Chapter 8. The Backup and Restore API

Procedure 8.1. Backing Up a Virtual Machine

1. Using the REST API, create a snapshot of the virtual machine to back up:

   POST /ovirt-engine/api/vms/11111111-1111-1111-1111-111111111111/snapshots/ HTTP/1.1
   Accept: application/xml
   Content-type: application/xml
   
   <snapshot>
       <description>BACKUP</description>
   </snapshot>

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   Note

   When you take a snapshot of a virtual machine, a copy of the configuration data of the virtual machine as at the time the snapshot was taken is stored in the data attribute of the configuration attribute in initialization under the snapshot.

   Important

   You cannot take snapshots of disks that are marked as shareable or that are based on direct LUN disks.
2. Retrieve the configuration data of the virtual machine from the data attribute under the snapshot:

   GET /ovirt-engine/api/vms/11111111-1111-1111-1111-111111111111/snapshots/11111111-1111-1111-1111-111111111111 HTTP/1.1
   Accept: application/xml
   Content-type: application/xml

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3. Identify the disk ID and snapshot ID of the snapshot:

   GET /ovirt-engine/api/vms/11111111-1111-1111-1111-111111111111/snapshots/11111111-1111-1111-1111-111111111111/disks HTTP/1.1
   Accept: application/xml
   Content-type: application/xml

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4. Attach the snapshot to the backup virtual machine and activate the disk:

   POST /ovirt-engine/api/vms/22222222-2222-2222-2222-222222222222/disks/ HTTP/1.1
   Accept: application/xml
   Content-type: application/xml
   
   <disk id="11111111-1111-1111-1111-111111111111">
       <snapshot id="11111111-1111-1111-1111-111111111111"/>
       <active>true</active>
   </disk>
   

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5. Use the backup software on the backup virtual machine to back up the data on the snapshot disk.
6. Detach the snapshot disk from the backup virtual machine:

   DELETE /ovirt-engine/api/vms/22222222-2222-2222-2222-222222222222/disks/11111111-1111-1111-1111-111111111111 HTTP/1.1
   Accept: application/xml
   Content-type: application/xml
   
   <action>
       <detach>true</detach>
   </action>
   

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7. Optionally, delete the snapshot:

   DELETE /ovirt-engine/api/vms/11111111-1111-1111-1111-111111111111/snapshots/11111111-1111-1111-1111-111111111111 HTTP/1.1
   Accept: application/xml
   Content-type: application/xml

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