

"cp: can't open 'web01-flat.vmdk': Device or resource busy" But wait - Can you just copy a running Virtual Machine? No! You can't copy the Virtual Disk file while it is mapped to the Virtual Machine mode: This method works not only with the ESXi Hypervisor, but also with VMware Workstation or older products like GSX or VMware Server. Many years ago, this was my first method of creating backups of running Virtual Machines. The most unsophisticated backup method would be to simply make a copy of all files. The post explains the technique to create backups and takes a look at solution that use these techniques.Īll Virtual Machines are just files on datastores. The API limitation makes it impossible to create incremental CBT aided backups, but it's not impossible to create full copies of virtual machines. VADP to make Backups.Ĭreating backups of Virtual Machines is also important on standalone ESXi hosts. Another limitation is that APIs are read-only, so it's not possible to use the Data Protection API aka. You can get that by upgrading to the Desktop edition, but if you’re watching your budget you might prefer to go for Paragon’s more fully-featured and equally free backup solution instead.VMware offers a free version of their vSphere Hypervisor with some limitations like the lack of vCenter support. In all, Iperius Backup Free has local file backups well-covered: the major missing link is disk imaging. It’s a simple and transparent approach, but it means that there’s no easy way to browse old versions. If you enable compression, you can either have each item compressed into an individual ZIP file or wrap the entire backup into a single archive. The free client only supports local paths as destinations, but paid-for editions can connect directly to FTP servers and to Iperius’ own cloud storage service, which starts at €39 a year for 50GB.īackups are stored as direct duplicates of the original files and folders, which makes Iperius Backup pretty quick – it took just 25 seconds to copy the 2GB test folder to our USB drive. Where Iperius excels is in its hybrid backup options: for each job you can define as many destinations as you want, and apply individual compression and backup chain settings to each one.
