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oVirt Backup and Recovery

Data security and recovery are critical when dealing with virtualization tools. In the event of an outage or disaster, businesses must be able to rapidly restore virtual machines (VMs) and critical data. Being a virtualization management tool, oVirt not only shines in virtual environment administration but also provides virtual machine full backup and recovery capability.

This article will explore what oVirt is and how its backup and recovery system works.

What is oVirt?

Red Hat created oVirt, a robust open-source virtualization tool that uses the Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) hypervisor.

With a web-based interface, this platform provides a centralized administration solution allowing consumers to manage compute, storage, and networking resources. oVirt facilitates companies’ design, management, and implementation of virtual machines.

oVirt is suitable for small and large companies since it is flexible and scalable. One important characteristic of oVirt is its ability to work with other open-source community projects such as Ansible for automation, Gluster for storage management, and PatternFly for user interface design. This integration helps customers to use existing tools in the opensource community and at the same time take advantage of oVirt’s advanced capabilities.

Components of oVirt

The oVirt Engine, hosts (nodes), and storage nodes make up the fundamental architecture of oVirt. These components form a comprehensive solution for managing virtualized environments.

  • oVirt Engine

oVirt engine is a Wildfly-based Java application that functions as a web service. The engine talks to VDSM (Virtual Desktop and Server Manager) to deploy, start, migrate, and monitor VMs.

  • Nodes

oVirt Nodes is a streamlined operating system built on CentOS. It operates on RHEL, CentOS, and Scientific Linux, utilizing the KVM hypervisor and the VDSM service, coded in Python. These nodes are Linux-based distributions with VDSM and libvirt installed. They also feature additional packages that simplify the virtualization of networking and system services.

  • Storage Nodes

Storage nodes use either block or file storage which can be locally or remotely accessed through NFS (Network File System). These nodes are arranged into storage pools, offering options for high availability and redundancy.

The Latest oVirt Release Features

oVirt announced the release of a new update which became available on December 1, 2023. The new release named oVirt 4.5.5 is available on x86_64 architecture for:

  • oVirt Node NG (based on CentOS Stream 8)
  • oVirt Node NG (based on CentOS Stream 9)
  • CentOS Stream 8
  • CentOS Stream 9
  • RHEL 8 and derivatives
  • RHEL 9 and derivatives
  • Experimental builds are available for ppc64le and aarch64.

The new oVirt version has several updates that improve the functionality and user experience of this open-source virtualization solution.

The contributions made to the new release were made by 46 developers within the community. This emphasizes the collaborative efforts made towards enhancing oVirt’s capabilities and addressing user feedback.

Key Features of oVirt 4.5.5

Component Updates: The release features updates to several core components including:

  • OTOPI: Now at version 1.10.4
  • oVirt Ansible Collection: Updated to 3.2.0-1
  • oVirt Engine Data Warehouse: Upgraded to 4.5.8
  • oVirt Engine API Model: Version 4.6.0 is now available.

High Availability Improvements: The Hosted Engine HA was updated to version 2.5.1, enhancing the resilience of hosted environments.

API Enhancements: The release improves on the oVirt Engine API Metamodel (version 1.3.10) and the SDK (Python version 4.6.2), providing better tools for developers.

Performance Monitoring Enhancements: Metrics collection has been upgraded to version 1.6.2, facilitating more effective virtual machine performance monitoring.

Log Management Updates: The Log Collector is now at version 4.5.0, improving log data management across virtualized environments.

Networking Enhancements with Open vSwitch: Updated integration with Open vSwitch versions 2.15-4 (el8) and 2.17-1 (el9) enhances networking capabilities within oVirt.

Bug Fixes and Security Patches: This release addresses various bugs and security vulnerabilities, including:

  • Fixes for issues related to VM import processes and disk configuration error handling.
  • Security updates addressing vulnerabilities like CVE-2024-0822 involved disabling specific execution capabilities in GWT code.

oVirt as a Basis for Red Hat Virtualization and Oracle Linux Virtualization Manager

oVirt serves as the upstream open-source project for both Red Hat Virtualization (RHV) and Oracle Linux Virtualization Manager (OLVM). Its key role in these virtualization tools highlights its significance in the broader ecosystem of virtualization solutions. Both RHV and OLVM gets to benefit from the continuous development of oVirt. With the new release, both platforms can seamlessly  integrate these new features rapidly while maintaining stability and performance standards expected by enterprise users.

Red Hat Virtualization (RHV)

Red Hat Virtualisation (RHV) Red Hat Virtualisation, which is based on oVirt, delivers an enterprise-grade virtualization solution with additional Red Hat support services. It uses oVirt’s robust management capabilities and also provides features like enhanced security protocols, advanced monitoring tools, and dedicated support options tailored to enterprise customers. Thus, RHV is a suitable option for organizations seeking a reliable virtualization platform backed by professional support.

Oracle Linux Virtualization Manager (OLVM)

Similarly, OLVM is also based on oVirt technology but is tailored specifically for Oracle environments. It integrates seamlessly with Oracle’s suite of products, offering specialized features that cater to Oracle database workloads and applications. This allows OLVM to provide users with a familiar interface while simultaneously ensuring compatibility with Oracle’s ecosystem.

oVirt Backup and Recovery

Backup and recovery are critical components of any virtualization strategy. In an enterprise setting where data integrity and availability are crucial, robust backup solutions ensure organizations can recover quickly from data disasters and loss incidents. Let’s break down the different methods available in a way that’s easy to understand.

Understanding Backup Modes

When using Storware Backup and Recovery with oVirt 4 or later, you can choose from four different backup modes:

  1. Disk Attachment:

    • Think of this as creating a digital copy of your VM. The VM’s metadata and disk files are stored separately.
    • Pros: Simple to understand.
    • Cons: Requires a proxy VM in each cluster, and incremental backups aren’t supported.
  2. Disk Image Transfer:

    • This method creates a snapshot of your VM’s disks, including any changes made.
    • Pros: Supports incremental backups, and no proxy VM is needed.
    • Cons: Requires oVirt 4.2 or later.
  3. SSH Transfer:

    • Data is transferred directly from the hypervisor using SSH.
    • Pros: Can be efficient, especially for smaller environments.
    • Cons: May require additional network configuration.
  4. Change Block Tracking:

    • Only the parts of your disks that have changed are backed up, saving time and storage space.
    • Pros: Highly efficient for incremental backups.
    • Cons: Requires oVirt 4.4 or later with specific versions of Libvirt, qemu-kvm, and vdsm.

Learn more about available backup strategies for oVirt VMs

A Note on Best Practices

For the best possible backup experience, Red Hat recommends updating your oVirt environment to the latest version. This will ensure you have access to the most recent features and security updates.

Need more help?

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Conclusion

oVirt offers a versatile platform for virtualization management, and its backup and recovery capabilities play a crucial role in maintaining system integrity and availability. With features like full and incremental backups, application-consistent snapshots, Changed Block Tracking (CBT), and agentless backup, oVirt is a robust and scalable backup solution for organizations and businesses seeking reliable disaster recovery solutions.

text written by:

Grzegorz Pytel, Presales Engineer at Storware