Ask Me Anything - Cisco Catalyst Centre Backup and Restore

[Brooke Hammer]

Ask Me Anything Event

Welcome to the Cisco Community Ask Me Anything conversation. Submit your questions from  Monday, February 24, 2025  through Friday, March 7, 2025. Our colleagues Kalyan Raja and Janardhan, will be waiting to assist you and resolve any questions that have not been clarified, or answer any new questions that you may have. We are waiting for you!

More about this event:

Join us for an Ask Me Anything (AMA) event where you can dive deep into Cisco Catalyst Centre Backup and Restore!

What is it?

Cisco Catalyst Centre Back up and Restore is a component of Cisco's Catalyst Center (formerly DNA) You can use the backup and restore functions to create backup files to restore to a different appliance

Backup

You can back up automation data only or both automation and Assurance data.

Automation data consists of Cisco DNA Center databases, credentials, file systems, and files. The automation backup is a full backup.

The Assurance data consists of network assurance and analytics data. The first backup of Assurance data is a full backup. After that, backups are incremental.

Restore

You can restore the backup files from the remote server using Cisco DNA Center.

When you restore the backup files, Cisco DNA Center removes and replaces the existing database and files with the backup database and files. While a restore is being performed, Cisco DNA Center is unavailable.

You cannot do a backup from one version of Cisco DNA Center and restore it to another version of Cisco DNA Center. You can only restore a backup to an appliance that is running the same Cisco DNA Center software release with the same first four digits and the same application versions as the appliance from which the backup was taken.

Official resources:

Backup on on-prem

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/cloud-systems-management/network-automation-and-management/dna-center/2-3-7/admin_guide/b_cisco_dna_center_admin_guide_2_3_7/b_cisco_dna_center_admin_guide_2_3_7_chapter_0110.html

Backup on EXSI

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/cloud-systems-management/network-automation-and-management/catalyst-center/catalyst-center-va/esxi/2-3-7/Admin_Guide/b_cisco_catalyst_center_va_esxi_admin_guide_237x/m_cisco_dna_center_va_esxi_admin_backup_restor...

Backup on AWS

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/cloud-systems-management/network-automation-and-management/catalyst-center/catalyst-center-va/aws/admin-guide/1_9/b_cisco-global-launchpad-administrator-guide_1-9/m_backup_and_restore.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hw3lCrW7xr8

Get Expert Advice!

• This AMA session is your chance to get expert insights on this powerful feature.
• Whether you're a seasoned network pro or just starting out, feel free to ask any questions you have about Backup and Restore, image repository or Cisco Catalyst Center in general.

Join us for this insightful Ask Me Anything session and gain valuable insights into the world of Cisco Catalyst Center Backup and re-store. Let's uncover the solutions to your challenges and explore the vast possibilities in this dynamic field.

Note: Please post your post as a comment below no later than March 6, 2025.

Post your question below by clicking "Reply"

(Answers will be processed depending on the availability of the experts)
Don't forget to thank the expert by giving it a helpful vote!

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Our experts

Janardhana Technical Consulting Engineer

Kalyan Raja Technical Consulting Engineer

For more information, visit the Cisco Networking discussion forums . If you have questions or are experiencing technical problems with any of the Cisco products, post your question, request information or use the Cisco Community before opening a case with the TAC.

[Deeksha G S]

while adding the nfs details on the dnac GUI page i do see warning symbol what does that mean .?

[tjanarda]

It means your NFS configuration is not proper please re-check your firewall rules and allow the ports that should solve your problem 

[saukuma7]

When i mount the backup server in the DNAC i do see the orange banner on UI is this expected?

[tjanarda]

yes, it is expected because when you mount the NFS server Elastic search will re-start and you will see the orange banner 

[udr]

Is there a way to recover the passphrase from the catalyst center CLI incase we forgot it?

[kalraja]

Yes we can we can recover the PassPhrase password . Please do open a TAC case and we can help you in recovering the Passphrase

[anbusubr]

what happens if the data backup fails is there any impact on the dnac application or on it databases.?

[tjanarda]

there is  no impact to the appliance or its database

[tpkumar]

is backup can be done from one version and can it be re-stored on another version .?

[tjanarda]

You cannot do a backup from one version of Cisco DNA Center and restore it to another version of Cisco DNA Center.

[Tomas de Leon]

Lets expand on this answer so we cover the typical use cases.

Use Case #1 - Hardware Appliance only environment
Cisco Catalyst Center Hardware Appliance running Release 2.3.7.x or lower. The software that currently runs on the hardware is built on Platform versions 1.x. With this platform version, a backup & restore feature is restricted to the "SAME" / "EXACT" versions of packages and list of packages. For a backup to be compatible for a restore, everything has to be the same.

If you need to migrate from an older hardware appliance to a newer hardware appliance, please refer to the following guide:

Cisco Catalyst Center Data Migration Guide
https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/cloud-systems-management/network-automation-and-management/dna-center/migration_guide/b_data_migration_guide.html

Use Case #2 - ESXi Virtual Appliance only environment
Cisco Catalyst Center Virtual Appliance on ESXi (EVA) running Release 2.3.7.x or higher. The software that currently runs on the EVA is built on Platform versions 3.x. With this platform version, a backup & restore feature is NOT restricted to the same or exact versions of packages or list of packages. The user can restore a backup from a different version to a newer version as long as the Compatible status is Green in the Backup & Restore UI. Remember, this is a backup from a Catalyst Center EVA running an earlier version to be restored to a Catalyst Center EVA running the latest version.

When in doubt, please refer to the following guides:

Cisco Catalyst Center Administrator Guide, Release 2.3.7.x
https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/cloud-systems-management/network-automation-and-management/catalyst-center/2-3-7/admin_guide/b_cisco_catalyst_center_admin_guide_237/b_cisco_dna_center_admin_guide_2_3_7_chapter_0110.html

Cisco Catalyst Center 2.3.7.x on ESXi Administrator Guide
https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/cloud-systems-management/network-automation-and-management/catalyst-center/catalyst-center-va/esxi/2-3-7/Admin_Guide/b_cisco_catalyst_center_va_esxi_admin_guide_237x/m_cisco_dna_center_va_esxi_admin_backup_restor...

[dnikantb]

Is 3 node data backup can be used for restoring of single node.?

[kalraja]

yes we can restore 3node data backup to single node

[venk!]

what components are included in the automation backup?

[tjanarda]

automation data includes databases, credentials, file systems and Cisco DNA Center files. The automation backup is complete in its scope.