Virtual backup and restore of virtual machines
First Claim
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1. A method for backing up a virtual machine in a cluster environment, the method comprising:
- receiving a command to back up a virtual machine at a computing device, the computing device configured with a hypervisor layer that abstracts hardware of the computing device;
accessing an instrumentation interface of an export mechanism to obtain configuration information of both the virtual machine and the cluster environment, wherein the export mechanism is configured to export the virtual machine, wherein the export mechanism is leveraged to obtain the configuration information without exporting the virtual machine, wherein the configuration information includes first data describing a configuration of the virtual machine and second data describing a configuration of the cluster environment of the virtual machine;
creating a save set that is a backup of the virtual machine;
incorporating the configuration information into the save set so that the save set includes both the backup of the virtual machine and the configuration information, wherein incorporation of the configuration information into the save set permits the save set to be restored to a destination in the cluster environment whose configuration information is different from the configuration information that is incorporated in the save set; and
storing the save set, wherein the configuration information allows a restore operation to identify differences between the configuration information included in the save set and configuration information of the destination of the virtual machine during the restore operation, copy the save set to a destination location, and import the virtual machine from the destination location to a restore destination directory using an import mechanism that accounts for the differences by changing the configuration information included in the save set based on the configuration information of the destination,wherein accounting for the differences between the configuration information included in the save set and the configuration information of the destination further includes transferring a virtual hard disk of the virtual machine from a location identified in the configuration information included in the save set to an appropriate destination based on the configuration data of the destination.
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Abstract
Systems and methods for backing up and restoring virtual machines in a cluster environment. An instrumentation interface enables configuration data to be stored with save sets during backup and enables the configuration of the destination to be adjusted based on the stored configuration during a restore.
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Citations
13 Claims
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1. A method for backing up a virtual machine in a cluster environment, the method comprising:
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receiving a command to back up a virtual machine at a computing device, the computing device configured with a hypervisor layer that abstracts hardware of the computing device; accessing an instrumentation interface of an export mechanism to obtain configuration information of both the virtual machine and the cluster environment, wherein the export mechanism is configured to export the virtual machine, wherein the export mechanism is leveraged to obtain the configuration information without exporting the virtual machine, wherein the configuration information includes first data describing a configuration of the virtual machine and second data describing a configuration of the cluster environment of the virtual machine; creating a save set that is a backup of the virtual machine; incorporating the configuration information into the save set so that the save set includes both the backup of the virtual machine and the configuration information, wherein incorporation of the configuration information into the save set permits the save set to be restored to a destination in the cluster environment whose configuration information is different from the configuration information that is incorporated in the save set; and storing the save set, wherein the configuration information allows a restore operation to identify differences between the configuration information included in the save set and configuration information of the destination of the virtual machine during the restore operation, copy the save set to a destination location, and import the virtual machine from the destination location to a restore destination directory using an import mechanism that accounts for the differences by changing the configuration information included in the save set based on the configuration information of the destination, wherein accounting for the differences between the configuration information included in the save set and the configuration information of the destination further includes transferring a virtual hard disk of the virtual machine from a location identified in the configuration information included in the save set to an appropriate destination based on the configuration data of the destination. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A non-transitory storage medium having stored therein computer-executable instructions which, when executed by one or more hardware processors, perform a backup of a virtual machine in a cluster environment, wherein performance of a backup of a virtual machine comprises:
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receiving a command to back up a virtual machine at a computing device, the computing device configured with a hypervisor layer that abstracts hardware of the computing device; accessing an instrumentation interface of an export mechanism to obtain configuration information of both the virtual machine and the cluster environment leveraging the export mechanism to generate an export file for the virtual machine without exporting the virtual machine with the export mechanism, wherein the export file includes configuration information for the virtual machine and the cluster environment; creating a save set that is a backup of the virtual machine; incorporating the configuration information into the save set so that the save set includes both the backup of the virtual machine and the configuration information, wherein incorporation of the configuration information into the save set permits the save set to be restored to a destination in the cluster environment whose configuration information is different from the configuration information that is incorporated in the save set; and storing the save set, wherein the export file allows the save set to be restored by a restore operation by invoking an import mechanism at the destination, wherein the restore operation copies the save set to a destination location and uses the import mechanism to import the save set to a restore destination directory, wherein the import mechanism accounts for differences between the configuration information included in the save set and configuration information of the destination by changing the configuration information included in the save set based on the configuration information of the destination, wherein accounting for the differences between the configuration information included in the save set and the configuration information of the destination includes transferring a virtual hard disk of the virtual machine from a location identified in the configuration information included in the save set to an appropriate destination based on the configuration data of the destination. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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Specification