When you configure a backup for your virtual machine, the platform will display the backup symbol in the lower right-hand corner of the virtual machine icon.
The platform uses backup systems such as Veeam or Avamar and it creates backups for virtual machines that are deployed on the hypervisor. If you undeploy the virtual machine, you cannot access the backup system through the platform. If you later redeploy the virtual machine, you can continue using the backup system to restore previous backups or create new backups.
If you delete the virtual machine, you cannot access the backup system through the platform.
Create a manual backup now
If manual backups are enabled for the datacenter, when the User edits the virtual machine configuration, the platform will display the Backup now button in the top right-hand corner of the of the Backup tab.
When the user clicks this button, the platform will request request an immediate backup through the API.
Configure backup type
If you have the privilege to Manage virtual machine backup configuration, you can set the basic backup configuration for your virtual machines. This means you can choose the backup policy and the disks.
- Open the Backup tab to the Backup policies page
- Select from the list of backup policies
- Click Show details
Enter a path for filesystem backup
For a filesystem backup, enter the folder or directory path to back up.
Select disks for snapshot or complete backup
- Click Select Disks
- Select the disks for backup
- The disks are shown in sequence order
- The system disk is the first disk in the list
Configure backup schedule
The administrator can set the date and time in the backup policy or they can require the user to set the date and time.
To enter backup date(s) and time(s), you must have the privilege to Manage virtual machine backup schedule, and you must configure the exact date and time of a backup.
Backup Times
Abiquo uses ISO 8601 and datacenter owners should inform users of the time standard used in the datacenter
Time zones in ISO 8601 are represented as local time (with the location unspecified), as UTC, or as an offset from UTC
Screenshot: The administrator has configured backup schedule
Screenshot: The user must configure the backup schedule
Backup results
The results shown may vary depending on your datacenter's backup system. Backups with a status of "done" or "completed" will have a Restore link enabled in the Action column.
Restore a Backup
If you have the Restore virtual machine backups privilege privilege, the platform displays the Restore requests section.
After you restore a backup, the virtual machine disks are under the control of the backup system, not the platform. So when you undeploy after restoring a virtual machine, the platform will display a warning popup and delete and remove the virtual machine's disks.
To create a restore request:
- Open the Backup results tab
- Click Restore beside a completed backup
To display the details of the restore, click on the backup in the Backups list. After the restore is completed, the status is displayed, for example, "done" or "failed".
Request a Consecutive Restore
If your environment allows, you may request that a backup be restored more than once. If the Restore requests Status is success or failed, Abiquo will reactivate the Restore link and you can click the Restore link to request a new restore of the same backup.
Backup events
For users the backup feature will produce the events described in the Events View#Virtualmachine under METADATA_MODIFIED and RESTORE_BACKUP.
The Events page on the Backup tab will display events from backup integrations.
To view the details of an event, click on the event.
Events page
Event details