Good afternoon, dear readers, not so long ago, we discussed the process of cloning Hyper-V virtual machines, today we will analyze its main competitor, namely the ESXI hypervisor, in which we will also produce cloning a VMware virtual machine. The process itself is not complicated, but it may raise a number of questions for novice system administrators, which I will answer in this article.
Cloning principle
Cloning is the creation of an exact copy of a virtual machine, both with the same settings and with the necessary changes. It is very convenient, as for testing purposes, when you need to make the necessary changes, but you do not know how the virtual machine will behave; by making a copy of it, you will find out and be able to avoid downtime of services. What cloning methods exist:
- Copying virtual machine files (in a switched off state), one of the downsides is that you need to re-create it in the inventory and slip the existing ones onto the disk.
- Using VMware vCenter Converter Standalon e, this is an option when there is no vCenter Server. The principle there is simple, you install it in a virtual machine and make a clone of it, as if it were a physical machine, everything is described in detail in the link above.
- Virtual machine backup tools "Veeam Backup Replication"
- Using vCenter Server.
Below I will describe the first method and the last; the rest already have their own detailed articles.
Copying VM Files
We find the desired ESXI host, select the disk array you need (Datastore) and right-click on it, selecting “Browse Datastore” from the context menu.
Select the desired folder and select “Copy” from the context menu, then using the built-in explorer, move it to the desired location, you can call it cloning a VMware virtual machine, for the poor.
Next, in a new location, open the folder and right-click on the file with the *.vmtx extension, this is configuration file. Essentially that's all. Personally, I use WinSCP to access the ESXI file system, or you can also use the functions of the OVA template.
If there are snapshots in the copied VM, they must either be deleted before copying or copied along with other files, otherwise when loading the new VM there will be an error with a message stating that it is impossible to load files with snapshots.
Copying a VM using vCenter
For those comrades who centrally manage their infrastructure, this function is present during installation. Its advantage is that you can clone both a running and a non-working virtual machine. Select the one you need and right-click on it, in the context menu we see the “Clone” item.
On the first window of the wizard you will be asked to select a location (Datacenter)
We indicate the destination host, if it is suitable, you will see the message "Validation succeded"
If not, you will see messages:
- Device CD/DVD drive 1 used backing is a fixable thing, they tell you to unmount the ISO in the virtual machine.
- Network interface “adapter name” uses network “other name” - there is no such network on the destination host, it’s okay, you’ll plug it into another one after cloning.
In the next cloning step, you need a destination for the copy of the machine.
In the last step, you will be asked if you want to apply custom settings to the clone. Customize is additional customization, allowing you to set a huge number of settings. By selecting "Do not customize" you will complete the cloning wizard process.
Many users who start using virtualization tools from VMware sooner or later wonder how to create a copy of a virtual machine (clone it) in free version VMware ESXi. If you have a commercial edition of VMware vSphere and a vCenter management server, then you can clone a VM simply from the machine’s context menu:
However, things are a little more complicated if you have the free version of VMware ESXi Free (aka vSphere Hypervisor). Here's how you can go:
This tool allows you to create a virtual machine on the target host (namely our free ESXi), install the Converter itself inside the machine, and create a clone of it as physical system. In this case, during the cloning process ("migration"), both systems are preserved, and various settings, such as the size of the virtual disk, the system name, etc., can be customized.
2. Use software for backup and recovery.
Unfortunately, you won't be able to use the excellent Veeam Backup and Replication product for free ESXi, but there are some products that can do this. For example, Trilead VM Explorer and Unitrends.
First, we create a backup copy of the machine, and then restore it in parallel with an existing VM.
3. You can simply copy the virtual machine and its disk.
First option this method simple - copy the folder from the VM (you can use WinSCP or FastSCP to access the ESXi file system). Next, add the VM to the ESXi environment with the *.vmx file via context menu and the item "Add to inventory":
The second option is to use the vmkfstools utility. It allows you to clone disks virtual machines, specifying various parameters of the target disk. For example, this command creates a clone of a virtual disk, but the target disk will be in a thin format (that is, growing as it is filled with data):
vmkfstools -i /vmfs/volumes/storage/server1/server1.vmdk /vmfs/volumes/storage/server1_clone/server1_clone.vmdk -d thin
You can do a lot of things using this utility; more details about it are written in KB 1028042. Next, we create a new VM and attach the resulting virtual disk. Don't forget to change the machine name and network identification!
There is also a way to clone a VM using (vMA) and vSphere CLI (vCLI) as written in KB 1027872, but it requires deploying vMA and is not worth the hassle of cloning a single VM. But for regular machine cloning, be sure to study this KB.
Please enable JavaScript to view theIf you want to understand in more detail the processes of setting up and ensuring comprehensive security of local and network infrastructure built on the Linux OS, I recommend that you get acquainted with OTUS. The course is not for beginners; you must pass it to enroll.
If you have not yet configured the free hyper-v hypervisor, I recommend that you read my material on this topic -. If you already have it configured and the question arises about how to quickly, conveniently and freely back it up, then I recommend using free utility HV Backup.
HVBackup utility description for hyper-v
The main goal of the HVBackup project was to create a free, simple and effective solution for backing up hyper-v virtual machines running both in single mode and in a cluster.
The utility works on all versions operating system, beginning with Windows Server 2008 onwards, both in graphical mode and Server Core installations. The utility also supports the free edition of the Hyper-V Server hypervisor.
HVBackup supports app consistent and crash consistent hyper-v backups using VSS built into the system. There are many commercial solutions based on the same method of backing up virtual machines, but among the free ones I know of only this product.
Company codeplex, the manufacturer of the program, claims that it regularly uses HVBackup in its infrastructure, which guarantees high quality work and timely corrections or changes.
The program can be launched from command line , called from Powershell scripts, or be built into any .Net application via the appropriate library.
The operating principle of this utility is quite simple. The program creates a separate zip archive for each virtual machine, which includes all information related to it.
System requirements:
.Net Framework 3.5
Installing .Net Framework 3.5 on the command line
To install .Net Framework 3.5 you need to run the following commands in Powershell.
Windows Server or Hyper-V Server 2012:
Install-WindowsFeature NET-Framework-Core
Windows Server 2008 or 2008 R2 (not core):
Ocsetup NetFx3
Windows Server (core) or Hyper-V Server 2008 / 2008 R2:
Ocsetup NetFx3-ServerCore
HVBackup usage example
Perform a full VSS backup of all host virtual machines:
HVBackup -a -o d:\vm-backup
Perform a full VSS backup of the list of virtual machines (you must use quotes if the machine names contain spaces). The backup is performed on a remote server:
HVBackup -l "VM1,VM2" -o \\backup-server\wm-backup
Make a full backup of virtual machines, the list of which is contained in a text file (each VM on a separate line):
HVBackup -f list.txt -o d:\wm-backup
Script for automatic backup
If you want to schedule automatic execution backup, then it is most convenient to make a simple bat file for these purposes and schedule its execution. Let's create backup-all.cmd the following content:
Set BCKPATH="\\backup-server\wm-backup" rem net use %BCKPATH% /user:
This script will delete zip files older than 7 days in the specified directory before performing a backup of all virtual machines. You can edit the paths and parameters to suit your needs.
Now let's create a scheduled task on the server for periodic execution backup with a previously created script:
Schtasks.exe /create /tn HVBackup /tr c:\backup-all.cmd /sc DAILY /ru
If you need to delete a task:
Schtasks.exe /delete /tn HVBackup /f
Immediate execution of the task:
Schtasks.exe /run /tn HVBackup
HVBackup Command Line Options
Usage: HVBackup.exe-b, --backup
Run backup (default).
-r, --restore
Perform recovery.
-f, --file
Text file, containing a list of virtual machines, one on each line.
-l, --list
List of virtual machines for backup.
-a, --all
Backup all virtual machines on the server.
-n, --name
If specified, only the listed virtual machines are backed up.
-g, guide
If specified, a backup of the listed virtual machines is made by GUID.
-o, --output
Required parameter. The final folder for archives. Can be in the form of a local or network path.
--outputformat
Virtual machine archive name format. (0) machine name, (1) machine GUID and (2) The current date and time. Default: "(0)_(2:yyyyMMddHHmmss).zip"
-s, --singlevss
Make one snapshot for all virtual machines.
--help
Display help for commands:
Conclusion
That's all. The only note is that I did not test the performance drop during backup. I didn't notice any slowdowns in the operation of the virtual machines. But they were all unloaded. The time it takes to perform a backup on each machine is significant. But, of course, it depends on many factors.
Eat good opportunity combine HVBackup and . For example, make archives locally on a server with hyper-v, mount to linux server folder and use rsync to pick up zip files from virtual machines. Or immediately make a backup copy to Linux samba, for example. The link above has an example on this topic.
Online course Linux Security
If you want to understand in more detail the processes of setting up and ensuring the security of local and network infrastructure built on the Linux OS, I recommend that you get acquainted with online course "Linux Security" in OTUS. The training lasts 3 months, after which successful course graduates will be able to undergo interviews with partners. The course program is developed as a series of practical workshops and is aimed at trained students who already have knowledge and experience in Linux administration. What you'll learn:- Apply the best global practices and information security standards (Debian, RedHat, MitRE);
- Use tools to detect and exploit vulnerabilities in the Linux OS;
- Install and configure network systems detecting and preventing attacks;
- Work with monitoring and containerization systems based on Docker;
"Eat system administrators, which do not backup, and there are those that already do backup.”
(c) From these Internets of yours.
Good afternoon.
This article will discuss such a necessary and pressing issue in system administration as backup tools for virtual machines. (VM). This article can rightly be considered a logical continuation of a couple of previous ones, which examined the processes of deploying hypervisor systems based on VMware and Microsoft products, respectively. This time we’re talking about how to set up a server that will be responsible for creating and storing backup copies of virtual machines on the vSphere ESXi and Hyper-V platforms.
Both options will be based on the free version of Veeam Backup & Replication. (hereinafter referred to as Veeam B&R). In my case, a regular PC with Windows 7 was selected as a “backup server” (64 bit). It is no coincidence that the OS bit depth is mentioned in parentheses - from some version (probably from 7th or earlier) Veeam B&R ships as a 64-bit application, eliminating the need for 32-bit systems for the Veeam Backup & Replication server.
Full information with a list of supported server OS versions can be found in the reference book for the latest release (at the time of writing - v9), which in turn can always be found on the Veeam FAQ page.
Wanting to get a budget version of the project and the maximum possible gain in cost, as far as possible within the framework of compliance licensing agreements, we will use the free version of the Veeam Backup & Replication package. This, in turn, will somewhat limit the working functionality of the package. In particular, the free version does not have access to the task scheduler and, for example, the incremental copy mode (only complete full copies of VMs, instead of partial ones - based on changes between backup versions). If at the very least you can live without the second, although with reservations, then in the first case we will use the built-in Windows scheduler as an alternative.
Our scheduler will launch tasks based on executable scripts Windows Powershell, for which the Veeam B&R distribution (starting from version 8 +update 3) There are the necessary cmdlets, which is very good.
If you will be working with the ESXI hypervisor version 6 (as in this article), then the update kb2068 or more must be installed on top of the installed Veeam B&R v8 later version the program itself - otherwise you will not be able to connect to ESXI (error Failed to login to "SERVER_IP" by SOAP, port 443, user "root", proxy srv: port:0 Unknown API version format: "dev").
Backing up VMware vSphere ESXi VMs
I believe there is no need to describe the process of installing Veeam Backup & Replication on a future backup server - it differs little from most Windows installers, except for the long duration due to the installation of all the necessary components, so let’s immediately begin reviewing the package from Veeam.
Installing, configuring and testing Veeam Backup & Replication
After installation, launch Veeam B&R - administrator rights are required to run.
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After the first launch, you will see the main program window.
The first step is to add a new server to the configuration, for which we select the appropriate sub-item:
Add Server - VMware vSphere.
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The following steps demonstrate the process of adding a new ESXi server, in addition to the IP address, most of this involves creating a server administrator account (Credentials).
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On next tab add the ESXi administrator account itself (root)
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Server added.
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Once the addition is complete, in the “VMware vSphere” node, in the list of servers, we will see our new hypervisor. By clicking on its name, you can see a list of virtual machines hosted on the server and their brief description.
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Before further actions After setting up, perform a test backup of the virtual machine, for which in the list of VMs, right-click on any of them and give the VeeamZIP command.
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A dialog will open asking you to select the location of the future archive with the VM image. Select a location and confirm the changes.
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After this, the process of creating a backup copy of the entire system of the remote virtual machine to the selected storage will begin.
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Upon completion of the process, an archive with backup copy our VM (file with *.vbk extension).
The speed of the process largely depends on the size file system VM (disk space occupied), characteristics of the backup server and hypervisor (disk system, speed network interface)
, and on the architecture of the network through which this operation is performed.
In my example, SATA-II drives and gigabit network controllers, both on the backup server and on the hypervisor, between them there is a switch - also with 1GB/s ports, network patch cords are short and compressed accordingly for work on this standard bandwidth (analogous to “rack-mount” cross-connection).
Among other things, I can recommend that all VMs running VMware products install the VMware Tools package in the guest OS to optimize the operation of all interrelated services and utilities within the VMware infrastructure.
Let's move on.
Create a Scheduler Job in Windows PowerShell
After we have made sure that there are no difficulties in manual mode, we proceed to adding the task to the scheduler Windows jobs. But before that, let's create the actual executable object itself, which will be our task - a powershell script.
You can create a script from scratch, or you can use a ready-made one that you can borrow from the blog (aka in Russian) one of the developers from Veeam. Among the latest recommendations - the version of powershell should be starting from version 3 in order to avoid possible problems in the operation of cmdlets with old version (if necessary, update before starting creative research). To know current version You can type the command in the powershell console:
In my lazy case, I took ready-made scripts and edited the fields I needed, leading to the required values.
Below you can see what my script looks like after the changes (file named VeeamZIP2.ps1). Changed fields with my values are highlighted in red.
# Author: Vladimir Eremin # Created Date: 3/24/2015 # http://forums.veeam.com/member31097.html # ##################### ############################################## # User Defined Variables # ################################################## ############### # Names of VMs to backup separated by semicolon (Mandatory) # example from V. Eremin: # $VMNames = "VM1", "VM2", "VM3" $ VMNames = "win_xp1", "zabbix" # Name of vCenter or standalone host VMs to backup reside on (Mandatory) $HostName = "192.168.55.100" # Directory that VM backups should go to (Mandatory; for instance, C:\Backup ) $Directory = "d:\backup\arch\veeam-esxi\" # Desired compression level (Optional; Possible values: 0 - None, 4 - Dedupe-friendly, 5 - Optimal, 6 - High, 9 - Extreme) $ CompressionLevel = "5" # Quiesce VM when taking snapshot (Optional; VMware Tools are required; Possible values: $True/$False) $EnableQuiescence = $True # Protect resulting backup with encryption key (Optional; $True/$False) $ EnableEncryption = $False # Encryption Key (Optional; path to a secure string) $EncryptionKey = "" # Retention settings (Optional; By default, VeeamZIP files are not removed and kept in the specified location for an indefinite period of time. # Possible values: Never , Tonight, TomorrowNight, In3days, In1Week, In2Weeks, In1Month) $Retention = "In3days" ###################################### ############################ # Notification Settings ################### ############################################### # Enable notification (Optional) $EnableNotification = $False # Email SMTP server $SMTPServer = "" # Email FROM $EmailFrom = "" # Email TO $EmailTo = "" # Email subject $EmailSubject = "" ######### ################################################## ####### # Email formatting ######################################## ############################ $style = "" ################################################# ################# # End User Defined Variables ############################ ###################################### ############ ######## DO NOT MODIFY PAST THIS LINE ################ Asnp VeeamPSSnapin $Server = Get-VBRServer -name $HostName $MesssagyBody = @() foreach ( $VMName in $VMNames) ( $VM = Find-VBRViEntity -Name $VMName -Server $Server If ($EnableEncryption) ( $EncryptionKey = Add-VBREncryptionKey -Password (cat $EncryptionKey | ConvertTo-SecureString) $ZIPSession = Start-VBRZip -Entity $VM -Folder $Directory -Compression $CompressionLevel -DisableQuiesce:(!$EnableQuiescence) -AutoDelete $Retention -EncryptionKey $EncryptionKey ) Else ( $ZIPSession = Start-VBRZip -Entity $VM -Folder $Directory -Compression $CompressionLevel - DisableQuiesce:(!$EnableQuiescence) -AutoDelete $Retention ) If ($EnableNotification) ( $TaskSessions = $ZIPSession.GetTaskSessions().logger.getlog().updatedrecords $FailedSessions = $TaskSessions | where ($_.status -eq " EWarning" -or $_.Status -eq "EFailed") if ($FailedSessions -ne $Null) ( $MesssagyBody = $MesssagyBody + ($ZIPSession | Select-Object @(n="Name";e=(($_.name).Substring(0, $_.name.LastIndexOf("(")))) ,@(n="Start Time";e =($_.CreationTime)),@(n="End Time";e=($_.EndTime)),Result,@(n="Details";e=($FailedSessions.Title))) ) Else ( $MesssagyBody = $MesssagyBody + ($ZIPSession | Select-Object @(n="Name";e=(($_.name).Substring(0, $_.name.LastIndexOf("(")))) ,@(n="Start Time";e=($_.CreationTime)),@(n="End Time";e=($_.EndTime)),Result,@(n="Details";e =(($TaskSessions | sort creationtime -Descending | select -first 1).Title))) ) ) If ($EnableNotification) ( $Message = New-Object System.Net.Mail.MailMessage $EmailFrom, $EmailTo $Message .Subject = $EmailSubject $Message.IsBodyHTML = $True $message.Body = $MesssagyBody | ConvertTo-Html -head $style | Out-String $SMTP = New-Object Net.Mail.SmtpClient($SMTPServer) $SMTP.Send ($Message) )
As you can see from the example above, I only changed a few fields:
$VMNames = "win_xp1", "zabbix"
virtual machine names from the list in Veeam B&R
$HostName = "192.168.55.100"
ESXi hypervisor IP address
$Directory = "d:\backup\arch\veeam-esxi\"
directory for storing virtual machine image archives
$EnableEncryption = $False
disabling archive encryption
$Retention = "In3days"
automatic deletion of the virtual machine image archive after the period of time specified in the variable.
Here you can set your value. — possible options are listed in the script comments.
$EnableNotification = $False
Here I have disabled notifications by e-mail because I have not yet planned such a function for myself. You can optionally customize this if required.
When all the options are defined, we need to check the operation of our script.
Launch the CMD console on behalf of administrator and run the command:
Powershell –file “c:\bin\VeeamZIP\vmware\VeeamZIP2.ps1”
If everything is configured correctly, you will see the script running:
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Upon completion of this step, we proceed to the next stage.
Adding a task to Windows Task Scheduler
Run Windows Task Scheduler as administrator.
Right-click on the “Task Scheduler Library” folder and select “Create a simple task.” We give our task a name: “VeeamZIP-test” and set the properties of the new task.
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We will describe the nature of the task if necessary
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Set a schedule for a new task
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Let's set the actions that need to be performed for the task.
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Pay attention to this step, namely how the command and its arguments are distributed according to the form:
- in my case, the scheduler agreed to execute my script only with this method of filling in the fields (Separately 2 lines: “Program...” and “Add arguments...”).
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After setting up the task, we will forcefully execute it outside of the schedule for debugging.
It should be noted that the VeeamZIP mechanism does not start working immediately, but after a certain period of time necessary for the service procedures for preparing the copying job. Keep this in mind when waiting while performing backup checks.
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It should work the same as in the previous example, with one difference - the process will be launched in the background, without launching any windows on the screen.
For this reason, you can track its successful launch in several ways, including:;
— creating a new VM image archive file in the storage;
- for debugging purposes - recording events in the log of our task.
Below is a typical peak of activity on the lan-pci interface while loading VM images from ESXi to the Veeam B&R server:
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Recorded VM image archives in the destination directory (backup storage).
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It remains to make sure that the backup works both manually and according to the designated schedule.
I would like to say a few words regarding the types of licenses.
For the above described backup method to function, the following conditions must be met for the software used:
Backup server OS - Windows 7 x64 sp1/ Server 2008R2 / 2012 or later;
Veeam Backup & Replication (Free, not lower than v8 + mandatory installation latest updates, but not lower than upd v.3);
VMware ESXi 6 (it will be quite possible to work with v5.5) Essential Kit or higher (more extended license). Free (ESXi Freeware) version blocks the ability to create VM backups.
As of the first half of 2016, the cost of licenses under the above scheme will be within 45 thousand rubles. (ESXi Essential Kit x 3 servers)+ 10 thousand rubles. on Windows 7 (8)
.
Regarding ESXi, you can separately note that the Essential Kit license will allow you to gain access to the functioning of the backup mechanism for entire copies of virtual machines. If there is a financial opportunity to expand the license, say to Enterprise, a partial copy mode will open for use (incremental scheme and a number of other useful and interesting options).
This mode is, of course, even more optimal if you do not look at the final estimate. Moreover, if you have the funds for complete corporate VMware ESXi packages, then you can probably talk about purchasing the full commercial version for Veeam Backup & Replication, which will open the way to using all the options of this software, including the scheduler. It is easy to see that this option makes you think about the advisability of using the technique described in the article for working with backups and is obviously given for general orientation on the topic.
If you don’t have any extra funds for extended licenses, then I think using the combination described in the article looks more than optimal and budget-friendly.
With this, I’ll probably finish the first part of the article on backing up virtual machines from the VMware ESXi 6 hypervisor to the storage of the Veeam Backup & Replication v8 server. The second part will look at setting up a backup server to work with Hyper-V-based virtual machines.
Let's look at and compare two methods for backing up VMware virtual machines.
Initial data
The test bench consists of two ESXi hypervisors on a Fujitsu Primergy BX2560 M2 server connected via SAN (two 8 Gbit/s ports) and LAN (two 10 Gbit/s ports). ESXi and VSCA version 6.5. For ESXi, the disks were presented by the Fujitsu ETERNUS DX8700 S2 storage system. As a backup storage system we use an EMC Data Domain 6300 connected via SAN (four 8 Gbit/s ports). To perform a backup, in order to save time, we will use the ready-made Backup Exec tool. The system management server is installed on a physical HP ProLiant BL460c Gen8 server and also has a network connection via SAN and LAN with two ports.
Three virtual machines were created for testing: VM1 (146Gb), VM2 (157GB) and VM3 (284Gb). The testing procedure will look like this: we will perform FULL Backup of each system three times, after which we will calculate the average backup speed (Gb/min) for each method.
The Backup Exec system has four ways to access virtual machine data, for a physical server these are SAN, LAN (NBD), NBDSSL and the fourth, if the Backup Exec server is installed on a virtual machine, HotAdd. Let's test the option when Backup Exec is installed on a separate physical server and compare the pros and cons of performing backups over SAN and LAN.
Setting up Backup Exec is quite simple and consists of the following steps:
- Select an existing or create a new task to perform a backup of virtual machines
- Open properties for this task
- Go to tab Virtual Machines > VMware subsection
- Mark the connection method we need (it is permissible to activate all four methods at once and set their order of use)
METHOD ONE: BACKUP VIRTUAL MACHINES OVER SAN
In order for Backup Server to backup ESXi virtual machines over a SAN, it must first present the same LUN(s) that were presented to ESXi. In this case, Backup Server, using the vStorage API, requests information from vCenter in which LUN the VMDK of the virtual machine is located, takes a snapshot of the disk and picks it up over the SAN.
The result of this experiment is average.
METHOD TWO: BACKUP OF VIRTUAL MACHINES OVER LAN (NBD)
In this mode, Backup Server requests from vCenter information about which ESXi the virtual machine we need is located on, takes a snapshot and transfers it over the local network from the ESXi server to the Backup Server.
The result of the second experiment is average.
CONCLUSIONS, PROS AND CONS
If you build a modern infrastructure from scratch using network equipment with throughput 10 Gbit/s, then using backup in local network data connection (NBD) mode will most likely be more cost- and time-effective. In the case when the network between ESXi and Backup Host is 1 Gbit/s, and necessary equipment to connect via SAN already exists, then the first method will be more efficient and faster.
The main advantage of performing a backup over a SAN is that data transfer does not load local network and is performed sufficiently high speed, but in the case of a 10 Gbit/s network this is no longer such a clear advantage, since even with relatively large volumes of information, the backup window does not take much time.
The main advantage of performing backup over LAN is the ability to use cheaper equipment as a data storage system. And as the test showed, the construction modern network on 10 Gbit/s equipment will provide faster backup than 8 Gbit/s SAN.
Restoring virtual machines with thick disks via SAN is performed quite quickly, but it is better to refuse recovery with thin disks because this often ends with an error or crash.
From general practice, we can say that to restore virtual machines it is better to always use a local network and not overwrite the old virtual machine, but try to restore it to a new location.
The information used in the article is taken from official sources.
