an OVA File
  • Deploy the first NSX Manager Node from an OVA File
  • Deploy vCenter Server from an OVA File
  • Deploy the first NSX Manager Node from an OVA File
7
  • Restore vCenter Server
  • Restore NSX Manager
Restore NSX Manager
Restore NSX Manager
Restore NSX Manager
8
Restore SDDC Manager
Restore vCenter Server
Restore vCenter Server
9
Back Up Cluster Configuration
Back Up Cluster Configuration
Restore vCenter Server
Back Up Cluster Configuration
10
Recover the vSphere Cluster
Recover the vSphere Cluster
Back Up Cluster Configuration
Recover the vSphere Cluster
11
Remediate the NSX Installation on the vSphere Cluster
Remediate NSX Installation on the vSphere Cluster
Recover vSphere Cluster
Remediate the NSX Installation on vSphere Cluster
You can start restoring workloads that do not use NSX Edge nodes in VI Workload Domain 1 and VI Workload Domain 3.
12
Optional. Recover the NSX Manager Cluster*
Optional. Recover the NSX Manager Cluster*
Remediate the NSX Installation on Cluster
Optional. Recover NSX Manager Cluster*
You can start restoring workloads that do not use NSX Edge nodes in VI Workload Domain 2.
13
Recover NSX Edge Nodes
Recover the NSX Edge Nodes
Optional. Recover the NSX Manager Cluster*
Recover the NSX Edge Nodes
14
Conditional. Recover the NSX Manager Cluster**
Conditional. Recover the NSX Manager Cluster**
Recover the NSX Edge Nodes
Conditional. Recover the NSX Manager Cluster**
15
Perform Post-Recovery Tasks***
Perform Post-Recovery Tasks***
Conditional. Recover the NSX Manager Cluster**
Perform Post-Recovery Tasks***
16
Perform Post-Recovery Tasks***
* If high availability of the NSX Manager nodes is considered less important than recovery time, you can perform this task later.
** Must be done if you skipped the deployment of the additional NSX Manager nodes earlier.
*** Restore vSphere DRS, VM Location, VM Overrides and VM Tags only after all workload VMs are restored to the cluster.

Preparing for Recovery of the
VMware Cloud Foundation
 Instance

Preparation Tasks for
VMware Cloud Foundation
 Recovery
Task
Task Name
Additional Information
1
Locate the most recent known good file-based backups for the following components:
  • SDDC Manager
  • All vCenter Server instances
  • All NSX Manager instances
2
  • Locate image or file-based backups of all other management VMs.
3
4
Create a DNS record in your external DNS server for a temporary vCenter Server instance used during recovery.
5
For partial bring-up operations that are manually performed by using the
VMware Cloud Builder
 UI, either locate the original or create a new bring-up specification file, that is, a
bring-up.json
 file or a deployment parameter workbook.
  • If additional ESXi hosts are added to the management cluster after the initial bring-up, you must perform the following tasks:
    • Perform the partial bring-up operation by using a JSON file instead of using a deployment parameter workbook.
    • Add the additional ESXi hosts to the bring-up JSON file.
  • Verify that the
    vCenterHostName
     property in the bring-up specification file is set to the name of the temporary vCenter Server instance.
  • Verify that the
    vcenterIP
     in the bring-up specification file is set to the IP address of the temporary vCenter Server instance.
  • Verify that the passwords and SSH keys in the bring-up specification file are updated to the current set of passwords and SSH keys retrieved in Step 3.
6
Locate version and build number for vCenter Server, NSX Manager, and SDDC Manager.
  • You can see the vCenter Server build number in the
    backup-metadata.json
     in the vCenter Server file-based backup.
  • You can see the NSX Manager version and build number from the file name of the backup file.
7
Download the OVA files of vCenter Server and NSX Manager for the required version and build number.
8
Download the Refresh SSH Key Script from VMware Knowledge Base article 79004
9
Re-install ESXi on the hosts.
See
VMware Cloud Foundation Deployment Guide
.

Post-Recovery Cleanup Plan for
VMware Cloud Foundation

Content feedback and comments