Can proxmox-backup-client restore a host to another drive?

[Vik-]

Hello everyone,

I have a 2 node cluster in my current setup. I want to use proxmox-backup-client to backup only the Hosts(Nodes) not the VMs, the VMs are already backed up to a NAS using the backup feature in VE. I already have a pbs setup where I want to backup the host and the VMs in the future.
To that, I have a couple questions:

If my drives that host VE break down, can I restore proxmox to a bootable point on another drive?
if not, can I restore the VMs to another proxmox VE?
If my VE has a ZFS and SMB/CIFS storage can these be excluded from the backup?(SMB is a NAS for the current backup system, ZFS is where the VMs are stored(in server))
Even if I have the backups of the Host itself and every backup, how would I go about connecting them into a working VE again?

I would appreciate even incomplete answers,
Thanks in advance

 

[cshill]

Hey Vik,
I'm still going through the ropes with learning Proxmox but I can answer a few of these questions.

1. I have a 2 node cluster in my current setup - I don't recommend you do a 2 node but even if you need to buy a super cheap computer with an old hdd disk I would do that. Then join that into the cluster as your 3rd. The reason is due to split brain problem if one of your servers was to go down in a 2-node configuration it will break the cluster group.
2. I want to use proxmox-backup-client to backup only the Hosts(Nodes) - I'm actually searching the forum for this question as well. I am at the stage of purposely breaking parts of my cluster to get it back up as part of training for worst case scenarios in the future. As it currently stands I do not see the PBS to provide this option but I'm seeing what others are doing.
3. can I restore proxmox to a bootable point on another drive - My next test is to actually setup PVE as a ZFS single disk and then partition off a chunk from another drive and see if when I try to do a fresh install if I can do a mirror of the first disk OS with that partitioned volume.
4. can I restore the VMs to another proxmox VE - With ZFSpool, I have multiple servers in a cluster and there's the replication option and HA. You schedule the replication timing and it will check for updates data and write it to the other computer. HA, High Availability, can be setup so that when the first server goes down the VMs start up on the other server. It takes a little time but it works good.
5. If my VE has a ZFS and SMB/CIFS storage can these be excluded from the backup?(SMB is a NAS for the current backup system, ZFS is where the VMs are stored(in server)) - You do not have to backup anything to a PBS if you don't want to but there's no option for host nodes to backup that I can find through the traditional PBS.
6. I have not tested this yet so take it with a grain of salt, but I found this video that explains a github script that backs up the configurations of your node. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1aUs0wMSYw . The problem I have is that it looks like it will only backup configurations to directory paths on the server when you and I will want them off the server. The intention if I nuked my server I can rebuild it exactly the same on another server.
7. how would I go about connecting them into a working VE again? - I currently think the best option is to make a folder with the important parts and have backed up. I do not know them all but they would be like configuration items, VM configurations, encryption keys, that sort of stuff. Then just place them into the new node.

 

[khe]

Hi,

with the 2 node cluster, set up either a 3 node or a qdevice. If your PBS is running on its own hardware, you can use this. Look at https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Cluster_Manager#_corosync_external_vote_support.
If you are not using a qdevice, then when one your two nodes is down, the other cannot start or restart a VM.

TL;DR
You run a cluster, why bother to backup the PVE? Add it as a new node to the cluster and restore your VMs. Just make sure, your cluster is still healthy if one node is down.


As for backing up the PVE with proxmox-backup-client, you cannot easly restore it to a bootable state.
You are running a cluster, and as long as one node is still running, and a second vote exists (qdevice) you can remove the broken down node and add a new node.Using a different name and IP it is recommended and much easier.

You can restore your VMs from the PBS or manual backups on the NAS on a new PVE node or your existing ones. And if added to the cluster most of the configuration (datastore etc.) is already done for the PBS.
The constraint for this is, that you do not pass hardware from host to VM. This must be manually reconfigured. As I do not pass thru hardware, I have no idea how to save that configuration.
And any addditional software (e.g. nut) on the pve must be manually set up again. For this additional software you can use the proxmox-backup-client to save the configuration files.

Best regards
Karl-Heinz