Performing a System State backup and restore on Windows Server 2008

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

This article provides steps to backup the System State from the Primary server and restore it to the Secondary server on Windows Server 2008 environments.

 

Note: If you are performing this procedure on Windows Server 2003, see Backing up the System State from the Primary server and restoring it to the Secondary server on Windows Server 2000 and 2003 (1009790).

Environment

VMware vCenter Server Heartbeat 5.5.x
VMware vCenter Server Heartbeat 6.3.x

Resolution

Use this procedure when the backup of the System State is to be taken from the Primary (active) server and restored to the Secondary (passive) server. If the configuration of the server pair is different, contact VMware Support. For more information, see How to Submit a Support Request.

Note: The backup file at a minimum is as large as the System Volume and therefore requires at least an equal amount of free disk space. Ensure that sufficient free disk space is available before proceeding.

On the Primary Server:

1. On the Primary server, open a command prompt. Click Start > Run, typing cmd and clicking OK.
2. Run wbadmin start systemstatebackup -backuptarget:Drive_Letter:
   • If you attempt to perform a System State backup to a volume on which the System State file resides, you see this error:
     
     ERROR - The location for backup is a critical volume.
     
     Note: To fix this issue, see the Microsoft Knowledge Base article 944530.
      
   • If you perform the System State backup and store it on a non-critical volume, the backup completes successfully.
      
3. The backup file is created at <Drive_letter>:\WindowsImageBackup\<ComputerName>\SystemStateBackup\Backup Folder.
4. Copy the entire WindowsImageBackup folder from Primary server to a shared folder on the Secondary server. This is important as wbadmin expects a shared folder as a backup source location.
   
   Note: If the WindowsImageBackup\<ComputerName>\SystemStateBackupfolder also contains backup folders corresponding to old backups, exclude the backups from the copy.

On the Secondary Server:

1. Unplug the Principal (Public) and VMware Channel network cables from the Secondary server.
2. Set the Neverfail Server R2 service to Manual using Windows Service Control Manager.
3. To get the backup version, run the command:
   
   wbadmin get versions -backupTarget:”\\localhost\share name”
    
4. Perform the System State recovery with the command:
   
   wbadmin start systemstaterecovery -backupTarget:”\\localhost\share name” -version:<version id>
   
   For example:
   
   wbadmin start systemstaterecovery -backupTarget:”\\localhost\share name” -version:01/14/2009-12:26
    
5. When the restore is complete, perform a server reboot. Multiple reboots may be required.
6. Verify that the network IP address settings are correct and ensure that the vCenter Server Heartbeat packet filter is enabled on the Principal (Public) network adapter and disabled for all channel network adapters.
7. If static routes were set up, check and correct them if necessary.
8. Launch the Configure Server wizard and click the Machine tab.
9. Change the Identity to Secondary and the Role to passive.
10. Click the Channel tab and verify that the correct channel IP addresses are displayed.
11. Click the Public tab and verify that the correct Principal (Public) IP addresses are displayed.
12. Click Finish.
13. If in a WAN environment, open a command prompt and navigate to <install_directory>\Neverfail\R2\Bin and run nfpktfltr getfilter. The response should be the Secondary server's Principal (Public) IP address. If the response is not the Secondary server's Principal (Public) IP address, run nfpktfltr setfilter secondaryIP. Confirm that the setting was applied by again running the nfpktfltr getfilter command.
14. Reconnect the Principal (Public) and channel cables to the Secondary server.
15. Set Neverfail Server R2 service to Automatic using Windows Service Control Manager.
16. Start vCenter Server Heartbeat.

Additional Information

vCSHB-Ref-2243

Backing up the System State from the Primary server and restoring it to the Secondary server on Windows Server 2000 and 2003