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guidebackupReviewed July 15, 2026

Restore testing and recovery-point design

A backup is proven only by an isolated restore. Preserve the domain definition and every external dependency needed to reconstruct the guest. Recovery set Inactive domain XML and UUID. Disk data and verified backing chai

restorerportovalidation

A backup is proven only by an isolated restore. Preserve the domain definition and every external dependency needed to reconstruct the guest.

Recovery set

  • Inactive domain XML and UUID.
  • Disk data and verified backing-chain ownership.
  • NVRAM, TPM state, secrets, and firmware dependencies.
  • Network definitions or an explicit remapping plan.
  • Application-consistency evidence and restore instructions.

Isolated test

Restore under a new name and UUID on an isolated network. Do not attach a recovered clone to production identity, shared disks, or the original IP space until collision controls are in place.

BASH
qemu-img check /restore/guest01.qcow2
virt-xml-validate /restore/guest01.xml domain
virsh define /restore/guest01-test.xml
virsh start guest01-restore-test

Record achieved recovery point, time to boot, application integrity checks, and cleanup evidence. Compare those measurements to the stated RPO and RTO.

Related

  • Safe domain XML editing
  • External snapshots and block jobs
  • SSH, IPMI, and ZFS Recovery Order

On this page

  • Recovery set
  • Isolated test