This is a text-only version of the following page on https://raymii.org:
---
Title       : 	OpenVZ/Proxmox - pre-backup all container dump script
Author      : 	Remy van Elst
Date        : 	18-01-2015
URL         : 	https://raymii.org/s/software/OpenVZ_Proxmox_-_pre-backup_all_container_dump_script.html
Format      : 	Markdown/HTML
---



This simple script creates a vzdump of all the OpenVZ containers on a machine.
It can be used before an actual backup, in my case the actual backup excludes
the container path `/var/lib/vz/private`. This because a dump is easier to
backup because it has much less files in it.

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If I include the container path my backups take about 40% longer to run then
with only the dumps enabled.

Do note that the VM's by default are stopped a very short while. The `mode` is
`suspend`, which means that first an online copy of all the files is performed,
then the VM is stopped and the remaining changed files are synced. Afterwards
the VM is booted again.

The `mode` can also be `snapshot`, then it will take an LVM snapshot without any
downtime. You do need to have enough free space on your LVM volume.

The last mode is `stop`, which will shut down the VM before the dump and boot it
up afterwards. Long downtime includes.

### Script

    
    
    #!/bin/bash
    # Author: Remy van Elst, https://raymii.org
    # Small script to dump OpenVZ VM's before a backup. (pre-backup scripts)
    # License: GNU GPLv3
    
    BACKUPDIR="/var/backups/vz/$(date +%Y%m%d)"
    MODE=suspend
    if [[ ! -d "$BACKUDIRP" ]]; then
        mkdir -p "$BACKUPDIR"
    fi
    
    vzdump "${vmid}" --stdexcludes --mode=${MODE} --dumpdir=${BACKUPDIR} --compress=gzip --all
    

My backup software allows me to run scripts before and after a backup, so called
pre and post backup scripts. This is a pre-backup script. You can also have a
post backup script which cleans up these temp dump files after the backup has
succeeded.

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---

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