Backing Up and Restoring the Configuration Data of the SDX Appliance
The NetScaler SDX appliance backup process is a single step process that creates a backup file containing the following:
- Single bundle image:
- Citrix Hypervisor image
- Hotfixes and Supplemental Packs of Citrix Hypervisor
- Management Service image
- XVA image
- Upgrade image
- SDX configuration
- Configuration
To back up the current configuration:
- On the Configuration tab, in the navigation pane, expand Management Service, and then click Backup Files.
- In the Backup Files pane, click Back Up.
- in the New Backup File dialog box, select the Password Protect file check box to encrypt the backup file.
- In the Password and Confirm Password fields, type and confirm the password for the backup file.
- Click Continue.
The backup process creates a backup file. The file name of the backup file includes the current IP address of the Management Service and the timestamp when the backup was taken. To check for any discrepancy that the backup file might have, from the SDX GUI navigate to Configuration > System > Events/Alarms.
Scheduled Backup
By default, SDX creates a backup every 24 hours using a backup policy. Using the backup policy, you can define the number of backup files that you want to retain in the SDX appliance. Also, you can encrypt the scheduled backup files using a password to ensure that the backup file is secure.
To edit the backup policy:
- On the Configuration tab, click System.
- In the Policy Administration pane, click Backup Policy.
- In the Configure backup policy pane, perform the following:
- In the Previous backups to retain field, type the number of backup files you want to retain.
- To encrypt the backup files, select Encrypt Backup File check box.
- In the Password and Confirm Password fields, type and confirm the password to encrypt the backup file.
Manually Transfer the Backup File to an External Backup Server
You can manually transfer the backup file to an external backup server. Ensure that you have the external backup server details before you manually transfer the backup file.
To manually transfer the backup file to an external backup server:
- On the Configuration tab, in the navigation pane, expand Management Service, and then click Backup Files.
- In the Backup Files pane, select the backup file and then click Transfer.
- In the Server field, type hostname or IP address of the external backup server.
- In the User Name and Password fields, type the user name and password to access the external backup server.
- In the Port field, type the port number.
- In the Transfer Protocol field, select the protocol you want to use to transfer the backup file to the external backup server.
- In the Directory Path field, type the path of the directory in the external backup server where you want to store the backup files.
- Select Delete file from Management Service after transfer if you want to delete the backup file from the SDX appliance after you have transferred the backup file to the external backup server.
- Click OK.
Restoring the Appliance
You can restore the SDX appliance to the configuration available in the backup file. During the appliance restore, all the current configuration is deleted.
**Points to note**
- If you restore the SDX appliance using the backup file of a different SDX appliance, ensure that you add the configure Management Service network settings in the appliance according to the the settings available in the backup file, before you start the restore process.
- Ensure that the platform variant on which the backup was taken is same as on which you are trying to restore (restoring the backup file between two different platform variants is not supported).
To restore the appliance from the backup file:
1. On the Configuration tab, in the navigation pane, expand Management Service, and then click Backup Files.
2. In the Backup Files pane, click the backup file and then click OK.
3. In the Restore dialog box, select Appliance Restore, and then click Proceed.
A page appears showing the different components of the application restore:
- License
- SDX Image
- XVA Files
- NetScaler configuration
- Summary
If any of the required components such as a valid and capable license, XVA images, NetScaler images, Single Bundle image are missing in the backup file, you’re prompted to upload the missing element before proceeding further.
To know whether a backup file can be restored on the current SDX Single Bundle Image Version, see this table.
| Current SDX Single Bundle Image Version | Backup File Version |
|---|---|
| 11.0 | supported on 11.0, 12.0 |
| 11.1 | supported on 11.1, 12.0; not supported on 11.0 |
| 12.0 | supported on 12.0; not supported on 11.0 and 11.1 |
4. On the License page, check that a valid license is present and click Next.
5. The SDX Image page appears. If an SDX image is not required to perform the restore, click Next. Otherwise, when prompted upload a valid SDX image and click Next.
6. The XVA File page opens. Click Next if XVA images for all instances are present. If the XVA file for any instance is missing in the backup file, you can either upload it or skip restoring this instance. Click Next to go to the next page.
7. The NetScaler Configuration page opens. NetScaler configuration files are not mandatory. You can provision the instance without restoring its configuration. If the NetScaler configuration file is missing in the backup file, you can either proceed only with instance provisioning or skip restoring the instance. Click Next to go to the next page.
8. The summary page appears with the following details about all the instances present in the backup file:
- IP address
- Hostname
- SDX version
- XVA version
- Version bit
- Restore: if the appliance or instance is ready for restore, a check mark appears. If it’s not, a cross mark appears.
- Error messages: if the appliance or instance is not ready for restore, an error message appears explaining the reason.
9. Click Restore to complete the application restore process.
Restoring the NetScaler instance
You can restore the NetScaler instance in the SDX appliance to the NetScaler instances that are available in the backup file.
Points to note:
- A VPX instance fails to restore if the instance does not have any management NIC assigned to it and if the instance is managed from the SDX Management Service only through LACP. The restore fails because SDX Management Service cannot restore the channel configurations automatically. To avoid this issue, manually restore the channel configuration to complete the VPX instance restore.
To restore the NetScaler instance in the backup file:
- On the Configuration tab, in the navigation pane, expand Management Service, and then click Backup Files.
- In the Backup Files pane, select the backup file and then click Restore.
- In the Restore dialog box, select Instance Restore.
- Select the NetScaler instances that you want to restore and then click Proceed.
- (Optional) If the backup file is encrypted, when prompted, type the password and then click OK.
Note
Ensure that appropriate XVA, build image, and channel configuration are present on the SDX appliance that runs the instance that is being restored.