What and How to Back Up in System Center Essentials

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Applies To: System Center Essentials 2010

To be prepared for a potential restore operation, you need to properly back up data from Essentials 2010, Operations Manager, Microsoft SQL Server, and Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), as described in the following sections.

Essentials 2010 Data Backup

Back up the following Essentials 2010 data:

  • The management server encryption key

  • Certificates

    • WSUS Publishers Self-signed certificate (referred to as the WSUS code signing certificate) in a PFX format from the Certification Local Computer/WSUS store.

    • Two Essentials 2010 certificate files from the InstallDir/Certificates folder.

    • If applicable, the certificate in a PFX format used for service provider or workgroup agent management.

  • Registry keys under HKLM\Software\Microsoft\SystemCenterEssentials

System Center Essentials Data to Back Up

Back up the following System Center Essentials data:

  • The System Center Essentials database

  • The System Center Essentials data warehouse (OperationsManagerDW)

SQL Server Data to Back Up

Back up the following SQL Server data:

  • SQL Server Reporting Services databases (ReportServer$ESSENTIALS and ReportServer$ESSENTIALSTempDB)

  • SQL Server master and MSDB system databases

For information about how to back up SQL Server data, see the SQL Server 2008 documentation.

WSUS Data to Back Up

Back up the following WSUS data:

  • The WSUS database, named SUSDB.

  • The folder that contains the update files. If Essentials 2010 is configured to store the update content files locally, then you can find the location of the local folder from the following registry key:

    HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Update Services\Server\Setup\ContentDir

For information about how to back up WSUS data, see Backing Up Windows Server Update Services on the Microsoft TechNet Web site (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=128971).

Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) Data to Back Up

Back up the following VMM data:

  • The VMM database, named VirtualManagerDB.

  • The VMM library share. If Essentials 2010 is configured to store the library share locally, then you can find the location of the local library share from the following registry key:

    HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager server\Settings\Library\LibrarySharePath

For information about how to back up VMM data, see Backing Up and Restoring the VMM Database on the Microsoft TechNet Web site (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=162661).

Active Directory Data to Back Up

Back up the following Active Directory data:

  • Group Policy objects

  • Accounts information

For information about how to back up data from Active Directory, see the Active Directory Help.