How to backup Vmware ESX VM using Script

1. Log in to a base server using root
2. Change directory to “/vmfs/volumes/VSBASE-SAN-BK-8/vmbackup” (or “/vmfs/volumes/MSA60-VSBASE-2-BK/vmbackup”)
1. Note: Vcentre doesn’t allow datastore to have the same name. So path will be a little different depending on the host.
3. Two files are located in this directory:
1. ghettoVCB.sh and vmlist
2. The original ghettoVCB.sh  also resides here ghettoVCB-restore.sh 
4. (optional) Open script using command “vi ghettoVCB.sh”, and double check the backup destination. It should have already defined.

5. Open another file “vi vmlist”
6. Input all VMs on this ESX host that need to backup into “vmlist”, and save the file. If you want to skip a server, just put a # before the server name.

7. Run script “./ghettoVCB.sh -f vmlist”
8. Backup will start and import all local VMs to backup location. Note: If a server has snapshot, the backup will skip this server and do the next.