How to Backup and Restore the VMM Database

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Applies To: System Center 2012 - Virtual Machine Manager, System Center 2012 R2 Virtual Machine Manager, System Center 2012 SP1 - Virtual Machine Manager

The VMM database in System Center 2012 – Virtual Machine Manager is a SQL Server database that contains VMM configuration information. We recommend that you back up the database regularly.

You can also use tools provided by SQL Server to back up and restore the VMM database. For more information, see Backing Up and Restoring Databases in SQL Server.

Note

In addition to backing up the VMM database, you should also have a plan for backing up other key VMM resources, such as library servers, hosts, and virtual machines.

To restore the VMM database, you can use the SCVMMRecover.exe tool that is available on the VMM management server.

Warning

SCVMMRecover.exe cannot be used to recover a VMM database that is used by a highly available VMM management server. Instead, you must use tools provided by SQL Server to back up and restore the VMM database.

Account requirements To back up the VMM database, you must be a member of the Administrator user role.

To back up the VMM database

  1. In the VMM console, open the Settings workspace.

  2. On the Home tab, in the Backup group, click Backup.

  3. In the Virtual Machine Manager Backup dialog box, specify the location to place the backup file, and then click OK.

    You can check the status of the backup in the Jobs workspace.

To restore the VMM database

  1. On the VMM management server, open an elevated command prompt, and then navigate to the <VMM installation location>\bin folder.

    Tip

    By default, VMM is installed in the \Program Files\Microsoft System Center 2012\Virtual Machine Manager folder.

  2. Run SCVMMRecover.exe using the following syntax:

    SCVMMRecover [-Path <location>] [-Confirm]

    <location> refers to the folder or share location of the backup file that you created. You must include the name of the backup file (including the .bak extension) when you specify <location>.

  3. After the VMM database has been recovered, you will need to do the following:

    • Remove any hosts that were removed from VMM since the last backup.

      If a host has been removed since the last backup, the host will have a status of Needs Attention in the VMM console. Any virtual machines on that host will have a status of Host Not Responding.

    • Remove any virtual machines that were removed from VMM since the last backup.

      If a host has a virtual machine that was removed since the last backup, the virtual machine will have a status of Missing in the VMM console.

    • Add any hosts that were added to VMM since the last backup.

    • If you restored the VMM database to a different computer, reassociate hosts that have a status of Access Denied in the VMM console.

      For more information about reassociating, see How to Reassociate a Host or Library Server.

      Note

      A computer is considered to be different if it has a different security identifier (SID). For example, if you reinstall the operating system on the computer, the computer will have a different SID, even if you use the same computer name.

      You also will have to perform similar actions for library servers in your environment.

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For additional resources, see Information and Support for System Center 2012.

Tip: Use this query to find online documentation in the TechNet Library for System Center 2012. For instructions and examples, see Search the System Center 2012 Documentation Library.
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