Back up a vCenter Server Instance by Using the API
vCenter Server
Instance by Using the APIYou can use the to create a backup of the
vCenter Server
database
and key components of the vCenter Server
instance. - Verify that thevCenter Serverinstance is in a ready state. All processes with start-up typeautomaticmust be running.
- Verify that no other backup or restore jobs are running.
- Verify that the destination storage location is accessible to the backup process.
- Verify that the path to the destination directory exists, as far as the parent directory.
- If the destination directory does not exist, the backup process creates it. If the directory does exist, verify that it is empty.
- Verify that the destination storage device has sufficient space for the backup file. For information about how to calculate the space needed for the backup file, see Calculate the Size Needed To Store the Backup File.
This procedure explains the sequence of operations you
use to create a backup file of the
vCenter Server
instance. You can do this as part of a regular maintenance schedule. - Authenticate to thevSphere AutomationAPI endpoint and establish a session.
- Use theto describe the backup operation.RecoveryBackupJobBackupRequestdata structureThedata structurespecifies severalproperties, especially the backup location, the protocol used to communicate with the storage server, the necessary authorization, and which optional parts of the database you want to back up. The core inventory data and Alarms are always backed up, but you can choose whether or not to back up Statistics, Events, and Tasks. Collectively, this optional part of the backup is referred to asseat.
- Issue a request to start the backup operation.
- From the response, save the unique job identifier of the backup operation.
- Monitor the progress of the job until it is complete.
- Report job completion.
The backup file of the
vCenter Server
instance is created.