The script makes snapshot of a VM, copies the "old" vmdk and other files to a backup location, then deletes the snapshot.
This approach, where backup in time is full backup takes up a lot of space. Some form of deduplication might be a solution.

VMs that have any existing snapshot wont get backed up.

Files that are backed up:

vmdk - virtual disk file, every virtual disk has a separate file. In webgui datastore browser only one vmdk file is seen per disk, but on filesystem theres blabla.vmdk and blablka-flat.vmdk. The flat one is where the data actually are, the other one is a descriptor file.
nvram - bios settings of a VM
vmx - virtual machine settings, can be edited

Backup storage locations

Local disk datastore
NFS share
For nfs share on trueNAS scale
- Maproot User -> root
- Maproot Group -> nogroup

Note the exact path from webgui of your datastore for backups.
Looks like this /vmfs/volumes/6187f7e1-c584077c-d7f6-3c4937073090

Install

ssh in to esxi
cd /tmp
esxcli network firewall ruleset set -e true -r httpClient
wget https://github.com/lamw/ghettoVCB/releases/download/2021_10_20/vghetto-ghettoVCB.vib --no-check-certificate
esxcli software vib install -v /tmp/vghetto-ghettoVCB.vib -f
check ls /opt

Config and preparation

Gotta know basics how to edit files with ancient vi

Config file template is in /opt/ghettovcb/ghettoVCB.conf
Make copy of it cp /opt/ghettovcb/ghettoVCB.conf /opt/ghettovcb/ghetto_1.conf
Only edit this file, for starter setting where to copy backups
vi /opt/ghettovcb/ghetto_1.conf
VM_BACKUP_VOLUME=/vmfs/volumes/6187f7e1-c584077c-d7f6-3c4937073090/Backups
Create a file that will contain list of VMs to backup
touch /opt/ghettovcb/vms_to_backup_list
vi /opt/ghettovcb/vms_to_backup_list
```
OPNsense
Arch-Docker-Host
```
Create a shell script that starts ghetto script using this config for listed VMs
touch /opt/ghettovcb/bin/ghetto_run.sh
vi /opt/ghettovcb/bin/ghetto_run.sh
```
#!/bin/sh

/opt/ghettovcb/bin/ghettoVCB.sh \
    -g /opt/ghettovcb/ghetto_1.conf \
    -f /opt/ghettovcb/vms_to_backup_list \
    &> /dev/null
```
Make the script executable
chmod +x /opt/ghettovcb/bin/ghetto_run.sh
for my use case where TrueNAS VM cant be snapshoted while running because of a passthrough pcie HBA card there needs to be another config
Make new config copy
cp /opt/ghettovcb/ghetto_1.conf /opt/ghettovcb/ghetto_2.conf
Edit the config, setting it to shut down VMs before backup.
vi /opt/ghettovcb/ghetto_2.conf
POWER_VM_DOWN_BEFORE_BACKUP=1

edit the run script, add another execution for specific VM using ghetto_2.conf
vi /opt/ghettovcb/bin/ghetto_run.sh

#!/bin/sh

/opt/ghettovcb/bin/ghettoVCB.sh \
    -g /opt/ghettovcb/ghetto_1.conf \
    -f /opt/ghettovcb/vms_to_backup_list \
    &> /dev/null

/opt/ghettovcb/bin/ghettoVCB.sh \
    -g /opt/ghettovcb/ghetto_2.conf \
    -m TrueNAS_scale \
    &> /dev/null

Execution and scheduled runs

To simply execute:

/opt/ghettovcb/bin/ghetto_run.sh

To execute it periodicly cron is used.

Make backup of roots crontab
cp /var/spool/cron/crontabs/root /var/spool/cron/crontabs/root.backup
Edit roots crontab to execute the run script at 4:00
add the following line at the end in cron format
vi /var/spool/cron/crontabs/root
```
0    4    *   *   *   /opt/ghettovcb/bin/ghetto_run.sh
```
To save read only file in vi use :wq!
restart cron service
kill $(cat /var/run/crond.pid)
crond

Restore from backup

Documentation

Logs about backups are in /tmp

disk reclamation

Switching from Thick to Thin disks

vmkfstools --punchzero "./TrueNAS_scale-thin.vmdk"

unmap, windows, fsck_ufs -Ey /dev/da0p3

readme.md

Esxi

guide-by-example

Purpose

Basic settings

Backups using ghettoVCB