Need help getting backups configured
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I've been using XCP-ng for around 1.5-2 years, and I still don't have any backup settings configured. I really need to get this figured out, and I just keep getting stuck every time.
I'll explain my (quite meager) setup first, before I explain what my hurdles are
- 2 x Local Storage (78GB and 300GB). Both are thick provisioned. (XCP-ng is installed on the 78GB disk)
- 6 x removable drives varying from 2TB up to 12TB, all passed through to OMV
- 2 x VMs: OpenMediaVault (OMV) and Ubuntu
I try to snapshot Ubuntu (on the 78GB drive). It's a 40GB disk. When I try to snap it, I get an "There is insufficient space" error. And yes, I've read the documentation and realize it's a limitation of thick provisioning. It's just barely bigger than 50% of the disk.
I try to snapshot OMV (on the 300GB drive). It's a 10GB disk, however since it has all the removable disks attached, I get "SR_OPERATION_NOT_SUPPORTED".
As far as backups go, I want to at least be able to take snapshots of these two disks (but if I can't snapshot OMV, I'll live). I realize if I moved the Ubuntu VM to the 300GB drive, I'd be able to snap it. I just want to know what's possible. Is it possible to move both VMs to the 300GB disk, and reprovision the 78GB drive as thin?
Essentially, the config I was hoping to achieve is:
- 78GB disk: 2 x VMs (both snapshot-able)
- 300GB disk: Disaster Recovery
Is this achievable?
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Hopefully someone will jump in with some suggestions for you, but I just wanted to point out the following --
Snapshots <> Backups
HTH, Dan
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@danp Yep. Well aware. But let's both admit that snapshots are categorized by XCP-ng under "Backups". I want snapshots for rollback purposes before making serious changes to either server. OMV doesn't see many serious changes, so it's less critical. While I'm focused more on Snapshots at the moment (I have some serious changes I want to make to the Ubuntu server), as you can see, I also mentioned DR.
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Bump. Really would appreciate help on this.
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@nuentes said in Need help getting backups configured:
It's just barely bigger than 50% of the disk.
That's the problem on non-thin storage. During the initial snap phase, you'll create another volume exactly the size of the current one. If you are using one volume that's 50,00001% of the total SR size, it won't fit. Even if it will be deflated afterward, during the initial snap, it's a no go.
Also, thin or thick isn't on VM disk level, but storage level. You need to export or move your VM elsewhere, recreate the storage as thin, and you are good to go.
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@olivierlambert Ok, so temporarily moving both VMs to the larger disk, and then recreating the 78GB storage (which is on the same physical disk that hosts XCP-ng) as thin is a viable solution to be able to start taking snapshots on this drive?
I suppose I wanted to be sure it was viable before I pulled the trigger on it. After doing this, I would be able to dedicate the larger drive to DR.
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On a thin volume, it will only use the "real" space in the VM, so if you are using 40 or 50GiB, yes it will fit on the 78GiB storage
