Backing Up and Restoring LAN Operational Mode Setups

 
Updated December 14, 2023
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New and Changed Information

The following table provides an overview of the significant changes up to this current release. The table does not provide an exhaustive list of all changes or of the new features up to this release.

Release Version Feature Description

There were no major changes from the previous release.

Backing Up and Restoring LAN Fabrics

The following sections describe how to back up and restore LAN fabrics.

Guidelines: LAN Fabrics

Following are the guidelines on backing up and restoring LAN fabrics:

  • If you add or remove devices to the fabric, you can’t restore a fabric from a current date to an earlier date.

  • The backup and restore procedures described in this document apply only for NDFC 12.x systems.

  • You cannot take backups of external fabrics in monitor-only mode. You can take a backup of external fabrics in monitor-only mode, but you cannot restore them. You can restore this backup when the external fabric is not in monitor-only mode.

  • You can take backups of Multi-Site Domain (MSD) fabrics. When you initiate a backup from the parent in a MSD fabric, the backup process is applicable for the member fabrics as well.

Backing Up a LAN Fabric

You can back up all fabric configurations and intents automatically or manually. You can save configurations in Cisco NDFC, which are the intents. The intent may or may not be pushed out to the switches.

The backup has the information related to intent and fabric configurations in addition to the associated state of the resource manager in terms of used resources on the fabrics. Cisco NDFC backs up only when there is a configuration push.

The following sections describe the necessary steps to back up a fabric:

Setting the Maximum Number of Backups Per Fabric

To set the maximum number of backups per fabric, navigate to:

Admin > System Admin > System Settings > Server Settings > LAN-Fabric

Locate the Maximum Backups per Fabric field and enter the number of backups that you want to have stored per fabric. The default entry in this field is 2.

When new backups take place, the oldest (non-golden) backup gets removed automatically. Increase the value in this field only after guidance from Cisco TAC.

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The backup count also includes golden backups. Cisco NDFC supports a maximum of two golden backups per fabric. See Marking a Backup as Golden for more information.

Enabling an Automatic (Scheduled) Fabric Backup

Cisco NDFC triggers an automatic backup only if you did not trigger any manual backup after the last configuration push.

To enable an automatic (scheduled) backup for fabric configurations and intents:

  1. Navigate to the Fabrics window:

    Manage > Fabrics

  2. Select a fabric from the list of configured fabrics, then click Actions > Edit Fabric.

  3. Click the Configuration Backup tab, then enter the necessary information in the fields in this tab.

    Fields Descriptions

    Hourly Fabric Backup

    Check this box to enable an hourly backup only if there is a configuration deployment since the last backup.

    Scheduled Fabric Backup

    Check this box to schedule an automatic backup at a specified time, entered in the Scheduled Time field.

    Scheduled Backup

    This field becomes editable if Scheduled Fabric Backup is enabled.

    Enter the time that you want the automatic backup to occur, in a 24 hour (UTC) format (00:00 to 23:59).

  4. Click Save when you have completed the configurations in this tab.

Enabling a Manual Fabric Backup

To enable a manual backup for fabric configurations and intents:

  1. Navigate to the Fabrics window:

    Manage > Fabrics

  2. Double-click on a configured fabric to bring up the Overview window for that fabric.

  3. Click Actions > More > Backup Fabric.

  4. Enter a name (tag) for the manual fabric backup, then click Create Backup.

Marking a Backup as Golden

Once you have a fabric backup configured (either a manual or an automatic backup), you can mark that fabric backup as golden, indicating that you don’t want to delete that backup even after you reach the archiving limit. Golden backups will not be removed automatically to make space for new backups.

Note the following guidelines with golden backups:

  • NDFC archives only up to ten golden backups.

  • You can’t delete golden backups of fabrics. However, you can remove the golden backup designation on a particular backup as described below, which would then allow you to delete that backup, if necessary.

You can mark a backup as a golden backup while restoring the fabric. To mark a specific backup as golden:

  1. Navigate to the Fabrics window:

    Manage > Fabrics

  2. Double-click on a configured fabric to bring up the Overview window for that fabric.

  3. Click Actions > More > Restore Fabric.

  4. Select the backup that you want to mark as golden, then click Actions > Mark as golden.

    If you want to remove a golden mark on a particular backup, select that backup in this window and click Actions > Remove as golden.

Restoring a LAN Fabric

To restore a LAN fabric that was backed up (either an automatic backup or a manual backup):

  1. Navigate to the Fabrics window:

    Manage > Fabrics

  2. Double-click on a configured fabric to bring up the Overview window for that fabric.

  3. Click Actions > More > Restore Fabric.

  4. Review the backups shown on this page.

    The following table describes the columns that appear on the Restore Backup tab.

    Fields Descriptions

    Backup Date

    Specifies the backup date.

    Backup Version

    Specifies the version of backup.

    Backup Tag

    Specifies the backup name.

    NDFC Version

    Specifies the version of NDFC.

    Backup Type

    Specifies the backup type (for example, a golden backup).

    The following table describes the fields that appear on the Action tab.

    Actions Descriptions

    Mark as golden

    To mark an existing backup as a golden backup, choose Mark as golden. Click Confirm in the confirmation window.

    Remove as golden

    To remove an existing backup from a golden backup, choose Remove as golden. Click Confirm in the confirmation window.

  5. In the Select a Backup step, click the radio button for the fabric backup that you want to restore, then click Next.

  6. In the Restore Preview step, verify that the information is correct for the backup that you want to restore.

    You can preview the details about the configuration in the backup file. You can also view the name and serial numbers for the switches in the Fabric backup. Click on Delta Config to view the configuration difference on the switches in the fabric.

  7. Click Restore Intent.

  8. In the Restore Status step, you can view the status of restoring the intent.

  9. Click Next to view the preview configuration.

  10. In the Configuration Preview step, you can resync the configurations on specific switches.

    For the desired switch, check the Switch Name check box, and click ReSync.

  11. Click deploy to complete the Restore Fabric operation.

Restoring Switch Configurations

NDFC supports restoring configurations for individual switches from certain fabric backups. This is supported in the following LAN fabric types:

  • Custom Network

  • Classic LAN

  • Multi-Site External Network

  • External Connectivity Network

To restore configurations for individual switches in one of these fabric types:

  1. Navigate to the Fabrics window:

    Manage > Fabrics

  2. Double-click on a configured fabric from the list above to bring up the Overview window for that fabric.

  3. Click the Switches tab, then select the appropriate switch and click Actions > More > Restore Switch.

  4. Select the backup that you want to restore from and click Next.

  5. Click Get Config to view the backed up configuration and the current running configuration, and to perform a side-by-side comparision.

  6. Click Restore Intent to restore the configuration for the switch.

Backing Up and Restoring NDFC Configurations

You can take a backup manually at any time. You can also configure a scheduler to backup all fabric configurations and intents.

Understanding NDFC Backup Formats

You can backup and restore using either of the following formats:

  • Config Only: A Config Only backup is smaller than a Full backup, which is described below. It contains the intent, dependent data, discovery information, credentials, and policies. A restore from this backup has functional fabrics, switch discovery, expected configurations, and other settings.

  • Full: A Full backup is large. In addition to everything in a Config Only backup, a Full backup contains current data, historical data, alarms, and host information. A restore from this backup has functional historical reports, metrics charts, and all base functionality.

You can restore a Config Only backup or a Full backup.

When restoring a backup, you can choose to do a Config Only restore or a Full restore.

  • A Config Only restore will restore only the configuration (intent, discovery information, credentials, and policies) and can be done using either a Config Only backup or a Full backup.

  • A Full restore will restore the configuration and any current and historical data, charts, etc. and can be done using only Full backups.

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Wait for a minimum of 20 minutes after a fresh installation before restoring the backup data. Some applications may not be operational if the backup is restored immediately in the freshly-installed setup.

NDFC Backup and Restore Behavior

This table provides information about NDFC backup and restore behavior in release 12.1.2e and later. Anything not mentioned is assumed to be fully supported.

In the following table:

  • A Config Only backup and restore includes only the features listed in the Configuration Data Backup and Restore column.

  • A Full backup and restore includes the features listed in both the Configuration Data Backup and Restore and the Operational Data Backup and Restore columns.

Feature Configuration Data Backup and Restore Operational Data Backup and Restore

Topology > Topology Layout

Supported: Custom Layouts

N/A

Manage > Fabrics

Supported: Fabrics, Switch inventory, Policies, Interface Groups, Networks, VRFs, Resources, Deployment History, Policy Change History

N/A

Manage > Fabrics > Fabric Backups

Supported: Fabric Backup Schedules

Not supported: Fabric backups

Manage > Fabrics > Services

Supported

Not supported: PBR Stats

Manage > Fabrics > EPL

Supported

Supported: Historical Endpoint Search up to 1 million records.

Not supported:

  • Endpoint Life

  • Aggregated Endpoint History

  • Snapshots

Manage > Fabrics > Metrics

Supported

Supported: 90 Days

Temperature: 7 Days

Admin > System Settings > Server Settings

Supported

N/A

Admin > System Settings > Feature Management

Supported

N/A

Admin > Switch Credentials > LAN Credentials Management

Supported: Default Credentials, Switch

N/A

Analyze > Event Analytics

Supported: Alarm Policies, Event Setup

Not Supported: Alarms, Events

Analyze > Reports

Not supported: Report Definitions

Not supported: Reports

Manage > Fabric Software

Not supported: Policies, Images

Not supported: History

Admin > Licensing

Supported

Supported

Manage > Templates

Supported

N/A

Admin > Backup and Restore

Supported: Backup Schedules

N/A

Admin > Certificate Management

Supported for NDFC release 12.1(3) and later. Not supported in earlier releases.

N/A

Virtual Management

Supported

N/A

IPFM

Supported

N/A

IPFM PTP

N/A

N/A

Guidelines: NDFC Configurations

Following are the guidelines on backing up and restoring NDFC configurations:

  • When you migrate from Layer 2 high availability to Layer 3 high availability, as part of the process to restore the backup, check the Ignore External Service IP Configuration check box to ensure that the persistent IPs in the backup are ignored and that it selects new ones during the restore. The rest of the data will be restored. See Restoring NDFC Configurations for more information.

  • During disaster recovery, NDFC allows you to restore only on the same version on which the backup was taken.

  • The backup and restore procedures described in this document apply only for NDFC 12.x systems.

Backing Up NDFC Configurations

The following sections describe the necessary steps to back up an NDFC configuration:

Enabling an Automatic (Scheduled) Backup of NDFC Configurations

You can create automatic (scheduled) backups of the NDFC configurations and restore those NDFC configurations at a later date, if necessary. Scheduled NDFC configurations backups must be backed up to a remote location.

To enable automatic (scheduled) backups of the NDFC configurations:

  1. Navigate to the Backup and Restore window:

    Admin > Backup and Restore

  2. Review the scheduled backup jobs in this window.

    If there are no backup jobs scheduled yet, No Schedule set is displayed in the upper right corner of the window.

  3. Click on No Schedule set.

    The Scheduler window appears.

  4. Check the Enable scheduled backups check box.

  5. Under Type, select your desired format to back up (Config only or Full).

    See Understanding NDFC Backup Formats for more information.

  6. In the Destination field, click and choose Export to SCP Server or Export to SFTP Server from the drop-down list.

  7. In the Server field, provide the server IP address.

  8. In the Directory Path field, provide the absolute path of the directory to store the backup file.

  9. Enter the necessary information in the Username and Password fields.

  10. Enter the Encryption Key to the backup file.

    You must have an Encryption Key in order to restore from the backup. The Encryption Key is used to encrypt a portion of the backup file that has sensitive information.

  11. In the Run on days field, select the check box to schedule the backup job on one or more days.

  12. In the Start at field, use the time picker to schedule the backup at a particular time.

    The time picker uses a 12-hour clock.

  13. Click Save to run the backup job based on the configured schedule.

Enabling a Manual Backup of NDFC Configurations

To enable a manual backup of application and configuration data of an Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller backup:

  1. Navigate to the Backup and Restore window:

    Admin > Backup and Restore

  2. Click Backup now.

  3. Under Name, enter a name for the manual backup.

  4. Under Type, select your desired format to back up (Config only or Full).

    See Understanding NDFC Backup Formats for more information.

  5. Determine if you are configuring a local backup or a remote backup.

    note.svg

    We do not recommend local backups when backing up NDFC configurations because they are not persistent. We strongly recommend that you configure a remote backup instead.

    • If you are configuring a remote backup:

      1. In the Destination field, choose Export to SCP Server or Export to SFTP Server to store the backup file in a remote directory.

      2. In the Server field, provide the server IP address.

      3. In the File Path field, provide the absolute file path to the backup file.

        • You must specify the file name in the file path if you choose the Export to SFTP Server option for backup (for example, path/filename.tar.gz).

        • You do not have to specify the file name in the file path for the Export to SCP Server option.

      4. Enter the necessary information in the Username and Password fields.

      5. Enter the Encryption Key to the backup file.

        You must have an encryption key in order to restore the backup. The encryption key is used to encrypt a portion of the backup file that has sensitive information.

      6. Click Backup.

        After the backup is complete, the backup file is saved in the remote directory.

    • If you are configuring a local backup:

      1. In the Destination field, choose Local Download.

      2. Enter the Encryption Key to the backup file.

        You must have an encryption key in order to restore the backup. The encryption key is used to encrypt a portion of the backup file that has sensitive information.

      3. Click Backup.

        After the backup is complete, the backup file is available for download from the Backup and Restore window.

      4. In the Backup and Restore window, in the Actions column, you can click on the Download icon to save the backup to a local directory.

        If you want to delete the manual backup for any reason, click the Delete icon to delete the backup.

        note.svg

        You must delete the backups that are taken with Local Download option as soon as possible due to the limited amount of allocated disk space.

Restoring NDFC Configurations

You can perform a full restore from a full backup, or you can perform a config-only restore from either a full or config-only backup.

You can perform a config-only inline restore on an existing NDFC system using a prior backup. When performing a config-only restore from a full backup, only the non-operational data is restored. All operational data (statistics and historical data) will be lost.

note.svg

Wait for minimum of 20 minutes after fresh installation before restoring the backup data. Some applications may not be operational if the backup is restored immediately in the freshly installed setup. From Cisco NDFC Release 12.1.2e, you can restore on a freshly installed Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller system with no features enabled as well as on an existing system where features have already been enabled.

If the restore is done on a system with features enabled, note the following:

  • You cannot restore a SAN controller backup on a LAN controller (and vice versa).

  • You can perform only a Config Only restore. Whether the original backup is a Config Only backup or a Full backup, only configuration (non-operational) data will be restored. All operational data (statistics and historical data) will be lost.

To restore application and configuration data from a Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller backup:

  1. Navigate to the Backup and Restore window:

    Admin > Backup and Restore

  2. Click Restore.

    The Restore now window appears.

  3. Under Type, select your desired format to restore (Config only or Full).

    See Understanding NDFC Backup Formats for more information.

  4. Determine if you are restoring from a local backup or from a remote backup.

    • If you are restoring from a local backup:

      1. In the Source field, choose Upload File.

      2. Navigate to the local directory where you backed up the NDFC configuration, then drag and drop the backup into the Restore now area, or click Browse to navigage to the local directory where you backed up the NDFC configuration and select the backup.

      3. Go to Step 5.

    • If you are restoring from a remote backup:

      1. In the Source field, choose Import from SCP Server or Import from SFTP Server if the backup file is stored in a remote directory.

      2. In the Server field, provide the server IP address.

      3. In the File Path field, provide the absolute file path to the backup file.

      4. Enter the necessary information in the Username and Password fields.

  5. Enter the Encryption Key to the backup file.

    note.svg

    You must have an Encryption Key in order to restore the backup. The Encryption Key is used to encrypt a portion of the backup file that has sensitive information.

  6. (Optional) Check the Ignore External Service IP Configuration check box.

    If the Ignore External Service IP Configuration check box is selected, then the external service IP configuration is ignored. This selection allows you to take a backup on a system and restore it on a different system, with different management and/or data subnets.

    This option does not have any impact during an upgrade from Cisco DCNM 11.5(x) to Cisco NDFC.

  7. Click Restore.

    The backup file appears in the table on the Backup and Restore window. The time required to restore depends on the data in the backup file.

note.svg

After a restore operation, the performance monitoring (PM) feature is disabled on each fabric. You must manually enable PM on each fabric after the restore. Up to 90 days of historical PM data may be present in the backup and will then appear in the History.

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