VMWare Backups of active VEs?
We collect nightly UCS files of all of our BIG-IP VEs. If we need to restore from UCS, it requires requesting the build of a new guest before we can apply the latest UCS backup (VMWare is managed by a different team). Most of our other organization VMs have snapshots taken that can be used for quick restoration in the case of failure. We do not have snapshots taken of our VEs because it is not recommended:
K000093184:
Since the Snapshot 'freezes' or 'pauses' TMM this prevents real-time access to the CPU. Due to this F5 does not support the Snapshot process being used on a BIG-IP.
Other than restoring from UCS files, are there any other recommended automated backup procedures of ACTIVE VMWare BIG-IP VEs that full backups can be done from?
Reply from F5 Support:
Thank you for reaching out to F5 Support. My name is Manisha from NA region and will be assisting you with the service request. Please let me know if these hours align with your needs. If not, we can reassign the case to a desired region.
1. Yes, as stated it the article F5 does not support the Snapshot process being used on a BIG-IP.
Recommended ActionsCreating and archiving backups should be done regularly and prior to any upgrade. The only supported method is to do so via an F5 UCS Archive.
2. Regarding your 2nd query --> there is a script that resides on the system as a cron job, that does automatic backups and even transfers these backups to a remote server, if properly set up. Please see below articles for automated UCS backups on BIG-IP :
https://my.f5.com/manage/s/article/K13418 ---> Archiving UCS files using the logrotate and crontab utilities (11.x - 17.x)
https://my.f5.com/manage/s/article/K78344940 ---> Schedule automated UCS backups on the BIG-IP system
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Kind Regards,
Manisha Kota | Service Provider Engineer