does PBS need to be into a cluster

Hi there,
I had PBS into a VM, but I had to upgrade proxmox 7.1 to 7.2. I had no choice but to download proxmox-7.2.iso and install it. This situation makes PBS into a VM useless. If I install PBS on another machine I guess I should create a cluster, right?
 
If you want migrate the VM to the new machine, then yes, those two machines would have to be in a cluster. However, you can also create a new PBS VM on the new machine and sync[1] all the backups to the new PBS and delete the old one, which is IMHO the better option, especially if you'd create the cluster only to move that one VM.

[1] https://pbs.proxmox.com/docs/managing-remotes.html
 
If you want migrate the VM to the new machine, then yes, those two machines would have to be in a cluster. However, you can also create a new PBS VM on the new machine and sync[1] all the backups to the new PBS and delete the old one, which is IMHO the better option, especially if you'd create the cluster only to move that one VM.

[1] https://pbs.proxmox.com/docs/managing-remotes.html
I got a problem with the clusters because I can't access one machine if the other is not powered up, does it still that way with pve 7.2?
 
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Does that means one node will be able to be offline while I can use the other one online?
Yes, because the qdevice will act as a third voter. So if onesof two nodes is offline the remaining node still got 2 of 3 votes and quorum is given.

Without the qdevice there are only two voters so when one node goes down the remeining node only got 1 of 2 votes so there is no majority and the remaining node will stop working until there is quorum again.
 
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Yes, because the qdevice will act as a third voter. So if onesof two nodes is offline the remaining node still got 2 of 3 votes and quorum is given.

Without the qdevice there are only two voters so when one node goes down the remeining node only got 1 of 2 votes so there is no majority and the remaining node will stop working until there is quorum again.
Should I start the configuration of the qdevice before or after I have made a cluster?
 
Doesn't actually matter. You can set it up whenever you like. Until it is participating in the vote, your two servers have to be online to be quorate, though.
 
Yes, the cluster needs to be quorate all the time [1].
If you, for example, only have two nodes in your cluster, it is highly recommended to setup a QDevice [2].

[1] https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Cluster_Manager#_quorum
[2] https://pve.proxmox.com/pve-docs/chapter-pvecm.html#_corosync_external_vote_support
Hm, from the quorum being in section HA and not in section Cluster of the webinterface I would have thought I would have to enable HA separately for the quorum to become necessary. Does that mean a cluster is always HA, there is no way to just have a loose association of nodes that I can move VMs between? Would pvecm expected 1 help as an ugly workaround, or will that definitely lead to problems when both nodes are up and try to sync? Can I move VMs to a different pve by using the pbs as a stepstone?

Background: I want to have a pve on the machine the backup server runs on so that, in case the main machine fails horribly, I can restore the important VMs from the pbs to that machine's pve and run them there until I get the main machine back online. (If the backup server fails, the main server should continue running undisturbed.)
Now the questions I have are:
 
Does that mean a cluster is always HA

A PVE-cluster has to be quorate all the time, even without using HA.

there is no way to just have a loose association of nodes that I can move VMs between?

Currently not, but it is on the roadmap.

Would pvecm expected 1 help as an ugly workaround

I have no (long term) experience with it, but what I read (from the Proxmox-Staff) it is absolutely and highly not recommended at all and may lead to problems sooner or later.

Can I move VMs to a different pve by using the pbs as a stepstone?

Yes.

do I run the pbs directly on the pve server or in a vm?
  • if in a vm, qemu/kvm or lxc? Can both see the LTO drive?

I personally run it directly aside PVE. Therefore no fiddling with the storage(s) for the PBS-datastore(s) and, in your case, also not for the LTO-drive.
But others may recommend different.

cluster or not?

If you can not (or do not want to) guarantee, that your cluster is quorate all the time, I highly would not recommend running a cluster.

This: [1] recent thread might be of interest.

[1] https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/best-practices-in-network-configuration.117961
 
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