As I see it you have two options: - In backup use 'dd' with 'conv=sparse' (or similar tool that allows sparse). - After backup use virt-sparsify [1] to reduce the size to the real used size prior to restore.
To make this extra efficient you can use virt-sparsify anyways after backup to make the file even smaller. Have you considered this approach? [1] http://libguestfs.org/virt-sparsify.1.html Yaniv Dary Technical Product Manager Red Hat Israel Ltd. 34 Jerusalem Road Building A, 4th floor Ra'anana, Israel 4350109 Tel : +972 (9) 7692306 8272306 Email: yd...@redhat.com IRC : ydary On Tue, Sep 27, 2016 at 4:01 PM, Sven Achtelik <sven.achte...@mailpool.us> wrote: > Hi Yaniv, > > > > how can this be done with DD ? Since it doesn’t know if the block is free > space ? I’ve been looking for such a solution for a long time now. > Everything I could find out was that I have to use a utility that > understands the FS and therefore knows where the free space is. > > > > Thank you, > > > > Sven > > *Von:* users-boun...@ovirt.org [mailto:users-boun...@ovirt.org] *Im > Auftrag von *Yaniv Dary > *Gesendet:* Dienstag, 27. September 2016 14:38 > *An:* Maton, Brett <mat...@ltresources.co.uk> > *Cc:* vasily.lamy...@megafon.ru; Ovirt Users <users@ovirt.org> > *Betreff:* Re: [ovirt-users] VM incremental backup > > > > Full VM disk backup. If you use dd you can drop the 0 parts of the disk. > > > Yaniv Dary > > Technical Product Manager > > Red Hat Israel Ltd. > > 34 Jerusalem Road > > Building A, 4th floor > > Ra'anana, Israel 4350109 > > > > Tel : +972 (9) 7692306 > > 8272306 > > Email: yd...@redhat.com > > IRC : ydary > > > > 2016-09-27 15:27 GMT+03:00 Maton, Brett <mat...@ltresources.co.uk>: > > Is there a preferred or recommended backup method in the meantime ? > > > > 2016-09-22 10:30 GMT+01:00 vasily.lamy...@megafon.ru < > vasily.lamy...@megafon.ru>: > > Hello! > > I would like to understand the existence of the possibility of incremental > VM backups. > > And if it is, the means by which it is achieved. > > While I was only able to achieve a complete backup of the virtual machine > (but it is a very large amount of information and time) by cloning a > snapshot of the VM and export to data domain. > > > > *Ламыкин Василий* > > Старший инженер по эксплуатации сервисных платформ > > Столичный ф-ал ПАО "МегаФон > > > > +7 (926) 500-3308 > > [image: МегаФон лого+знак РУС B2C] > > > > > ------------------------------ > > > Информация в этом сообщении предназначена исключительно для конкретных > лиц, которым она адресована. В сообщении может содержаться конфиденциальная > информация, которая не может быть раскрыта или использована кем-либо, кроме > адресатов. Если вы не адресат этого сообщения, то использование, > переадресация, копирование или распространение содержания сообщения или его > части незаконно и запрещено. Если Вы получили это сообщение ошибочно, > пожалуйста, незамедлительно сообщите отправителю об этом и удалите со всем > содержимым само сообщение и любые возможные его копии и приложения. > > The information contained in this communication is intended solely for the > use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed and others > authorized to receive it. It may contain confidential or legally privileged > information. The contents may not be disclosed or used by anyone other than > the addressee. If you are not the intended recipient(s), any use, > disclosure, copying, distribution or any action taken or omitted to be > taken in reliance on it is prohibited and may be unlawful. If you have > received this communication in error please notify us immediately by > responding to this email and then delete the e-mail and all attachments and > any copies thereof. > > (c)20mf50 > > > > _______________________________________________ > Users mailing list > Users@ovirt.org > http://lists.ovirt.org/mailman/listinfo/users > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Users mailing list > Users@ovirt.org > http://lists.ovirt.org/mailman/listinfo/users > > >
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