vCenter is one of the most important components of your vSphere 4.x virtual infrastructure. Many advanced capabilities of vSphere 4 (vMotion, DRS, etc.) are not available without vCenter. Prior to vSphere 4.x, it was sufficient to backup the vCenter database and restore vCenter by building a new vCenter server, restoring the database, and reinstalling vCenter to attach to the restored database.

With the introduction of vSphere 4.x, vCenter 4.x started using Active Directory Application Mode (ADAM) on Windows Server 2003 and Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS) on Windows Server 2008 to accommodate Linked Mode for vCenter. The roles and permissions are stored in the ADAM or AD LDS database. In order to restore the roles and permissions, the ADAM or AD LDS database must be backed up.

VMware KB1023985 tells you that you need to back up the SSL certificates, vCenter Database, and the ADAM/AD LDS database. There are many well-known ways to back up a SQL database. However, backing up an AD LDS instance is a lesser known procedure. The following PowerShell script will back up the the AD LDS VMware Instance on Server 2008 and the SSL folder. As always, test it thoroughly before using it.
[powershell]#
# Name: VC_ADAM_SSL_Backup.ps1
# Author: Harley Stagner
# Version: 1.0
# Date: 08/17/2010
# Comment: PowerShell script to backup AD LDS
#          and SSL folder for vCenter
#
# Thanks to Tony Murray for the AD LDS portion of the
# script.
#
#
#########################################################

# Declare variables
$BackupDir = “C:backupVMwareBackup”
$SSLDir = $env:AllUsersProfile + “VMwareVMware VirtualCenterSSL”
$IFMName = “adamntds.dit”
$cmd = $env:SystemRoot + “system32dsdbutil.exe”
$flags = “`”activate instance VMwareVCMSDS`” ifm `”create full C:backupVMwareBackup`” quit quit”
$date = Get-Date -f “yyyymmdd”
$backupfile = $date + “_adamntds.bak”
$DumpIFM = “{0} {1}” -f $cmd,$Flags
$ServiceVCWeb = “vctomcat”
$ServiceVCServer = “vpxd”

# Main
Stop-Service $ServiceVCWeb
Stop-Service $ServiceVCServer -force
# Create the folder if it doesn’t exist
if(Test-Path -path $BackupDir)
{Write-Host “The folder” $BackupDir “already exists”}
else
{New-Item $BackupDir -type directory}
# Clear the IFM folder (Dsdbutil needs folder to be empty before writing to it)
Remove-Item $BackupDir* -recurse

# Run Dsdbutil.exe to create the IFM dump file
Invoke-Expression $DumpIFM
# Rename the dump file to give the backup a unique name

Rename-Item $BackupDir””$IFMName -newname $backupfile
Copy-Item $SSLDir $BackupDir -recurse
Start-Service $ServiceVCWeb
Start-Service $ServiceVCServer

# End Main[/powershell]
This script utilizes the dsdbutil.exe utility on Windows Server 2008 to backup the AD LDS instance and SSL folder after it stops the vCenter services. By default it backs these items to “C:backupVMwareBackup”. Change it to your liking.

Now to restore the AD LDS instance data, follow the directions at Technet.

References

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1023985

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc725665%28WS.10%29.aspx

http://www.open-a-socket.com/index.php/category/ad-lds-adam/