prlbackup(1) -- an awesome backup tool for Parallels Server Virtual Machines
============================================================================

## SYNOPSIS

`prlbackup` `-h`|`--help`<br>
`prlbackup` [<OPTIONS>...] <vm_id|vm_name>...<br>
`prlbackup` [<OPTIONS>...] `-a`|`--all`<br>
`prlbackup` [<OPTIONS>...] `-a`|`--all` `-e`|`--exclude` <vm_id|vm_name>...

## DESCRIPTION

`prlbackup` simplifies the backup of one or multiple Virtual Machines
(VM) running on Parallels Server by stoping them during backup and
deleting old backups on demand.  A working installation of Parallels
Server is required.

`prlbackup` was tested under Parallels Server for Mac 4.0 (PSfM).

## OPTIONS

  * `-h`, `--help`:
    Display a short help.

  * `-a`, `--all`:
    Backup all virtual machines which are registered in Parallels Server.

  * `-e`, `--exclude`:
    Backup all but the given virtual machines (only applicable in
    combination with option `--all`!).

  * `-f`, `--full`:
    Create full backups (by default incremental backups are created).
    Note that the first backup for a VM is always a full backup despide
    of this option.

  * `-v`, `--verbose`:
    Show commands with an impact on the VMs prior to their execution.

  * `-n`, `--dry-run`:
    Don't do anything with the VMs, just pretend to.

  * `-k` <number_of_full_backups>, `--keep-only` <number_of_full_backups>:
    Delete the oldest full backup(s) until only <number_of_full_backups> exist.
    This cleanup action will be executed for each VM right after creating the
    corresponding backup but only if the backup was successfully created.
    Incremental backups are automatically deleted by Parallels Server when their
    full backup is deleted.

## EXAMPLES

Display short help:

    $ prlbackup --help

Backup VMs by name:

    $ prlbackup Alpha Bravo Charlie

Backup a VM by id:

    $ prlbackup "{97351580-afd7-4aff-9960-814196b28e37}"

Create full backups of all VMs

    $ prlbackup --full --all

Backup all but not the given VMs:

    $ prlbackup --all --exclude Delta Echo

Show which commands would have been run when backing up all VMs:

    $ prlbackup --dry-run --verbose --all

Create the weekly full backup for all VMs and delete backups older than four weeks:

    $ prlbackup --all --keep-only 5

## SEE ALSO

  * prlctl(8)
  * [prlbackup's homepage](https://github.com/bjoernalbers/prlbackup)

## COPYRIGHT

Copyright (c) 2012 Bjoern Albers (<bjoernalbers@googlemail.com>)

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining
a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the
"Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including
without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish,
distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to
permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to
the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be
included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND
NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE
LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION
OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION
WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.