Backup Storage

Kerridge0

Member
Feb 22, 2009
31
3
6
Hi I'd like to set up as follows:-

2x HP Optiplex G5 with 1tb drive, 4GB RAM
each with half the VMs
every night, backup each VM to the other server.
this would mean that should a machine go down, I would have yesterdays backup of it on the remaining machine. No need for RAID, SAN etc.

Problem I'm having is how do I add storage directory on the slave machine as a backup destination? do I need to create an NFS export mounted on the master?
 
The main reason I posted was because I was trying to set up a backup storage directory on each server in the cluster.

Creating it on the master node worked fine or me, but I then reasoned that I should be able to create a directory storage on a slave node too. But when I logged into the GUI of the slave node, and tried to set this up pointing to a precreated directory, the javascript alert given was "Error: you do not have write access"

So it would seem that the GUI was trying to create the new storage on the master node but not having permission to do so as it was the slave node.

So rephrasing my question, it seems that you can't create a backup storage on any member of the cluster, just the master, and if so, is it something that a later update might permit? Perhaps a drop down to select which node the directory storage would be on?

It would certainly support my use case, meaning that provided I'm happy with just daily backups of whole vms, and some downtime to recover in case of failure, I can have a "mostly" redundant server cluster by using a small cluster and the built in storage tools. Or am I way off base here?
 
The main reason I posted was because I was trying to set up a backup storage directory on each server in the cluster.

Creating it on the master node worked fine or me, but I then reasoned that I should be able to create a directory storage on a slave node too. But when I logged into the GUI of the slave node, and tried to set this up pointing to a precreated directory, the javascript alert given was "Error: you do not have write access"

So it would seem that the GUI was trying to create the new storage on the master node but not having permission to do so as it was the slave node.

So rephrasing my question, it seems that you can't create a backup storage on any member of the cluster, just the master, and if so, is it something that a later update might permit? Perhaps a drop down to select which node the directory storage would be on?

It would certainly support my use case, meaning that provided I'm happy with just daily backups of whole vms, and some downtime to recover in case of failure, I can have a "mostly" redundant server cluster by using a small cluster and the built in storage tools. Or am I way off base here?

take a look here:
http://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Backup_-_Restore_-_Live_Migration

and here:
http://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Storage_Model#Directory

the point is that the backup destination needs to be accessible from both hosts. and you only configure it on the master.

simple example:

on the master:
Code:
mkdir /backup

on the node /backup
Code:
mkdir /backup

now, add it on the master web interface.
you can work with mountpoints in /etc/fstab (e.g. samba, nfs, ...) - you need to add it to /etc/fstab on both servers, then add the directory via web interface on the master.

hope this is cleare now, good luck.
 
Yes it makes a lot more sense, So basically the best way for me to do it is to create an NFS mount point on each node, outside of the Proxmox GUI, and then add those as separate backup storage items, and then create backup jobs to them. I shall see how I go, thanks!


Allowing the creation of an NFS share on any of the cluster members using the GUI might be useful for others? as it could be set to restrict access to cluster members only, that kind of thing?
 
Yes it makes a lot more sense, So basically the best way for me to do it is to create an NFS mount point on each node, outside of the Proxmox GUI, and then add those as separate backup storage items, and then create backup jobs to them.

Why dont you simply add a shared NFS backup storage?

Allowing the creation of an NFS share on any of the cluster members using the GUI might be useful for others? as it could be set to restrict access to cluster members only, that kind of thing?

I do not really undestand that?
 
Why dont you simply add a shared NFS backup storage?

How do I do that? I don't see the option in the menus.

But seriously, this is how I see installing Proxmox in the small offices/learning centres which are my main customers in the future:

2x identical entry level servers eg optiplex ml110 g5, opteron 1210, 4GB RAM, 1 Tb Hard drive
initially with the following VMs:-

KVM:- Ebox (samba, openvpn)
OpenVZ:- backuppc to backup Ebox, and any visiting laptops and other PCs
OpenVZ (bridged):- ubuntu 8.04 fogproject (windows hard drive imaging)
OpenVZ (bridged):- PIAF pbx (Asterisk)

these VMs would be distributed between the two servers, obviously the backuppc being on a separate server to the samba ebox.

Each server would have a backup storage directory shared via NFS.

Overnight, each VM will be backed up to the other server in the cluster.

Obviously, setting this up would be easier for me if Proxmox automated or simplified the process of adding an NFS share on each drive, for example, in the "add storage" section.

So my question was, is this something you'd consider setting up for a later version?
 
How do I do that? I don't see the option in the menus.

Configuration/Storage/Add NFS Share

Obviously, setting this up would be easier for me if Proxmox automated or simplified the process of adding an NFS share on each drive, for example, in the "add storage" section.

So my question was, is this something you'd consider setting up for a later version?

Dont know if I understand you correctly. You want each node to become an NFS server wich exports a local disk? If so, there is no plan to add that to the web interface.
 
Yes that's what I meant. To be able to add a "backup storage" which is an NFS share on one of the nodes in the cluster, and which is automatically created in the process of adding.

Configuration/Storage/Add NFS Share

That obviously only adds a pre-existing NFS share available elsewhere. I guess that you mustn't really see this as something that would be useful to your user base.

To me it seems like a perfect feature, to allow hosts to be backed up to other hosts on the cluster, meaning that in some cases you wouldn't need a RAID card or separate storage server. I know that the stated goal is high availability and that is a worthy goal, but I am talking about limited budgets here.

I'd also like to be able to configure email from the interface too. A lot of other products allow you to set up a basic SMTP account for email reporting. From an earlier reply I got I think I "just need to set up postfix" which I know is quite simple but this feature would surely save a lot of users from even logging in to the shell.

Since in my case these are the only few things that need to be done on the proxmox hosts it seems that it would make sense to add them to the interface. But obviously I must be doing something outside the norm.

I guess I'll have to just add all that separately as part of my install.

Thanks for an excellent product.

Kerry
 
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