Backing Up Virtual Machines
Table Of Contents
- 1 About this document
- 2 Supported virtualization platforms
- 3 Backup at a hypervisor level
- 3.1 Features and capabilities
- 3.2 Limitations
- 3.3 What does a virtual machine backup store?
- 3.4 Working in VMware vSphere
- 3.4.1 Getting started with Agent for VMware
- 3.4.2 Installation of Agent for VMware
- 3.4.3 Operations with agents
- 3.4.4 Flexible configuration of the agents
- 3.4.5 Using a locally attached storage
- 3.4.6 Configuring ESX(i)-related options
- 3.4.7 Support for VM migration
- 3.4.8 Support for datastore clusters and Storage DRS
- 3.4.9 Backing up fault tolerant machines
- 3.4.10 Backing up independent disks and RDMs
- 3.4.11 Backing up virtual machine templates
- 3.4.12 Privileges for VM backup and recovery
- 3.5 Working in Microsoft Hyper-V
- 3.6 Backing up Linux logical volumes and MD devices
- 3.7 File-level recovery
- 3.8 Virtual machines on a management server
- 3.9 VM-specific backup and recovery options
- 3.10 Limitations for backup and recovery options
- 4 Backup from inside a guest OS
- 4.1 Working with Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization
- 4.1.1 Overview of the RHEV platform
- 4.1.2 How Acronis Backup works with RHEV
- 4.1.3 Backup and recovery of RHEV virtual machines
- 4.1.4 Migrating a physical machine to a virtual machine
- 4.1 Working with Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization
34 Copyright © Acronis International GmbH, 2002-2016
4 Backup from inside a guest OS
Backup from inside a guest OS assumes backing up and recovering virtual machines similarly to
physical machines. This functionality becomes available by using Acronis Backup Agent for Windows
or Acronis Backup Agent for Linux.
For online backup and recovery, install Agent for Windows or Agent for Linux in the corresponding
guest system. You can use bootable media to do off-line ("cold") backups and "bare metal" recovery
to an empty virtual machine. Installing the software, backing up, and recovery are the same as with a
physical machine.
4.1 Working with Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization
This section describes in brief how to use Acronis Backup in Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization
environments. It also guides you through P2V and V2V migrations that can be performed with
Acronis Backup.
4.1.1 Overview of the RHEV platform
Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization (RHEV) is a virtualization solution based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
Its advanced functionalities allow enterprises to centrally manage their virtual environments while
reducing the cost and complexity of large deployments.
Components
The RHEV platform consists of the following components:
Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Manager which allows system administrators to view and
manage virtual machines via a single graphical user interface.
Hosts running Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Hypervisor or Red Hat Enterprise Linux where
virtual machines are hosted.
Interfaces
The Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Manager includes an Administration Portal and a User Portal.
The Administration Portal is designed for setting up, configuring, and managing the Red Hat
Enterprise Virtualization environment.
The User Portal allows users to start, stop, reboot, and connect to virtual machines.
Storage domains
The RHEV platform uses the following storage domain types:
Data domains store virtual disks, templates and snapshots. A data domain cannot be shared
across different data centers. A data domain can be organized by using NFS, SAN
(iSCSI/FCP-connected storages), or a local storage of a virtualization host.
ISO domains store ISO files used to install and boot operating systems and applications for the
virtual machines. An ISO domain can be shared across different data centers. An ISO domain can
only be organized by using NFS.
An export domain is used to copy or move images between data centers and RHEV Manager
installations. An export domain can be moved between data centers. However, it can only be