How to make a backup copy of the virtual machine if there is not enough space on the host?

[vottak]

It is necessary to make a backup copy of the virtual machine using Veeam Backup.
Veeam Backup is installed on another physical server.
When trying to make a backup copy of the virtual machine, the process stops due to a lack of a place on the host with ESXI (free space 600GB, the size of the virtual machine 1.4 ТB)
Stopping a virtual machine is extremely undesirable.
How can you make a full backup?

Error:

"Processing DB_01 Error: Insufficient free disk space on production datastore SSD.

Resetting CBT per job settings for active fulls failed Details: Detected an invalid snapshot configuration.
Getting VM info from vSphere
Production datastore SSD is getting low on free space (0 B left), and may run out of free disk space completely due to open snapshots.
Error: Insufficient free disk space on production datastore SSD."

Thanks for the help.

[Mildur]

Hello Vottak

This behavior is controlled in the general options (Skip VMs when free disk is below <N> %):
https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backu ... ml?ver=120

Instead of just disable this option, please make sure that you have enough space free. Your datastore may run out of space because of open snapshots while the backup session runs.
When that happens, all your virtual machine will freeze. You will have more issues than just a backup not running.

Rescan your hypervisor and run the backup again.
If space is still the error with "0% left free space" but in vSphere you can see 600GB, I strongly suggest to open a case with our customer support.

Best,
Fabian

[vottak]

There are no pictures, the situation is just the same as I described and the question remains the same: what is the way to make a backup copy of the virtual machine, if the source is not enough free space? I repeat, the size of my virtual machine is twice as much as there is free space, probably before creating a backup, Veeam creates a picture of a virtual machine, and for this it does not have enough space.
Perhaps there is a backup method, without creating a picture, and directly copying?

[Mildur]

what is the way to make a backup copy of the virtual machine, if the source is not enough free space?

Can you please clarify what you mean with "backup copy"? I assume you are talking about a "backup job".
--> backup = backup job
--> backup copy = backup copy job

A VM backup requires storage at the source and on the target backup repository.
The error you have posted tells us, you don't have enough space left on the source. The backup job won't run. And your target repository requires enough space to store your entire backup file.

If the server size is 1.4TB, space estimation tells us you need approximately 700GB (50% of the source size) to store a backup file. But that's only the full backup. With a longer retention, more space is required.
Use our calculator to make an estimation for the required backup storage:
https://calculator.veeam.com/vbr/


You can use Veeam Agents to backup this virtual server. With Veeam Agent, we don't have to create vSphere snapshots on your datastore:
https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backu ... ml?ver=120

Please note: Other non vSphere related functions still require free space. Having 0% left is bad.

Best,
Fabian

[tyler.jurgens]

Veeam needs to take a snapshot of the VM to perform a backup or replication job, there is no way around that. Because of how VMware snapshot deltas work, that snapshot may grow until you have no free space left on your datastores (depending on how fast data changes on that VM).

You can:
Shut down the VM. That will allow a snapshot to happen, but since there is no data changing on the VM, the snapshot delta will be minimal.
Shut down other VMs. Since each VM has a file equivalent size to the amount of RAM allocated to the VM, shutting down *other* VMs will free up those files, and hence disk space.
Scour your environment to find garbage data left behind. Perhaps a VM was removed from inventory, but not deleted. Are you storing ISOs? Do you *need* them?
Add more space to the datastore (if your storage system allows that).

[vottak]

Yes, you correctly understood, I launched the task: -> Backup = Backup Job. I think that with the task:
-> Backup Copy = Backup Copy Job
The situation will be the same.

If you do not need an free space on the starting server for the backup task with the help of an agent, then this is exactly what I need.
Thank you, I'll try

[ITP-Stan]

Backup Copy is a copy of an already made backup.
Backup is what you make of a live production server.

Veeam B&R does not require a lot of free space on the Production Datastore.
It will trigger a VMWare snapshot to stop writes on the VM disk so Veeam can back-it up.
All write to disk while the snapshot is active will start to take up disk space on your datastore.

I find it hard to believe that a VM that's 1,4TB in size will have a snapshot that fills up 600GB of free space during backup.
Unless at that same time you are doing something very I/O write intesive on your VM like defragmentation or something.

You should check which datastore is filling up to 0B free, it might be another datastore where the C: disk of your VM is located for instance, and that has only 10GB free space or so.

[vottak]

Good afternoon. I apologize, I described the situation a little incorrectly.
I was given an old server and the situation is that the virtual machine, which needs to be transferred to another physical server, occupies the entire disk, which is why I could not create a clone of it.
I installed the agent (free) on this virtual machine and successfully created a backup copy, but I couldn’t restore it on another physical server, it all ended in an error.
Is it possible to clone a virtual machine to another server using agents, perhaps even with a commercial license?

[ITP-Stan]

You should use the correct terminology to avoid confusion.
You've made a backup (not a backup copy!) using Veeam Agent.

I have restored backups created using agent backup to a Virtual Machine in the past. So it definitely does work.
I you have a license from Veeam you can contact their support to help you with the restore to VM.

[vottak]

The main task is to transfer the virtual machine to a new physical server, given that there is no space on the hard drive of the original server.
This could be done by simple copying. but then there will be a long downtime, and this is unacceptable.
That's why I'm asking for advice on how to transfer.