How do I backup to an empty partition

[NickH]

I am trying to use the UI to set up some backups but I can't work my way through it.

I have an unused partition, /dev/sde3 which is formatted as xfs but is not mounted, used or passed through anywhere. As it has 9TB of space, I was wondering about using it to back up my VMs but I can't work it out. The partition shows in Datacenter > pve > Disks.

If I go to Datacenter > Backups > Add, I only see "local" as a storage location.

How can I configure backups to my free partition through the UI or any other way? Or do I use the cheap and dirty way and mount /dev/sde3 into /var/lib/vz/dump/? I would like to backup to this disk as the o/s is up local and I'd like to upgrade the o/s and have backups on a separate disk for safety.

 

[news]

Please and your device to storrage pool, then please set the type Backup.

 

[BrickPelican]

Or do I use the cheap and dirty way and mount /dev/sde3 into /var/lib/vz/dump/

Almost, just don't mount it inside /var/lib/vz. Mount it somewhere of its own like /mnt/backup (fstab with the UUID), then Datacenter > Storage > Add > Directory, point it at /mnt/backup and pick "VZDump backup file" as content. After that it shows up in the backup job dropdown. Also worth running pvesm set <storagename> --is_mountpoint yes, so if the disk ever isn't mounted the backups fail instead of quietly filling your root disk. And skip Disks > Directory in the UI for this one, that wants a whole empty disk and formats it.