How to backup SolusIO VPS manually?

Question

How to backup SolusIO VPS manually?

Answer

1. Connect to Compute Resource via SSH
2. Create the directories for snapshots and backups:

   # mkdir /home/snapshots && mkdir /home/backups

3. Find the VPS image file path:

   # virsh domblklist UUID | grep sda | awk {'print $2'}

   Command example:

   # virsh domblklist 9a29b8b6-ded3-4a59-9381-8ab52b823dbf | grep sda | awk {'print $2'}
   # /var/lib/libvirt/images/409/f9616495b867f6b3c65fa7fb7b833128

   The VPS UUID that can be found on VPS page at SolusIO > Virtual Servers > VPS:

   Click to expand the image

   

4. Freeze the VPS filesystem:

   # virsh domfsfreeze UUID
   

5. Create the VPS snapshot:

   # virsh snapshot-create-as --domain UUID SNAPSHOT_NAME --diskspec sda,file=SNAPSHOT_PATH --disk-only --atomic

   Command example:

   # virsh snapshot-create-as --domain 9a29b8b6-ded3-4a59-9381-8ab52b823dbf vps_snap --diskspec sda,file=/home/snapshots/vps_snap.qcow2 --disk-only --atomic

6. Unfreeze the VPS filesystem:

   # virsh domfsthaw UUID

7. Create the main VPS image backup using the image path from step 2:

   # qemu-img convert -O qcow2 IMAGE_PATH BACKUP_FILE

   Command example:

   # qemu-img convert -O qcow2 /var/lib/libvirt/images/409/f9616495b867f6b3c65fa7fb7b833128 /home/backups/vps_back.qcow2

8. After copying is finished merge changes written to snapshot, back to original disk image. This operation is called 'active block commit':

   # virsh blockcommit UUID hda --active --pivot --shallow --verbose

The VPS image backup will be stored in the file /home/backups/vps_back.qcow2