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9 vzdump - Backup Utility for VMs and Containers
15 include::vzdump.1-synopsis.adoc[]
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28 'vzdump' is a utility to make consistent backups of running guest
29 systems. It basically creates an archive of the guest private area,
30 which also includes the guest configuration files. 'vzdump' currently
31 supports LXC containers and QemuServer VMs. There are several ways to
32 provide consistency (option `mode`), depending on the guest type.
34 .Backup `mode` for VMs:
38 This first performns a clean shutdown of the VM to make sure it is
39 stopped. It then starts the VM in suspended mode and uses the qemu
40 backup feature to dump all data. If the VM was running, we start
41 (resume) it immediately after starting the qemu backup task. This
42 keeps the downtime as low as possible.
46 This mode does not really make sense for qemu. Please use snapshot
51 This mode simply starts a qemu live backup task. If the guest agent
52 is enabled (`agent: 1`) and running, it calls 'guest-fsfreeze-freeze'
53 and 'guest-fsfreeze-thaw' to improve consistency.
55 A technical overview of the Proxmox VE live backup for QemuServer can
57 https://git.proxmox.com/?p=pve-qemu-kvm.git;a=blob;f=backup.txt[here],
60 .Backup `mode` for Containers:
64 Stop the guest during backup. This results in a very long downtime.
68 This mode uses rsync to copy the container data to a temporary
69 location (see option `--tmpdir`). Then the container is suspended and a second
70 rsync copies changed files. After that, the container is started (resumed)
71 again. This results in minimal downtime, but needs additional space
72 to hold the container copy.
74 When the container is on a local filesystem and the target storage of the backup
75 is an NFS server, you should set `--tmpdir` to reside on a local filesystem too,
76 as this will result in a many fold performance improvement.
77 Use of a local `tmpdir` is also required if you want to backup in `suspend`
78 mode a local container using ACLs to an NFS server.
82 This mode uses the snapshotting facilities of the underlying
83 storage. A snapshot will be made of the container volume, and the
84 snapshot content will be archived in a tar file.
90 Newer versions of vzdump encode the virtual machine type and the
91 backup time into the filename, for example
93 vzdump-lxc-105-2009_10_09-11_04_43.tar
95 That way it is possible to store several backup in the same
96 directory. The parameter `maxfiles` can be used to specify the
97 maximum number of backups to keep.
102 The resulting archive files can be restored with the following programs.
105 `pct restore`:: Container restore utility
107 `qmrestore`:: QemuServer restore utility
109 For details see the corresponding manual pages.
114 Global configuration is stored in '/etc/vzdump.conf'.
119 mode: snapshot|suspend|stop
127 exclude-path: PATHLIST
132 You can specify a hook script with option `--script`. This script is
133 called at various phases of the backup process, with parameters
134 accordingly set. You can find an example in the documentation
135 directory ('vzdump-hook-script.pl').
140 First, this option is only available for container backups. 'vzdump'
141 skips the following files with option `--stdexcludes`
148 Or you can manually specify exclude paths, for example:
150 # vzdump 777 --exclude-path /tmp/ --exclude-path '/var/foo*'
152 (only excludes tmp directories)
154 Configuration files are also stored inside the backup archive
155 (`/etc/vzdump/`), and will be correctly restored.
160 Simply dump guest 777 - no snapshot, just archive the guest private area and
161 configuration files to the default dump directory (usually
162 '/var/liv//vz/dump/').
166 Use rsync and suspend/resume to create a snapshot (minimal downtime).
168 # vzdump 777 --mode suspend
170 Backup all guest systems and send notification mails to root and admin.
172 # vzdump --all --mode suspend --mailto root --mailto admin
174 Use snapshot mode (no downtime).
176 # vzdump 777 --dumpdir /mnt/backup --mode snapshot
178 Backup more than one guest (selectively)
180 # vzdump 101 102 103 --mailto root
182 Backup all guests excluding 101 and 102
184 # vzdump --mode suspend --exclude 101,102
186 Restore a container to a new CT 600
188 # pct restore 600 /mnt/backup/vzdump-lxc-777.tar
190 Restore a QemuServer VM to VM 601
192 # qmrestore /mnt/backup/vzdump-qemu-888.vma 601
194 Clone an existing container 101 to a new container 300 with a 4GB root
195 file system, using pipes
197 # vzdump 101 --stdout | pct restore --rootfs 4 300 -
201 include::pve-copyright.adoc[]