This morning I awoke to discover my main Hubitat C-5 had failed overnight. After a lot of panic, trying all things to revive it, rebooting router several times, etc., I gave up and prepared to replace it with a spare C-5 I had. I unplugged the spare C-5 and moved it to where the failed main hub was located. I replaced the failed hub with the spare using the power cable and ethernet cable from the failed Hub. To my surprise, when the spare Hub booted, it had the full configuration of the failed main hub. Both the Zigbee and Z-Wave networks were fully intact with all devices functioning properly. After skeptically checking everything, I confirmed everything was working just as the replaced hub had. It even has the old hub's IP address, but the MAC address is that of the replacement. I even rebooted the Hub and it came back up with the correct config. Any ideas how this happened outside of a miracle?
Where are you located? Are you using the internal radios of the C-5 or the external USB dongle?
I'm in the U.S. and using the C-5 with internal radios - no dongle.
I'm thinking the replacement C-5 somehow grabbed the latest backup of the failed Hub when I powered it up, but I don't get the Zigbee and Z-wave networks working like nothing had happened.
What you've described is impossible. The backups do no include radio information. Nor are they grabbed magically during bootup.
Can you confirm that your "dead" hubitat is indeed dead? With a new power supply?
The original Hub (I've confirmed the MAC address on the bottom) is now unplugged. Everything is back to normal with the new C-5 device. I'll plug the failed unit back in to firm again.
confirm again
F.M.
(Freaking Magic)
No idea here. That would literally be the only time anyone has ever reported this happening in the history of Hubitat.
So I agree - F.M.
I can't imagine how this worked, but it did. I wish I could tell the exact steps I took so others could take a similar approach. I was really amazed because I've read all the horror stories about having to rebuild a Hub.
I use the Amazon Echo Skill which accesses all the Zigbee and Z-Wave devices - could this have been a factor? I'm really stretching here. It's still working fine, I've rebooted, and the original unit is now unplugged.
through the device page make sure each and every device is controllable and you're getting a status.
Yes, I can control all devices and Status updates correctly.
Even my cranky GE Z-wave switch for the pool pump is working fine as are my Zigbee thermostats.
Now that's what I call PFM. 
Nope. The protection service doesn't migrate zigbee devices (requires a quick re-pairing). The zigbee hardware doesn't support it.
@bcopeland What say you to this late Christmas miracle?
@sam.bowden - Are you trolling us?
You mentioned that you "unplugged" the spare C5. Sounds like your 'spare' hub was actually your 'main' hub all along. Perhaps its network cable or power supply failed.
Does everything work if you disconnect from Amazon (Echo Skill)? Have you created a cloud-based Hubitat?
I wish I could believe in miracles, but I can't. What I believe happened (as suggested above) is that in the process of swapping units, the original unit started working during the power down/up steps after I unplugged it. Although it originally failed to respond when I powered it down and up, it must have revived after I swapped units a couple of times. This was not my impression when I originally posted yesterday, but it's the only reasonable explanation. Sorry to waste your time, but I was truly amazed at the time.
