Automatic, File Based Backup

[thisnamestoolong]

I am looking for a solution that would allow a server VM to be backed up roughly once a week with no intervention from a user. Live backup would be preferable, but if the spin down, backup, and spin back up process can be automated, that is also fine (it is only really important for the server to be available during normal business hours, so a scheduled shutdown for even several hours once a week is NBD, but it just needs to be able to come back on its own). VBoxManage seems to have all of the tools necessary for this, but I am having troubling figuring out which commands I need to use, and I have no idea how to automate it (I am very unfamiliar with scripting in Windows). It can be assumed that storage space is no issue, and that the deletion of old backups will all be handled manually.

[mpack]

Live backup from inside the VM can be done as per any other PC running the same OS.

The only critical element in controlling a backup from the host is reliably shutting down the VM without user interaction. If you can do that then actual backing up is trivial: just ask the host to copy the VM folder to backup media. You can then tell the VM to start again.

As to how you shut down the guest without user interaction: you can easily use VBoxManage to send the shutdown request. What happens after that depends on the guest OS and how its configured.