Can I delete a dir from inside a .vma file?

[Wouter Samaey]

I have a VM backup that I want to restore, a .vma.lzo file. This file is huge because of an out-of-control process.

Can I delete a dir from inside a .vma file and then restore the VM?

Restoring the entire VM with all the unneeded data inside would take up way too much time.

 

[danielb]

No, I don't thinks it's possible. vma are low level backups, and know nothing about files and directories inside

 

[Wouter Samaey]

Could I mount the file as a filesystem and then delete stuff?

 

[danielb]

As the VMA format is not linear, I think this is also not possible. You have to restore it as is

 

[LnxBil]

You can extract the raw file from the backup and play around with it but you need as much space you would require in restoring it. So there is point in doing that.