Add an ESXi as a standalone server while it is also in a vCenter server

[william88]

Hello,

Our vCenter VM is hosted on an ESXi server, which is itself within a vCenter (but outside a production cluster).
We've added our vCenter to the “Inventory” part of Veeam Backup & Replication, so the ESXi server where the vCenter VM is located appears.
However, there are times when we need to shut down the vCenter VM to perform maintenance tasks. In this case, we can no longer perform machine backup tasks via the vCenter view in “Inventory”.
It would therefore be interesting for us to add the ESXi that usually carries our vCenter VM as a standalone host in “Inventory”.
However, when we try to add it, here's the message that comes up: “VMware ESXi with name 'myesxi.mydomain.local' already exists”.
So, how can we add an ESXi alone when it's already present in a vCenter declared in “Inventory”?

Thank you very much.

[PetrM]

Hi William,

Technically, you can try using an IP address instead of a DNS name, but I do not recommend adding a standalone ESXi for the described use case. All virtual machines from such an ESXi will be processed in full mode. You will need to either recreate all jobs or add these VMs back to a job using the standalone ESXi hierarchy (not through vCenter). The only case in which this might be necessary is when vCenter is down and you need to restore it.

Thanks!

[william88]

Thank you for your reply.

This is indeed the case I find myself in: backing up the vCenter once it's switched off, so a full backup suits me perfectly (I use VeeamZIP to make this kind of backup).

I've created a CNAME “myesxi-standalone.mydomain.local” pointing to “myesxi.mydomain.local” and I manage to add it as an independent ESXI.

I will try to backup the vCenter using this method this week.

Have a nice day!

[marina.skobeleva]

Small addition to the Petr's reply:

When you use vCenter, in Veeam B&R DB, each VM has its own object id, which has reference to MoRefID from vCenter database (cluster-wide).
When you add a VM from standalone ESXi, object MoRefID is host-local and there are a lot common of operations that will change that ID, rendering jobs to skip processing lost VM, and when you re-add them, forcing a new full backup.

Furthermore:

• if you restore VM, which backup via VCenter, MoRefID stays the same.

• if you restore VM, which is added as standalone ESXi → it will create a new unique object with new MoRefID.

Probably, for your case this KB article will be useful.