How to Integrate Proxmox Backup Server

This guide shows you step by step how to integrate Proxmox Backup Server (PBS) into your existing Proxmox VE environment. With PBS you can create dedicated, incremental backups of your VMs and containers – independent from your Proxmox host.

Note: Detailed subpages on backup strategies and recovery can be found in the left navigation.

Requirements

• An installed and accessible Proxmox Backup Server (PBS)
• A Proxmox VE host (version 6.0 or higher)
• Network connection between Proxmox VE and PBS
• Root access on both systems

Step 1: Add PBS as storage

1. Open the Proxmox VE web interface
2. Select Datacenter → Storage in the left navigation
3. Click Add → Proxmox Backup Server
4. Fill in the fields:
   • ID: Unique name for the storage (e.g. pbs-backup)
   • Server: IP address or hostname of your PBS
   • Username: User on the PBS (e.g. root@pam or a dedicated backup user)
   • Password: The password of the PBS user
   • Datastore: Name of the datastore on the PBS
   • Fingerprint: The SSL fingerprint of the PBS (optional, automatically retrieved on first connection)
5. Click Add

Step 2: Verify fingerprint

On first connection, Proxmox displays the SSL fingerprint of the PBS. Compare this with the actual fingerprint of your PBS:

# Run on the PBS
proxmox-backup-manager cert info | grep Fingerprint

If the fingerprints match, confirm the connection. This ensures you are connecting to the correct server and no man-in-the-middle attack is occurring.

Step 3: Create backup user on PBS (recommended)

For security reasons, you should not use the root user for backups. Create a dedicated backup user:

1. Open the PBS web interface: https://your-pbs:8007
2. Go to Configuration → Access Control → User Management
3. Click Add
4. Set a username (e.g. backup@pbs) and a secure password
5. Switch to the Permissions tab
6. Click Add → User Permission
7. Select:
   • User: Your created backup user
   • Path: /datastore/your-datastore
   • Role: DatastoreBackup
8. Click Add

Step 4: Create first backup

1. Select a VM or container in the Proxmox VE web interface
2. Go to the Backup tab
3. Click Backup now
4. Select your PBS storage as Storage
5. Select the Mode:
   • Snapshot: No shutdown of VM required, faster
   • Suspend: VM is briefly paused
   • Stop: VM is shut down – most complete backup
6. Optional: Select Compression (ZSTD recommended)
7. Click Backup

Step 5: Automate regular backups

1. Go to Datacenter → Backup
2. Click Add
3. Configure the backup:
   • Node: Your Proxmox host
   • Storage: Your PBS storage
   • Schedule: Schedule (e.g. daily at 3 AM: 0 3 * * *)
   • Selection mode: Which VMs/containers to back up
   • Mode: Snapshot / Suspend / Stop
   • Compression: ZSTD (best balance of speed and size)
   • Retention: How many backups to keep
4. Click Create

Step 6: Restore backup

1. Select the desired storage in the left navigation
2. Go to the Backups tab
3. Select the desired backup
4. Click Restore
5. Select the target storage and VM ID
6. Optional: Enable Start after restore
7. Click Restore

Advantages of PBS over local backups

• Deduplication: Identical data is stored only once – massive storage savings with similar VMs
• Incremental backups: Only changed data is transferred – backups finish in minutes instead of hours
• Verification: PBS automatically checks backups for integrity
• Independence: If your Proxmox host fails, backups are safe on a separate system
• Encryption: Backups can optionally be encrypted client-side

Common problems

Connection to PBS fails:

• Check if port 8007 is reachable on the PBS: telnet pbs-ip 8007
• Check firewall settings on the PBS
• Is the username correct? On PBS the format is username@pbs or root@pam

Backup fails with "permission denied":

• Check the permissions of the backup user on PBS
• The user needs at least the DatastoreBackup role on the datastore

Backup takes very long:

• Check network connection between VE and PBS – ideally same data center or local network
• Set compression to ZSTD – saves bandwidth and storage
• Use snapshot mode if available

Detailed guides on backup strategies, encryption and disaster recovery can be found in the articles in the left navigation.