Configuring Backups for Proxmox VMs

You can configure backups for Proxmox VMs. The configuration wizard guides you through the configuration process, which includes creating any new entities that are needed, such as a backup plan, a hypervisor, and a VM group.

Start the Configuration Wizard

1. From the Command Center navigation pane, go to Protect > Virtualization.

   The Overview page appears.

2. In the upper-right area of the page, click Add hypervisor.

   The Configure Hypervisor page appears.

3. Click Proxmox VE.

4. Click Next.

   The Add Hypervisor page of the configuration wizard appears.

Add Hypervisor

1. In Hypervisor name, enter a descriptive name for the hypervisor.

2. In Host name, enter the host name. Typically, this is the IP address of your Proxmox VE cluster.

3. For Credential, select existing credentials or create new credentials.

   Steps to create credentials

   1. Click the add button .

      The Add credential dialog box appears.

   2. For Credential Vault, the Built-In value is selected by default.

   3. In Credential name, enter a descriptive name for the credentials.

   4. In User account, enter the name of the user account that has permissions to do the following:

      • Access the Proxmox cluster and resources such as Nodes, VMs, SDN and Storage

      • Obtain the account credentials or get access to saved credentials

      • Perform discovery, backup, and restore operations

   5. In Password, enter the password for the user account.

   6. In Description, enter a description of the credentials.

   7. Click Save.

4. From the Access nodes list, select one or more access nodes for the hypervisor.

   Steps to add a new access node

   1. Click the add button .

      The Add a new Access node dialog box appears.

   2. Click LINUX (64-bit) to download the package.

   3. Copy the provided Auth code to your clipboard, as it will be required during the package installation on the access node.

   4. Install the access node package on a Proxmox host that meets the minimum requirements. For more information on system requirements, see System Requirements for Proxmox VE Access Nodes.

   5. Once the access node is configured, refresh the page and select the access node from the Access nodes list.

   Note

   Ensure that you select the same server associated with the Host name as an access node.

5. Click Next.

   The Plan page of the configuration wizard appears.

Plan

A backup plan specifies the storage to back up the data to and other settings such as recovery point objective (RPO) settings.

1. Select an existing backup plan or create a new backup plan.

   Steps to create a backup plan

   1. Click the add button .

      The Create backup plan dialog box appears.

   2. In the Plan name box, enter a descriptive name for the backup plan.

   3. For Storage, select the storage pool where you want to store backups.

   4. For the backup plan settings, select pre-defined settings or create custom settings:

      • To select pre-defined settings, under Retention rules, select one of the following:

        • Select Standard retention to retain the incremental backups for 1 month.

        • Select Extended retention for optimized storage where the incremental backups of primary and secondary copies are retained for 1 month, and extended retention for monthly and yearly full backups.

          Note

          The Extended retention option is available only when the secondary copy backup is selected.

      • To create custom settings, select Custom plan, and then specify the following:

        • For Retention, specify the amount of time to retain the backup jobs.

        • For Backups run every, specify how often to run backups.

   5. Click Done.

2. Click Next.

   The Add VM Group page of the configuration wizard appears.

Add VM Group

A VM group is a set of VMs that you want to back up with the same settings. By default, the VM group includes all unprotected instances. You can modify the VM group content by using rules that auto-discover VMs and by selecting specific VMs, storage, and clusters.

1. In Name, enter a descriptive name for the VM group.

2. To create rules that auto-discover and select VMs to back up, do the following:

   1. Click Add, and then select Rule.

      The Add rule dialog box appears.

   2. From the list, select the type of rule to create, and then specify the rule:

      • Browse: Select specific VMs. (Selecting this option changes the Add rule dialog box to the Add content dialog box.)

      • Node: Select VMs associated with a specific node in your Proxmox VE cluster.

      • Power state: Select VMs based on a power status of On, Off, or Other. (Other includes statuses such as Suspended).

      • Storage: Select VMs associated with storage.

      • Virtual machine: Select specific VMs.

      • Virtual machine name or pattern: Select VMs based on their names. For example, to select VMs that have a name that includes "east", enter Virtual machine name or pattern | Contains | east.

   3. Click Save.

3. To select VMs in other ways, do the following:

   1. Click Add, and then select Content.

      The Add content dialog box appears.

   2. From the Browse and select VMs list, select one of the following:

      • Server View

      • Folder View

      • Storage View

      • Pool View

   3. Select the VMs to add to the VM group.

   4. Click Save.

4. To see a list of the VMs that are selected for backup based on your current selections, click Preview.

   The Preview page appears.

5. Click Cancel.

6. Click Next.

   The Summary page of the configuration wizard appears.

Summary

1. Review the summary.

2. Click Finish.