Taking backup of NSM On-Premise before upgrade

This KB illustrates how to backup NSM On-Prem on ESXi, Hyper-V and KVM platforms.

Steps to be performed before NSM upgrade.

1. Export NSM settings by login into NSM and going to “System->Settings->Firmware and Settings.”
2. Take a backup of json as per below KB:
   https://www.sonicwall.com/support/knowledge-base/how-to-export-or-import-all-managed-firewalls-on-nsm-on-prem/230104165757253/
3. If you are upgrading from NSM 2.3.4-6-R15, delete pre-existing backups before upgrading by login to NSM and navigating to “System-> Settings->Scheduled Backups”, mouse over backup name and click on delete action as shown in below screenshot.

    4. Take snapshot of NSM VM after powering off NSM from management console, please refer to appendix below for platform specific VM snapshot procedures.

    5. After successful upgrade, create a new backup for NSM by following steps in
https://www.sonicwall.com/support/knowledge-base/how-to-backup-and-restore-an-nsm-on-prem-system/220215072616020/

Appendix

ESXi

1. Login to ESXi host and Right Click on NSM VM;
2. Click on Power | Power off NSM VM in ESXi host;
3. Once NSM VM is Powered off, right click on NSM VM again;
4. Click on Snapshots | Take Snapshots and specify name and click Take Snapshot;
5. To Restore Snapshot taken earlier, Right Click on VM again and click on Restore Snapshot;
6. For details, refer to below KBs:

VMware 6.7 - https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.7/com.vmware.vsphere.html.hostclient.doc/GUID-CA948C69-7F58-4519-AEB1-739545EA94E5.html

VMware 7.0 - https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/7.0/com.vmware.vsphere.hostclient.doc/GUID-CA948C69-7F58-4519-AEB1-739545EA94E5.html

Azure

1. Login to Azure Portal and follow the steps provided in the link to create Snapshot:
   Create an Azure snapshot of a virtual hard disk - Azure Virtual Machines | Microsoft Learn
2. Once Snapshot is created, create a Disk from that Snapshot to be used later for restore;
3. To restore, Create new VM using Snapshot Disk using below kb link:
   Attach an existing OS disk to a VM - Azure Virtual Machines | Microsoft Learn

Hyper-V

1. Follow below steps for taking Snapshot (Checkpoints):
   https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/virtualization/hyper-v-on-windows/user-guide/checkpoints

KVM

1. Follow below steps to take Snapshot on KVM:
   https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_enterprise_linux/7/html/virtualization_deployment_and_administration_guide/sect-managing_guest_virtual_machines_with_virsh-managing_snapshots#doc-wrapper