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Backup and replicate VMs on VMware ESXi
Clone Freedom
XSIBackup [1] does not require a graphical interface: It runs in the shell and offers everything administrators need to back up virtual servers, replicate running VMs on another host, and schedule data backups.
Installation
The tool should be installed, set up, and monitored on the ESXi host that will serve as a backup source. Additional servers or databases are not necessary. Either another ESXi server or a tethered network-attached server can serve as the backup target.
Virtual machines (VMs) can also be scheduled for replication on a different host using XSIBackup. The software sends a message by email on request about the status of the backup and any errors that occurred, including the results of a SMART test of the hard drives used. You configure the backup tool in the shell; once it is working, you do not need to manage it, because the tool runs in the background and does not generate load on the host until it backs up the VMs.
To configure XSIBackup, you need an SSH connection to the ESXi host. On Linux this is no problem; on Windows you can use the open source PuTTY [2] client. By default, SSH is disabled on the ESXi host.
To enable the service, connect to the host as the admin user with a vSphere client and select the Configuration tab (Figure 1). In the Software pane on the left, select the Security Profile link. You can enable the SSH service here. To do this, click Properties on the right side, then select SSH , and press Options . The Start and stop with host option is recommended. SSH is now enabled on both the source and the target host.
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