shutdown guest before replication

[yuri]

hi, i've low space disk for hot replication, but i can shutdown os before run replication job, and restart when the task will finish. There is a way to setup it on veeam backup 6?

tnx you

[Vitaliy S.]

Yes, you can create a PowerCLI script which will shutdown the VM and then trigger a Veeam PowerShell cmdlet that will start the corresponding backup/replication job for this VM. Please search our PowerShell forums for the scripts showing how to trigger a backup job. Thanks!

[yuri]

tnx you i'm going to search it,
any mod can move this thread to powershell
tnx you

[dartware]

I have been looking around the community and have not seen a solution to my problem. I would like to have the ability to run a script before and after a VM is backed up. Many of my VM’s will be in a suspended state with several snapshots maintained for QA testing. I would like to be able to run a Vmware Power shell script to start the suspended VM up, let the backup run and then run post script to re-suspend. Is this a feature already there and I just can’t find it? normal backup software will allow this for each machine backed up and/or for the whole job or both sometimes.

Thanks

[dartware]

sorry, my subject line was incorrect. I have QA engineer that has 70 to 80 virtual machines he uses for testing our software releases. these are multi-platform vm's. He will take 3 or 4 snapshots of each vm for roll back testing purposes. we never merge the snapshots in! due to number of vm's, he only has the current vm's he is testing with, actually powered up and running. the rest are suspended. when the veeam backup runs, it sees the vm suspended and no change on the snapshot. however this is my weekly backup of these machines for offsite storage and i want it to backup regardless if the machine is suspended or not, or if changes or not. When i run the backup job with the machines suspended, veeam will not back it up due to snapshot not being different from actual vm. I realize that that would be the norm, but not in this case. If i go through and manually startup the 60+ vm's he has suspended and then shut them down, i have taken all automation from the backup job.

in normal backup software, you always have a choice to run a script before the target machine backs up, after the target machine has been backed up and pre/post scripts for the entire job. you have a place for doing post scripts, but looks like for job only, not each individual vm. i assumed i would use the vmware power shell scripts for the actual script i want to run. i will look at current vm state, if suspended, start it up. then once the vm is backed up, run the script that re-suspends it. i was told there was a freeze and thaw utility in vmware, but how can that run if the vm is suspended?

i just can't believe that i don't have the ability to do this. it would seem to me that this would be the best way to manipulate each vm automatically within the backup job. i am not worried about backup time as i run this on the weekend and it is quiet network wise in our environment.

any help is greatly appreciated.

thanks

[veremin]

In fact, there are no well-known problems in backing up Virtual Machine in suspended mode. I’ve even reproduced the situation silimar to yours in my test lab, and backup process went smoothly.

So, it stands to reason for you to share a little bit more information regarding errors you’ve got, or open a ticket with our support team and let them investigate your issues directly, since such behavior isn’t expected.

In addition, please be aware that CBT can’t be enabled on VM with snapshots. So, it’s likely to be some performance impact.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.

[veremin]

Or can it be that VMs you’re referring to had been suspended first and only after that the snapshot was taken by you? Thus, when VB&R is trying to create its own one, it’s nothing but a second snapshot in a row of suspended VM, and the whole process ends up with the following VMware error:

Snapshot not taken since the state of the virtual machine has not changed since the last snapshot operation.

More information regarding this behavior can be found in the corresponding VMware KB.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.

[wla]

Hi,

I'm not sure where to post a feature request, so I place it here.

In some cases, e.g. non VSS aware applications or no support for hot cloning, a feature/button like "Cold backup" (meaning "Shutdown VM/Take Snapshot/Start VM/Start Veeam Backup") would be a great help. Maybe with a warning ("A reboot cycle is necessary ...") when starting manually (not scheduled) from the GUI to prevent unwanted reboots.

I know the possibility to use VMware Tools supported scripts "pre-freeze" and "post-thaw", or the possibilty to script a job with powershell.

I think some customers would appreciate this "simple" feature. It seems not very complicated to implement.

Best regards,
Walter

[foggy]

Hello, Walter.

I'm not sure where to post a feature request, so I place it here.

Actually, the right place to post your feedback. Thank you!

[wla]

Thank you.
But this feature is not "VMware vSphere" related, I think the right place is " Veeam Backup & Replication".

[veremin]

Additionally, if you need any assistance with how this process should be scripted, don’t hesitate to create a new topic at corresponding subforum. Thanks.

[foggy]

Thank you.
But this feature is not "VMware vSphere" related, I think the right place is " Veeam Backup & Replication".

You've been just merged into existing topic discussing similar functionality. Nevermind the particular forum name, your feature request is still filed. Thanks.