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[root@ESXI:~] mkfifo /tmp/fifotest;ls -la /tmp/fifotest
prw-r--r--    1 root     root             0 Aug  4 14:17 /tmp/fifotest
[root@ESXI:~]

--rotate=3 means: keep the three latest timestamped dirs. is not working correctly then. It is trying to remove the first of three which would leave only two,

The 1.5.12 has been installed but makes no difference.

The failure to remove the rotated replica happens with a larger VM, maybe 100GB, on a spinning HD in a NAS. Much easier to test a 32MB VM than 100GB.

Here are the last lines of the strace. I don't see anything obvious. If you need the complete strace I would rather send it than post it.

fstat(10, {st_mode=S_IFIFO|0600, st_size=0, ...}) = 0
mmap(NULL, 4096, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0xa342906000
read(10, "Get Snapshot:\n", 600)        = 14
read(10, "|-ROOT\n", 600)               = 7
read(10, "--Snapshot Name        : xsi6238"..., 600) = 205
read(10, "", 600)                       = 0
close(10)                               = 0
wait4(2751074, [{WIFEXITED(s) && WEXITSTATUS(s) == 0}], 0, NULL) = 2751074
munmap(0xa342906000, 4096)              = 0
pipe([10, 11])                          = 0
clone(child_stack=0, flags=CLONE_CHILD_CLEARTID|CLONE_CHILD_SETTID|SIGCHLD, child_tidptr=0xa30283f910) = 2751081
close(11)                               = 0
fstat(10, {st_mode=S_IFIFO|0600, st_size=0, ...}) = 0
mmap(NULL, 4096, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0xa342906000
read(10, "Remove Snapshot:\n", 600)     = 17
read(10, "", 600)                       = 0
close(10)                               = 0
wait4(2751081, [{WIFEXITED(s) && WEXITSTATUS(s) == 0}], 0, NULL) = 2751081
munmap(0xa342906000, 4096)              = 0
write(1, "*** Snapshot was removed ***\n", 29) = 29
write(1, "\33[90m---------------------------"..., 119) = 119
pipe([10, 11])                          = 0
clone(child_stack=0, flags=CLONE_CHILD_CLEARTID|CLONE_CHILD_SETTID|SIGCHLD, child_tidptr=0xa30283f910) = 2751089
close(11)                               = 0
fstat(10, {st_mode=S_IFIFO|0600, st_size=0, ...}) = 0
mmap(NULL, 4096, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0xa342906000
read(10, "0;", 600)                     = 2
read(10, "", 600)                       = 0
close(10)                               = 0
wait4(2751089, [{WIFEXITED(s) && WEXITSTATUS(s) == 0}], 0, NULL) = 2751089
munmap(0xa342906000, 4096)              = 0
pipe([10, 11])                          = 0
clone(child_stack=0, flags=CLONE_CHILD_CLEARTID|CLONE_CHILD_SETTID|SIGCHLD, child_tidptr=0xa30283f910) = 2751091
close(11)                               = 0
fstat(10, {st_mode=S_IFIFO|0600, st_size=0, ...}) = 0
mmap(NULL, 4096, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0xa342906000
read(10, "0;", 600)                     = 2
read(10, "", 600)                       = 0
close(10)                               = 0
wait4(2751091, [{WIFEXITED(s) && WEXITSTATUS(s) == 0}], 0, NULL) = 2751091
munmap(0xa342906000, 4096)              = 0
stat("/etc/localtime", {st_mode=S_IFREG|0444, st_size=56, ...}) = 0
write(1, "Backup end date: 2021-08-02T14:1"..., 37) = 37
write(1, "\33[90m---------------------------"..., 119) = 119
write(1, "Time taken: 00:00:03 (3 sec.)\n", 30) = 30
write(1, "\33[90m---------------------------"..., 119) = 119
write(1, "Total time:        3 sec.\n", 26) = 26
write(1, "\33[90m---------------------------"..., 119) = 119
write(1, "Full file speed:\t               "..., 96) = 96
write(1, "\33[90m---------------------------"..., 119) = 119
write(1, "Real data speed:\t               "..., 96) = 96
write(1, "\33[90m---------------------------"..., 119) = 119
open("/scratch/XSI/XSIBackup-DC/var/log/backupdb.log", O_WRONLY|O_CREAT|O_APPEND, 0666) = 10
fstat(10, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=9207, ...}) = 0
mmap(NULL, 131072, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0xa342906000
fstat(10, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=9207, ...}) = 0
lseek(10, 9207, SEEK_SET)               = 9207
write(10, "6238059529795125;2750950;--repli"..., 186) = 186
close(10)                               = 0
munmap(0xa342906000, 131072)            = 0
access("/vmfs/volumes/585bd3c7-63c6dc10-a706-001fc69beea0/replica/20210802141508/tiny/.locked", F_OK) = 0
unlink("/vmfs/volumes/585bd3c7-63c6dc10-a706-001fc69beea0/replica/20210802141508/tiny/.locked") = 0
write(1, "\33[32mItem backup completed witho"..., 42) = 42
write(1, "\33[0m\33[90m-----------------------"..., 123) = 123
access("", F_OK)                        = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
write(1, "Data processing completed succes"..., 39) = 39
write(1, "\33[90m---------------------------"..., 119) = 119
write(1, "--rotate option was detected, re"..., 61) = 61
write(1, "\33[90m---------------------------"..., 119) = 119
pipe([10, 11])                          = 0
clone(child_stack=0, flags=CLONE_CHILD_CLEARTID|CLONE_CHILD_SETTID|SIGCHLD, child_tidptr=0xa30283f910) = 2751093
close(11)                               = 0
fstat(10, {st_mode=S_IFIFO|0600, st_size=0, ...}) = 0
mmap(NULL, 4096, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0xa342906000
read(10, "0;/vmfs/volumes/Local-1/replica/"..., 600) = 227
read(10, "", 600)                       = 0
close(10)                               = 0
wait4(2751093, [{WIFEXITED(s) && WEXITSTATUS(s) == 0}], 0, NULL) = 2751093
munmap(0xa342906000, 4096)              = 0
write(1, "\33[90m-\33[0m Deleting replica at '"..., 78) = 78
mknod("/tmp/xsi/2750950/fifo1", S_IFIFO|0666) = 0
mmap(NULL, 528384, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_ANONYMOUS|MAP_32BIT, -1, 0) = 0xa342906000
mprotect(0xa342906000, 4096, PROT_NONE) = 0
clone(child_stack=0xa3429860b0, flags=CLONE_VM|CLONE_FS|CLONE_FILES|CLONE_SIGHAND|CLONE_THREAD|CLONE_SYSVSEM|CLONE_SETTLS|CLONE_PARENT_SETTID|CLONE_CHILD_CLEARTID, parent_tidptr=0xa3429869d0, tls=0xa342986940, child_tidptr=0xa3429869d0) = 2751101
open("/tmp/xsi/2750950/fifo1", O_RDONLY) = 10
read(10, "Bad port '-q'\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0"..., 255) = 255
--- SIGSEGV (Segmentation fault) @ 0 (0) ---
close(0)                                = 0
write(1, "\33[90m-\33[0m\n", 11)        = 11
write(1, "\33[90m---------------------------"..., 119) = 119
write(1, "SIGTERM (11) condition was trapp"..., 64) = 64
write(1, "\33[90m---------------------------"..., 119) = 119
write(1, "Cleaning up...\n", 15)        = 15
write(1, "\33[90m---------------------------"..., 119) = 119
pipe([0, 14])                           = 0
clone(child_stack=0, flags=CLONE_CHILD_CLEARTID|CLONE_CHILD_SETTID|SIGCHLD, child_tidptr=0xa30283f910) = 2751103
futex(0x75a040, FUTEX_WAKE_PRIVATE, 1)  = 1
close(14)                               = 0
fstat(0,

I am using NFS 3 in this test. My biggest concern is that the rotate did not remove the old folder. XSIbackup creates the folder and I can manually remove them, so it isn't the share not being properly mounted. It happens with a QNAP NAS and a Synology NAS.

Ask your customers to describe how they use your product and I am positive some will respond with their very innovative approaches. Have a section on your website to highlight various situations and their solutions. A man page and a command and options page are not enough. You brought this to life so it is easy for you to look at a command string and mentally understand what it is doing and how the whole backup will transpire. A new user at whatever complexity level, will not. Give them something to refer to. An email to your existing customers asking for help putting together these scenarios would be a great way to engage with existing customers.

My apologies. My test script lacked a slash before the date variable and while the documentation did say that, it is NOT clear.

"normally use that string, and not other"

At any rate, thank you. If I might offer a suggestion. Please add some simple scenarios and take a new user through building the script. The documentation is just a list of commands and options but doesn't help with understanding anything. You created it so it is second nature. Some options are available for some situations and not others. It reminds me of Cisco documentation in the early 90s. Start with a stated goal and then show how you developed your choices. I am sure you lose potential customers because you treat many as stupid users. I was a moderator on the VMware forums for many years. It is often difficult for some new users to grasp the concepts. Your ideas and your application can be a very solid solution to protecting VMs.
Again
Thank you

I do understand what happens with $(( $(date +%j) % N )). It gives me differential replicas. I don't want that at all. I want what I get with /vmfs/volumes/backup/replica/$(date +%Y%m%d%H%M%S) which is discrete dated folders with full vmdks. The link to the Extended rotation feature led me to believe that the rotation option would indeed remove folders based on the different rotation options.

This is absolutely NOT what I want. I can get what I want with the /vmfs/volumes/backup/replica/$(date +%Y%m%d%H%M%S) however the --rotate=3 does not remove older folders.

/vmfs/volumes/585bd3c7-63c6dc10-a706-001fc69beea0/XSIBackup-DC/xsibackup \
--replica \
"VMs(tester)" \
/vmfs/volumes/backup/replica/$(date +%Y%m%d%H%M%S) \
--rotate=3

I understand the two pieces of software are different. I was asking for clarification. I have read the somewhat confusing manual.
There are people that want the instantly available copy of a VM. It may not be the best backup, but it is perfect for the dozens of small Linux servers that I have. They may have a bunch of changes throughout the day but are unchanged during the night. I don't need long-term data recovery points, because the data is collected separately. I need an oops copy and I want one from last night, and for the previous two days back. I take a weekend copy of some that I want some historical record. These servers are small and perform a dedicated task. Each of them takes 6 or 7 minutes to back up, they don't take much room. The 3-day backup rotation is convenient as hell. The deduplicated backups or differential replicas, overly complicate a very simple need.  Your software obviously knows how to make a copy of the VM. Add some settings that provides the simple functionality that was available in the Clasic version. A simple point in time copy of a VM.

I have been following this because I am looking for the same functionality as the earlier version where I could do a simple backup of the complete VM in date isolated folders. I am not interested in deduplicated anything. I just want a complete VM that can be turned on in the event of a failure. I don't want any form of "recovery". I just want to register the VM and turn it on. I think that is what the OP wanted as well. Some of the things that have been indicated here have led me to believe that that may be possible with 1.5.0.11 which I have seen show up on the website but that appears to have disappeared, only showing 1.5.0.10. Clicking another link on the website does now show 1.5.0.11, so you have links pointing to old pages mixed in with links pointing to new pages.
Also, I would like clarification on the following.

This seems to indicate that a simple replica is not like I and I am sure others, would like to see a replica, a standalone dated folder with a complete operational VM. Could you please clarify.

Is the Datacenter version a new distinct product or an upgrade to the pro version. I did not see pricing.