Simple KVM backups with tar and rsync

In this recipe, we are going to create a backup of a KVM instance using tar and rsync and store it on a remote server. This is the easiest way to backup a KVM instance. In the next few recipes, we are going to create snapshots and use them as a cold backup.

Getting ready

For this extremely simple recipe, we are going to need:

• A libvirt host with a running KVM instance, using an image file as its backing store
• The tar and rsync Linux utilities
• A remote server to transfer the backup

How to do it...

To back up a virtual machine using tar and rsync, perform the following steps:

1. Create the backup directory and change to it:

root@kvm:~# mkdir backup_kvm1 && cd backup_kvm1
root@kvm:~/backup_kvm1#

2. Find the location of the image file of the KVM guest:

root@kvm:~/backup_kvm1# virsh dumpxml kvm1 | grep "source file"
 <source file='/var/lib/libvirt/images/kvm1.img'/>
root@kvm:~/backup_kvm1#

3. Save the current instance configuration to disk:

root@kvm:~/backup_kvm1...