Snapshot backup

The backup process involves taking a snapshot of the data volume and securely storing it for future recovery.

Procedure

Create a folder for saving the snapshots:

mkdir /var/lib/libvirt/images/hpvs/snap-image

Take a snapshot:

virsh snapshot-create-as --domain <domain-name> <snapshot-name> --diskspec <volume1>,file=<path where snapshot-image 1 will be saved> --diskspec <volume2>,file=<path where snapshot-image 2 will be saved> --disk-only --atomic

Sample output:


 # virsh snapshot-create-as --domain goveng guest-state1 --diskspec vdc,file=/var/lib/libvirt/images/hpvs/snap-image/snapshotimg.qcow2 --diskspec vdb,snapshot=no --diskspec vda,snapshot=no  --disk-only --atomic
 Domain snapshot guest-state1 created

View the snapshot:
```
virsh snapshot-list <vm_name> 
```
List the block devices:
```
virsh domblklist <vm_name> 
```
After the backup completes, perform an active-blockcommit by live-merging the contents of snapshotimg.qcow2 into data volume.
```
virsh blockcommit <vm_name> vdc --active --verbose --pivot 
```
Shutdown the existing Governance Engine instance by running the following command:
```
virsh shutdown <domain-name>
```

Verify the instance status:

virsh list --all

Sample output:

# virsh list --all
  Id   Name           State
------------------------------
  1    goveng   shutoff

Change the directory to snapshot directory:
```
cd /var/lib/libvirt/images/hpvs/snap-image
```

Convert the snapshot to an independent image:

qemu-img convert -O qcow2 -c <snapshot-image> <independent-image>

Copy the converted image to the target LPAR.