Partial Success in VM Backups
The partial success for VM Backup feature improves the fault tolerance and granularity of VM-based backups in Portworx Backup. Prior to this enhancement, any failure during execution rules (PreExec or PostExec) for a single VM would result in the entire backup being marked as failed. This feature introduces per-VM level handling for execution rules and status reporting, enabling partial success in multi-VM backup workflows.
Partial Success of VM backups
-
VM backups are configured to take file-system consistent backups through auto-enabled freeze/thaw rules executed at the per-VM level during per-VM volume backup.
-
Rule execution is isolated per VM to reduce the impact of long freeze/unfreeze cycles.
-
Execution rule failures (
PreExec/PostExec) are tracked per VM. -
If the PreExec rule of a VM fails, or if the volume backup of that VM fails, only that VM is marked as failed. The backup continues with the remaining VMs.
This feature improves backup resilience and observability by allowing VM-specific success/failure states in multi-VM backup operations. It reduces unnecessary backup failures due to isolated issues and improves rule execution efficiency.
Backup success criteria for VM backups
The outcome depends on the success or failure of VMs selected for the VM backup. A VM backup is considered:
-
Success: if all VMs selected for the VM backup are successfully backed up.
-
Partial Success: if at least one VM is successfully backed up, even if others fail.
-
Failed: if all VMs selected for the backup are not backed up successfully.