Backing Up Host Configuration using PowerCLI

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Backup ESXi Host Configuration PowerCLI VMware vSphere-5.1

An often overlooked and less prioritized thought in vSphere environments is backing up the actual host configuration. I figured it was worth a quick post, given the fact that it’s a fairly simple process via PowerCLI. This command should be the same for all versions of vSphere/PowerCLI, but I have only tested on 4.1-5.1.

Aside: This is just the basic command; there are plenty of other ways to automate this or use it in conjunction with another PowerCLI script; I’ll leave that up to you.

  1. Fire up PowerCLI

  2. Connect to your vCenter server:

  3. Expand the screen shot below to view the full command. The output will be a gzipped tar file in the location that you specify.

Host Backup