Your organization has a three-hour maintenance window to install the latest cumulative update on a standalone Windows Server 2022 Hyper-V host that runs several mission-critical virtual machines. Change-control policy states that, if the update causes the host to become unbootable, it must be returned to its previous state within the same window. Which preparatory action will provide the fastest and most reliable rollback path while adding the least additional downtime?
Gracefully shut down the virtual machines and create snapshots of each guest before applying the update.
Export the list of installed updates with DISM /Online /Get-Packages so the patch level can be recreated later.
Record the current enabled roles and features with Get-WindowsFeature and attach the report to the change ticket.
Use Windows Server Backup to take and verify a full bare-metal image of the Hyper-V host on external storage.
The safest way to guarantee a fast rollback of the entire host-including its boot partitions, registry, drivers, and Hyper-V configuration-is to capture and verify a full bare-metal (system image) backup with Windows Server Backup before applying the patch. A bare-metal image can be restored even if the server will not boot, meeting the policy requirement to return the host to its exact pre-update state within the maintenance window.
Snapshots of the individual virtual machines protect guest operating systems and data but do nothing to recover an unbootable host. Exporting the list of installed updates or recording roles and features may help with documentation or a manual rebuild, but neither provides an immediate, automated rollback mechanism during the window.
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Why is a bare-metal image backup the best option for this scenario?
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How does Windows Server Backup ensure data reliability during restoration?