How to export ESX(i) configuration
To export ESX(i) using vicfg-cfgbackup configuration you will need VMware vSphere CLI (vCLI). If it is not installed, please do that now. Once installed, open CLI and type the following command:
C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware vSphere CLI\bin>vicfg-cfgbackup.pl --server esxhost.domain --username root --password YourPassword -s C:\esxi\esxhost
To restore configuration back to your ESX(i) host, to the following:
C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware vSphere CLI\bin>vicfg-cfgbackup.pl --server esxhost.domain --username root --password YourPassword -l C:\esxi\esxhost
* Note that all commands MUST be typed in a single line
To export ESX(i) using VMware vSphere PowerCLI, make sure that PowerCLI is installed. If not, please do that now. Once installed, open VMware vSphere PowerCLI and first connect to your vCenter server:
Connect-VIServer <vCenter server hostname or IP address>
Once you press Enter, you will be prompted for user credentials. Use the same credentials you usually use to connect to your vCenter server.
You can either take a backup of all ESX(i) hosts or a particular host. To take backup of all ESX(i) hosts using a single command, do the following:
Get-VMhost | Get-VMhostFirmware -BackupConfiguration -DestinationPath C:\esxi
To backup configuration of the single ESX(i) host, do the following:
Get-VMhostFirmware -vmhost esxhost.domain -BackupConfiguration -DestinationPath C:\esxi
To restore the backup, do the following:
Get-vmhost esxhost.domain| Set-VMHostFirmware -Restore -DestinationPath C:\esxi
Once done taking backup/doing restore, disconnect from vCenter server:
Disconnect-VIServer