Rsync backups and VMWare binary blobs

[blu at scrunch.net (Bob - BLU)]

On 03/14/07 11:56, John Abreau wrote:
> I'm in the process of setting up a new backup server using rsync
> snapshots, and I'm trying to figure out how to address my VMWare
> guest systems. By default, rsync will see the VMware folders as
> opaque binary blobs that change with every backup, and these
> binary blobs will quickly chew up all the disk space on the backup
> server.

Here's what I currently do, for VMware running on my laptop, which sounds like what you are doing...

I keep the VMs shutdown for all backups, this means I only need to think of them as large files.

I don't backup up to tape as part of my normal tape backup.

I do rotating disk backups via rsync to:  Another disk in the laptop, to another server on my office lan, to an external usb disk at home.  Disk is cheap, spread it around.

I periodically archive to DVD.


The server on my lan, and the dvd archive also contain "original installs" of base operating systems.  So the next time I need a new RHEL4 VM I grab a copy off the lan server.


As an aside, the last time I tried to use cpio to archive a VM I discovered it has a 2GB file size limit. tar did not.  pax using cpio format also fails.  "Value too large for defined data type".  I haven't retested this recently.





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