Exporting a Snapshot

Before you can export a snapshot, you must create and mount the folder to which the export(s) will be transferred, as follows:

1. Create a network-mounted folder for a Windows/CIFS share or an NFS export in your environment where you can store VM exports.

   Ensure that you have enough storage for the VMs that you want to export. Also, set full read/write permissions on the network-mounted folder to permit file transfers, or, for a Windows/CIFS share only, assign read/write permissions to a specific user on the system/domain that hosts the share. Record the location and settings of the NFS export or CIFS share, which you will specify in a later step.

2. Log on to the everRun system with the everRun Availability Console.
3. On the Physical Machines page, verify that both PMs are in the running state and that neither PM is in maintenance mode or in the process of synchronizing. See The Physical Machines Page. Also, make note of which PM is the primary node. In the list in the top pane, the primary node is marked as noden (primary).

4. Obtain the IP address of the primary node, if you do not already know it. For example, on the Preferences page, click IP Configuration. Click the Noden IP tab for the primary node and record the IP Address value.

5. Use a secure shell (ssh) utility to log on to the host operating system (host OS) of the primary node of the everRun system, where you will mount the folder. Log on as the root user.

   The next step shows how to use the ftxmnt script to automatically mount the folder. The script should work in most cases, but you can also manually mount the folder by executing standard mount commands if needed.

   Notes:  

   • If you manually mount the NFS export or Windows/CIFS share in the host OS of the everRun system, you must create the mount point at /mnt/ft-export, where the export process expects to find it. (If you use the ftxmnt script, it automatically creates this mount point.)
   • If you want the mount to persist when you reboot the everRun system, manually add an entry to the /etc/ftstab file in the host OS of the everRun system. (The ftxmnt script does not modify the /etc/ftstab file.)
   • You need to mount the NFS export or Windows/CIFS share only on the primary node of the everRun system, but you can optionally add the mount to the /etc/ftstab file on both nodes so it is always available even if the primary node changes.
   • If you mount a Windows/CIFS share that requires a password, and the password changes after the mount, you need to unmount the folder and mount it again with the new password; otherwise, the export may fail unexpectedly.

6. To automatically mount the NFS export or Windows/CIFS share, execute the ftxmnt script and respond to the interactive prompts. For example, the following output shows how to mount a Windows/CIFS share (\\192.168.0.111\ExportVMs) that is accessible by a specific user account:

   [root@node0 /]# ftxmnt
   
   This script is meant to mount a Network Attached Storage location to use for exporting everRun virtual machines.
   Enter Ctrl-C to exit
   
   Enter n if you are mounting an nfs share, enter w if you are entering a windows share: w
   What is the IP address or the computer name of the file server?
   192.168.0.111
   What is the name of the share you wish to mount?
   ExportVMs
   
   Does this share require authentication? (y/n):

   Respond y to the prompt above if the share requires authentication. When you respond y, the following prompts appear:

   • What is your username?

     Enter your domain\username.

   If the share does not require authentication, you must type y (if you type n, you will be unable to mount a CIFS share). For Username, enter a guest username, and for Password, enter an empty password.

   The following message appears:

   Successfully mounted folder \\192.168.0.111\ExportVMs at path /mnt/ft-export/

7. Switch to the /mnt/ft-export directory in the everRun host OS and create a file to verify that the export or share is present and that you have read/write permissions. For example:

   # touch test
   # ls
   test
   

   Confirm that the file also appears in the export or share on the remote system. If the file is not present or the everRun host OS displays an error, verify your mount settings and permissions.

8. Remove the test file.

   # rm test

Later, you want to unmount the export or share after exporting your virtual machines, switch out of the /mnt/ft-export directory and execute the umount command, as follows:

1. Log on to the everRun system with the everRun Availability Console.
2. On the Physical Machines page (see The Physical Machines Page), verify that both PMs are in the running state and that neither PM is in maintenance mode or in the process of synchronizing.
3. If you have not already done so, create a snapshot, as described in Creating a Snapshot.

4. On the Snapshots page, select the snapshot to export.

   Snapshots are usually in a normal state () the State column. If a snapshot is broken (), it may indicate that one or more volumes in the snapshot are unavailable for export. You can check volume availability in step 7.

5. Click Export.

6. In the Export Snapshot dialog box, type the path in /mnt/ft-export where you want the snapshot to be exported.

   For example, if you want the export process to create a new directory named ocean1 to store the OVF and VHD files, type ocean1. If you want the export process to create the ocean1 directory inside an existing directory named TestVMs, type TestVMs/ocean1.

7. Review the list of Captured Volumes and select the volumes to include in the export.

   In most cases, the dialog box shows that All Captured Volumes are available for Export on noden , the primary node. You can select any snapshots for export.

   If one or more snapshots are unavailable on the primary node (usually because the node was offline when the snapshot was taken), the dialog box allows you to select only the available snapshots. If necessary, you can cancel the export, ensure that both nodes are in the running state , and create a new snapshot for export.

8. Click Export Snapshot. The export begins, and the dialog box closes automatically.

If necessary, use the following information to resolve problems with the export process.

To clean up after a canceled or failed export from the everRun system

Remove the VM files from the export folder or create a new folder for a subsequent export.