First, you deploy a new SDDC Manager appliance by using the OVA file that you downloaded during the preparation for the restore. After that, you restore the file-based backup on the newly deployed SDDC Manager appliance.

Procedure

  1. In a web browser, log in to management domain vCenter Server by using the vSphere Client (https://<vcenter_server_fqdn>/ui).
  2. Select Menu > VMs and templates.
  3. In the inventory expand vCenter Server > Datacenter.
  4. Right-click the management folder and select Deploy OVF template.
  5. On the Select an OVF template page, select Local file, click Upload files, browse to the location of the SDDC Manager OVA file, click Open, and click Next.
  6. On the Select a name and folder page, in the Virtual machine name text box, enter a virtual machine name, and click Next.
  7. On the Select a compute resource page, click Next.
  8. On the Review details page, review the settings and click Next.
  9. On the License agreements page, accept the license agreement and click Next.
  10. On the Select storage page, select the vSAN datastore and click Next.

    The datastore must match the vsan_datastore value in the metadata.json file that you downloaded during the preparation for the restore.

  11. On the Select networks page, from the Destination network drop-down menu, select the management network distributed port group and click Next.

    The distributed port group must match the port_group value in the metadata.json file that you downloaded during the preparation for the restore.

  12. On the Customize template page, enter the following values and click Next.

    Setting

    Description

    Enter root user password

    You can use the original root user password or a new password.

    Enter login (vcf) user password

    You can use the original vcf user password or a new password.

    Enter basic auth user password

    You can use the original admin user password or a new password.

    Enter backup (backup) user password

    The backup password that you saved during the preparation for the restore. This password can be changed later if desired.

    Enter Local user password

    You can use the original Local user password or a new password.

    Hostname

    The FQDN must match the hostname value in the metadata.json file that you downloaded during the preparation for the restore.

    NTP sources

    The NTP server details for the appliance.

    Enable FIPs

    Selected

    Default gateway

    The default gateway for the appliance.

    Domain name

    The domain name for the appliance.

    Domain search path

    The domain search path(s) for the appliance.

    Domain name servers

    The DNS servers for the appliance.

    Network 1 IP address

    The IP address for the appliance.

    Network 1 netmask

    The subnet mask for the appliance.
  13. On the Ready to complete page, click Finish and wait for the process to complete.
  14. When the SDDC Manager appliance deployment completes, expand the management folder.
  15. Right-click the SDDC Manager appliance and select Snapshots > Take Snapshot.
  16. Right-click the SDDC Manager appliance, select Power > Power On.
  17. On the host machine, copy the encrypted backup file to the /tmp folder on the newly deployed SDDC Manager appliance by running the following command. When prompted, enter the vcf_user_password. 
    scp filename-of-restore-file vcf@sddc_manager_fqdn:/tmp/
  18. On the host machine, obtain the authentication token from the SDDC Manager appliance in order to be able to execute the restore process by running the following command: 
    TOKEN=`curl https://<sddc_manager_fqdn>/v1/tokens -k -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"username": "admin@local","password": "<admin@local_password>"}' | awk -F "\"" '{ print $4}'`
  19. On the host machine with access to the SDDC Manager, open a terminal and run the command to start the restore process. 
    curl https://<sddc_manager_fqdn>/v1/restores/tasks -k -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
    -d '{
  "elements" : [ {
    "resourceType" : "SDDC_MANAGER"
  } ],
  "backupFile" : "<backup_file>",
  "encryption" : {
    "passphrase" : "<encryption_password>"
  }
}'

    The command output contains the ID of the restore task.

  20. Record the ID of the restore task.
  21. Monitor the restore task by using the following command until the status becomes Successful. 
    curl https://<sddc_manager_fqdn>/v1/restores/tasks/<restore_task_id> -k -X GET -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN"

What to do next

Refresh the SSH keys that are stored in the SDDC Manager inventory. See VMware Cloud Foundation SDDC Manager Recovery Scripts (79004).