Free and Efficient VMware Backup Software for Linux

Case: Linux-based backup software for VMware environment?

From home desktops to enterprise servers, from physical machines to virtual machines, the Linux operating system is everywhere. Linux has the advantages of free, stable, safe, and open source. This means that it provides the greatest extent of freedom, including the freedom to redistribute copies and distribute the copies to others, like the famous Ubuntu.

If you are using Linux system to deploy your VMware environment, for example, the type-1 hypervisor VMware ESXi, you must need a Linux-based backup software to backup virtual machines from Linux, just like the case above.

In this article, we will help you to choose a suitable and robust Linux-based backup software for VMware, and guide you on how to protect your VMware VMs step by step. 

How to pick up a proper VMware backup software on Linux

You may still struggle to choose a suitable VMware backup software for your Linux environment. Don't worry, here are some common criteria for evaluating backup software. This might help you choose a suitable one.

Recommended free VMware backup software for Linux - AOMEI Cyber Backup

Based on the standards above, we recommend a robust and easy-to-use VMware backup software - AOMEI Cyber Backup. It performs VM data protection from both Windows and Linux systems. With this tool, AOMEI Cyber Backup allows you to create complete and independent image-level VM backups for both paid and free versions of VMware ESXi and Hyper-V.

Main advantages and features of AOMEI Cyber Backup:

• Easy-to-use software: AOMEI Cyber Backup provides an intuitive GUI operating interface and simplifies the backup process into 3 easy steps. With simple clicks, you can create a complete backup task that covers multiple VMs,
• Automated backup: Set up a VMware backup schedule once, the program will automatically backup data daily, weekly, monthly, etc. according to the schedule.
• Multiple backup storage options: Supports various storage, like local paths, external drives, NAS drives, and network shares. And It also integrates with cloud storage, such as Amazon S3. This ensures data recovery capabilities even if a single backup storage device fails.
• Fast recovery: Perform a faster data recovery to minimize the downtime and ensure business continuity.
• Point-in-time recovery: Based on multiple backup versions, you can restore your virtualized environment to a specific time from full/incremental/differential backup.
• Access control with role-based management: It also allows one administrator account to create multiple sub-accounts with different limited privileges. For Linux, the Root Account of the Super Administrator in Linux is supported.

In addition, AOMEI Cyber Backup has comprehensive compatibility. For Linux, AOMEI Cyber Backup supports:

• Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS
• Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS
• Ubuntu 20.04.3 LTS
• Ubuntu 20.04.4 LTS

How to perform VMware backup on Linux

Next, we will give a detailed guide on how to use this free VMware backup software to backup and restore your VMware virtual machines from Linux Ubuntu easily.

Install AOMEI Cyber Backup on Linux

1. Unzip the AOMEI Cyber Backup folder with root privileges through the following command.

tar -zxvf AOMEICyberBackupTrial.tar.gz

2. Install AOMEI Cyber Backup with root privileges, and run the command:

./AOMEICyberBackup/setup.sh

You can also open the AOMEI Cyber Backup folder and execute the following command to install.

./setup.sh

3 steps to backup VMware ESXi VMs using AOMEI Cyber Backup

Step 1. Bind Devices: Access to AOMEI Cyber Backup web client, navigate to Source Device > VMware > + Add VMware Device. input ESXi host or vCenter information to add virtual machines > Click Confirm.

Step 2. Create Backup Task: Navigate to Backup Task > + Create New Task, and then set Task Name, Backup Type, Device, Target, and Schedule.

• Device: cover multiple VMs on the host within one backup task.
• Target: select to back up to a local path, or to a network path.
• Schedule: choose to perform full, differential, or incremental backup, and automate execution according to the frequency you specified.
• Email Notification: send email notification when the task is completed or abnormal.
• Archive: You can add an Amazon S3 bucket, and archive backup versions to it.

Step 3. Run Backup: Now you can click Start Backup and select Add the schedule and start backup now, or Add the schedule only.

Created backup tasks will be listed and monitored separately, for restoring, progress checking and schedule changing. When need to restore the backup, click the 3-dots and click Restore.

While the Free Edition covers most of VM backup needs, you can also upgrade to enjoy:
▶ Batch VM backup: batch backup large numbers of VMs managed by vCenter Server or standalone ESXi hosts.
▶ Backup cleanup: Configure a retention policy to auto delete old backup files and save storage space.
▶ Restore to new location: restore entire VM to the same or another datastore/host directly from the backup, saving the trouble of re-configuring the new VM.

Summary

Virtual machine backup is an important VM data protection measure to ensure timely data recovery in the event of a disaster. But if you deployed it on a Linux environment and thus want a VMware backup software Linux, there may not be many options available.

You can try out the free VMware backup software AOMEI Cyber Backup which can be installed and run in both Windows and Linux environments. In addition, as a dedicated virtual machine backup software, it allows you to centrally manage a large number of virtual machines, whether on VMware ESXi or Hyper-V, and greatly simplifies the backup process.

You can create daily, weekly, or monthly automatic backup tasks to free yourself from tedious repetitive tasks, save time, and greatly increase your productivity. Best of all, these features can be free.