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Proxmox Backup Server setup

proxmoxbackuppbs

PBS is a dedicated backup appliance that stores Proxmox VM and LXC backups with deduplication and incremental transfers. It runs as a separate Debian-based installation, not a package on the PVE node.

Installation

Install PBS on a dedicated VM or physical machine from the official ISO. After install, access the web UI at https://<ip>:8007.

Create a datastore

A datastore is a directory where backups are stored. It must be on a dedicated filesystem — don’t share it with the OS.

In the PBS UI: Administration → Datastore → Add Datastore. Point it at your backup disk mount (e.g. /mnt/backup).

Add PBS to PVE

In the Proxmox VE UI: Datacenter → Storage → Add → Proxmox Backup Server

  • Server: PBS IP
  • Username: root@pam (or a dedicated backup user)
  • Password: PBS root password
  • Datastore: name of the datastore you created
  • Fingerprint: copy from PBS Dashboard → Fingerprint

Configure backup jobs

Datacenter → Backup → Add

  • Storage: select PBS
  • Schedule: e.g. daily or 0 2 * * *
  • Mode: snapshot for running VMs, stop if you need consistency guarantees
  • Select VMs/LXCs to include

Prune and garbage collect

Backups accumulate. Set a prune schedule on the datastore to keep N daily/weekly/monthly snapshots. After pruning, run GC (Garbage Collection) to reclaim space — pruning just removes index entries, GC removes the actual chunks.

Restore

From PVE UI, select a VM → Backup → Restore. Or from CLI:

qmrestore /path/to/backup.vma.zst <vmid>
proxmox-backup-client restore <snapshot> /path/to/output