How to Backup Hyper-V Using Cobian Backup And AOMEI Cyber Backup

Using Cobian Backup can realize backup Hyper-V, during the process you can use PowerShell to help backup. Besides Cobian Backup, you can also use AOMEI Cyber Backup to backup Hyper-V VMs.

Amelia

By Amelia / Updated on January 17, 2025

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Hyper-V is a virtualization platform that allows organizations to run multiple virtual machines on a single host. To ensure the integrity of the data on the VMs, it is important to back up the Hyper-V VMs. Hyper-V provides built-in backup tools, but you also have the option of using third-party solutions such as Cobian Backup and AOMEI Cyber Backup. This article describes how to use Cobian Backup with Hyper-V. This article describes how to use Cobian Backup with Hyper-V and AOMEI Cyber Backup with Hyper-V.

What is Cobian Backup

Cobian Backup is a lightweight file backup program for automatic backup of directories and files. It can back up to other locations in the same computer, network, or even FTP servers, and also supports compression and encryption.

However, it is important to note that Cobian Backup itself does not recognize Hyper-V virtual machines. Therefore, it cannot perform application-consistent backups of virtual machines.

what is cobian backup

How to Use Cobian Backup with Hyper-V

Although Cobian Backup is not a dedicated Hyper-V backup tool, it still enables Hyper-V backup after a series of operations.

Step 1. Because Cobian Backup works best when used to backup exported virtual machine files, you need to export the backup.

  • Open Hyper-V Manager, right-click the virtual machine you want to backup, and select Export.
  • Select the storage location where the exported virtual machine files will be stored.
  • You can use PowerShell to automate this export process to ensure that the backup virtual machine is up-to-date:
Export-VM -Name "VMName" -Path "C:\Exports\VMName"

Step 2. Open Cobian Backup and create a new task.

Set the Source to the folder containing the exported virtual machine files.

Set the destination to the preferred backup location (local, network drive, or cloud storage).

Step 3. Since Cobian Backup does not interact with Hyper-V’s VSS, you can consider the following methods for consistency.

1. Stop the VM Temporarily

▶Use PowerShell to stop the VM before export:

Stop-VM -Name "VMName" -Force

▶Restart it after the export is complete:

Start-VM -Name "VMName"

2. Enable Hyper-V Checkpoints

Create a checkpoint before exporting the VM to capture its state:

Checkpoint-VM -Name "VMName"

How to Use AOMEI Cyber Backup with Hyper-V

Since Cobian Backup is not specialized in Hyper-V backup software, the backup process can be complicated, so you can choose a simpler and more convenient backup tool. AOMEI Cyber Backup is a powerful software designed for Hyper-V virtual machine backup and recovery. It provides multiple options to secure data on virtual machines, export multiple Hyper-V virtual machines at once and allows users to easily import them from backups. When you use AOMEI Cyber Backup, you can enjoy more features:

🎯Centralized Backup: It makes it easy to schedule and manage backup tasks for the central console.
🔰Efficient Recovery: Its rapid disaster recovery minimizes Hyper-V system downtime.
✨Archive Backup to Cloud: It supports archive backups to an Amazon S3 for guaranteeing higher data security.
🔆Restore Entire VM: You can immediately restore an available virtual machine from any selected restore point.
📧Email Notification: It monitors the status of Hyper-V backups and sends email notifications when a task is completed or an exception is raised.

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👉Simple steps to backup and restore Hyper-V VMs

Step 1. Log in to AOMEI Cyber Backup, navigate to Source Device > Hyper-V > + Add Hyper-V to add a host, after entering the required information, click Confirm.

Add Hyper-V host

Step 2. Navigate to Backup Task > + Create New Task, and select Hyper-V as the Backup Type. Then set the Task Name, Device, Target, Archive, and Schedule.

Create a Hyper-V backup task

  • Device: cover multiple VMs on the host in one backup task.
  • Target: select to back up to a local path, or to a network path. The used paths will be saved in Favorite Storage for handy selection.
  • Schedule: choose to perform full or incremental backup, and automate execution daily, weekly or monthly according to the frequency you specified.

Set up a backup schedule

Step 3. Click Start Backup and you can select Add the schedule and start backup now, or Add the schedule only.

Start backup

Step 4. Go to Backup Task, and find the backup task you want to restore. Click > Restore, select Restore to original location, and click Start Restore.

Restore from history versions

Conclusion

Cobian Backup can be a bit more complicated for the process of backing up Hyper-V virtual machines, but it can be an option for smaller environments. For more convenient Hyper-V backups, you can choose to use AOMEI Cyber Backup, which is specifically designed for Hyper-V backups.

Amelia
Amelia · Editor
Amelia is an editor from AOMEI. Trained in professional systems, she specializes in solving problems in enterprise databases, virtual machines, and physical environments. With a high sense of responsibility, she is dedicated to protecting business data and security.