KVM QCOW2 Live backup

README.md

Live backup of KVM virtual machines

This script will let you make backups of live VMs running on KVM, using libvirt.

The backup job will suspend the VM for the time it takes to copy the RAM to disk.

Credits: Luca Lazzeroni

I've made some minor adjustments.

kvm-backup.sh

#!/bin/bash
# A simple backup script for kvm
# Original source: http://soliton74.blogspot.no/2013/08/about-kvm-qcow2-live-backup.html
#
# Author: Luca Lazzeroni <luca.lazzeroni74@gmail.it>
# Web: http://soliton74.blogspot.it
#
# Patched by: Tim Miller Dyck
#
# Patched by: Runar Ingebrigtsen <runar@voit.no>
# Web: http://rin.no
#
####################################################
# This script is shared as-is. Do whatever you want.
####################################################

# Default base backup path -- this directory will be created if it does not already exist
BKPATH="/srv/vmdata/backup"

# String to match in list of VM block devices
VMDATAMATCH="qcow2"

# Maximum history of VM backups allowed (e.g. 2 means keep the current backup and one previous backup)
MAXBACKUP=2

# Default email (an empty string means no e-mail will be sent)
TARGET_EMAIL=""

# Default sender email
SENDER_NAME="VM Backup"
SENDER_EMAIL="vmbackup@voit.no"

########################################

LOGLINES=""

# logging function

function logLineLocal() {
  ORA=$(date +"%D %H:%M:%S")  
  echo "$ORA - $@"
}

function logLine() {
  ORA=$(date +"%D %H:%M:%S")  
  echo "$ORA - $@"
  LOGLINES+="$ORA - $@\n"
}

# if needed, send log via mail

function doExit() {
  # Compose message and send it
  if [ "x$TARGET_EMAIL" != "x" ]; then
    local MESSAGE="To: $TARGET_EMAIL\nSubject: "
    if [ $1 -eq 0 ]; then
      MESSAGE+="Backup ##OK##\n\n$LOGLINES\n"
    else
      MESSAGE+="Backup ##FAILED##\n\n$LOGLINES\n"
    fi
    echo -e $MESSAGE | sendmail -f$SENDER_EMAIL -F"$SENDER_NAME" $TARGET_EMAIL
  fi
  exit $1
}

# get domain info

function checkDomain() {
  local VMNAME=$1
  DOMINFO=$(virsh dominfo $VMNAME 2> /dev/null)
  if [ "x$DOMINFO" == "x" ]; then
    logLine "Cannot find domain $VMNAME"
    doExit 1
  fi
}

# get vm devices

function getVMBlockDevs() {
  local VMNAME=$1
  # Filter list of all block devices by VMDATAMATCH, and strip string to full path
  BLOCKDEVS=$(virsh domblklist $VMNAME 2> /dev/null | grep "$VMDATAMATCH" | sed -e 's/.* //')
  if [ "x$BLOCKDEVS" == "x" ]; then
    logLine "Cannot get block device list for domain. Exit."
    doExit 1
  fi
}

# abort block copy job
function abortCopy() {
  logLine "Cancel job for disk $2 on vm $1"
  virsh blockjob $1 $2 --abort 2> /dev/null
}

# abort all block copy jobs
function abortAllJobs() {
  logLine "Cancelling all block-copy jobs"
  for i in $BLOCKDEVS; do
    abortCopy $1 $i 2> /dev/null
  done
}

# save vm state (RAM) - this will power off the VM
function saveVMState() {
  local VMNAME=$1
  logLine "Saving VM memory for $VMNAME"
  logLine $(virsh save $VMNAME $BKPATH/$VMNAME-memory --running 2>&1)
}

# dump XML domain definition
function dumpVMdefinition() {
  local VMNAME=$1
  local DUMPNAME="$BKPATH/$VMNAME.xml"
  logLine "Dumping definition of $VMNAME to $DUMPNAME"
  virsh dumpxml --security-info $VMNAME > $DUMPNAME 2> /dev/null
  if [ $? -eq 1 ]; then
    logLine "VM $1 doesn't exists"
    doExit 1
  fi
}

# Make the VM transient
function undefineVM() {
  local VMNAME=$1
  logLine "Destroying vm definition for VM $VMNAME"
  logLine $(virsh undefine $VMNAME)
}

# Suspend the VM
function suspendVM() {
  local VMNAME=$1
  logLine "Suspending vm $VMNAME"
  logLine $(virsh suspend $VMNAME)
}

# restore VM state. this is necessary because the save-vm stop the vm 
function restoreVMState() {
  local VMNAME=$1
  logLine "Restoring vm $VMNAME"
  logLine $(virsh restore $BKPATH/$VMNAME-memory --running)
}

# restore VM definition
function defineVM() {
  local VMNAME=$1
  logLine "Restoring VM definition for vm $VMNAME"
  logLine $(virsh define $BKPATH/$VMNAME.xml)
}

function safeExit() {
  # exit recoverying vm
  local VMNAME=$1
  local MESSAGE=$2
  logLine $MESSAGE
  # abort all jobs
  abortAllJobs $VMNAME
  # re-define domain
  defineVM $VMNAME
  # exit
  logLine "Safe exit done."
  doExit 1
}

# start the blockcopy job
function copyBlock() {
  local VMNAME=$1
  local DISKNAME=$2
  local BAKNAME="$BKPATH/$(basename "$DISKNAME")"
  logLine "Copying disk $DISKNAME for vm $VMNAME into file $BAKNAME..."
  virsh blockcopy $VMNAME $DISKNAME $BAKNAME 2> /dev/null
  if [ $? -gt 0 ]; then
    safeExit $VMNAME "Problem starting blockcopy"
  fi
  local PROGRESS=0
  until [ $PROGRESS -eq 100 ]; do
    PROGRESS=$(virsh blockjob $VMNAME $DISKNAME 2>&1 | egrep -o "([0-9]{1,3})")
    if [ "x$PROGRESS" == "x" ]; then
      safeExit $VMNAME "BlockJob aborted. Disk full ?"
    fi
    logLineLocal "Copying... $PROGRESS %"
    sleep 5;
  done
}

function getBackupName() {
  # compose the backup name
  local VMNAME=$1
  local BACKUP_IDX=$2
  echo "$BKPATH/$VMNAME/backup-$BACKUP_IDX" 
}

function getLastBackupName() {
  local VMNAME=$1
  local VMBACKUP_IDX=$((MAXBACKUP-1))
  getBackupName "$VMNAME" $VMBACKUP_IDX
}

function fixPath() {
  # get real backup path for a vm
  local VMNAME=$1
  local BASEPATH="$BKPATH/$VMNAME"
  local OLDER_BACKUP_PATH=$(getBackupName $VMNAME $MAXBACKUP)
  # rotate backup
  let BKCNT=$((MAXBACKUP-2))
  while [ $BKCNT -ge 0 ]; do
      let PREVBKCNT=$((BKCNT+1))
      local BKPREV=$(getBackupName $VMNAME $PREVBKCNT)
      local BK=$(getBackupName $VMNAME $BKCNT)
      logLine "Check for move $BK => $BKPREV"
      if [ -d "$BKPREV" ] && [ -d "$BK" ]; then
        logLine "Remove old backup $BKPREV"
        # safety measure
        mv $BKPREV "$BKPATH/$VMNAME/to-be-removed"
        if [ -f "$BKPATH/$VMNAME/to-be-removed/$VMNAME.xml" ]; then
          logLine "Safely remove old backup directory"
          rm -rf "$BKPATH/$VMNAME/to-be-removed"
        else
          logLine "Cannot remove old backup directory. Not a backup."
          doExit 1
        fi
      fi
      if [ -d "$BK" ]; then
        logLine "Rename $BK to $BKPREV"
        mv $BK $BKPREV
      fi
      let BKCNT-=1
  done
  # fix the global-path
  BKPATH=$(getBackupName $VMNAME 0)
  # create the backup directory
  mkdir -p "$BKPATH"
  if [ $? -gt 0 ]; then
    logLine "Problem creating backup path. Exiting."
    doExit 1
  fi
  # fix permissions
  chown -R libvirt-qemu:kvm "$BASEPATH"
}

function checkDiskSpace() {
  local VMNAME=$1
  logLine "Checking required disk space"
  let VMREQSPACE=0
  # get free space on volume
  local DSPACE=$(df "$BKPATH" | grep -v "Available" | awk '{ print $4 }')
  if [ "x$DSPACE" == "x" ]; then
    logFile "Unable to detect disk space for vm"
    doExit 1
  fi
  # for each blockdev get space
  for i in $BLOCKDEVS; do
    local BLKSPACE=$(virsh domblkinfo $VMNAME $i | grep "Physical:" | awk '{ print $2 }')
    local KILOBLKSPACE=$((BLKSPACE / 1024))
    logLine "Device $i requires $KILOBLKSPACE Kbytes"
    let VMREQSPACE+=$KILOBLKSPACE
  done 
  # get memory size (for calculating disk memory needed)
  MEMSIZE=$(virsh dominfo $VMNAME | grep "Max memory" | awk '{ print $3 }')
  if [ "x$MEMSIZE" == "x" ]; then
    logLine "Cannot find VM required memory size"
    doExit 1
  fi
  logLine "VM memory size is $MEMSIZE Kbytes" 
  local VMROUNDMEMSIZE=$(awk "BEGIN{ print int($MEMSIZE*1.2) }")
  logLine "VM memory requirement scaled to $VMROUNDMEMSIZE Kbytes"
  # Add extra 4Gb for memory and xml
  let VMREQSPACE+=$VMROUNDMEMSIZE  
  logLine "Total space required by backup is $VMREQSPACE Kilobytes"
  # get space used by last backup (which will be thrown away)
  local LASTBACKUPNAME=$(getLastBackupName $VMNAME)
  local LASTBACKUPSPACE=$(du -s $LASTBACKUPNAME 2> /dev/null | awk '{ print $1 }')
  if [ "x$LASTBACKUPSPACE" == "x" ]; then
    LASTBACKUPSPACE=0
  fi
  logLine "Last backup $LASTBACKUPNAME occupies $LASTBACKUPSPACE Kbytes"
  # subtract the last backup space from VMREQSPACE
  let VMREQSPACE-=$((LASTBACKUPSPACE))
  # now get available space on device
  local MBSPACEFREE=$((DSPACE / 1024))
  local MBSPACEREQUIRED=$((VMREQSPACE / 1024))
  if [ $DSPACE -lt $VMREQSPACE ]; then
    logLine "Cannot make backup; only ${MBSPACEFREE}Mb avaliable. Minimum needed space is ${MBSPACEREQUIRED}Mb."
    doExit 1
  else
    logLine "Backup possibile: ${MBSPACEFREE}Mb availables vs ${MBSPACEREQUIRED}Mb required."
  fi
}

function backupVM() {
  local VMNAME=$1

  # create the base backup directory if it does not exist and set correct ownership
  mkdir -p "$BKPATH"
  if [ $? -gt 0 ]; then
    logLine "Problem creating base backup directory. Exiting."
    doExit 1
  fi

  # set permissions
  chown -R libvirt-qemu:kvm "$BKPATH"

  # start backup
  logLine "Backup of $VMNAME started"

  # get vm block devices
  getVMBlockDevs $VMNAME

  # check disk space
  checkDiskSpace $VMNAME

  # fix/rotate path
  fixPath $VMNAME
  # dump the vm definition
  dumpVMdefinition $VMNAME
  # make it transient
  undefineVM $VMNAME
  # copy all block devices
  for i in $BLOCKDEVS; do
    copyBlock $VMNAME $i
  done

  # suspend vm (needed to suspend I/O and abort jobs)
  suspendVM $VMNAME
  # abort jobs
  abortAllJobs $VMNAME
  # save vm state and power it off
  saveVMState $VMNAME
  # restore VM state. this is necessary because the save-vm stop the vm 
  restoreVMState $VMNAME
  # restore vm definition
  defineVM $VMNAME

  # end backup
  logLine "Backup of $VMNAME finished"
}

function show_help() {
  echo "bkvm [options] domainname"
  echo -e "\nwith [options] assuming following values:"
  echo "-h or -?          show this help"
  echo "-t DIR            set target directory for backup"
  echo "-m [1-4]          set number of backup to keep" 
  echo "-e EMAIL          send log via mail to address"
}


#
# MAIN CODE
#

while getopts "h?t:m:e:" opt; do
  case "$opt" in
    h|\?)
      show_help
      exit 0
      ;;
    t)
      logLine "Target set to $OPTARG"
      BKPATH=$OPTARG
      ;;
    m)
      if [ "x$OPTARG" == "x" ] || [ $OPTARG -le 0 ] || [ $OPTARG -gt 4 ]; then
        logLine "Invalid number of backups to keep specified. It must be between 1 and 4."
        exit 1
      fi
      logLine "Number of backups to keep set to $OPTARG"
      MAXBACKUP=$OPTARG
      ;;
    e)
      logLine "Sending email to $OPTARG"
      TARGET_EMAIL=$OPTARG
      ;;
  esac
done
shift $((OPTIND-1))

# Parse remaining options

if [ "$1" == "" ]; then
  logLine "Missing VM name"
  exit 1;
fi

# go
VM=$1

# check if vm exists
checkDomain $VM

# finally do the backup
backupVM $VM

# exit and eventually send logs
doExit 0

Hi @ringe. This is great however I couldn't get it to work without these changes:

L168: local BAKNAME="$BKPATH/$VMNAME-backup.qcow2"
L170: virsh blockcopy $VMNAME $DISKNAME $BAKNAME

The error I was getting prior to L168 change was:

error: Failed to create file '/backupFilePathNotDisplayed/vmfile-backup.qcow2': No such file or directory

Thanks.

hi @grantcarthew, @ringe

same issue here kvm running on ubuntu 14.04 LTS Server. Changed the part in function copyBlock():

local BAKNAME="$BKPATH/$(basename "$DISKNAME")"
logLine "Copying disk $DISKNAME for vm $VMNAME into file $BAKNAME..."
touch $BAKNAME
chown libvirt-qemu:kvm $BAKNAME
chmod 0777 $BAKNAME
#ls -lah $BAKNAME
virsh blockcopy $VMNAME $DISKNAME $BAKNAME #2> /dev/null

strangly one VM works, out of eight VM - same permissions on folders, got the hint to touch the file before ad set permissions to libvirt-qemu user - from: https://www.virtkick.com/docs/how-to-perform-a-live-backup-on-your-kvm-virtual-machines.html

any idea welcome ...

kiilo

Hi,
This script is very usefull, but i have a newbee question : how to restore a VM using these backups?
Thanks.
chris

Hello,
Im getting the error: "Missing VM Name".
How to solve it ?
Tks

Hi, I needed to make the same BAKNAME filename change on line 168 as others above. I'm using this with Ubuntu 18.04. Without this change, the $DISKNAME variable has the full path starting from the root and results in an invalid BAKNAME. The $VMNAME is already included in $BKPATH also by this point in the script.

-  local BAKNAME="$BKPATH/$VMNAME-$DISKNAME-backup.qcow2"
+  local BAKNAME="$BKPATH/$(basename "$DISKNAME")"

Regards,
Tim Miller Dyck

Thanks for the feedback, I've changed line 168

Hello,
I am getting the error: "VM name missing".
How can we solve this?

VM name missing is because you didn't pass the first argument. See the help description.

Hello ringe,

thank you for this script ! I've the same problem as mgvl "VM name missing" but I don't understand where to "see the help description" ?

Julien

Hi Julien. Sorry or the late response.

You get the help description by running the script with -h argument

Also, see line 337 above