Hello lensv,
As far as I know there still isn't a specific simple tool. You could script it, but that is only for the technical savvy.
At the moment I am working on a simple GUI based solution for that, estimated time frame is end of Q1 2016.
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Wil
Hello,
Yes, have made quite a bit of progress, but have been side tracked by my customers a few times as they had things that had to be finished as well.
For a rough idea, the user interface that writes out the backup configuration is mostly functional, worker process config/setup also done, looking at the actual backup part now.
Actually the user interface is functional, I"m just making my mind up on a few things there which is why "mostly".
So yes this project is certainly still on, but no I'm not done yet.
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Wil
Very good to hear!
Would you please update this thread when you've got something "ready to rock"? 
Hello,
It has taken a bit more time as intended as the minimum required list did grow over time as well, but I am proud to say that today the backup tool I worked on for so long now has made it into public beta release. :smileygrin:
Have a look here for more info:
Note that I will be working on the documentation pages a bit more over the next few days, but also will be at VMworld in Barcelona so my response might be a bit slow.
Better get packing my bags so I can catch the plane on time.
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Wil
Hi,
Relax guys, I'm so sorry to release a product and step on a plane afterwards so had no time to reply to any questions that might arise.
Was a bit too enthusiastic I think
Just arrived at the hotel in Barcelona, the thing is that Vimalin was scheduled for release at VMworld Barcelona so that I can show it to people down here.
It's ok, you can ask questions here as long as nobody from VMware tells me that it is inappropriate.
The forum at the Vimalin site is just a day old and as this is all new there's not even a welcome yet, so totally understand that no one is posting there yet.
Let's try to answer your questions,btw thanks for your questions as it helps me to better understand what is needed/wanted.
* How much will it cost when it is released?
It might sound weird that for a product that I have spent so much time on developing that I do not have a definitive answer on that yet.
If you want a ballpark number then the only thing I am willing to say is "less then 40 Euro", but I do not have an exact price at this moment.
* How will it be licensed? Can I use it on multiple personally owned Macs (with a similar license to VMware)? I run virtual machines on my desktop iMac, a Mac mini server (the firewall is a virtual machine appliance), and occasionally a MacBook Pro laptop when I am away from home.
This is also an open question. I will look into this.
* How does it work? Does it shutdown the virtual machine first, then copy the entire virtual machine package, then restart the virtual machine?
Note: I would like a backup product that can be configured to shutdown the virtual machine before the backup starts, to guarantee that it is in a restorable state if I should ever need the backup. Some of my virtual machines run as Windows Servers with open, active databases on them
You might not be the typical user, I assumed most users would not run servers with databases as VMs, of course the first question I get is someone who runs servers with databases :smileygrin:.
For most people it would not be a nice thing to shut down the VM before a backup as it could interfere with their work.
The way it works in global lines is that Vimalin detects if your VM is running or not and if it runs it will run a snapshot in the background, then it copies the full set of data and commits the snapshot after the copy. So when you restore the backup you get back to the state of the snapshot. For a server there are basically two options, like you say shut down completely and start it up afterwards, or run the snapshot with quiescence so that files are forced to be written.
At the moment it isn't offering neither as I need to find a way to keep things easy to configure too. I'll add it as a feature request.
* Does it check the running state of the virtual machine (running, suspended, or shutdown?) in order to leave it in the same state when it is done?
Yes, at the moment it does not change the state, just adjusts how to backup the VM.
* How does it manage backup file accumulation?
Note: I would like to keep a certain number of backup copies (say, two month's worth of weekly backups), and then have the backup program start deleting the old backups to avoid running out of disk space.
All of that is fairly easy to setup in the scheduler. You can roll over data and assign multiple schedules to a single VM to tweak it exactly to your likings.
* Can it perform other actions, such as a Disk Cleanup, before restarting the virtual machine?
Not at this moment. Which is logical as Vimalin doesn't restart the VM. Interesting idea though had not considered it.
* Can I configure it to run one of my shell scripts when a backup completes?
Also never considered that so not at this moment, but it sounds interesting. Beware though that if you change the files (like compressing) that the md5sums no longer match and the file sizes will be off so Vimalin will complain if you select the backup job in the backup archive screen.
* It would be nice if it could be programmed to compress the backup, save an MD5 hash of the compressed backup, and then delete the original backup, for example, which would save a huge amount of disk space.
It does make an md5 hash of every file and store that in the archive database. I considered compressing the archives, but as it requires extra testing and making sure that no things happen like filling up a disk that has a VM running on it I have postponed this functionality until the basics work well. So the first version of Vimalin is more basic as I would have wanted, but it is best to first have a proven rock solid base as to have a lot of fancy features.
Having said that, it is high on my wish list and parts of the application have been designed to foresee this.
Hope this helps,
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Wil
edit: vmxvmr has reposted his questions at the Vimalin forum so let's continue the discussion down there. It just makes more sense, thanks!
Great job wila!
I see that your beta expires on 24 November 2016. Does it mean that your sharp version will be released on the very same date?
One more question... How do you pronounce Vimalin? 
Hi,
Thanks!
Pronouncing is like "vee maa lin" (or using the sound button in google translate (never mind the mistranslation))
As for end of beta, the intention is to have the official release ready by that time.
If for whatever reason it is not ready by that time, then there will simply be another beta that extends the date.
The final version will -of course- not have an expiry date.
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Wil
Good to hear!
/Ps. I got a Thai translation for the pronouncing (your link)... Any connections to Thailand?