Best practices when backing up a VMware Workstation virtual machine

Products

VMware Desktop Hypervisor

Issue/Introduction

This article describes:

Best practices for backing up a VMware Workstation virtual machine.
Issues to consider when backing up a VMware Workstation virtual machine.
Steps to back up a VMware Workstation virtual machine.

Environment

VMware Player Pro 7.x (Windows)
VMware Player 4.x (Linux)
VMware Player 4.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation 10.x (Linux)
VMware Player 5.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation Player 12.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation 9.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation Pro 14.x (for Linux)
VMware Player 7.x (Windows)
VMware Player Pro 7.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation Player 15.x (Windows)
VMware Player 5.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation Pro 15.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation 3.x (Windows)
VMware Player 3.x (Windows )
VMware Workstation 6.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation 8.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation 5.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation Pro 14.x (for Windows)
VMware Workstation 11.x (for Windows)
VMware Workstation 3.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation Player 12.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation 9.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation 6.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation 10.x (Windows)
VMware Player 3.x (Linux)
VMware Player 7.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation 7.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation 4.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation 8.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation 7.x (Linux)
VMware Player 6.x (Linux)
VMware Player 6.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation 4.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation 5.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation 11.x (for Linux)
VMware Workstation Pro 15.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation Player 15.x (Linux)

Resolution

To back up the virtual machine (which includes the operating system, application files, settings, and user data), you need to make a copy of the folder in which the virtual machine is stored. Ensure that the virtual machine is not running or suspended while you are backing up the virtual machine.

To back up the virtual machine:

Ensure your virtual machine is in a powered off state.
Locate the virtual machine folder. For more information, see Locating a hosted virtual machine's files (1003880)
Right-click the virtual machine folder and click Copy.
Navigate to the folder in which you want to store the backup, right-click anywhere within the folder, and click Paste.

Note: Replace the backup virtual machine on a regular basis using the process described above.

You can:

Choose to move the backed up virtual machine to an external storage device, such as a flash drive or USB hard drive.
Create a copy of the virtual machine on your desktop, then copy it to DVD or Blu ray disk.
Keep the snapshots of the virtual machine.

Note: Before beginning the back up, you can commit the snapshots to save storage space.

Additional Information

If you are using the growable type virtual disk (VMDK), you might want to shrink the virtual disk using the Shrink Disk option in VMware Tools. The Shrink Disk option allows you to modify a VMDK. by zeroing out blocks within the guest operating system, thereby overwriting previously allocated (but deleted) data with zeros.

To shrink the VMDK:

Open the VMware Tools Control Panel.
- In Windows, double-click the VMware Tools icon in the system tray, or go to Start > Control Panel > VMware Tools.
- In Linux, open a command prompt and run this command:
  
  vmware-toolbox
  
  Note: For more information, see Opening a command or shell prompt (1003892).
  Note: In Workstation 9.x, shrinking is automatically done while Cleaning up the disk. Therefore, this option is removed from VMware Tools Panel. Go to VM > Manage > Clean up Disks
Click the Shrink tab.
Ensure that your boot drive is selected, click Prepare to Shrink, and follow the prompts.

Locating a hosted virtual machine's files
Opening a command or shell prompt
VMware Workstation 仮想マシンバックアップ時のベストプラクティス
备份 VMware Workstation 虚拟机的最佳做法