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This page describes how to manually create a backup for VM workloads in Google Distributed Cloud (GDC) air-gapped.
When a backup plan is created, backups are automatically created according to the schdeule defined on the backup plan. You can also manually create a VM backups at any time time, even if it is outside of the schedule you define.
Before you begin
To create manual VM backups, you must have the following:
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Hard to understand","hardToUnderstand","thumb-down"],["Incorrect information or sample code","incorrectInformationOrSampleCode","thumb-down"],["Missing the information/samples I need","missingTheInformationSamplesINeed","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-29 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eThis guide explains how to manually create backups for virtual machine (VM) workloads in Google Distributed Cloud (GDC) air-gapped environments.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eWhile backups are automatically created according to a defined schedule, manual backups can be initiated at any time, regardless of the schedule.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eTo create a manual VM backup, an existing VM backup plan and the necessary identity and access roles are required.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eManual VM backups are created using the \u003ccode\u003eVirtualMachineBackupRequest\u003c/code\u003e resource via the API, specifying the backup request name, project name, VM backup plan, and VM backup name.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["# Create a manual backup\n\nThis page describes how to manually create a backup for VM workloads in Google Distributed Cloud (GDC) air-gapped.\n\nWhen a backup plan is created, backups are automatically created according to the schdeule defined on the backup plan. You can also manually create a VM backups at any time time, even if it is outside of the schedule you define.\n\nBefore you begin\n----------------\n\nTo create manual VM backups, you must have the following:\n\n- An existing VM backup plan. For more information, see [Create a backup plan](/distributed-cloud/hosted/docs/latest/gdch/platform-application/pa-ao-operations/vm-backup/scope-schedule/create-scoped-backup-plan#create-vm-backup-plan-scope).\n- The necessary identity and access role. For more information, see [Prepare roles and permissions](/distributed-cloud/hosted/docs/latest/gdch/platform-application/pa-ao-operations/vm-backup/scope-schedule/vm-scope-overview#prepare-roles-permissions).\n\nCreate a manual VM backup\n-------------------------\n\nCreate a `VirtualMachineBackupRequest` resource using the API: \n\n apiVersion: virtualmachine.gdc.goog/v1\n kind: VirtualMachineBackupRequest\n metadata:\n name: \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"devsite-syntax-l devsite-syntax-l-Scalar devsite-syntax-l-Scalar-Plain\"\u003eBACKUP_REQUEST_NAME\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/var\u003e\n namespace: \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"devsite-syntax-l devsite-syntax-l-Scalar devsite-syntax-l-Scalar-Plain\"\u003ePROJECT_NAME\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/var\u003e\n spec:\n virtualMachineBackupPlan: \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"devsite-syntax-l devsite-syntax-l-Scalar devsite-syntax-l-Scalar-Plain\"\u003eVM_BACKUP_PLAN\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/var\u003e\n virtualMachineBackupName: \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"devsite-syntax-l devsite-syntax-l-Scalar devsite-syntax-l-Scalar-Plain\"\u003eVM_BACKUP_NAME\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/var\u003e\n\nReplace the following:\n\n- \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eBACKUP_REQUEST_NAME\u003c/var\u003e: the name to give the backup request that is being initiated.\n- \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003ePROJECT_NAME\u003c/var\u003e: the name of the GDC project.\n- \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eVM_BACKUP_PLAN\u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003e\u003c/var\u003e\u003c/var\u003e: the name of the `VirtualMachineBackupPlan` resource to use for configuration of the backup.\n- \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eVM_BACKUP_NAME\u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003e\u003c/var\u003e\u003c/var\u003e: the name of the backup to create.\n\nWhat's next\n-----------\n\n- [Create a restore](/distributed-cloud/hosted/docs/latest/gdch/platform-application/pa-ao-operations/vm-backup/scope-schedule/create-restore-scoped)"]]