Hello,

Is it possible to backup the whole VM image and import into my local Xen server for testing env.?

Since I don't want to install/setup everystuffs again, it would be great is just copy and import.

Would rsync not work?

http://www.linode.com/wiki/index.php/Au ... diffBackup

I want to backup the whole system (not only data, also program installed under /usr/local, and in fact... every thing)

So I am trying to see if it can be done in the VM level.

Not at the VM level yet, they are working on it, but not yet.
http://www.linode.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=26

But I don't know what form or state the backup is in. I haven't had a chance to be a part of the beta yet. They were (and are) working on it when I asked to be a part of the beta.

And as far as I can tell, if you follow that tutorial you would be backing up the entire system except for:

/dev
/proc
/tmp
/var/tmp

and two other directories that are specific to the author's system/setup.

Reboot into a finnix profile, mount your disk image and do whatever you want with it.

This might be a bit overkill, but should work for you:
http://www.sysadminsjourney.com/content ... e-with-you