05-13-2013 05:03 AM
Can the Hyper-v backup be configured to put the VM in saved state rather than try to create a snapshot? At this time I do not have enough available space for a full snapshot of the VMs.
05-13-2013 05:15 AM
Hi,
Nope, it's going to use VSS to do the snapshot.
Thanks!
05-13-2013 05:21 AM
I haven't tested this, but worth a try.
If the VM doesn't have Integration Services installed or is not in a running state, then it is put in a saved state for an offline backup & I don't think offline backups are vss snapshot backups.
05-13-2013 05:40 AM
I'll have to test this using a test VM and see how it works if no one has a definite answer. I'm hoping that the machine can be put in a saved state, backed up, and restarted. Unfortunately, my test Hyper-v hosts are running server 2012, so I will have to use a production machine as my test host.
05-13-2013 05:43 AM
Hi,
This amounts to downtime...why not consider buying the necessary disk in order to have free space for snapshots, and keep your VMs up and online during backups?
Thanks!
05-13-2013 06:44 AM
If I had the disk space I would't be asking the question. We can afford the downtime once a week/ month and use the regular windows agent to back up the file changes in between. The Server 2012 host machines already have enough disk, but I can't back them up yet and I need a good backup before I can shut down the host to add disk.
I just set up a WinXP test machine with integration components, so I should have an answer soon.
05-13-2013 12:30 PM
The hyper-v backup consumes disk space on the hyper-v host even if the VM is turned off or saved so I will need another way to back up the VMs until I can get more disk. The disk consumed is less than half of the disk space used on the VM, so I may be able to get away with my limited disk - I wish there were better guidelines on this. I am not seeing a Hyper-v snapshot created for the VM id the machine is running when it is being backed up.
Another problem - Installing the Hyper-v agent on the hyper-v host ended up installing another media server on the Hyper-v host even though it was not selected on install.
05-13-2013 12:34 PM
...I would say use the RAWS agents, but this will still do a VSS snapshot. Whether or not it fills up your remaining disk space everytime is something you need to test.
Thanks!
05-13-2013 01:20 PM
That's an interesting catch-22. I can't add disk until the existing system is backed up and the system can't be backed up until I add more disk. I could also export the vm and move it to my server 2012 host where I have plenty of disk and hope I don't need to back it up until server 2012 is supported. At least there are options.