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kopper27
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

Backup independent-persistent Disk (vmdk)

hi guys

I am using a utility which I've been using for some time now to create full VMs backups but today I found something

for independent-persistent disk the utility -vmx explorer - won't backup the Virtual Disk while the machine is up and running..

any idea how to backup this vmk while the VM is up and running the VM?

thanks a lot

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4 Replies
PacketRacer
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Is this a raw disk (RDM)? If yes, AND if it resides on a SAN storage array, you might be able to snapshot it or clone it.

If it's just a VMDK that was made independent, then you can just copy it from the service console. The proper way would be to use the vmkfstools command. It looks something like this:

vmkfstools -i /vmfs/volumes/datastore/vmname/srcDisk.vmdk /path/to/backup/dstDsk.vmdk

I am pretty sure vmkfstools works for "regular" vmdk files as well as for RDM disks. In the case of RDM, you use the .vmdk file that serves as a pointer to the RDM. If you're using ESXi, then you'll have to figure out how to do through the PowerCLI.

Hope this helps!

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jkumhar75
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

Have you used the Veeam backup product.It's great product for backup of independent vmdk files while the vm's are online.

or the other solution is to use the VCB backup solution.

Jay

MCSE,VCP 310,VCP 410

Consider awarding points for "helpful" and/or "correct" answers.

If you found this or other information useful, please consider awarding points for "Correct" or "Helpful". Jayprakash VCP3,VCP4,MCSE 2003 http://kb.vmware.com/
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adMINHistrator
Contributor
Contributor

PacketRacer...stop giving people wrong information or incomplete info. If your VM is using physical mode RDM, you can't take a snapshot of it.

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ShadowLight
Contributor
Contributor

Don't be rude, he is right if the SAN solution provide snapshot feature on the SAN level.  Example : EMC, Nexanta, Openfiler, FreeNAS all offer this kind of feature.

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