Proxmox Backup Server Installation & Configuration Guide

[@calipilot4051]

As many comments highlighted the quality this video, i would also like to say thank you! It is good to see that there are still people on YT who spent a lot of time in explaining things instead of rushing through a quick content script just because every single tech channel has discovered that new hot topic at the same time.

[@XfVito]

Hands down the best video explaining the setup and usage of the PBS. Finding this video was the perfect ending after figuring out why i was not able to mount the datastore to my Truenas. I was getting permission errors when trying to create the datastore, it turned out that truenas used user root and group wheel and the PBS was using root for user and group which would not work with NFS. After many hours of frustration i noticed one thing on the truenas nfs share, i changed the advanced options to Maproot User, maproot group, mapall user root and mapall group then i was finally able to get the PBS datastore created. That's where this video kicked in, it is a perfect explanation on configuration which eliminated all the frustration i encountered with the Truenas NFS issue. Thank you for creating this video, I truly appreciate your effort and time you put into this.

[@MRPtech]

Thank you for kind feedback, thank you. And i am happy that all worked out for you with your setup.

[@stephenanderson2577]

I should have watched your video before setting up my homelab. It was by far the most comprehensive explanation of setup and I really enjoyed the step by step. In the end I reconfigured my original datastore using namespaces and then setup all of the jobs as you did. Thank you & keep the videos coming.

[@jimdavis3749]

The most comprehensive video for PBS I have found, knowledgeable, and appreciate the explanations for use and utility. Will definitely peruse your other videos for knowledge. Thanks!

[@dogbreath7777]

Excellent video! I very rarely comment or subscribe....this is one of those rare videos that has value! Keep 'em coming!

[@WohnzimmerYoutube]

The skript is a really good idea! Nice workflow!

[@MikeDeVincentis]

Very nice! Thank you for rhe detailed explanation. I'll be doing exactly this on my new 3 node cluster, storing the backups on an NFS store on my TrueNas Scale system. Love your Proxmox series so far, please keep them coming!

[@grahamstapleton3473]

Fantastic tutorial on PBS, many thanks MRP.

[@Darkk6969]

Great video. Bit of a advice on scheduling of the backup jobs on Linux servers. I usually schedule them several minutes after midnight. Reason being those Linux servers usually have cron jobs that start at midnight so I rather not bother those VMs / LXCs for backups during that time. Technically it shouldn't have any issues but few minutes after midnight to start the backups is better.

[@safwaniiiiiiz]

Many thanks for the thorough explanation.

[@robbuurman1667]

Great video again Mr P ! Thanks again, much appreciated

[@swubutu]

Thanks again MR.P ... pve node back up very handy , did not knew about this part :D !!

[@MarcelodeSouzaSilva]

GREAT video!!! Thanks!

[@michael3105]

Very useful video that helped me a lot to setup PBS. Concerning the node backup, /etc/pve is excluded, which is the directory that holds all pve related configurations, such as definitions of the VMs and LXCs. I was playing around a with the CLI but did not find a solution to include it. Let me know one if there is a way.

[@huguesmouanda4945]

thanks for the clear explanation

[@Skynet_11]

Great video. I am using just only one node. How do i backup my proxmox? what are the directories i need to backup?

[@speakstruth7742]

I am thinking of possibly using my second physical machine to run PBS and use my main machine to run PVE. I am planning to created a Duplicity/Duplicati/UrBackup server to backup my home mac and pc computers on my main machine. Then my PBS can backup all of the main machine including the backup data from my home computers. Does this make sense? I am not sure if PBS actually backups shared storage which I would use for my vm's and LXC's.... Am I understanding this correctly? For example. If I run Truenas in vm and connect a raid pool made on Proxmox VE to it... will that pool backed-up with PBS? What is the best setup for the scenarios I mentioned above. I am a newbie and need so much help. Thanks in advance.

[@bojanplesa1221]

I tried to make backup same way as you did but i have problem on start..I want to mount folder from my omv server but it didnt maded any folder when i edited fstab...Maybe i typed user and password wrong but its blured so i dont see if it has comma sign or something diferent

[@koleanmoldovan]

Thank you for the guide. I have two questions: 1. Is it possible to use S3 storage (AWS, wasaby, etc) as datastore? 2. I have already created backups via pve not pbs, is it possible to move these backups on pbs and "apply application on chunks"?

[@MRPtech]

Hi, 1. Yes, there is a way to mount S3 as local folder and push PBS backups to that, i would not use that as backup speed will heavily depend on upload speed. I would backup PBS to local storage and once that is done, cron would start upload process to upload backups to S3 2. Proxmox backups and Proxmox Backup server talks in different language. Backups are stored in different way which means that you can't move backup files from one backup solution to another.

[@Darkk6969]

ProxMox Devs did say that PBS is not designed to work with S3 due to the chunks it uses. It won't work very well. They said it's on the road map for S3 support.

[@74357175]

What do you think about the guides that suggest installing PBS in a lightweight LXC container instead? From your experience, are there any benefits to installing on a VM instead?

[@MRPtech]

LXC containers connects directly to HOST which means they can utilize RAM and CPU in better way. For home lab user - that "better" is not huge benefit for me. Main reason why i always go for VM and not LXC (unless i have no other choice but LXC) is Migration in Proxmox Cluster. If i want to migrate VM from Node-1 to Node-2, that migration happens while VM is in "live" state which means that VM will still function during migration. With LXC this migration happens in "restart" state - Proxmox shuts down LXC, migrate and starts UP again. For PBS i could go LXC because PBS only being used during night while backup is going, GC / prune / verify jobs happening. I went with VM as it is habit to run important stuff in VM for me to be able to migrate in "live" state.

[@tomaszmiekina801]

Hi, thanks for the info. Quick question: I can't log in to proxmox on my laptop even if I type in properly my login and password. Is there an option to remove proxmox from the mini pc server and restore windows?

[@MRPtech]

Let's say you are using correct username and password, do you select correct real? Real should be "Linux PAM"

[@tomaszmiekina801]

@MRPtech Yes, you have right, thanks👍

[@kristof9497]

Many thanks.

[@74357175]

If i have two hosts, but on different sites and therefore not in a cluster, can i still "cross backup" from one host to the other and vice versa?

[@MRPtech]

Technically yes. You can link them between using Tailscale. kzbin.info/www/bejne/h3vdm32lr6aMgNEsi=0obhrzaJDnxOolaO Host 1 gets backed up to Host 2 - PBS Host 2 gets backed up to Host 1 - PBS

[@74357175]

@@MRPtech Cool. I already have the two hosts connected via Tailscale, but I do not have them in a cluster. That's not a necessity for simple backup, right?

[@MRPtech]

It is not a necessity - it is more for peace of mind. The way you want to run it is still ok to have. If host-1 dies --- host-2 will have all backups and vice versa. You will have some what fail-safe setup if one of the nodes flips over. With PBS you can setup SYNC job. PBS-1 and PBS-2 will be synced so you will have same backups on both places. What i don't recommend - self-host PBS inside single node. If that single nodes dies, you still can get data back but it is a pain in the back side.

[@74357175]

@@MRPtech Thanks. In this 2-host paradigm, I have PBS1 on HOST1 backing up everything on HOST1, *but* the backups are getting synced to HOST2. This is good. Question: What's the benefit of 1) a SYNC job, as compared with 2) ZFS-send, or even just 3) rsync/rclone?

[@MRPtech]

I don't use PBS sync, but my guess will be ... PBS will be happy if chunks are created / synced in PBS system. You know ... all this file permissions headache. For you with 2 separate PVE boxes - setup PBS and sync between them will be most optimal way to go ... i think. Leave PBS systems to deal with sync and backup instead of introducing another layer on top like ZFS-send or rsync.

[@bojanplesa1221]

By copying code from yours git i get this error Error: parameter verification failed: - 'repository': value does not match the regex pattern - 'ns': value does not match the regex pattern

[@MRPtech]

What name you gave to your PBS Namespace?

[@bojanplesa1221]

On datastorage is backup and namespace is Backups and Nodes

[@MRPtech]

Ok. So you added you values for backup location and namespace into a script? Error you getting telling me that script syntax is wrong.

[@bojanplesa1221]

Sorry...I was stupid....first i rewrited all from youtube... I getted first error that i posted thatn i copyed yours from git and thinked that i tried all but my stupidity was i lefted this

[@MRPtech]

So all is working now ? Great news.

[@bojanplesa1221]

Can you please put what is going after user..for example user, username, password, user password...I probably type that wrongly

[@MRPtech]

Bellow is full line if what I type if I want to mount SMB //SMB_SERVER_IP/SHARE_NAME cifs users,username=USERNAME, password=PASSWORD,noperm 0 0

[@bojanplesa1221]

It is working...Thank you

[@m23605]

No mention of restore or recovery in chapters/transcripts. If you don't show how to recover from a disaster (new server, new storage, etc...) then there's not much point in using this guide.

[@MRPtech]

Bingo . this is why it is Installation and Configuration guide Next one will be restore guide. And to add to this ... restore process is exactly same as with normal Proxmox backup function. Select what you want to restore, press a button and that is it.

[@m23605]

@@MRPtech Sounds good. Would the processes for a disaster recovery and retiring/replacing a node be different?

[@MRPtech]

Difference between replacing dead node or recovering from complete meltdown don't have huge differences. Replacing node just has less steps to do. Replacing node in cluster is easier compared to what you have to do if you have single Proxmox node.

[@TismoGaming]

@@MRPtech awaiting the restore guide video. I have some scripts , crons and email settings I'd like to restore to my new node

[@EddieBogart]

@@MRPtech afaik restoring a full node is not "exactly same as with normal Proxmox backup function" -- but I'd love to see something like it. How's the video coming along where you show us how to restore the node that has been backed up using your script?

[@youtubegarbage4u]

so you preferred NAS as you moved from ceph back to NFS in this video?