As anyone knows, having a functional backup (and recovery) plan for your datacenter is vital to insuring data protection.  While data protection of servers is a basic need, what about the infrastructure that supports it?  In the blade server world, the infrastructure is the chassis, management and switches.  In this post, I’ll discuss best practices for backing up the settings and configurations of the Dell PowerEdge MX7000 infrastructure.

What Gets Backed Up?

When you look at doing backups with the PowerEdge MX7000, there are several configurations and settings that are included:

• alert settings
• application settings
• chassis network configurations
• local access configurations
• location configurations
• OpenManage Enterprise Modular (OME-M) network settings
• power configuration
• security settings
• setup configuration
• slot configuration
• users’ settings

Getting Started

The PowerEdge MX7000 has a backup wizard that captures the above, but it does not include the I/O module (IOM) configuration details.  Therefore, it is advised that the IOM is manually backed up as the first step of the backup process.  This manual step will backup the running configuration of the switch modules within the MX7000 chassis infrastructure.  These steps provide a text file that will be viewable and editable with a test editor.

1. In the I/O module CLI, (not familiar with the CLI – watch this video) run the following command on each switch: OS10# copy running-configuration startup-configuration
2. Back up the startup file to the local directory or on external resources such as an TFTP server, an FTP server, or a USB drive.
   In the example below, the configuration is saved on a local directory of the switch by running the following CLI: OS10# copy config://startup.xml config://backup-3-22.xml

Next, use the built-in backup wizard to backup the additional chassis configurations mentioned at the top of this post.

1. On the lead MX chassis Overview page, click More Actions > Backup.  The “Chassis Backup” wizard will be displayed.
2. From the “Introduction Page”, review the settings that are included in the backup file then click the Next button.
3. The “Backup File Settings” page will display the following settings to be filled out:
   • Backup File Location: share type (CIFS or NFS)
   • Backup File Location: network share address (the NFS server NIC IP address)
   • Backup File Location: network share filepath (must be predefined on the NFS server, the file path, or the folder where the backup will be saved.  Also must include a / – example: /MXbackup)
   • Backup File Location: backup file (this is the name of the backup file; i.e. MXbackup2-23)
   • Backup File Location: Test Connection checkbox (If the chassis and NFS server are on the same network, this can be skipped)
   • Sensitive Data: Include Passwords checkbox
   • Backup File Password: Encryption Password and confirm password.  Note: The backup file is encrypted and cannot be edited. Only authorized users can retrieve and restore the file on the chassis. Provide the password and secure it in a safe place.
4. Upon completion, click the Finish button to begin the backup.

The backup job will be displayed under the Monitor > Jobs.

Restoration

Backup is only one part of the story.  To learn how to restore from this process, check out the original post of this information on Dell’s blog.

Kevin Houston is the founder of BladesMadeSimple.com. With over 24 years of experience in the x86 server marketplace Kevin has a vast array of competitive x86 server knowledge and certifications as well as an in-depth understanding of VMware virtualization. He has worked at Dell Technologies since August 2011 and is a Principal Engineer supporting the East Enterprise Region and is also a CTO Ambassador for the Office of the CTO at Dell Technologies.

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