Backup of VM does not create useful backup file

[Themihas]

Hi there,
I am new to Proxmox and have found that I need to learn quite a number of things. I hope someone will be able to help me out with my current issue:

When I try to backup my VM I get this output message and a backup file of ~500 bytes. Restoring from this backup does not yield a functional VM.

INFO: starting new backup job: vzdump 100 --remove 0 --compress zstd --storage local --node pve --mode snapshot
INFO: Starting Backup of VM 100 (qemu)
INFO: Backup started at 2021-06-22 21:23:49
INFO: status = stopped
INFO: backup mode: stop
INFO: ionice priority: 7
INFO: VM Name: ubuntu-server-dockerHost
INFO: exclude disk 'scsi0' 'local-lvm:vm-100-disk-0' (backup=no)
INFO: creating vzdump archive '/var/lib/vz/dump/vzdump-qemu-100-2021_06_22-21_23_49.vma.zst'
INFO: backup contains no disks
INFO: starting template backup
INFO: /usr/bin/vma create -v -c /var/lib/vz/dump/vzdump-qemu-100-2021_06_22-21_23_49.tmp/qemu-server.conf exec:zstd --rsyncable --threads=1 > /var/lib/vz/dump/vzdump-qemu-100-2021_06_22-21_23_49.vma.dat
INFO: archive file size: 0KB
INFO: Finished Backup of VM 100 (00:00:00)
INFO: Backup finished at 2021-06-22 21:23:49
INFO: Backup job finished successfully
TASK OK

Firstly, I am wondering how to set backup=yes for the 'vm-100-disk-0' as I imagine this could be the issue.
Secondly, I am wondering whether it is due to the small size of my storage 'local' as it only has about 5GB left available, which I suppose might not be enough for a full VM backup.

If anyone could give me a pointer as to where I might have gone wrong (and/or relevant documentation), that would be much appreciated

 

[Dunuin]

INFO: exclude disk 'scsi0' 'local-lvm:vm-100-disk-0' (backup=no)
Firstly, I am wondering how to set backup=yes for the 'vm-100-disk-0' as I imagine this could be the issue.

You are right. You are telling Proxmox not to backup your first virtual disk. Go to your VM -> Hardware -> Hard Disk (scsi0) -> Edit -> check the "Backup" checkbox.

Secondly, I am wondering whether it is due to the small size of my storage 'local' as it only has about 5GB left available, which I suppose might not be enough for a full VM backup.

You really should store your backups somewhere else. Whats the point if you store the backups on the same drive as the VMs? If your drive dies you will loose all your VMs and backups at the same time. Get a NAS and use a NFS/CIFS share as your backup storage or atleast a dedicated internal/external disk.

 

[Themihas]

You are right. You are telling Proxmox not to backup your first virtual disk. Go to your VM -> Hardware -> Hard Disk (scsi0) -> Edit -> check the "Backup" checkbox.

Ahh, there it is, thank you

You really should store your backups somewhere else. Whats the point if you store the backups on the same drive as the VMs? If your drive dies you will loose all your VMs and backups at the same time. Get a NAS and use a NFS/CIFS share as your backup storage or atleast a dedicated internal/external disk.

Yeah in the long term sure. Right now I just needed the backup to be able to reinstall Proxmox without loosing the VM, so I intend to manually copy the backup to some temporary storage.

But on the topic of running a NAS, I have heard of people running a NAS in a VM, which seems much more convenient to me (and cheaper) than running dedicated hardware for a NAS. But would that be advisable?

 

[Dunuin]

But on the topic of running a NAS, I have heard of people running a NAS in a VM, which seems much more convenient to me (and cheaper) than running dedicated hardware for a NAS. But would that be advisable?

Both is possible and has advantages and disadvantages.