Re: Any way to snapshot or otherwise backup a running vm?

[Stephen Borrill <netbsd%precedence.co.uk@localhost>]

On Thu, 19 Oct 2017, Petr Topiarz wrote:
> Hi folks,
>
> I use xen-project on NetBSD (host) and I look for a way to backup a running 
> vm (various guests NetBSD, Linux, Windows).
>
> What could work, but does not:
> - Commercial Xen-Server is a closed stuff which will not work on NetBSD, so 
> no "xe" commands for snapshotting

XenServer is open-source, but would require you to have a Linux dom0 
(technically the xapi toolstack could be ported to NetBSD).

BTW, the xe command runs fine under NetBSD's Linux emulation (as it's 
static, it doesn't even need any libraries). If you have the 
xe-guest-utilities package installed you can even have VMs snapshot 
themselves (or add/remove virtual disks, etc.)

# xenstore-read "domid"
16
# xenstore-read "/local/domain/16/vm"
/vm/80a13455-20b7-f049-1336-06811da93977
# xe -s 192.168.1.14 -pwf passfile vm-snapshot \
uuid=80a13455-20b7-f049-1336-06811da93977 new-name-label="Snapshot test"
73c4f241-c87d-c952-7515-255435f1bac5

> - LVM allows snapshotting, but this LVM feature is not implemented on NetBSD
> - ZFS is ported to NetBSD but snapshotting is not in production quality
>
> Can anyone help me find a way to backup a running virtual machine such as 
> production webserver or DNS server on NetBSD's Xen?

--
Stephen