Backing up the management software image

You can back up the IBM® Flex System Manager management software image to the management node hard disk drive, a USB drive, or a secure FTP server. The backup image is a full backup, and includes all applied fixes, data on managed chassis, and any custom settings.

A backup of the management software includes the following data:

The management software image
The local IBM Flex System Manager user registry
IBM Flex System Manager configuration settings (including network settings)
Discovered endpoints and inventory
Configuration pattern data

Important: The backup file that is created through the management software backup task is unencrypted, and contains unsecured data that is otherwise restricted in an IBM Flex System environment. Use your own method to protect the backup file.

Choosing a location for management software backups

Attention: The option to back up the management software to the local hard disk drive is selected by default in the web interface. However, a backup that is stored on the local drive is useless if that drive fails. To protect your backup from a disk failure, make sure that you back up to a secure FTP (SFTP) server or USB drive.

Important: To backup the management software to an SFTP server, the destination server must have Linux with Secure Shell (SSH) enabled. Otherwise, the backup operation might fail.

To create a backup that is available in a disaster recovery situation, backup the management software to an SFTP server in a remote location or to a USB drive that will be stored in a remote location. It is recommended that you schedule your backups to an SFTP server on a regular basis for use in a manual failover scenario.

The local hard disk drive in the IBM Flex System Manager management node has a limited amount of available space for storing backups. Typically, the local hard drive has space for only three backups. USB drives have similar space constraints. An SFTP server, which potentially has more backup storage space, might be the best backup location for your management software backup images.

Choosing when to back up the management software

Back up the management software often. For a typical IBM Flex System environment, you might want to backup the management software once or twice weekly. You can schedule backups so that the backup image is created and saved automatically; see Scheduling management software image backups for more information.

Note: You can schedule only one backup at a time.

In addition to regular and scheduled backups, back up the management software in the following situations:

After multiple new managed resources are discovered or removed.
After multiple new virtual machines are deployed or removed.
After a management software policy change (for example, the security policy or password rules policy).
Before and after every management software update or upgrade.
After an IP configuration change or other network configuration change.
After user accounts are created, deleted, or modified (for example, after user passwords expire or reset).
After user credentials or permissions are modified.
After you have created, modified, or deployed configuration patterns.
After obtaining new updates for managed resources, even it the updates are not yet deployed.

See Restoring the management software image for information about how to restore the management software image.