[libvirt-users] snapshot of running vm's

Hi, i'd like to create snapshots of my running vm's. I have several hosts with SLES11 SP4 64bit. I use libvirt 1.2.5-7.1 . VM's are Windows 7, SLES, Ubuntu, Opensuse. I use raw files for the vm's. I try to orientate myself by http://wiki.libvirt.org/page/Live-disk-backup-with-active-blockcommit . The hosts are backuped every night by a network based backup solution (Legato). My idea is: - delete any existing snapshot - create a new snapshot - of course before Legato arrives - then Legato might come and saves my snapshot - next night the same Questions: When I delete a snapshot, is it merged automatically with its base image ? Or is it something I have to do explicitly (maybe via blockcommit) ? How can I get rid of the unused snapshot afterwards ? just rm ? Because I'm doing a live backup do I need to create an external snapshot ? To create an external snapshot do I have to provide --disk-only ? Do I have to provide --live as a parameter ? I tried --quiesce but got that message: virsh # snapshot-create --domain sles11 --atomic --disk-only --quiesce error: argument unsupported: QEMU guest agent is not configured The system I'm testing with is SLES11 SP4 (host and guest). I installed the guest agent: vm58820-8:~ # rpm -q qemu-guest-agent qemu-guest-agent-2.0.2-1.35 Is there something I have to configure ? Is this way of backup a good solution ? Is there something to improve, something I have to take care of ? Is this backup consistent ? Does that all work with libvirt 1.2.5-7.1 or do I need a more recent version (what I don't like because I tried already to update my libvirt but had tons of dependencies) ? I know. A lot of questions. But it's a backup, and I wanted to be sure that it operates properly. Thanks. Bernd -- Bernd Lentes Systemadministration institute of developmental genetics Gebäude 35.34 - Raum 208 HelmholtzZentrum München bernd.lentes(a)helmholtz-muenchen.de phone: +49 (0)89 3187 1241 fax: +49 (0)89 3187 2294 Wer Visionen hat soll zum Hausarzt gehen Helmut Schmidt Helmholtz Zentrum Muenchen Deutsches Forschungszentrum fuer Gesundheit und Umwelt (GmbH) Ingolstaedter Landstr. 1 85764 Neuherberg www.helmholtz-muenchen.de Aufsichtsratsvorsitzende: MinDir'in Baerbel Brumme-Bothe Geschaeftsfuehrer: Prof. Dr. Guenther Wess, Dr. Nikolaus Blum, Dr. Alfons Enhsen Registergericht: Amtsgericht Muenchen HRB 6466 USt-IdNr: DE 129521671