27.6.2.3 Backing up guests
Of course, guests (instances) can only be backed up if they have already been set up; if nothing has been set up, then there is nothing to back up. If this is the case, the data can be backed up in ArchivistaVM to the left of the 'backup' menu item and in 'jobs' by going down and clicking on the 'create new job' arrow.
The data backup options can now be established. Note the 'Destination' and 'External device' fields. Provided no external device (hard drive) is present (which is the case in the following first attempts), the data is backed up into this directory on the internal hard drive.
Note: If the data needs to be saved to an external hard drive at some later point, then naturally, in the context of these instructions, it would be advisable to first try out the simpler variant (no external drive necessary).
The 'Keep old backups (1-x)' field deserves special mention at this point. This allows specification of the number of backups before the last (oldest) backup is overwritten.
Note: In order to back up the data onto an external hard drive, the drive identifier must first be entered (e.g. /dev/sdb1, /dev/sdc1) under 'external device'. In this case, the target directory merely serves as the mounting point for the external device; the guests themselves are not saved in this target directory, but directly onto the external device. The external drive identifier can be called using the 'restore' tab.
Note II: In contrast to earlier versions of the ArchivistaVM, NTFS-formatted drives can be used with the current version. However, it should be noted that when using NTFS-formatted drives, no restore-on-the-fly is possible.
Data backup can now be set to the desired time (in this case 02:00 am). The job should, of course, be tested immediately. This is done by going down, clicking on the arrow for the corresponding job and then selecting 'Start now'. This triggers a prompt, asking whether data backup should be started. Please confirm.
The data backup will now be executed. The log files can be monitored under the 'data backup' menu item.
Once the operation is complete, the 'finished backup' message is displayed.