You can back up configuration data by running vicfg-cfgbackup with the -s option.

The following example backs up configuration data in a temporary location.

vicfg-cfgbackup <conn_options> -s /tmp/ESXi_181842_backup.txt

For the backup filename, include the number of the build that is running on the host that you are backing up. If you are running vCLI on vMA, the backup file is saved locally on vMA. Backup files can safely be stored locally because virtual appliances are stored in the /vmfs/volumes/<datastore> directory on the host, which is separate from the ESXi image and configuration files.