When you deploy VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF) 9.1.0 using the VCF Installer, you deploy an instance of VCF Management Services which gives you lifecycle services and the ability to deploy Log Management in your VVF environment. The ability to configure and perform backup operations is not exposed through the VCF Operations UI in the case of VVF. To setup & take backups you must use the API. Here are some examples of configuring and taking backups.
Configure a Backup (SFTP) location
Retrieve a VCF management services runtime token.
export VCFMS_SR='sfo-sr01.sfo.rainpole.io'export VCFMS_SR_PASSWORD='*********'VCFMS_SR_TOKEN=$(curl -ks --request POST \ --url "https://$VCFMS_SR/api/v1/identity/token" \ --header 'Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded' \ --data grant_type=password \ --data "username=admin@vsp.local" \ --data "password=$VCFMS_SR_PASSWORD" \ | jq -r '.access_token')
Retrieve the SFTP server fingerprint.
SSH fingerprints of type RSA and ED25519 are supported
Enter the full fingerprint in the payload of the next step. Example: SHA256:yA3FHIQMbiMnansI4+lONYBASLP2IQhGZkGJIMZ2Pi8
ssh-keyscan -p 22 <sftp_server_ip> | ssh-keygen -lf -
Configure a Backup (SFTP) location
curl -ks -X POST "https://$VCFMS_SR/api/v1/components/1f5c79fe-e3aa-41b1-a5cf-774a6497fa3d?action=apply" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $VCFMS_SR_TOKEN" \ -d '{ "spec": { "configuration": { "backups": { "destination": "sftp", "encryptionPassphrase": "**************", "storage": { "sftp": { "directory": "/media/backups/", "host": "10.167.173.126", "port": "22", "username": "svc-vcf-bck", "password": "**************", "fingerprint": "<sftpFingerprint>" } } } } }, "options": { } }' | jq
Monitor the task until it is successful
curl -k -s -X GET "https://sfo-sr01.sfo.rainpole.io/api/v1/tasks/$TASK_ID" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $VCFMS_SR_TOKEN" \ -H "Accept: application/json"
Create a Backup Schedule
Submit the backup schedule using cron format
TASK_ID=$(curl -k -s -X POST "https://sfo-sr01.sfo.rainpole.io/api/v1/components/1f5c79fe-e3aa-41b1-a5cf-774a6497fa3d?action=apply" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $VCFMS_SR_TOKEN" \ -H "Accept: application/json" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{ "spec": { "configuration": { "backups": { "full": { "enable": true, "schedule": "0 2 * * 0" }, "incremental": { "enable": true, "schedule": "0 2 * * 1-6" } } } }, "options": {} }' | grep -o '"id":[^,]*' | grep -o '[^"]*$')# Print the ID to verify it was capturedecho "Submitted Task ID: $TASK_ID"
Monitor the task until it is successful
curl -k -s -X GET "https://sfo-sr01.sfo.rainpole.io/api/v1/tasks/$TASK_ID" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $VCFMS_SR_TOKEN" \ -H "Accept: application/json"
Perform an On-Demand Backup
Get a fleet LCM session token so you can retrieve a list of component IDs
export VCFMS_FC='flt-fc01.rainpole.io'export VCFMS_FC_PASSWORD='VMw@re1!VMw@re1!'VCFMS_FC_TOKEN=$(curl -ks --request POST \ --url "https://$VCFMS_FC/api/v1/identity/token" \ --header 'Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded' \ --data grant_type=password \ --data "username=admin@vsp.local" \ --data "password=$VCFMS_FC_PASSWORD" \ | jq -r '.access_token')
Retrieve a list of components to be backed up
curl -k -s "https://$VCFMS_FC/fleet-lcm/v1/components" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $VCFMS_FC_TOKEN" | jq '.components[] | if .componentTypeDescription == "VCF services runtime" then {id, componentTypeDescription, fqdn} else {id, componentTypeDescription} end'
Retrieve a services runtime token so you can take a backup
export VCFMS_SR='sfo-sr01.sfo.rainpole.io'export VCFMS_SR_PASSWORD='VMw@re1!VMw@re1!'VCFMS_SR_TOKEN=$(curl -ks --request POST \ --url "https://$VCFMS_SR/api/v1/identity/token" \ --header 'Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded' \ --data grant_type=password \ --data "username=admin@vsp.local" \ --data "password=$VCFMS_SR_PASSWORD" \ | jq -r '.access_token')
Take a backup of multiple components
TASK_ID=$(curTASK_ID=$(curl -ks \ -H "Authorization: Bearer ${VCFMS_SR_TOKEN}" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -X POST \ -d "{\"components\": [\"${COMPONENT_ID1}\", \"${COMPONENT_ID2}\"]}" \ "${VCFMS_SR}/api/v1/system/backups?action=backup" | jq -r '.id') "${COMPONENT_ID2}"]}' "${VCFMS_SR}/api/v1/system/backups?action=backup" | jq)
Monitor the task until it is successful
curl -k -s -X GET "https://sfo-sr01.sfo.rainpole.io/api/v1/tasks/$TASK_ID" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $VCFMS_SR_TOKEN" \ -H "Accept: application/json"
Perform a Restore
Retrieve a VCF management services runtime token.
export VCFMS_SR='sfo-sr01.sfo.rainpole.io'export VCFMS_SR_PASSWORD='*********'VCFMS_SR_TOKEN=$(curl -ks --request POST \ --url "https://$VCFMS_SR/api/v1/identity/token" \ --header 'Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded' \ --data grant_type=password \ --data "username=admin@vsp.local" \ --data "password=$VCFMS_SR_PASSWORD" \ | jq -r '.access_token')
Retrieve a list of backups for fleet lifecycle and log management.
curl -k "https://$VCFMS_SR/api/v1/system/backups" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $VCFMS_SR_TOKEN" \ -H 'accept: application/json' | \ jq -r ' ["vcf-fleet-lcm", "ops-logs"] as $order | .backups as $all | $order[] as $current_type | $all[] | select(.component.type == $current_type) | ( (.name | sub("T(?<h>\\d{2})-(?<m>\\d{2})-(?<s>\\d{2})Z"; "T\(.h):\(.m):\(.s)Z") | fromdateiso8601) ) as $timestamp | ( (now - $timestamp) / 86400 | floor ) as $days_old | [ $current_type, .component.version, .name, ($days_old | tostring + " days ago"), .path ] | @tsv' | \ column -t -s $'\t'
Perform the restore
TASK_ID=$(curl -k -X POST "https://$VCFMS_SR/api/v1/system/backups?action=restore" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $VCFMS_SR_TOKEN" \ -H 'accept: application/json' \ -H "Content-type: application/json" \ -d '{ "components": [ { "path": "sftp://svc-vcf-bck@10.167.173.126:22/media/backups/vcf/backups/1f5c79fe-e3aa-41b1-a5cf-774a6497fa3d/9.1.0.0.25257932/vcf-fleet-lcm/1f5c79fe-e3aa-41b1-a5cf-774a6497fa3d/9.1.0.0.25257932/2026-03-23T16-45-31Z", "point": "2026-03-23T16-45-31Z" }, { "path": "sftp://svc-vcf-bck@10.167.173.126:22/media/backups/vcf/backups/1f5c79fe-e3aa-41b1-a5cf-774a6497fa3d/9.1.0.0.25257932/ops-logs/3d7c01a5-55fb-4b2a-8f0e-c4d24c6d2c03/9.1.0.0.25262128/2026-03-23T16-54-12Z", "point": "2026-03-23T16-54-12Z" } ]}' | jq -r '.id')
Monitor the task until it is successful
curl -k -s -X GET "https://sfo-sr01.sfo.rainpole.io/api/v1/tasks/$TASK_ID" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $VCFMS_SR_TOKEN" \ -H "Accept: application/json"
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