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ExportVirtualSystemEx method of the Msvm_VirtualSystemManagementService class

Exports a virtual computer system, or a snapshot of a virtual computer system, in the "powered off" or "saved" state to a file. The virtual computer system, its associated configuration settings, and its associated resource settings will be preserved in the resulting file.

Syntax

uint32 ExportVirtualSystemEx(
  [in]  CIM_ComputerSystem REF ComputerSystem,
  [in]  string                 ExportDirectory,
  [in]  string                 ExportSettingData,
  [out] CIM_ConcreteJob    REF Job
);

Parameters

ComputerSystem [in]

Type: CIM_ComputerSystem

A reference to a CIM_ComputerSystem that represents the virtual computer system to be exported.

ExportDirectory [in]

Type: string

The fully qualified path of the directory to which the virtual computer system is to be exported. If the CreateVmExportSubdirectory property in the ExportSettingData parameter is set to True then this directory can be reused for exporting multiple virtual machines and this method places each virtual computer system definition in a separate subdirectory under this path.

ExportSettingData [in]

Type: string

An instance of the Msvm_VirtualSystemExportSettingData class that represents the virtual computer system.

Job [out]

Type: CIM_ConcreteJob

An optional reference that is returned if the operation is executed asynchronously. If present, the returned reference to an instance of CIM_ConcreteJob can be used to monitor progress and to obtain the result of the method.

Return value

Type: uint32

If this method is executed synchronously, it returns 0 if it succeeds. If this method is executed asynchronously, it returns 4096 (Method Parameters Checked - Job Started) and the Job output parameter can be used to track the progress of the asynchronous operation. Any other return value indicates an error. The return value can be one of the following values.

Completed with No Error (0)

Method Parameters Checked - Job Started (4096)

Failed (32768)

Access Denied (32769)

Not Supported (32770)

Status is unknown (32771)

Timeout (32772)

Invalid parameter (32773)

System is in use (32774)

Invalid state for this operation (32775)

Incorrect data type (32776)

System is not available (32777)

Out of memory (32778)

Remarks

Access to the Msvm_VirtualSystemManagementService class might be restricted by UAC Filtering. For more information, see User Account Control and WMI.

Examples

The following C# sample exports a virtual system. The referenced utilities can be found in Common Utilities for the Virtualization Samples.

[!Important]
To function correctly, the following code must be run on the VM host server, and must be run with Administrator privileges.

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Management;

namespace HyperVSamples
{
    class ExportVirtualSystemExClass
    {
        static string GetVirtualSystemExportSettingDataInstance(ManagementScope scope)
        {
            ManagementPath settingPath = new ManagementPath("Msvm_VirtualSystemExportSettingData");

            ManagementClass exportSettingDataClass = new ManagementClass(scope, settingPath, null);
            ManagementObject exportSettingData = exportSettingDataClass.CreateInstance();

            exportSettingData["CopySnapshotConfiguration"] = 0;
            exportSettingData["CopyVmRuntimeInformation"] = true;
            exportSettingData["CopyVmStorage"] = true;
            exportSettingData["CreateVmExportSubdirectory"] = true;

            string settingData = exportSettingData.GetText(TextFormat.CimDtd20);

            exportSettingData.Dispose();
            exportSettingDataClass.Dispose();

            return settingData;
        }


        static void ExportVirtualSystemEx(string vmName, string exportDirectory)
        {
            ManagementScope scope = new ManagementScope(@"root\virtualization", null);
            ManagementObject virtualSystemService = Utility.GetServiceObject(scope, "Msvm_VirtualSystemManagementService");

            ManagementBaseObject inParams = virtualSystemService.GetMethodParameters("ExportVirtualSystemEx");

            ManagementObject vm = Utility.GetTargetComputer(vmName, scope);
            inParams["ComputerSystem"] = vm.Path.Path;
            
            if (!Directory.Exists(exportDirectory))
            {
                Directory.CreateDirectory(exportDirectory);
            }
            inParams["ExportDirectory"] = exportDirectory;
            inParams["ExportSettingData"] = GetVirtualSystemExportSettingDataInstance(scope);

            ManagementBaseObject outParams = virtualSystemService.InvokeMethod("ExportVirtualSystemEx", inParams, null);

            if ((UInt32)outParams["ReturnValue"] == ReturnCode.Started)
            {
                if (Utility.JobCompleted(outParams, scope))
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("VM '{0}' were exported successfully.", vm["ElementName"]);

                }
                else
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("Failed to export VM");
                }
            }
            else if ((UInt32)outParams["ReturnValue"] == ReturnCode.Completed)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("VM '{0}' were exported successfully.", vm["ElementName"]);
            }
            else
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Export virtual system failed with error:{0}", outParams["ReturnValue"]);
            }

            inParams.Dispose();
            outParams.Dispose();
            vm.Dispose();
            virtualSystemService.Dispose();
        }

        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            if (args != null && args.Length != 2)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Usage: ExportVirtualSystemEx vmName exportDirectory");
                return;
            }
            ExportVirtualSystemEx(args[0], args[1]);
        }
    }
}

The following VBScript sample exports a virtual system.

[!Important]
To function correctly, the following code must be run on the VM host server, and must be run with Administrator privileges.

option explicit 

dim objWMIService
dim managementService
dim fileSystem

const JobStarting = 3
const JobRunning = 4
const JobCompleted = 7
const wmiStarted = 4096
const wmiSuccessful = 0

Main()


'-----------------------------------------------------------------
' Main
'-----------------------------------------------------------------
Sub Main()

    dim computer, objArgs, vmName, vm, exportDirectory
    
    set fileSystem = Wscript.CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
    computer = "."
    set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & computer & "\root\virtualization")
    set managementService = objWMIService.ExecQuery("select * from Msvm_VirtualSystemManagementService").ItemIndex(0)
    
    set objArgs = WScript.Arguments
    if WScript.Arguments.Count = 2 then
        vmName = objArgs.Unnamed.Item(0)
        exportDirectory = objArgs.Unnamed.Item(1)
    else
        WScript.Echo "usage: cscript ExportVirtualSystemEx.vbs vmName exportDirectoryName"
        WScript.Quit(1)
    end if
    
    set vm = GetComputerSystem(vmName)

    if ExportVirtualSystemEx(vm, exportDirectory) then
        WriteLog "Done"
        WScript.Quit(0)
    else
        WriteLog "ExportVirtualSystemEx Failed."
        WScript.Quit(1)
    end if
End Sub

'-----------------------------------------------------------------
' Retrieve Msvm_VirtualComputerSystem from base on its ElementName
'-----------------------------------------------------------------
Function GetComputerSystem(vmElementName)
    On Error Resume Next
    dim query
    query = Format1("select * from Msvm_ComputerSystem where ElementName = '{0}'", vmElementName)
    set GetComputerSystem = objWMIService.ExecQuery(query).ItemIndex(0)
    if (Err.Number <> 0) then
        WriteLog Format1("Err.Number: {0}", Err.Number)
        WriteLog Format1("Err.Description:{0}",Err.Description)
        WScript.Quit(1)
    end if
End Function

'-----------------------------------------------------------------
' Export a virtual system
'-----------------------------------------------------------------
Function ExportVirtualSystemEx(computerSystem, exportDirectory)

    dim objInParam, objOutParams 
    dim query
    dim computer
    dim exportSettingData
 
    ExportVirtualSystemEx = false
    
    if Not fileSystem.FolderExists(exportDirectory) then
        fileSystem.CreateFolder(exportDirectory)
    end if
    
    set objInParam = managementService.Methods_("ExportVirtualSystemEx").InParameters.SpawnInstance_()
    objInParam.ComputerSystem = computerSystem.Path_.Path

    query = Format1("ASSOCIATORS OF {{0}} WHERE resultClass = Msvm_VirtualSystemExportSettingData", computerSystem.Path_.Path)
    set exportSettingData = objWMIService.ExecQuery(query).ItemIndex(0)
    exportSettingData.CopyVmStorage = true
    exportSettingData.CopyVmRuntimeInformation = true
    exportSettingData.CreateVmExportSubdirectory = true
    exportSettingData.CopySnapshotConfiguration = 0
    objInParam.ExportSettingData = exportSettingData.GetText_(1)

    objInParam.ExportDirectory = exportDirectory
    
    set objOutParams = managementService.ExecMethod_("ExportVirtualSystemEx", objInParam)

    if objOutParams.ReturnValue = wmiStarted then
        if (WMIJobCompleted(objOutParams)) then
            ExportVirtualSystemEx = true
        end if
    elseif (objOutParams.ReturnValue = wmiSuccessful) then
        ExportVirtualSystemEx = true
    else
        WriteLog Format1("ExportVirtualSystemEx failed with ReturnValue {0}", objOutParams.ReturnValue)
    end if

End Function

'-----------------------------------------------------------------
' Handle wmi Job object
'-----------------------------------------------------------------
Function WMIJobCompleted(outParam)
    
    dim WMIJob, jobState

    set WMIJob = objWMIService.Get(outParam.Job)

    WMIJobCompleted = true

    jobState = WMIJob.JobState

    while jobState = JobRunning or jobState = JobStarting
        WriteLog Format1("In progress... {0}% completed.",WMIJob.PercentComplete)
        WScript.Sleep(1000)
        set WMIJob = objWMIService.Get(outParam.Job)
        jobState = WMIJob.JobState
    wend

    if (jobState <> JobCompleted) then
        WriteLog Format1("ErrorCode:{0}", WMIJob.ErrorCode)
        WriteLog Format1("ErrorDescription:{0}", WMIJob.ErrorDescription)
        WMIJobCompleted = false
    end if

End Function

'-----------------------------------------------------------------
' Create the console log files.
'-----------------------------------------------------------------
Sub WriteLog(line)
    dim fileStream
    set fileStream = fileSystem.OpenTextFile(".\ExportVirtualSystemExLog.log", 8, true)
    WScript.Echo line
    fileStream.WriteLine line
    fileStream.Close

End Sub

'------------------------------------------------------------------------------
' The string formatting functions to avoid string concatenation.
'------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Function Format2(myString, arg0, arg1)
    Format2 = Format1(myString, arg0)
    Format2 = Replace(Format2, "{1}", arg1)
End Function

'------------------------------------------------------------------------------
' The string formatting functions to avoid string concatenation.
'------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Function Format1(myString, arg0)
    Format1 = Replace(myString, "{0}", arg0)
End Function

For more examples demonstrating the ExportVirtualSystemEx method, see Exporting a Snapshot of a Virtual Machine.

Requirements

Minimum supported client
None supported
Minimum supported server
Windows Server 2008 R2
End of client support
None supported
End of server support
Windows Server 2012
Namespace
Root\Virtualization
MOF
WindowsVirtualization.mof

See also

Msvm_VirtualSystemManagementService

ExportVirtualSystem