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7 janvier 2009

Backing up and managing VMware ESX virtual machines with VM Explorer

Recently I came across a tool from TriLead called VM Explorer. They offer a free version of their full product, and I love free VMware tools, so I tried it out. I learned that VM Explorer, also called VMX, does more than let you explore your virtual environment – in fact, the pro version is a viable alternative to VMware Consolidated Backup (VCB) for smaller companies running VMware ESX.

VMX has a GUI interface, a job scheduler, can copy directly to a NAS or SAN, and offers features like task history, email on completion of backups, virtual machine (VM) guest restore, Secure Shell (SSH) and remote desktop protocol (RDP) access to VMs, cloning and snapshot management, which are all features VCB doesn't offer, for the relatively low price of $490 Euros. And for administrators like myself who enjoy trying new free VMware tools, the free version of VMX is a surprisingly useful backup and management tool on its own.

What is TriLead's VM Explorer?
I found out that TriLead is a company out of Switzerland that develops programming libraries -- not your typical VMware Application development firm. Still, it seems that they have developed a very useful tool. The company describes the tool as a "virtualization management tool used to ease management, backup, and disaster recovery tasks in your VMware Environment." As a quick rundown, here's what it offers:

  • The ability to connect to multiple VMware ESX and Linux Servers at the same time.

  • The ability to copy files (like VM Guest config and virtual disk files) directly from one server to another.

  • The ability to backup and restore VM guests to a SAN (attached to the ESX host), to another ESX host, a Linux host, or to the Windows workstation you are running VMX on.

  • The ability to schedule the backup of your VM guests.

  • File browsing and moving with drag-and-drop.

  • A Secure Shell (SSH) client for configuring ESX and ESXi hosts at the command line.

  • A VMware ESX snapshot manager that create and delete VMware ESX snapshots.

  • The ability to compress files transferred and ESXi support.

Although the tool is available as a free download, the free edition doesn't include a couple of features. The full-featured version includes the job scheduler, full technical support, and unlimited devices (for a full comparison of the free and pro editions, check out the VMX edition comparison chart.)

Downloading and installing VM Explorer To download VM Explorer, I went to the TriLead VM Explorer download page.

La suite sur :

http://searchvmware.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid179_gci1342753,00.htm?track=NL-915&ad=682624&asrc=EM_NLN_5489763&uid=8243575

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