CR - Cannot start copy because suspended

[Dezerd]

Hello,

We are currently testing a scheduled CR job to an SR on an xcp-ng host.
This backup takes snapshots with memory.
The VMs backed up to the SR are therefore in a suspended state.
When I try to restart the VM using the “Start a copy” option (to avoid breaking the backup chain), I get a message stating that the virtual machine is in a suspended state but should be shut down. Two questions:

• I assume that if I shut it down, I lose the benefit of suspension?
• Will the backup chain be affected if I change the VM’s state?

Thank you

[poddingue]

Hello,

I think the suspended state is deliberate here. With the RAM option on a CR job, the docs say the copy is left suspended on purpose, so you can resume it quickly instead of booting it: https://docs.xen-orchestra.com/xo5/backups#continuous-replication-with-ram.
That would explain why "Start a copy" refuses, since it seems to want a halted VM.

On your first question, I'd expect a shutdown to throw away the captured memory, so the fast resume is gone for that copy until the next run rebuilds it. I'm going from the docs there rather than from experience.

Your second question I can't answer. I don't know the backup internals well enough to say whether changing the replica's state disturbs the chain, and I'd rather not guess when a wrong answer could cost you a backup.

[Dezerd]

Thanks for this first reply.

So how restart a VM create :

• with a CR job
• with the snapshot with memory
• and keep the backup chain healthy?

For now, I'm using the "With memory" option because I think it's the best choice for reliably restoring VMs such as an AD or a SQL Server database. Am I wrong?