You use the native file-based backup capabilities of SDDC Manager, vCenter Server, and NSX Manager. The NSX Manager backup is configured by SDDC Manager during the bring-up process. You configure the file-based backup jobs for SDDC Manager and vCenter Server.

To ensure that all management components are backed up correctly, you must create a series of backup jobs that capture the state of a set of related components at a common point in time. With some components, simultaneous backups of the component nodes ensure that you can restore the component a state where the nodes are logically consistent with each other and eliminate the necessity for further logical integrity remediation of the component.

Table 1. File-Based Backup Jobs

Component

Recommended Frequency

Recommended Retention

Notes

SDDC Manager

Daily

7 days

You must configure the backup jobs for the SDDC Manager instance and all vCenter Server instances in the vCenter Single Sign-On domain to start within the same 5-minute window.

vCenter Server

Daily

7 days

vSphere Distributed Switch

On-demand

Retain last 3 configurations.

-

NSX Manager

Hourly

7 days

Configured by SDDC Manager during the bring-up process.
Note:
  • You must monitor the space utilization on the SFTP server to ensure that you have sufficient storage space to accommodate all backups taken within the retention period.
  • Do not make any changes to the /opt/vmware/vcf directory on the SDDC Manager VM. If this directory contains any large files, backups may fail.

Prerequisites

Verify that you have an SFTP server on the network to serve as a target of the file-based backups.