Performing a Horizon View Composer backup

The Connection Server backs up the Composer database as part of its own native backup process. This is the preferred method of backing up the Composer database, as it will be backed up at the same time as the Connection Server's AD LDS database. As these databases contain related information, it is critical that they be backed up at the same time.

Getting ready

The information required to restore Horizon View Composer is stored in two different locations:

• The Composer database
• The Horizon View Composer's SSL certificates or the RSA key container

The Composer database and SSL components should be backed up as part of a larger backup plan that includes the vCenter database, the Connection Server AD LDS database, and the Horizon View Event database. By default, each Connection Server backs up both the AD LDS database and the Composer databases to a folder on the Connection Server described in the Backing up the AD LDS database section of this chapter, which is C:\ProgramData\VMware\VDM\backups.

How to do it...

In this section, we will discuss how to back up the Horizon View Composer database, SSL certificates, and RSA key container.

Backing up the Horizon View Composer database

The default location for the Horizon View Composer database backups, which are performed by the Connection Server alongside the Horizon View AD LDS backup, is the C:\ProgramData\VMware\VDM\backups folder.

Each Connection Server in the pod performs the same backups and will have similar backup files. The Composer database's backups will have an SVI extension and will include the name of the Composer host server in the filename. In our example, the most recent Composer database backup file is titled Backup-2014-0517000010-comp01_vjason_local.SVI. Comp-01 and is the name of the dedicated Horizon View Composer host server in our sample environment.

Backing up the Horizon View Composer SSL certificates

The process used to back up the default Composer SSL certificate requires that the Microsoft .NET Framework be installed on the Composer host server. The following steps explain how to back up the SSL certificates using the .NET aspnet_regiis.exe utility:

1. From a command prompt on the Composer host server, navigate to the c:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0xxxxx directory.
2. Execute the following command to export the Composer RSA key container to a local file named keys.xml:

   aspnet_regiis.exe -px "SviKeyContainer" "keys.xml" –pri

   Note

   The keys.xml file should be placed in an alternate folder rather than the Windows system folder in which the command was executed, as the Windows system folders are likely to be overwritten in the event of a restore. We can specify an alternative location by including the path in the keys.xml portion of the command, such as c:\temp.keys.xml.

The following screenshot shows you the expected output if the command was successful:

The keys.xml file should be backed up on an alternative location to be used in the event that the Composer software needs to be installed on a new server.

Note

The VMware Horizon View Installation guide ( should have been given a copy of it with the private key intact, which is what is required to perform a restore.

How it works...

Refer to the Performing Horizon View Connection Server backups section of this chapter or the VMware Horizon View Administration guide for additional information on how to configure the Horizon View backup process, which includes the Horizon View Composer database.

Refer to the Microsoft Developer Network article ASP.NET IIS Registration Tool (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-US/library/k6h9cz8h(v=vs.80).ASPX) for a comprehensive list of the options for the aspnet_regiis.exe utility, which is used to back up the Composer RSA key container in the event that a custom Composer SSL certificate with accompanying private key is not used.