Hi,
I run an Ubuntu Server guest on my ESXi 5.1 host. I'd like to back it up in a simple, straight forward manner that would allow me to restore the guest if something goes wrong. A sort of ghost image, in a way...
To do that, can I simply copy/paste the entire guest folder contained in the datastore?
to use copy paste vm from datastore u have turn it off each time you will do copy/paste.
for your purposes you can use Veeam Backup Free Edition for VMware and Hyper-V VMs (VeeamZIP)
it is very simple and free for use.
Or you could use ghettoVCB.sh - Free alternative for backing up VM's for ESX(i) 3.5, 4.x & 5.x
Simple, command-line script for easy backup/restore. Uses snapshot, and can backup even running VMs.