Proxmox Backup Server · Home Lab Explorers

Proxmox Backup Server

Wanted to post a quick trip report on setting up Proxmox Backup Server in the hopes that other Proxmox users here might be inspired to setup their own backups.

I spent an hour or two last night setting up Proxmox Backup Server in an LXC container on my Proxmox host. I only have the single box at the moment, so I can't take advantage of all the benefits of a separate backup host, but I am using a redundant disks to prevent disk failure from being catastrophic.

I used the Community Helper Script for Proxmox Backup Server (LXC) as well as the Post-Install script to get PBS installed and running. After setting the root password (instructions in helper script) and using Proxmox to create a new mount point on my ZFS share into the PBS LXC container (DON'T enable backups on this mount point!), I logged into the backup server webUI and added a datastore for backups that pointed to the mount point I just configured.

The final step was to login to Proxmox VE and add the backup server as a storage destination in the Datacenter config. Once that is complete, you can configure any backup jobs you have to use the backup server as a destination and you're good to go.

I recommend using the "Run Now" button to test the backup process and ensure everything is working correctly. You can also configure a pruning strategy in the backup server GUI.

If, like me, you are curious what the advantages of running PBS over simply backing up to a local directory in Proxmox are, then allow me summarize some information Gemini told me when I asked it:

Superior deduplication: PBS deduplicates backups over time and across VM/CTs.
Efficient Incremental Backups: After the initial full backup, subsequent backups are incremental, and PBS manages these increments in a highly efficient way (often referred to as "incremental forever"). It only transfers and stores changed data blocks.
Verification of Backups
Client-Side Encryption
Granular, File-Level Restore (Simplified)
Advanced Retention Policies and Pruning
Centralized Management and Overview
Data Integrity Checks

Note: I actually haven't noticed the deduplication and incremental backups working yet. After a couple backups, each backup seems to be the same ~1GB size despite no activity occurring in the application. There may be additional configuration I need to find to get those features working. I will need to look into what's going on and will update if I find anything.

Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope this is helpful to someone out there.

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