6.5.1

Table Of Contents
Restore the Failed vCenter Server Virtual Machine With the Direct-to-Host
Emergency Restore Operation
The directtohost emergency restore operation lets you restore the virtual machine that contains
vCenter Server with an embedded Platform Services Controller when vCenter Server becomes
unavailable or when you cannot access the vSphere Data Protection user interface by using the
vSphere Web Client.
vSphere Data Protection depends on vCenter Server for many of the vSphere Data Protection core
operations. When vCenter Server becomes unavailable, an emergency restore operation can restore the
virtual machine that contains the vCenter Server, vCenter Server Appliance, or
Platform Services Controller directly on the ESXi host that is running the vSphere Data Protection
Appliance. The Emergency Restore tab displays a list of VMs that have been backed up by the vSphere
Data Protection Appliance. These VMs that contain vCenter Server or Platform Services Controller
instances can be restored as new VMs on the ESXi host where the vSphere Data Protection Appliance is
running. For best practices, recommendations, and limitations of the emergency restore operation, see
the vSphere Data Protection documentation.
Note This procedure describes the steps by using vSphere Data Protection 6.1.3. The steps might vary
if you use a different version of vSphere Data Protection.
Prerequisites
Back up the vCenter Server virtual machine or thevCenter Server Appliance by using vSphere Data
Protection.
Procedure
1 In a Web browser navigate to http://host-name/ui or http://host-IP-address/ui.
Here, host-name is the name of the ESXi host and host-IP-address is the IP of the ESXi host on
which the vSphere Data Protection Appliance resides. Log in as an administrator to the
VMware Host Client.
a Right-click Host in the VMware Host Client inventory and select Disconnect from vCenter
Server from the menu.
b Click Disconnect from vCenter Server when prompted to disassociate the host from
vCenter Server.
Note If the ESXi host is version 5.1, log in to the vSphere Client instead the VMware Host Client
and, on the Summary tab, click Disassociate Host from vCenter Server.
2 In a Web browser, navigate to the vSphere Data Protection Configure Utility.
https://ip_address_VDP_Appliance:8543/vdp-configure/.
3 On the Emergency Restore tab, select the virtual machine that will serve as the restore point, and
click Restore.
vSphere Installation and Setup
VMware, Inc. 355