Is there any cloud backup solution for virtualbox for production

[Peter Cheung]

Hi
Is there any cloud backup solution for virtualbox for production?
Thanks
Peter

[socratis]

Cloud... backup... production... Those are 3 words that are open to interpretation. Can you be more specific, what exactly is that you're asking for?

[Peter Cheung]

I have some VMs runnint on top of virtual box. I want to backup it to cloud storage.

[scottgus1]

Oracle sells 'Oracle Cloud Infrastructure', which apparently allows uploading exported VMs as OVAs to Oracle servers. Emphasis on 'sells', therefore untested by me. (they offer a free limited test account, but they still want a credit card to sign up, so I passed.)

Exporting and cloning aren't recommended for backing up a VM. Either process changes some guest settings, and a change in the guest means there's no way to confirm the backup. Additionally, Export tries to match the older OVA format and is intended for using a guest under another hypervisor besides Virtualbox. The OVA format is not compatible with encrypted guests: guests must be decrypted to export. Activated guests and apps may deactivate when ex/imported.

A simple file copy of the shut-down (not save-stated) guest folder with all files therein, as well as the guest disk files if they are not in the guest folder, serves as a complete backup of the activated guest.

You can copy the above folder and files to any backup media you wish, including cloud storage if you have a provider who will let you upload several dozens or hundreds of GB on a regular basis. Mind the terms of service of your cloud provider, be sure they will keep your files for as long as they are in business and not dump them after a time if you delete the guest for a while.

I don't trust the cloud. Though I do use cloud services, I keep my own backups on several on-site and off-site hard drives. I also FC file-compare the copies to confirm integrity of the copies. If your cloud provider can give you a decent hash of the files you upload, you can hash the original and confirm with reasonable sureness that the files uploaded properly.

[Peter Cheung]

Thanks scottgus1