Backup

Discussion in 'macOS Virtual Machine' started by DavidO5, Jul 31, 2016.

  1. DavidO5

    DavidO5 Bit poster

    Messages:
    2
    Two questions:
    For backing up to an external hard drive is there an advantage/disadvantage to connecting the external drive to Mac vs to the Virtual Machine?
    How to backup Parallels Desktop 10 to Mac Time Machine. Website says go to Security Tab, but there is no Security Tab in preferences.
     
  2. Sasti@Parallels

    Sasti@Parallels Parallels Support

    Messages:
    278
    Hello @David05,
    If you choose to backup your Parallels virtual machine(.pvm) file on an external drive, the drive has to be formatted with a Mac OS X compatible file system(generally Mac OS Extended or ex-FAT) and only ex-FAT can be accessed by both Mac OS X and Windows. This means there is no major advantage/disadvantage in manually backing up using external drives over automatic backup applications like Time Machine. You could locate you virtual machine(.pvm) file as suggested in this article.
    If you have a Time Machine backup, the .pvm files are backed up automatically if you haven't added the .pvm files to the exception list of Time Machine. Check the Time Machine backup options from Parallels Desktop here.
     
  3. DavidO5

    DavidO5 Bit poster

    Messages:
    2
    Sasti - I back up to both an external hard drive and to Time Machine. For the external hard drive does it make a difference whether I click on connect to Mac or to the Virtual Machine?
    On Time Machine, the article you attached says for Parallels Desktop 10 I need to go to the Security Tab to activate, but I do not find a Security Tab. Is the article wrong and Time Machine will automatically backup? I haven't added the .pvm file to the Time Machine exception.
     
  4. Sasti@Parallels

    Sasti@Parallels Parallels Support

    Messages:
    278
    It will not make any difference if you connect the external drive(used for backup) to either Mac or Windows as long as the backed up(.pvm) file is not disturbed. When connected to Windows, you might not be able to work with or view the virtual machine files on the drive.
    On Parallels Desktop 10, go to the configuration screen of your virtual machine, to access the security tab.
     
  5. Guna@Parallels

    Guna@Parallels Parallels Support

    Messages:
    433
    Additionally,It is a good practice to make a backup of the virtual machine using an external drive as outlined in this article.
    If you haven't made any changes in the virtual machine configuration and making a Time Machine backup, virtual machine will be backed up. The article mentioned in the above post is to optimize Time Machine backup.
    Check this article to learn more about it.
    If you are unable to find a security option, please share a few screenshot with us. We will check it for you.
     
    Maria@Parallels likes this.

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