Snapshot Creation in VMware Aria Operations

Products

• VCF Operations/Automation (formerly VMware Aria Suite)

Issue/Introduction

This article provide steps to take a snapshot of VMware Aria Operations from vSphere.

Environment

• VMware Aria Operations 8.18.x

• VCF Operations 9.x

Resolution

To take a snapshot of VMware Aria Operations, complete the steps below.

1. Log in to VMware Aria Operations admin UI as the local admin user.

   Example: 

   https://<IP_or_FQDN/admin

   Note: Replace IP_or_FQDN with your VMware Aria Operations IP or FQDN Primary node

2. Click Take Offline under Cluster Status.  Enter a reason for taking the cluster offline.

   Note: Wait for Cluster Status to show as Offline.

3. Navigate to the VMware Aria Operations Primary node in vSphere.

4. Right-Click on the Primary node and select Snapshot > Take Snapshot.

5. Enter a Name and Description for the snapshot.

6. Uncheck Snapshot the virtual machine's memory check box.

7. Uncheck Quiesce guest file system (Needs VMware Tools installed) check box.

8. Click Create.

9. Repeat steps 3-8 on all nodes of the VMware Aria Operations cluster, including Cloud Proxies.

10. After all snapshots complete, navigate back to the VMware Aria Operations admin UI and log in (https://IP_or_FQDN/admin) as the local admin user.

11. Click Bring Online under Cluster Status.

Notes:

• Wait for the Cluster Status to show as Online

• Remove all VMware Aria Operations snapshots after they are no longer needed.  Snapshots existing for more than 72 hours will cause performance issues. Check Best practices for using VMware snapshots in the vSphere environment for more details.

Additional Information

Impact/Risks:

• If a snapshot is taken incorrectly, the rollback may fail, or result in a damaged VMware Aria Operations cluster.
• Taking VMware Aria Operations nodes offline one by one can have negative effects on the cluster if not done in the correct order.  Therefore, VMware recommends to take the entire cluster offline at once.
• Reverting to a snapshot in VCF 9.x may disrupt integration with VCF SSO / VIDB.
  
  • VCF 9.0.x: This issue occurs frequently; snapshot reversions in this version carry a high probability of disrupting the integration.
  • VCF 9.1 and newer: The risk is significantly reduced, though there remains a slight probability of encountering the issue.
  Resolution: If the integration is broken, please refer to KB 429013 to restore connectivity.