XenCenter

Back up and Restore a Server

Note:

XenCenter 2023.x.x is currently in preview and is not supported for production use. Note that any future references to production support apply only when XenCenter 2023.x.x and XenServer 8 go from preview status to general availability.

You can use XenCenter 2023.x.x to manage your XenServer 8 and Citrix Hypervisor 8.2 CU1 non-production environments. However, to manage your Citrix Hypervisor 8.2 CU1 production environment, use XenCenter 8.2.7. For more information, see the XenCenter 8.2.7 documentation.

You can install XenCenter 8.2.7 and XenCenter 2023.x.x on the same system. Installing XenCenter 2023.x.x does not overwrite your XenCenter 8.2.7 installation.

You can back up a managed server to one XenServer backup file (.xbk). This backup file can be used to restore the server if there is a hardware failure.

Note:

This file backs up just the server itself, but not any VMs that might be running on it.

We recommend that you back up your servers frequently to enable you to recover from possible server or software failure. When backing up servers in XenCenter, note the following points:

  • Do not create the backup on XenServer control domain (dom0). For more information about XenServer control domains, see the product documentation.
  • XenServer backup files can be large.

To restore a server, you can select and restore the backup file within XenCenter. Reboot the server from XenServer installation ISO to complete the restore.

To back up your server configuration and software

  1. Select the server in the Resources pane.
  2. On the Server menu, click Back Up.
  3. Browse to locate the folder where you want to create the backup file and enter the file name.
  4. Click Save to begin the backup.

The backup might take some time. You can select the Notifications and then Events to view the progress.

To restore server software and configuration from backup

  1. Select the server in the Resources pane.
  2. On the Server menu, click Restore From Backup.
  3. Browse to locate the backup file.
  4. Click Open to begin the restore.
  5. On the server, reboot to the installation CD and select Restore from backup.
Back up and Restore a Server