Cisco UCS configuration management allows you to perform a backup through the Cisco UCS Manager. You can take a snapshot of all or part of the system configuration and export that file to a location on your network. You cannot use the Cisco UCS Manager to back up data on the servers; however, you can perform a backup while the system is up and running. The backup operation saves information only from the management plane. It does not have any impact on the server or network traffic.

As with any backup operation, before you start the backup, you need to consider the following factors:

Backup locations: The backup location is the destination or folder on the network where you want the Cisco UCS Manager to export the backup file. You can maintain only one backup operation for each location where you plan to save a backup file.

Potential to overwrite backup files: If you rerun a backup operation without changing the filename, the Cisco UCS Manager overwrites the existing file on the server. To avoid overwriting existing backup files, you need to change the filename in the backup operation or copy the existing file to another location.

Backup type: You can run and export more than one type of backup to the same location. The UCS Manager supports the following types:

Full State: A binary file that includes a snapshot of the entire system. You can use the file generated from this backup to restore the system during disaster recovery. This file can restore or rebuild the configuration on the original fabric interconnect or re-create the configuration on a different fabric interconnect. You cannot use this file for an import.

Note

You can only use a full state backup file to restore a system that is running the same version as the system from which the backup file was exported.

All Configuration: An XML file that includes all system and logical configuration settings. You can use the file generated from this backup to import these configuration settings to the original fabric interconnect or to a different fabric interconnect. You cannot use this file for a system restore. This file does not include passwords for locally authenticated users.

System Configuration: An XML file that includes all system configuration settings such as usernames, roles, and locales. You can use the file generated from this backup to import these configuration settings to the original fabric interconnect or to a different fabric interconnect. You cannot use this file for a system restore.

Logical Configuration: An XML file that includes all logical configuration settings such as service profiles, VLANs, VSANs, pools, and policies. You can use the file generated from this backup to import these configuration settings to the original fabric interconnect or to a different fabric interconnect. You cannot use this file for a system restore.

You should change the backup type before you rerun the backup operation. It is a good practice to change the filename for easier identification and to avoid overwriting the existing backup file.