Running virtual machines and containers in your homelab or production environment without a backup strategy is a disaster waiting to happen. Fortunately, Proxmox VE makes backup and restore operations incredibly easy, reliable, and flexible—whether you’re backing up a single VM or the entire node.
This article covers the full process of setting up backups, running them manually or on a schedule, and restoring VMs or containers when needed.
✅ Why Backups Matter in Proxmox
Backups allow you to:
• Recover from accidental deletions or data corruption
• Safely test updates and rollbacks
• Migrate workloads between servers
• Create VM snapshots before risky changes
• Protect your homelab from hardware failure
Proxmox supports live backups of running virtual machines and containers, thanks to its integration with QEMU and LXC.
🛠️ 1. Storage Configuration for Backups
Before backing up anything, make sure your Proxmox host has backup-capable storage defined.
Recommended Storage Types:
Type Use Case
Local Disk Fast, short-term backups
NFS Share Central backup server / NAS
USB Drive Offline backup rotation
CIFS/SMB Windows network share
ZFS Dataset Efficient with snapshots
Add Storage (Web GUI):
1. Go to Datacenter > Storage > Add
2. Choose type (e.g., Directory, NFS, CIFS, ZFS)
3. Set Content type to include VZDump backup file
4. Save — now your backup target is ready
💾 2. Manual Backups of VMs and Containers
To manually back up a VM or container:
1. Go to the VM or CT in the left menu
2. Click Backup tab
3. Click Backup Now
Options:
• Mode:
• Snapshot (fastest; requires guest agent and LVM/ZFS)
• Suspend (pauses VM briefly)
• Stop (shuts down VM for backup)
• Compression:
• LZO: fast, good compression
• ZSTD: fast and efficient (recommended)
• GZIP: slowest but highest compression
• Storage: Choose your target (e.g., local, nfs-backup)
Click Start and Proxmox will create a .vma.zst or .vma.lzo file.
📅 3. Scheduled Backup Jobs
Automate your backups with Proxmox’s built-in scheduler.
Set Up a Backup Job:
1. Go to Datacenter > Backup
2. Click Add
3. Choose:
• Nodes: select the Proxmox host
• VMs/CTs: specific IDs or all
• Schedule: e.g., daily at 03:00
• Retention: how many backups to keep
• Email Notification: optional
Now Proxmox will back up your machines automatically based on the schedule.
🔄 4. Restore VMs and Containers
Restoring is just as easy:
Step-by-Step:
1. Go to Storage where backups are stored (e.g., nfs-backup)
2. Click Backups tab
3. Select the backup file you want
4. Click Restore
Restore Options:
• Assign new VM/CT ID
• Choose target storage for disk
• Select whether to start after restore
• Optionally change settings before first boot
Proxmox will re-deploy the full virtual machine or container, including disk and config.
🧪 5. Test Your Backups!
A backup is only useful if it can be restored.
Best practice:
• Periodically perform test restores to a separate node or ID
• Verify services start normally
• Monitor backup logs (check /var/log/vzdump/)
🛡️ 6. Tips for Reliable Backup Strategy
• Use remote storage for redundancy
• Store backups on different hardware (e.g., NAS or external disk)
• Retain at least 3 versions (current, previous, clean baseline)
• Set up email alerts to know when jobs fail
• Combine with snapshotting and Proxmox clustering for extra safety
🧰 7. Backup Formats Explained
Format Description
.vma.zst Compressed VM backup (Zstandard)
.vma.lzo Compressed VM backup (LZO)
.tar.gz Container backup (LXC only)
All backups include both disk image and VM/CT configuration.
📎 Bonus: Back Up Proxmox Config Files
Don’t forget to back up important configuration files too:
sudo tar czf proxmox-config-backup.tar.gz \
/etc/pve /etc/network /etc/hosts \
/etc/resolv.conf /root /etc/ssh
Store this file externally. It helps recover network settings, SSH keys, and VM configs.
🏁 Conclusion
Backups in Proxmox VE are easy to set up and crucial for
