Best Practice How to Backup/Restore VMware vCenter VCSA Content Library (Emphasis: CONTENT LIBRARY)

Hey @George,

For a while now VMware has recommended backing up the VCSA using standard VM backup methods. For restore, you could target an ESXi host directly (obviously since vCenter would be offline).

If your content library is on NFS you can target it with a filesystem agent - however if its on a VMFS volume that wont work. In that case, your best option is to script copying the files over SCP from an ESXi host with access to the files to a staging location and then scooping them up with a regular file system agent.

Unfortunately there is no direct integration to protect raw files on a datastore.

Thanks @Damian Andre ,

By any chance do you have a link to where “VMware has recommended” Content Library backup?

LOL, “contact your backup vendor”  I opened a case with Commvault and they burned it as not available because VMware has not provided an API for Content Library content. In other words, the meta data within the VCSA PSC is backed up using the VSA snapshot, but the actual library content (e.g., .vmx, .vmdk, .iso, .ovf, .ova files on vSphere datastores) is not backed up when the VCSA is backed up.

hi Folks,

Now my VMWare admin has switched from distributed local templates to Content libraries templates, then I get myself in the same situation as @George .

Commvault does not ‘see’ any template except on the ‘root’ of the content library, not on the ‘distributed’ locations on the datastores, like what I would call ‘remote sites’ from the main VCSA location.

Is this in the roadmap then ? @Mike Struening sorry for the ping, but maybe you can ask to the right people about this internally ?

Thanks,

Laurent. 

Hey @Laurent , let me see what I can find out!

@Laurent , we have a Customer Commitment Request for this feature (Commitment Request :: 337541).

To get added, reach out to your Account Rep (it’s not something I can do).

I have no ETA, but it’s in the CCR List.

Thanks Mike, will do.