ESXi How to backup restore the host configuration with powercli

Why powercli?
A lot of what I've seen out there for backing up the host configuration uses VMA or Vcli but I use powercli more consistently as I know a lot of other people do also.




Here is the code to backup your esxi host via powercli


Get-VMHostFirmware -VMHost $host -BackupConfiguration -DestinationPath C:\DownloadFolder

Set-VMHostFirmware -VMHost $Host -Restore -SourcePath c:\bundleToRestore.tgz -HostUser user -HostPassword pass






*note: that the backup config files can be restored only to the same version of esxi and same build.
I havent tested otherwise but posts on different blogs confirm that.








Pre-backup evidence
Test host: before backing up
Here are some configs that I want to see go over after restoring














Backing up the config
Connect to your host/vcenter first


Using:
Get-VMHostFirmware -VMHost $host -BackupConfiguration -DestinationPath C:\Downloads
Pasted from <http://www.vmware.com/support/developer/PowerCLI/PowerCLI41U1/html/Get-VMHostFirmware.html>











Here is what is backed up, its tiny!











Installing ESXi









Here is the new install booting from dhcp









Restoring Using:
Set-VMHost -VMHost Host -State 'Maintenance'

Set-VMHostFirmware -VMHost Host -Restore -SourcePath c:\bundleToRestore.tgz -HostUser user -HostPassword pass


Pasted from <http://www.vmware.com/support/developer/PowerCLI/PowerCLI501/html/Set-VMHostFirmware.html>




Connected to esxi host
Place into maintenance mode


















I had to use the force optionotherwise I was getting  Restore failed: fault.MismatchedBundle.summary
Figuredd that out thanks to here : http://www.php2s.com/virtualization/esxi-4-backup-and-restore-configuration.html







Server came up by itself:
Here is the console









Here are the settings in the vmware client


Looks like I will have to add the nic manually to the switch labeled vswitch1









It knows the NTP time setting









Conclusion:
It can be a great timesaver if you have a lot of settings to redo.




*notes:
*Note was readig that  this cant be used to restore the config to a different system because you will get a fault.MismatchedBundle.summary because the nic macs are different
I havent tried that with the force option so it might work…..