Applies to: Esxi 6.0 and above

1. Login to SSH in VMware ESXi

2. Synchronize the configuration change with this command:

vim-cmd hostsvc/firmware/sync_config

vim-cmd hostsvc/firmware/backup_config

Note: The command will output a URL (http://*/downloads/123456/configBundle-xx.xx.xx.xx.tgz) in which a web browser may be used to download the file.

4. From a web browser navigate to http://[Host IP or FQDN]/downloads/123456/configBundle-xx.xx.xx.xx.tgz

5. The backup file will be in the /downloads directory (default to browser or choose to download to a specific directory) as configBundle-HostFQDN.tgz

Restoring ESXi host configuration data

1. The configBundle-HostFQDN.tgz should be renamed as configBundle.tgz before initiating the restore command.
2. Put the host into maintenance mode by running this command:

vim-cmd hostsvc/maintenance_mode_enter

Copy the backup configuration file to the ESXi host or an available datastore.

    3. Reboot the host. This step is required, otherwise the restore workflow might not finish completely

    4. Once the ESXi has rebooted, run this command to restore the ESXi hosts configuration (replace <backup_location> with the path to the configBundle.tgz):

vim-cmd hostsvc/firmware/restore_config /<backup_location>/configBundle.tgz