vcbmounter -h host -u vcbadmin -p pass -a name:vcb-backup -r c:\mnt\vcb-backup -t fullvm -m nbd -L4[2010-06-15 13:15:12.843 'vcbMounter' 360 info] Connected using API Namespace vim25.
[2010-06-15 13:15:12.843 'vcbMounter' 360 info] Authenticating user vcbadmin
[2010-06-15 13:15:12.859 'vcbMounter' 360 info] Logged in!
[2010-06-15 13:15:12.890 'vcbMounter' 360 info] Got VM MoRef
[2010-06-15 13:15:12.890 'vcbMounter' 360 info] Got access method
[2010-06-15 13:15:12.890 'vcbMounter' 360 info] Got coordinator object
[2010-06-15 13:15:12.890 'vcbMounter' 360 info] Attempting data access.
[2010-06-15 13:15:12.890 'vcbMounter' 360 info] Creating mount directory
[2010-06-15 13:15:12.890 'vcbMounter' 360 info] No snapshot info for this VM, nothing to do.
[2010-06-15 13:15:12.890 'vcbMounter' 360 info] Creating snapshot
[2010-06-15 13:15:19.296 'vcbMounter' 360 info] Snapshot created, ID: snapshot-579
[2010-06-15 13:15:19.296 'vcbMounter' 360 info] Mount operation created snapshot.
[2010-06-15 13:15:19.312 'vcbMounter' 360 info] Mount operation obtained backupinfo.
[2010-06-15 13:15:19.312 'vcbMounter' 360 info] Performing SearchIndex find.
[2010-06-15 13:15:19.328 'vcbMounter' 360 info] Successfully obtained instance lock.[2010-06-15 13:15:24.359 'vcbMounter' 360 error] Error: No permission to perform this action.[2010-06-15 13:15:24.359 'vcbMounter' 360 error] An error occurred, cleaning up...
[2010-06-15 13:15:24.359 'vcbMounter' 360 info] Performing SearchIndex find.
[2010-06-15 13:15:24.359 'vcbMounter' 360 info] Successfully obtained instance lock.
[2010-06-15 13:15:29.437 'vcbMounter' 360 info] Remove clone disks successful.
Deleted directory c:\vcb\vcb-backupThe bold line helps us to identify the cause of the problem.
esxcfg-firewall -q smbClientThe output of command should be by default:
Service smbClient is blocked.To reconfigure ESX firewall to allow smbclient access use the next command:
esxcfg-firewall -e smbClientNow, you should be able to browse the server (the command asks for user's password first):
smbclient -L 192.168.1.1 -U backupThe example command output follows (Samba server on SLES10):
Domain=[NAS] OS=[Unix] Server=[Samba 3.0.28-0.2-1625-SUSE-CODE10]
Sharename Type CommentNow, we are ready to create a simple backup script:
--------- ---- -------
profiles Disk Network Profiles Service
backup-smb Disk
IPC$ IPC IPC Service (Samba 3.0.28-0.2-1625-SUSE-CODE10)
Domain=[NAS] OS=[Unix] Server=[Samba 3.0.28-0.2-1625-SUSE-CODE10]
#!/bin/sh
BACKUP_SERVER="192.168.1.1"
BACKUP_USER="backup"
BACKUP_PASS="backup"
SMB_SHARE="backup-smb"
MOUNT_DIR="/backup"
[ -d $MOUNT_DIR ] || mkdir -p "$MOUNT_DIR" || exit 1
VM_BACKUP="`vcbVmName -s any: | grep name: | cut -d':' -f2`"
if [ ! -z "$VM_BACKUP" ]; then
smbmount //${BACKUP_SERVER}/$SMB_SHARE $MOUNT_DIR \
-o username=${BACKUP_USER},password=$BACKUP_PASS || exit 1
for VM in $VM_BACKUP; do
vcbMounter -a name:$VM -r $MOUNT_DIR/$VM
done
umount $MOUNT_DIR
fiexit 0
mount -t smbfs //${BACKUP_SERVER}/$SMB_SHARE $MOUNT_DIR \
-o username=${BACKUP_USER},password=$BACKUP_PASS || exit 1 That's all. In such simple backup scenarios I prefer NFS usage because it is simple to set and provides higher throughput than SMB protocol. On the other hand, SMB protocol provides basic authentication mechanism (if you don't disable it).version= esx-3.0Now, what can we say about the backuped virtual machine?
state= poweredOn
display_name= "nas-openfiler"
uuid= "564da78f-f2fc-484f-4d92-24238e486380"
disk.scsi0:0.filename= "scsi0-0-0-nas-openfiler.vmdk"
disk.scsi0:0.diskname= "[storage1] nas-openfiler/nas-openfiler.vmdk"
config.vmx= "[storage1] nas-openfiler/nas-openfiler.vmx"
host= vmware.dom.tld
timestamp= "Sun Oct 12 01:37:12 2008"
config.suspenddir= "[storage1] nas-openfiler"
config.snapshotdir= "[storage1] nas-openfiler"
config.file0= "nas-openfiler.vmsd"
config.file1= "nas-openfiler-cf281ca9.vmss"
config.file2= "nas-openfiler.vmxf"
config.file3= "nas-openfiler.nvram"
config.logdir= "[storage1] nas-openfiler"
config.log0= "vmware-1.log"
config.log1= "vmware.log"
folderpath= "/ha-folder-root/ha-datacenter/vm"resourcepool= "/ha-folder-root/ha-datacenter/host/vmware.dom.tld/Resources"
version= esx-3.0It is recommended to backup the original catalog file somewhere. Try to compare them and to notice the changes.
state= poweredOn
display_name= "nas-openfiler2"
uuid= "564da78f-f2fc-484f-4d92-24238e486380"
disk.scsi0:0.filename= "scsi0-0-0-nas-openfiler.vmdk"
disk.scsi0:0.diskname= "[storage2] nas-openfiler2/nas-openfiler.vmdk"
config.vmx= "[storage2] nas-openfiler2/nas-openfiler.vmx"
host= vmware.dom.tld
timestamp= "Sun Oct 12 01:37:12 2008"
config.suspenddir= "[storage2] nas-openfiler2"
config.snapshotdir= "[storage2] nas-openfiler2"
config.file0= "nas-openfiler.vmsd"
config.file1= "nas-openfiler-cf281ca9.vmss"
config.file2= "nas-openfiler.vmxf"
config.file3= "nas-openfiler.nvram"
config.logdir= "[storage2] nas-openfiler2"
config.log0= "vmware-1.log"
config.log1= "vmware.log"
folderpath= "/ha-folder-root/ha-datacenter/vm"resourcepool= "/ha-folder-root/ha-datacenter/host/vmware.dom.tld/Resources"
vcbRestore -s /backup/nas-openfiler -a /backup/nas-openfiler/catalog.newThe -s parameter specifies the source directory where the backup is stored and -a parameter specifies use this particular catalog file. If everything is working the command should produce next output:
[2008-10-17 11:00:21.644 'App' 3076444992 info]The machine was restored and you can see it in VI client interface. Or you can check it from the service console of ESX host:
Current working directory: /backup/nas-openfiler2
Converting "/vmfs/volumes/storage2/nas-openfiler2/nas-openfiler.vmdk" (VMFS (flat)):
0%=====================50%=====================100%
**************************************************
vmware-cmd -l | grep nas-openfiler2It should print something like this:
/vmfs/volumes/483c.../nas-openfiler2/nas-openfiler.vmx
esxcfg-firewall -e nfsClientYou can check all the available services with:
esxcfg-firewall -sTo check if the nfsClient service was enabled, run this:
esxcfg-firewall -q nfsClientIf so, you will receive:
Service nfsClient is enabled.Finally, we need a backup script whose only task is to backup available VMs. The script can be scheduled at ESX host via cron service or from the NFS backup server. It's your choice. The script follows:
#!/bin/shNow, simple description of the script. At the beginning, there are defined some variables - the NFS server IP address, the exported directory and the local mount point. Then, the available VMs are listed and saved in a variable. The exported directory from the NFS server is mounted and with the vcbMounter command the VMs are backuped. Finally, the directory is unmounted. If you want to use the commands without authentication credentials, you need to define them in the file /etc/vmware/backuptools.conf. Exactly, these parameters are required:
BACKUP_SERVER="192.168.1.1"
BACKUP_DIR="/backup/vm"
MOUNT_DIR="/backup/snap"
[ -d $MOUNT_DIR ] || mkdir -p "$MOUNT_DIR" || exit 1
VM_BACKUP="`vcbVmName -s any: | grep name: | cut -d':' -f2`"
if [ ! -z "$VM_BACKUP" ]; then
mount $BACKUP_SERVER:$BACKUP_DIR $MOUNT_DIR || exit 1
for VM in $VM_BACKUP; do
vcbMounter -a name:$VM -r $MOUNT_DIR/$VM
done
umount $MOUNT_DIR
fiexit 0
VCHOST=127.0.0.1So, the task to backup virtual machines isn't so sophisticated. In the next article, I'm going to restore them with vcbRestore command.
USERNAME=admin_user
PASSWORD=admin_user_password
vcbmounter -h VC_IP -u VC_USER -p VC_PASS -a name:vcb-backupThe virtual disk will be mounted under the C:\mnt\vcb-backup directory in LAN mode. The successful mounting will print the following messages (some lines may be split due to their length):
-r c:\mnt\vcb-backup -t file -m nbd
Opened disk: vpxa-nfc://[STORAGE] vcb-backup/vcb-backup.vmdk@\Again, the NTFS filesystem is accessible via its letter. Now, you can copy the files inside, you can backup the directory structure but you can't delete anything. The reason is you are not working with the virtual disk directly but with its snapshot called _VCB_SNAPSHOT_ (full backup with vcbMounter). Here is a screenshot from Virtual Infrastructure Client proving it:
VC_IP!52 79 b4 1a d5 0a 84 31-fd 1c e3 fe f8 31 db ed
Proceeding to analyze volumes
Done mounting
Volume 1 mounted at c:\mnt\vcb-backup\digits\1 (mbSize=12291 \
fsType=NTFS )
Volume 1 also mounted on c:\mnt\vcb-backup\letters\C
vcbmounter -h VC_IP -u VC_USER -p VC_PASS -U c:\mnt\vcb-backupThe output is similar to the one we have seen already:
Unmounted c:\mnt\vcb-backup\digits\1\ (formatted)
Deleted directory c:\mnt\vcb-backup\digits\1\
Deleted directory c:\mnt\vcb-backup\digits
Deleted directory c:\mnt\vcb-backup\letters\C\
Deleted directory c:\mnt\vcb-backup\letters
Deleted directory c:\mnt\vcb-backup
The virtual disk path is available from the output of vcbmounter command: c:\mnt\vcb-backup\scsi0-0-0-vcb-backup.vmdkTo browse the filesystem, we will mount it with the mountvm command:mountvm -cycleId -d c:\mnt\vcb-backup\scsi0-0-0-vcb-backup.vmdk \The successful execution of it will produce messages like these:
c:\vcb-backup
Opened disk: c:\mnt\vcb-backup\scsi0-0-0-vcb-backup.vmdk
Proceeding to analyze volumes
Done mounting
Volume 1 mounted at c:\vcb-backup\digits\1 (mbSize=12291 fsType=NTFS )
Volume 1 also mounted on c:\vcb-backup\letters\C
mountvm -u c:\vcb-backupIf the mounted filesystem isn't busy, the command will print these messages (otherwise it will end with an error):
Unmounted c:\vcb-backup\digits\1\ (formatted)Finally, let's make a summary of virtual machine full backup steps:
Deleted directory c:\vcb-backup\digits\1\
Deleted directory c:\vcb-backup\digits
Deleted directory c:\vcb-backup\letters\C\
Deleted directory c:\vcb-backup\letters
Deleted directory c:\vcb-backup
vcbmounter -h VC_IP -u VC_USER -p VC_PASS -a name:vcb-backup \The -r parameter defines a directory of backup location. The -m parameter specifies transport mode (available values are san, hotadd, nbd/nbdssl). The directory can't exist. It is created on demand. The command should produce the following output when it finishes:
-r c:\mnt\vcb-backup -t fullvm -m nbd
Copying "[system-raid1] vcb-backup/vcb-backup.vmx":
vcbVmName.exe -h VC_IP -u VC_USER -p VC_PASS -s any:The most of used command line options are almost common for all VCB commands:
Found VM:Here, you can see all virtual machine identifiers - name (name:), IP address (ipaddr:), virtual machine unique identifier (uuid:) and managed object reference (moref:). You can use them as search pattern instead of any: universal pattern. For example, the next command will find the virtual machine with name vcb-test only:
moref:vm-99
name:vcb-backup
uuid:5022bd2a-0de0-9c82-e30e-063c976a8a29
ipaddr:132.100.0.29
Found VM:
moref:vm-97
name:vcb-test
uuid:5022ab4a-f7f4-03a2-1434-f2af63938718ipaddr:132.100.0.28
vcbVmName.exe -h VC_IP -u VC_USER -p VC_PASS -s name:vcb-testNow, we know how to identify the particular machine and next time, we are going to backup it.