What is OpenStack Nova backup?
Nova Backup is a native OpenStack tool that creates VM snapshots stored in Glance. It performs crash-consistent backups, covering the disk’s current state but not memory or apps. It supports ephemeral storage and backs up only root disks for Cinder volumes.
Nova relies on QEMU/KVM to create snapshots and on Glance to store images. It cannot migrate backups across clouds and has no graphical interface. It lacks compression, encryption, or deduplication features, making it more suitable for short-term protection or development testing.
Why do you need OpenStack Nova backup?
Virtual machines can lose data due to accidental deletion, failed system upgrades, or hardware failures. OpenStack Nova Backup provides a native snapshot feature to quickly create backups before critical changes, protecting business continuity. It supports rotation, is easy to operate, and suits daily backup tasks.
How to use OpenStack Nova commands for VM backup and restore?
Nova backup functions are operated through the nova command-line client. Make sure your OpenStack credentials are loaded and the nova client is properly installed and configured.
Create Backup
Run the following command to create a backup for a VM:
nova backup vm01 vm01-backup daily 3
Here, vm01 is the VM name, vm01-backup is the backup name, daily is the backup type, and 3 means keeping the latest three backups.
Check VM Status
Before backing up, check the VM status:
nova show vm01 | grep status
Make sure it is ACTIVE; otherwise, the backup will fail.
Restore Backup
To restore, create a new VM from the backup image:
nova image-list
nova boot --image <image_id> --flavor m1.small --nic net-id=<network_id> restored-vm01
<image_id> is the snapshot image ID, and restored-vm01 is the new VM name.
Automated Backup Script Example
#!/bin/bash
VM_NAME="vm01"
VM_ID=$(nova list | grep "$VM_NAME" | awk '{print $2}')
if [ -z "$VM_ID" ]; then
echo "ERROR: VM not found"
exit 1
fi
BACKUP_NAME="${VM_NAME}-$(date +%Y%m%d)"
nova backup "$VM_ID" "$BACKUP_NAME" daily 7 || echo "Backup failed"Enhanced VM protection with Vinchin
While OpenStack Nova Backup meets basic VM protection needs, enterprises often require more comprehensive and flexible backup solutions to handle complex and evolving environments.
Vinchin Backup & Recovery is a professional, enterprise-grade VM backup solution supporting OpenStack and over 15 mainstream platforms including VMware, Hyper-V, Proxmox, oVirt, OLVM, RHV, XCP-ng, XenServer, ZStack, and more. It fits hybrid cloud, private cloud, and multi-platform IT environments.
Functionally, Vinchin offers rich VM protection capabilities including full backup, incremental backup, differential backup, scheduled backup, retention policies, data deduplication and compression, V2V cross-platform migration, and more. These features significantly reduce backup windows, save storage space, and greatly improve recovery flexibility and efficiency.
Vinchin uses an intuitive web console that is easy to deploy and use. For OpenStack VMs, backup involves just four steps:
1.Just select VMs on the host
2.Then select backup destination
3.Select strategies
4.Finally submit the job
Whether protecting production databases, web services, or dev/test environments, the process is always simple and consistent. You can apply now for a 60-day full-feature trial below, and contact us for more needs.
Openstack nova backup FAQs
Q1: Does Nova support application-consistent snapshots?
No. Nova only supports crash-consistent snapshots. Application consistency requires internal scripting.
Q2: What to do if I get an InstanceNotReady error?
It means the VM is not in ACTIVE state. Wait until it becomes ACTIVE before retrying backup.
Q3: Where are Nova and Glance logs?
Nova logs: /var/log/nova/nova-api.log
Glance logs: /var/log/glance/api.log
Conclusion
Nova Backup handles basic rollback tasks but lacks consistency, compression, and long-term protection. As needs grow, a solution like Vinchin offers more advanced VM backup features, helping ensure faster backups, better storage efficiency, and broader platform support including OpenStack.
