Backup VM template using SCP

[gow4942]

We currently have a virtual machine template that we would like to back up for disaster recovery. Is it possible to simply use SCP to copy the template off of the ESX machine?

scp /vmfs/volumes/Drive/templatedirectory/* user@backuphost:/home/user

Is this possible? Would there be any issues if it spanned two vmfs volumes or do you just copy the files from both volumes? i.e. /vmfs/volumes/Drive1 and /vmfs/volumes/Drive2 contain data for the template.

[ThompsG]

Hi,

Just wondering where you are wanting to backup the template too?

If you just want to copy the template to another ESX host then you could use scp however I would tend to clone the template as this is a safer option. Otherwise if you want to move the template off the ESX hosts and onto other storage I would lean towards VMware Converter as this allows you to export the VM to local storage.

In regards to the template spanning volumes you need to be careful if you are using scp to copy the files. If you look in the folders that contain the VM you will notice that both contain the same VMDK name, i.e. assume your template is called template_a and has two drives that sit on different data stores. Each data store will have a folder called template_a and will contain a VMDK called template_a.vmdk - clone will take care of this as will converter however manaully doing this you will need to rename vmdks and edit vm config files to make it work.

Trust this helps.

[gow4942]

We are wanting to copy the template to offsite storage for disaster recovery. Why is vmware converter necessary? If we copied the /vmfs/volume/drive/template/ directory via SCP to our offisite storage isnt this sufficient?

Lets say in the future we build a new ESX machine, can we then copy the /vmfs/volume/drive/template/ directory that is located on our offsite storage to the new ESX machine via SCP and import it into the VirtualCenter?

Thanks for the post!

[idle-jam]

SCP is a good way, but then you will need to enable ssh and etc. Another way is to export the VM/Template as OVF via vSphere Client. and then the reverse back - import OVF to your new host.

iDLE-jAM | VCP 2, VCP 3 & VCP 4

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[ThompsG]

You can do it as you suggest, however what is the size of your template vs how much data is contained within it? If you use scp then you will need to copy out the full size of the vmdk and copy in again at the other site. If you use something like VMware converter then you are only exporting/importing the data so it will potentially be quicker.

I'm not saying VMware Converter is necessary but would simplify the process - in my opinion Especially if your template has multiple disks across data stores.

Kind regards,

Glen