[dba-SQLServer] Syncing Virtual Machines

I have to say that Microsoft's VM system is just unfriendly.  I understand that this stuff is 
complicated but that is all the more reason for Microsoft to spend the time to make it easier.

1) I have no idea the "why" behind this stuff but you cannot simply select the xml file and "mount" 
a VM.
2) If you "export" a vm then it can be imported.
3) AFAICT you cannot export a vm while it is running.  The export menu item simply isn't there.
4) The export fails to a share on another machine on the directory.
5) The accepted fix is to add "machine" to the objects that the share allows and then select the 
source machine.
6) "Machine" is not a selection (on my machine) so I can't do that.
7) Even for people who are able to and try that, it only works some of the time.
8) When it fails it gives a generic "means nothing except it didn't work" error message.
9) There is no "backup", you have to "register" Hyper-V with the backup service / role.
10) Doing that requires a somewhat extensive manual modification to the registry.
11) Even if you can, the backup process is almost impossible to make happen unless you are backing 
up to identical machines.

Two hours later I am no closer to getting a real automated backup happening of my virtual machines. 
  I am now copying the files themselves.  As I have always done in the past, because I ran into this 
same brick wall every time.  :(

12) Having done that I cannot simply mount it on the machine I am copying it to.  I have to manually 
create the machine on that destination machine and start it.

Can you say "Frankenstein monster"?

VMS are just way cool technology.  Until you have to maintain them.

John W. Colby
Colby Consulting

Reality is what refuses to go away
when you do not believe in it


>>> On Tue, Oct 25, 2011 at 7:07 AM, jwcolby<jwcolby at colbyconsulting.com>wrote:
>>>
>>>> I have a virtual machine server (Colby-VM) and last weekend I rebuilt that
>>>> machine - new motherboard / memory in preparation for a faster CPU etc. I
>>>> store all my stuff on a RAID array on a dedicated controller, and which
>>>> survives nicely across upgrades so I got lazy and did not backup. (almost)
>>>> Everything that could go wrong did and by the end of the experience I was
>>>> sweating bullets about whether I was going to find one of my critical VMs.
>>>>
>>>>