How to Backup Wmware ESXI

I hope you are backing up the virtual machines.  Vmware's settings are not as important as they are fairly generic because the virtual machines have their own settings in them.  I highly recommend using Veeam to backup the virtual machines:  http://www.veeam.com/

We are using Symantec backup for the virtual machines. But the IT company that set it up did not leave the license for the VMware Program. Is there a way we can find the license through vsphere or  on the host itself?

select the server in vsphere, click the configuration tab and on the left, select licensed features
your license key will be there

Understanding that the settings in vmware are fairly generic, however is there a backup process regardless?  Hate to have to recreate settings on the fly when a restore would be more exacting.

is PowerCLI a download?  do i install it on the same PC that the Vsphere client is installed on?

OK thank you!!

2 questions. I have the Vsphere CLI on a windows PC so then I would run the Command for windows correct?

Also I would like to know the directory the backup file will be.

Yes, correct, the command is run on Windows.

you specify where the file will be stored.

Does it ask where to store the file after I run the first command

vicfg-cfgbackup.pl --server=10.0.0.1 --username=root -s ESXi_test1_backup.txt

This command does not give you the destination folder.  just the name of the Backup file it is creating

specify it on the command line, or execute it from the directory you need to store the file.