--- name: "vzdump" section: "1" platform: "linux" package: "vzdump" version: "1.2.6-5" release: "Debian 10 (Buster)" platforms: ["linux"] url: "https://new.carta.tech/vzdump" --- # vzdump(1) backup utility for virtual machine ## NAME vzdump - backup utility for virtual machine ## SYNOPSIS vzdump OPTIONS \[--all \| \\] \--exclude VMID exclude VMID (assumes --all) \--exclude-path REGEX exclude certain files/directories. You \ can use this option more than once to specify \ multiple exclude paths \--stdexcludes exclude temporary files and logs \--compress compress dump file (gzip) \--storage STORAGE\_ID store resulting files to STORAGE\_ID (PVE only) \--script execute hook script \--dumpdir DIR store resulting files in DIR \--maxfiles N maximal number of backup files per VM. \--tmpdir DIR store temporary files in DIR. --suspend and --stop\ are using this directory to store a copy of the VM. \--mailto EMAIL send notification mail to EMAIL. You can use \ this option more than once to specify multiple \ receivers \--stop stop/start VM if running \--suspend suspend/resume VM when running \--snapshot use LVM snapshot when running \--size MB LVM snapshot size (default 1024) \--bwlimit KBPS limit I/O bandwidth; KBytes per second \--lockwait MINUTES maximal time to wait for the global\ lock. vzdump uses a global lock file to make\ sure that only one instance is running\ (running several instance puts too much load\ on a server). Default is 180 (3 hours). \--stopwait MINUTES maximal time to wait until a VM is stopped. ## DESCRIPTION vzdump is an utility to make consistent snapshots of running virtual machines (VMs). It basically creates a tar archive of the VM private area, which also includes the VM configuration files. vzdump currently supports OpenVZ and QemuServer VMs. There are several ways to provide consistency: - "stop" mode Stop the VM during backup. This results in a very long downtime. - "suspend" mode For OpenVZ, this mode uses rsync to copy the VM to a temporary location (see option --tmpdir). Then the VM is suspended and a second rsync copies changed files. After that, the VM is started (resume) again. This results in a minimal downtime, but needs additional space to hold the VM copy. For QemuServer, this mode work like `"stop"` mode, but uses suspend/resume instead of stop/start. - "snapshot" mode This mode uses LVM2 snapshots. There is no downtime, but snapshot mode needs LVM2 and some free space on the corresponding volume group to create the LVM snapshot. ## BACKUP FILE NAMES Newer version of vzdump encodes the virtual machine type and the backup time into the filename, for example ``` vzdump-openvz-105-2009_10_09-11_04_43.tar ``` That way it is possible to store several backup into the same directory. The parameter `"maxfiles"` can be used to specify the maximal number of backups to keep. ## RESTORE The resulting tar files can be restored with the following programs. - vzrestore: OpenVZ restore utility - qmrestore: QemuServer restore utility 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 lockwait: MINUTES stopwait: MINUTES size: MB maxfiles: N script: FILENAME ``` ## HOOK SCRIPT You can specify a hook script with option `"--script"`. This script is called at various phases of the backup process, with parameters accordingly set. You can find an example in the documentation directory (`"hook-script.pl"`). ## EXCLUSIONS (OpenVZ only) vzdump skips the following files wit option --stdexcludes ``` /var/log/.+ /tmp/.+ /var/tmp/.+ /var/run/.+pid ``` You can manually specify exclude paths, for example: \> vzdump --exclude-path `"/tmp/.+"` --exclude-path `"/var/tmp/.+"` 777 (only excludes tmp directories) Configuration files are also stored inside the backup archive (/etc/vzdump), and will be correctly restored. ## LIMITATIONS VZDump does not save ACLs. ## EXAMPLES Simply dump VM 777 - no snapshot, just archive the VM private area and configuration files to the default dump directory (usually /vz/dump/). \> vzdump 777 Use rsync and suspend/resume to create an snapshot (minimal downtime). \> vzdump --suspend 777 Backup all VMs and send notification mails to root. \> vzdump --suspend --all --mailto root Use LVM2 to create snapshots (no downtime). \> vzdump --dumpdir /mnt/backup --snapshot 777 Backup all VMs excluding VM 101 and 102 \> vzdump --suspend --exclude 101 --exclude 102 Restore an OpenVZ machine to VM 600 \> vzrestore /mnt/backup/vzdump-openvz-777.tar 600 Restore an Qemu/KVM machine to VM 601 \> qmrestore /mnt/backup/vzdump-qemu-888.tar 601 ## SEE ALSO ``` vzrestore(1) qmrestore(1) ``` ## AUTHOR Dietmar Maurer \ Many thanks to Proxmox Server Solutions (www.proxmox.com) for sponsoring this work. ## COPYRIGHT AND DISCLAIMER Copyright (C) 2007-2009 Proxmox Server Solutions GmbH Copyright: vzdump is under GNU GPL, the GNU General Public License. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; version 2 dated June, 1991. This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details. You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.