How do I export .raw file from a ceph

[JBE]

Hello,
I am a noob to Proxmox and am still learning how to use it, so please be kind to me.

I have been trying to export a .raw file out of my PVE which has three nodes and storage is held on a Ceph. I know about performing the backup which works fine. However, I can only get a .VMA fie after extracting the LZOP compression outside of Proxmox. From what I can gather, I can only extract the .vma file in my PVE to get the .raw I need and as far as I know this cannot be done outside of the ProxMox environment. When using PVESM to list my VMs I can see the VM I want to take off my PVE. which is in .raw format. However, I am not sure how I can do it. I have tried this command to try and SSH it off to a Windows server using this command: "dd if=/etc/pve/ceph/dev/pve/vm-118-disk-1 | ssh USERNAME@MACHINE -- dd of=image.raw" However, ProxMox not finding the path. I'm guessing that its because the VM is on the ceph? rather than /var/images/ ?

I thought that trying to export the .raw file rather than trying to extract from the backup would be easier, but due to these issues am unable to get the .raw from the .vma outside of ProxMox but trying to work out a way of getting the .raw file from ProxMox just as difficult, feels like I've been going round in circles.

I am now thinking can this be done by using the RBD command? I am probably barking up the wrong tree totally with this.

Is there a way to get an exported .raw file out of my PVE while the VMs are all held on the ceph? I've drawn a blank so far.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[fiona]

Hi,
you should be able to do it with

rbd --pool <poolname> export vm-118-disk-1 <filename>

 

[JBE]

Hi Fabian,
Thank you very much for this. An extra question is there a way to specify where I can export the VM? - is it just a case of putting the correct path in from of the file name?

 

[fiona]

Hi Fabian,
Thank you very much for this. An extra question is there a way to specify where I can export the VM? - is it just a case of putting the correct path in from of the file name?

Yes, what I wrote as <filename> can be a path.
From the man page:

export [--export-format format (1 or 2)] (image-spec | snap-spec) [dest-path]
Export image to dest path (use - for stdout). The --export-format accepts '1' or '2' currently. Format 2 allow us to export not only the content of image, but also the snapshots and other properties, such as image_order, features.

 

[JBE]

Hello - I think I've messed this up.

I have exported the file in error by performing the original command rbd --pool ceph-vm export vm-118-disk-1 118.export.raw

It went though and exported the file. However, I had no idea where it was going so I asked the question about the path.

I have noticed that on my PVE the local storage disk for the particular node, filled up ( not full but getting there! ) , so I am assuming that this is where it has exported it, but the problem is I can't see anything from the command line, so If I try "pvesm list local" command it's not showing anything and from the gui nothing is showing either. (I can see the Ceph etc with the same command) I am guessing that the location is: /var/ local. Again, nothing is showing. However, there are definitely files in there as the drive is now pretty full.

How can I get access to the local drive to see what is exactly in there? Hopefully it will have my exported VM.

Thanks again.

 

[fiona]

If you didn't specify a path, it should be exported to the directory where you issued the rbd command. The exported disk is simply a file on the filesystem. If it's not present where you expect it, use something like 'find' to locate it. The exported disk won't show up with the PVE Tools like 'pvesm list' if it's not in a place and with a name PVE expects.

 

[JBE]

Excellent - Sorted it. It actually exported the file from the Ceph to the Root. Now managed to get access to it. Thanks again.