Making a copy of a VM under ESxi

[nunhead_man]

I've a couple of VM's running under VSXi 5.1

How do I make a copy of these to another server or NAS?

Other boxes in domain are Windoze  -server 2003, 2008 and 2012

This was easy under ESXi v2 under Win Server 2003!

[raog]

By another server, I am assuming you mean another ESXi.

for this you could clone the vm using Vcenter... if you dont have VC, export the VMs as OVF Template( File->Export)

Regards

Girish

[vuzzini]

You may try this KB http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1027876 but you need to power off the VM to clone individual vmdk's. In case you have vCenter Server, it is best to clone the VM.

[rcporto]

Take a look at this KB article: VMware KB: Moving or copying a virtual machine within a VMware environment

[nunhead_man]

Guys - thanks!

I think I was not being clear.

I used clone already under the vSphere client  (we are too small to use VCentre) but wanted to put a copy of the VM on another  box in case we have another instance of our existing ESXi box (we have one only) not restarting (see my other recent post)

So is "export template" the way to go?  Is this a complete copy of the VM?

[HawkieMan · Accepted solution]

I suggest you use the "Browse datastore" and then copy down the complete folder to the desired location

[nunhead_man]

Ah! Thanks  - that seems to work.

Is there a listing somewhere of the functions of the various files in the datastore?

Is ".VMDK" the actual VM?

I can also spot  "vmsn" as the snapshot?

[rcporto]

Here is a good link: Understanding the files that make up a VMware virtual machine

[ch1ta]

Additionally, you can use free backup tools, such as VeeamZIP or similar to achieve what you're after. Select required VM, and VeeamZIP it. This way, you will have an independent copy of corresponding VM in highly compressed deduplicated state that can be then either restored to a given box or just stored nearby.

Cheers.

[nunhead_man]

OK - I've gotten the free VEAM  software - Veam Backup and Replication

It finds our ESXi server OK but will not run a back up saying "current licence or ESXi version prohibits execution of the requested operation"

Veam Software host is WServer 2012 R2

Target is a VM of W server 2003 32 bit (don't ask!!)  running on a 4 core ESXi server 5.1

I've tried this  with the VM  powered on and powered off

So do I need to pay money - and if so how much?

[nunhead_man]

Hi thanks for link but ...................

"Registration is currently unavailable. Please check back later."

[ashleymilne]

Is this what you downloaded, from this link?

Veeam Backup Free Edition for virtual machines (VeeamZIP)

Because if not, you downloaded a version you have to pay for and it isn't cheap, relatively speaking. The backup and replication product is not free, only VeeamZip is and there are some major differences between the products.

[nunhead_man]

Yes- I did download from there and had the result above