X-Git-Url: https://git.proxmox.com/?p=pve-docs.git;a=blobdiff_plain;f=vzdump.adoc;h=3276a32795dea2b4f334f8487d86815e77c8c8ef;hp=ad4259c79346bece5a2a87905f35c8d1ff49ada9;hb=57b78691f8d42101844d3e8df9c52d863d22304f;hpb=01d37422cdc89fabfa36a06ba05044eb51eafb66

diff --git a/vzdump.adoc b/vzdump.adoc
index ad4259c..3276a32 100644
--- a/vzdump.adoc
+++ b/vzdump.adoc
@@ -54,14 +54,18 @@ and 'guest-fsfreeze-thaw' to improve consistency.
 
 A technical overview of the Proxmox VE live backup for QemuServer can
 be found online
-https://git.proxmox.com/?p=pve-qemu-kvm.git;a=blob;f=backup.txt[here],
+https://git.proxmox.com/?p=pve-qemu-kvm.git;a=blob;f=backup.txt[here].
+
+NOTE: Qemu backup provides snapshots on any storage type. It does
+not require that the underlying storage supports snapshots.
 
 
 .Backup `mode` for Containers:
 
 `stop` mode::
 
-Stop the guest during backup. This results in a very long downtime.
+Stop the container for the duration of the backup. This potentially results in
+a very long downtime.
 
 `suspend` mode::
 
@@ -74,20 +78,26 @@ to hold the container copy.
 When the container is on a local filesystem and the target storage of the backup
 is an NFS server, you should set `--tmpdir` to reside on a local filesystem too,
 as this will result in a many fold performance improvement.
-Use of a local `tmpdir` is also required if you want to backup in `suspend`
-mode a local container using ACLs to an NFS server.
+Use of a local `tmpdir` is also required if you want to backup a local container
+using ACLs in suspend mode if the backup storage is an NFS server.
 
 `snapshot` mode::
 
 This mode uses the snapshotting facilities of the underlying
-storage. A snapshot will be made of the container volume, and the
-snapshot content will be archived in a tar file.
+storage. First, the container will be suspended to ensure data consistency.
+A temporary snapshot of the container's volumes will be made and the
+snapshot content will be archived in a tar file. Finally, the temporary
+snapshot is deleted again.
+
+NOTE: `snapshot` mode requires that all backed up volumes are on a storage that
+supports snapshots. Using the `backup=no` mountpoint option individual volumes
+can be excluded from the backup (and thus this requirement).
 
 
 Backup File Names
 -----------------
 
-Newer versions of vzdump encode the virtual machine type and the
+Newer versions of vzdump encode the guest type and the
 backup time into the filename, for example
 
  vzdump-lxc-105-2009_10_09-11_04_43.tar
@@ -111,20 +121,29 @@ For details see the corresponding manual pages.
 Configuration
 -------------
 
-Global configuration is stored in '/etc/vzdump.conf'.
-
- tmpdir: DIR
- dumpdir: DIR
- storage: STORAGE_ID
- mode: snapshot|suspend|stop
- bwlimit: KBPS
- ionize: PRI
- lockwait: MINUTES
- stopwait: MINUTES
- size: MB
- maxfiles: N
- script: FILENAME
- exclude-path: PATHLIST
+Global configuration is stored in '/etc/vzdump.conf'. The file uses a
+simple colon separated key/value format. Each line has the following
+format:
+
+ OPTION: value
+
+Blank lines in the file are ignored, and lines starting with a '#'
+character are treated as comments and are also ignored. Values from
+this file are used as default, and can be overwritten on the command
+line.
+
+We currently support the following options:
+
+include::vzdump.conf.5-opts.adoc[]
+
+
+.Example 'vzdump.conf' Configuration
+----
+tmpdir: /mnt/fast_local_disk
+storage: my_backup_storage
+mode: snapshot
+bwlimit: 10000
+----
 
 Hook Scripts
 ------------
@@ -137,29 +156,31 @@ directory ('vzdump-hook-script.pl').
 File Exclusions
 ---------------
 
-First, this option is only available for container backups. 'vzdump'
-skips the following files with option `--stdexcludes`
+NOTE: this option is only available for container backups.
+
+'vzdump' skips the following files by default (disable with the option
+`--stdexcludes 0`)
 
  /var/log/?*
  /tmp/?*
  /var/tmp/?*
  /var/run/?*pid
 
-Or you can manually specify exclude paths, for example:
+You can also manually specify (additional) exclude paths, for example:
 
  # vzdump 777 --exclude-path /tmp/ --exclude-path '/var/foo*'
 
 (only excludes tmp directories)
 
 Configuration files are also stored inside the backup archive
-(`/etc/vzdump/`), and will be correctly restored.
+(in `./etc/vzdump/`) and will be correctly restored.
 
 Examples
 --------
 
 Simply dump guest 777 - no snapshot, just archive the guest private area and
 configuration files to the default dump directory (usually
-'/var/liv//vz/dump/').
+'/var/lib/vz/dump/').
 
  # vzdump 777
 
@@ -171,7 +192,7 @@ Backup all guest systems and send notification mails to root and admin.
 
  # vzdump --all --mode suspend --mailto root --mailto admin
 
-Use snapshot mode (no downtime).
+Use snapshot mode (no downtime) and non-default dump directory.
 
  # vzdump 777 --dumpdir /mnt/backup --mode snapshot