On Thu, Nov 20, 2008 at 01:04:33PM -0700, Michael Loftis wrote: > > > --On November 20, 2008 2:51:24 PM -0500 Jon LaBadie <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > >Just dipping my toe into virtual machines and > >wondering how others are doing backups of them. > > > >I'm using VirtualBox with a host of Fedora 9. > >My guest is WinXP Pro. The objective is to > >no longer need to dual-boot this machine. > > > >The virtual guest does appear on my network as > >a separate host and static IP when it is up. > > > >I can see two ways to backup it up; > > > > - backup the VBox files (*.vdi and others) on > > the host Fedora file system > > > > - consider the virtual machine a separate host > > and amanda client > > > >How have others dealt with this situation? > >Or maybe both forms are used simultaneously? > > Both have problems. > Backing up the vdi's requires the machine be down.
Why is this a requirement Michael? Is it because the VDI is changing while being backed up? Currently the VDI is not on a FS that can be snapshot'ted. If it was, for example an LVM file system on Linux, would the VDI of a running virtual machine be suitable for backup if taken from a snapshot (snapshot from the FS, not VBox). To my thinking, another major problem is the lack of access to individual files within the VDI file. > Backing up inside each VM requires you be careful not to overload the VM > host during backup windows. For me, backing up inside each VM (each VM as > an amanda client) was/is the only way to go, despite the pitfall. > That is what I expect to do. I just hate windows backups with all the hassle over "can't backup system and any in-use files". jl -- Jon H. LaBadie [EMAIL PROTECTED] JG Computing 12027 Creekbend Drive (703) 787-0884 Reston, VA 20194 (703) 787-0922 (fax)
