It is always recommended to take the Backup of the database without miss , During the upgrade process,
if your VCenter server and Database is running on a VM , take complete backup of the server before the activity , take a Database backup , and to be on a safer side , take snapshot of both the servers before the activity ,
Steps to take back-up of DB, and certificates
- Login to SQL Database using Microsoft SQL Management Studio and Identify the Database of vCenter server.
- Right-click on vCenter Server Database and Select Tasks -> Backup
- Note down the Location for the Database Backup
- It is also important to backup the vCenter Server SSL certificates before upgrade. Below is the location of the SSL certificates on the vCenter server.
- Windows 2008: %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\SSL
- Take a backup of Sysprep files from the below location
- Windows 2008: %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\sysprep
If you are using Oracle DB, Use the below method to Take the Backup
- On the source machine, stop the VirtualCenter service.
Select Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services.
Right-click VMware VirtualCenter Server and select Stop.
The Status changes from Started to blank.
- On the source machine, log in to Oracle SQL*Plus as the vCenter Server database user.
- Export the database as a .dmp file.
- Copy the .dmp file onto the C:\ drive of the destination machine.