@olivierlambert Here's how VirtualBox does it.
When the VM is the same as snapshot:
After the VM is run and has changed:
It also works when you have multiple different snapshots, or branches of snapshots - it will tell you which snapshot the current state is based on, and whether it has changed.
I guess in XO, you could have "Current State" or "Current State (changed)" next to the snapshot in the snapshots tab. Or icons representing them.
@olivierlambert Hmm, I haven't fully thought through all the implications, but doesn't this mean that the VMs we copy back to the original site are now "new" VMs, with unique UUIDs, etc? And things like log history, etc are all reset?
VM
Can we just export the VDI data from the backup and import it into the original VM? If the backup VM was run with a fast clone, will this work properly?
@phantomtypist Hi, see my latest reply or my edit to the OP for a workaround.
@tmllc I had that problem with an older version of Clonezilla. Are you using the latest Ubuntu based one? See my recent reply to this topic, there's a workaround that works for me.
Yes, I understand that. But in VirtualBox it is useful to know if the VM has been run since the snapshot.
Eg. I make a snapshot. I do some temporary changes. I revert back to snapshot. I go away and do something else.
Weeks later, I come back to the thing, and ask myself, "Did I remember to revert back to snapshot?"
Or the reverse scenario, where I am expecting the VM to be identical to the snapshot, but someone else in the team had actually done some temporary changes, so I have to go and ask them if they are still in the middle of using the VM or whether I can revert to snapshot.
After working with XCP support, it turns out that the culprit is the "nomodeset" parameter in Clonezilla boot options. (This is also in the "safe graphics mode" of a Ubuntu boot etc.)
Some problem in the Xen EFI VGA virtual adaptor causes this mode to not display properly.
Also, the W10 template has a parameter "platform:device_id=0002" which needs to be set to 0001 for Linuxes such as Clonezilla to work properly.
So, in order to boot to CZ from a W10 template machine, we do the following.
xe vm-param-set uuid=<UUID of your VM goes here, no brackets> platform:device_id=0001
Select KVM mode from the CZ startup menu.
Boot Clonezilla and press "e" at the starting menu to get to the boot options. Remove "nomodeset" and press F10 to boot.
When you are finished using CZ, run the command from step 1, but with "device_id=0002", to make it work with windows again.
I have 2 hosts at different sites, a primary and a backup.
I am using the Disaster Recovery Backup to mirror my VMs from the primary host to the backup.
Lets say one day I have a power outage at my primary site. So I fast clone and start up the VMs on my backup host, to continue the workload. These VMs will accumulate new data and changes etc.
Now power is restored to the primary site, and I want to capture the state of the VMs at the backup site and restore it to the primary site.
Whats the best way to do this? Can I do it without needing to destroy the VMs at the primary site? Can I copy the backups "into" the existing VMs at the primary site?
Hi, in VirtualBox, when you make a snapshot, the UI will show whether the current state of the VM has deviated from the latest snapshot.
Is there any equivalent in XO, or via command line?
@gn_ro Thanks, I'll give it a try.
@olivierlambert Hi, have you managed to test? Were you able to reproduce the issue?