vSphere-Backup-Manager/vsphere_backup/README.md

vSphere Snapshot Backup Tool

Simple CLI to automate the snapshot -> copy -> compress -> delete workflow for a VM on vCenter/ESXi.

Requirements

• Python 3.8+
• See requirements.txt (pyvmomi, requests, paramiko, zstandard)

Basic usage

python vsphere_backup.py --host vc.example.local --user administrator@vsphere.local --vm MyVM --dest /backups/MyVM --compress

Optional SFTP upload

python vsphere_backup.py --host vc.example.local --user admin --vm MyVM --dest /tmp/backups --sftp-host backup.example.com --sftp-user backup --sftp-password secret

Notes & caveats

• The script creates a snapshot on the VM and downloads the VM's .vmdk and .vmx files from the datastore while the snapshot exists — do NOT copy .vmdk without snapshot.
• The script attempts to use zstd -19 if available; otherwise it falls back to Python zstandard.
• SSL verification is disabled with --no-verify-ssl for convenience with self-signed vCenter/ESXi certs.
• Test carefully in dev before using in production. This is a minimal DIY backup tool and does not replace a full backup product.