Ever since the early release of Veeam Backup for Proxmox VE, there has not been a lot of great community content highlighting how to administer PVE in an all-in-one post. Since then, the product has evolved significantly, so I decided to put together a comprehensive guide for the current plug-in version to help you get the most out of it. Below are some interesting post on Proxmox VE by
Following Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware, the market faced significant disruptions. This led to many customers seeking alternative virtualisation platforms, with Proxmox VE quickly emerging as one of the preferred choice. Recognising both customer demand and Proxmox’s VE growing market share, Veeam expanded its Hypervisor support to include Proxmox VE.
For the entire blog post, kindly take a look at the original article “Backup and Restore Proxmox VE virtual machines with Veeam”.
Below is the architecture for Veeam Backup for Proxmox VE. The Veeam Backup for Proxmox VE architecture includes a Proxmox VE server, a VBR (backup server), a plug-in. Also, included is a backup repository, and a worker as shown in the image below
The Proxmox VE server runs the virtualisation platform and provides access to storage, networks, and VMs during backup and restore. The Windows-based backup server hosts Veeam Backup & Replication and manages configuration, scheduling, and resource allocation.
The Proxmox VE Plug-in integrates the backup server with the Proxmox VE server and enables worker deployment. From version 12.3.1 and above, you do not have to manually install this plugin. As you can see from the image. The backup repository stores the VM backups and rely on Veeam Data Mover to process and transfer data, either on the repository.
The Workers are deployed as Linux VMs on Proxmox hosts, and they handle data traffic between the infrastructure and repository.
For the limitations and considerations, please visit the blog post as referenced above.
System Requirements
Veeam Backup for Proxmox VE supports Proxmox Virtual Environment versions 8.2 – 8.4 installed using the official ISO image provided by Proxmox. Proxmox Virtual Environment version 9 (and later) is not supported.
Because, “Veeam does not currently support Proxmox 9 or later. I will therefore not be upgrading to this version yet”.
Therefore, to determine which Proxmox VE version you are running. Please, run of of these commands below. As you can see, we are running the supported version.
Note: For those that use a remote Veeam Backup & Replication console. You do not need to install Proxmox VE Plug-in on the workstation where the remote Veeam Backup & Replication console is deployed.
You must deploy Veeam Backup & Replication version 12.3 or later on the backup server to enable support for Proxmox VE.
Add PVE to Veeam
To integrate Proxmox VE into your backup environment, launch the Veeam Backup & Replication console, go to Inventory, and under Virtual Infrastructure, click on the ribbon and select “Add Server”. On the Add Server window, select “Proxmox VE” as shown below.
In the new Proxmox VE Server window, enter the DNS name or IP Address of your Proxmox Node and click Next.
At the Credentials step of the wizard, specify the credentials of an account that will be used to access the Proxmox VE server. This can be either an account of a root user or an account of a user elevated to root (the latter option is recommended for security reasons). The latter concern was addressed in this KB.
But, this is a lab environment, therefore, I will be going with the root account. To do this, click on the Add button, in the credential field. Enter the username and password and click on OK. If you are using a non root account, remember to select Elevate account privileges automatically etc as you wish.
Credential added
Click on Yes to trust the server
At the Snapshot Storage, select the storage that will be used to save snapshots in case the original VM storage does not support snapshot. Click on Apply when done.
At the Apply step of the wizard. Wait until the Proxmox VE server is added to the backup infrastructure as you can see below and then click Next.
On the “Summary” page, click on Finish.
We have successfully added our Proxmox VE and available VMs.
Deploy a Worker
Workers are backup infrastructure components that are preconfigured for optimal performance. That is why you must not install any software on VMs running as workers. Or make any configuration changes to them unless you are requested to do so by Veeam Customer Support.
Upon adding Proxmox VE to Veeam Backup and Replication, you will be prompted to deploy a Worker. I will select Yes as this is what intend doing.
I will enter the following name “Worker-PVE01”, with my desired storage and will click next. This name was choosen because, it is recommended that workers are deployed on each node registered with a Proxmox VE cluster. If no worker is deployed on the node, performance of backup and restore operations will be affected as Veeam Backup for Proxmox VE will use a worker deployed on another node.
We need to click on “Add” to configure worker network interfaces. As you can see, DHCP is enabled in the selected network.
On the “Summary” wizard, click on Finish and check the box to test the worker configuration when I click Finish.
On the Test wizard, I will click on Close as I do not have the patience for this to complete.
Informational ONLY: As soon as Veeam Backup for Proxmox VE finishes the worker configuration test, the worker will be powered off.
You can also manually initiate the test of your worker or modify it by navigating to the Backup Infrastructure, and then click on Backup Proxies. On the newly created worker, right click and select Test, or tProperties to modify it.
Backup Job
In the inventory pane, select Jobs. click on the ribbon, click Backup Job and select Virtual Machine > Proxmox VE. Alternatively, right-click the working area and select Backup > Virtual machine > Proxmox VE.
Enter the job name
Select the VM you wish to backup
In the Backup repository drop-down list, select a backup repository where you want to store backups.
Define the job schedule
On the summary window, I will check the box to “Run the job when I click Finish”.
BACKUP JOB HAS COMPLETED AS SHOWN BELOW
PVE VM Restore
I will be performing entire VM restore. To do this, open the Home view, and navigate to the inventory pane, and select Backups.
In the working area, expand the necessary backup job. Select the VM that you want to restore and click Entire VM on the ribbon, or right-click the VM and select Restore entire VM to Proxmox.
Select the VM to restore
I will be restoring to the original location and will click on NEXT
This will ensure that the VM itself running on Proxmox will be deleted.
Enter a reason if you wish and click Next
On the restore “Summary” wizard, click to Power on target VM after restoring if you wish, and click on FINISH.
Below is the Restore log and Proxmox VE Tasks logs as well.
As you can see below, we have successfully restored the VM to the original location.
Start your VM
VM started and worker shutdown
