NetApp cluster configuration backups

NetApp Cluster Configuration Backups are a type of backup that save the configuration and settings of a NetApp cluster, including information about volumes, LUNs, network interfaces, and other critical components. Such backups are an essential part of a comprehensive data protection strategy for NetApp clusters and by having up-to-date backups, administrators can ensure that their clusters can be quickly restored in the event of a failure or disaster, reducing downtime and minimizing data loss.

The effects of having NetApp Cluster Configuration Backups are:

• Quick recovery time: In the event of a failure or disaster, the cluster can be quickly restored to a known state, reducing downtime and avoiding data loss.
• Easier upgrades and migrations: Cluster Configuration Backups can also be used to simplify upgrades and migrations by allowing administrators to easily recreate the cluster’s configuration on new hardware or software.
• Improved data protection: NetApp Cluster Configuration Backups can be combined with other backup strategies, such as snapshots and data replication, to provide a comprehensive data protection solution.

The risks of not having NetApp Cluster Configuration Backups include:

• Downtime: In the event of a failure, restoring the cluster from scratch can be time consuming and result in significant downtime.
• Data loss: If a failure occurs and there is no backup of the cluster configuration, data on the cluster may be lost.
• Complexity: Restoring a cluster from scratch can be complex and time-consuming, requiring a deep understanding of the cluster’s configuration and dependencies.

So how do we configure these from the CLI

First, switch to the advanced privilege level like this:

cluster01::> set -privilege adv
Warning: These advanced commands are potentially dangerous; use them only when directed to do so by NetApp personnel.
Do you want to continue? {y|n}: y

Then there are two main settings to configure like this

cluster01::*> system configuration backup settings modify -destination ftp://10.7.190.33 -numbackups1 3 -numbackups2 4 -numbackups3 2 -username ontap_config_backups

cluster01::*> system configuration backup settings set-password
Enter the password: 
Confirm the password:

For the destination FTP, HTTP, HTTPS, TFTP, FTPS protocols are supported. Also there are three numbackups values which are as follows: Schedule 1 is pre-programmed to be ‘8hour’, Schedule 2 is pre-programmed to be ‘daily’ and Schedule 3 is pre-programmed to be ‘weekly’.

To see the end configuration result the following commands can be used:

cluster01::*> system configuration backup settings show
Backup Destination URL                             Username
ftp://10.7.190.33                                  ontap_config_backups

and this is how to see existing backups

cluster01::*> system configuration backup show
Node       Backup Name                               Time               Size
cluster01-01  
           cluster01.8hour.2022-11-02.18_15_03.7z 
                                                     11/02 18:15:03     69.86MB
...

and finally, this is how we can manually trigger such backup

cluster01::*> system configuration backup upload -destination ftp://10.7.190.33 -node pnl0003scpr1621 -backup cluster01.weekly.2022-10-30.00_15_04.7z
Enter the username: ontap_config_backups
Enter the password: 
Uploading the configuration backup file.                             
Configuration backup file uploaded successfully.