How does backing up a Windows VM in Parallels work?

[Thunderbird]

For backing up a windows VM with a disk image, how does that work exactly in Parallels?

Can you make incremental and differential backups of windows, or do you just make a copy of the whole .pvm folder?

Can you recover and restore individual files and folders, and different versions of files?

 

[Thunderbird]

After doing a lot more digging, I found that making image backups of a Windows VM in Parallels is the same as making backup images of Windows natively.

 

[gank41]

There is an option in Parallels Settings to not backup that specific VM in Time Machine, or you can exclude Parallels all together in Time Machine's Settings. I tend to have a VM open most of the day, and that would mean Time Machine would be backing it up seemingly forever.. So I exclude Parallels in Time Machine and then run Carbon Copy Cloner nightly to backup specific folders, like my Parallels folder. For me, that backup is just two External USB drives. I have Backblaze, too, and that seems to wait until the file is not being used anymore before it backs it up, but I've excluded my Parallels folder in Backblaze, too. I've got my two USB drives.. I guess it all depends on how you want to do it.

 

[wonderings]

As far as I know the VM made by parallels can just be backed up like any other file. So TimeMachine and offsite like BackBlaze just backs up that VM in the state it was in when it was backed up. I don't create separate disk backups for the virtual Windows OS itself.

 

[gank41]

As far as I know the VM made by parallels can just be backed up like any other file. So TimeMachine and offsite like BackBlaze just backs up that VM in the state it was in when it was backed up. I don't create separate disk backups for the virtual Windows OS itself.

They do back up just like any other file, but seeing as though they're Virtual Machines, those files can grow to be QUITE large. I have a number of VMs in Parallels on my end, and one of my Windows VM's is well over 100gb in size. No need for that to constantly be backing up.. It'd never complete. It's easier for me, in my case, to just make the one backup in the evening.