Knowledge Base

Backing up Procedure

Backup the entire /etc/vmware directory, excluding the following:

• Any soft links
• /etc/vmware/patchdb
• /etc/vmware/ssl

Restoring Procedure

To restore configuration:

1. Reinstall ESX to the same patch level as the failed one.
   
2. Get the information on the currently configured core dump partition and copy and paste the output into a text editor:
   
   esxcfg-dumppart –l
   
   
3. Get the information on the currently configured cos core file and copy and paste the output into a text editor:
   
   cat /etc/vmware/esx.conf |grep CosCorefile
   
   
4. Restore /etc/vmware from a previous backup.
   
5. Update the new configuration file with core dump partition information:
   
   esxcfg-dumppart –s vmhbaX:X:X:X
   
   Where  vmhbaX:X:X:X is the dump partition name noted from step 2.
   
   
6. Edit /etc/vmware/esx.conf and update the CosCorefile information to match the path copied in step 3.
   
7. Get the new UUID for the root partition:
   
   cat /boot/grub/menu.lst |grep UUID
   
   This generates at least 3 lines with root=UUID=xxxxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxx where x is a hexadecimal number.
   
   
8. Update the configuration with new root device UUID by executing following command
   
   esxcfg-boot –d “UUID=xxxxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxx"
   
   
9. Reboot the ESX host.
    
   The ESX host reboots with the old profile.