VMware

The VMware integration backs up virtual machines managed by a vCenter Server and restores them to vSphere. Each source targets a single virtual machine, and each backup captures its disks along with the configuration needed to recreate it.

The integration includes two connectors:

Requirements

• A vCenter Server reachable from the machine running Plakar.
• vSphere credentials for that vCenter Server.

Installation

The VMware integration is distributed as a pre-built package only. Unlike most Community integrations, it has no public source repository, so plakar pkg build cannot produce it. It remains free to install with a Plakar account. See source availability for how this differs from the other integrations.

Install the VMware package:

$ plakar pkg add vmware

Verify installation:

$ plakar pkg show

To list, upgrade, or remove the package, see managing packages guide.

Identifying a virtual machine

The location of a source or destination selects the virtual machine by its vCenter instance UUID, for example vmware://<instance-uuid>. The vCenter Server and the datacenter containing the virtual machine are set separately with vsphere_server and vsphere_datacenter.

The vSphere Client does not display the instance UUID. The UUID in the URL of a virtual machine page belongs to the vCenter Server, not to the virtual machine, and the UUID reported inside the guest operating system is a different identifier. Retrieve the instance UUID with a vSphere API tool such as govc, where it is exposed as the config.instanceUuid property of the virtual machine. For a virtual machine named myvm in the Datacenter datacenter:

$ export GOVC_URL=vcenter.example.com
$ export GOVC_USERNAME=<username>
$ export GOVC_PASSWORD=<password>
$ govc object.collect -s /Datacenter/vm/myvm config.instanceUuid
421b9d3a-8c2e-4f1a-9b7d-3e5f6a7b8c9d

A virtual machine inside a folder is addressed by its full inventory path, such as /Datacenter/vm/production/myvm.

How a backup works

A backup starts by taking a temporary vSphere snapshot of the virtual machine. Plakar reads the disks from that snapshot, so the virtual machine keeps running during the backup. Alongside the disks, it stores the configuration needed to recreate the virtual machine. The snapshot is removed once the backup completes.

Transport modes

A backup transfers disks in one of two modes, set with transport_mode, and the mode decides the format the disks are stored in.

nbd is the default. It replaces the former vmware+nbd protocol, and no longer needs a separate NBD server. nfchttp produces the stream-optimized VMDK files earlier versions of the integration produced.

How a restore works

The location of a destination determines whether a restore overwrites an existing virtual machine or creates a new one:

• In place, with vmware://<instance-uuid>. Plakar replaces the disks of the virtual machine with that instance UUID with the disks from the snapshot. The snapshot must have been taken from that same virtual machine. A running virtual machine is shut down before the swap and started again afterwards. The disks it had before the restore are deleted.
• As a new virtual machine, with vmware://spawn. Plakar creates a virtual machine from the configuration and disks stored in the snapshot, under the original name, adding a suffix if that name is already in use. The new virtual machine is left powered off.

Network adapters

A virtual machine restored as new is attached to networks in the target environment according to network_adapter_restore_mode:

• preserve maps each network of the original virtual machine to a compatible network of the same name in the target environment. The restore fails if any of them is missing. This is the default.
• disconnected attaches every adapter to the port group set in network_recovery_port_group and leaves it disconnected. The virtual machine can then be started without reaching any network, for example to inspect it after a ransomware incident.
• remove creates the virtual machine without network adapters.

Data flow

Backup flow

flowchart LR

subgraph Source["vSphere"]
  VM["Virtual Machine"]
  Snap["Temporary snapshot"]
  VM --> Snap
end

Via["Disk transfer
nbd or nfchttp"]

Plakar["Plakar"]

Transform["Encrypt & deduplicate"]

Store["Kloset Store"]

Snap --> Via --> Plakar --> Transform --> Store

Restore flow

flowchart LR

Store["Kloset Store"]

Plakar["Plakar"]

Transform["Decrypt & reconstruct"]

Via["vSphere API
over HTTPS"]

subgraph Destination["vSphere"]
  VM["Existing or new
Virtual Machine"]
end

Store --> Plakar --> Transform --> Via --> VM

Configuration

Shared configuration

The following options apply to both source and destination connectors.

Source configuration

When nsx_url is set, the backup also captures the NSX network state of the virtual machine from the NSX Manager.

Destination configuration

Examples

Back up a virtual machine as raw disks, the default:

$ plakar source add myvm vmware://421b9d3a-8c2e-4f1a-9b7d-3e5f6a7b8c9d \
  vsphere_server=vcenter.example.com \
  vsphere_datacenter=Datacenter \
  vsphere_username=<username> \
  vsphere_password=<password>

$ plakar at /var/backups backup "@myvm"

Back up the same virtual machine as stream-optimized VMDK instead:

$ plakar source add myvm-vmdk vmware://421b9d3a-8c2e-4f1a-9b7d-3e5f6a7b8c9d \
  vsphere_server=vcenter.example.com \
  vsphere_datacenter=Datacenter \
  vsphere_username=<username> \
  vsphere_password=<password> \
  transport_mode=nfchttp

Restore a snapshot in place onto the virtual machine it was taken from:

$ plakar destination add myvm-inplace vmware://421b9d3a-8c2e-4f1a-9b7d-3e5f6a7b8c9d \
  vsphere_server=vcenter.example.com \
  vsphere_datacenter=Datacenter \
  vsphere_username=<username> \
  vsphere_password=<password>

$ plakar at /var/backups restore -to "@myvm-inplace" <snapshot_id>

Restore a snapshot as a new virtual machine with its network adapters disconnected:

$ plakar destination add myvm-restore vmware://spawn \
  vsphere_server=vcenter.example.com \
  vsphere_datacenter=Datacenter \
  vsphere_username=<username> \
  vsphere_password=<password> \
  network_adapter_restore_mode=disconnected \
  network_recovery_port_group=quarantine

$ plakar at /var/backups restore -to "@myvm-restore" <snapshot_id>

See also

• VMware in Plakar Control Plane
• Managing packages