Backup of a VMware virtual machine

[Greg Sieranski]

Ed Greshko wrote:
> Paul Smith wrote:
>   
>> Dear All,
>>
>> Is it possible to backup an entire VMware virtual machine?
>>
>> Thanks in advance,
>>     
>
> Yes.  They are just files.  I do it all the time.
>
> However, you need to restore them to the same place since there is
> configuration information in one or two of the files.
>
> And, you should read the VMware for documentation on how to "clone" a VM in
> the event you are moving it to another machine or another location.
>
> (FYI, I'm only talking about VMware Workstation.  If you are using another
> one of their products, YMMV.)
>
>   
I install all my vmware images in my home directory under vmware. So for 
windows I have  ~/vmware/Windows XP. I then use rsync -avP to copy the 
Windows directory to my backup disk. Then whenever I do a fresh install, 
I just rsync -avP  the Windows directory from the backup disk to my 
laptop and open in up in vmware. Works perfectly

Greg Sieranski