file backup using proxmox-backup-client

[barrydocks]

So I want to back up a few important files from a VM to my PBS using the proxmox-backup-client (rather than back up the entire VM which is done separately)
I have
1. installed proxmox-backup-client on the VM
2. created the backup repository on the PBS
3. using this command string

 proxmox-backup-client backup test_data:/media/test --repository 192.168.1.103:repo_name

I get this error:

Error: parameter verification errors

parameter 'backupspec': missing argument

Usage: proxmox-backup-client backup {<backupspec>} [OPTIONS]
 <backupspec> <string>
             List of backup source specifications ([<label.ext>:<path>] ...) Can
             be specified more than once.

Optional parameters:

 --all-file-systems <boolean>   (default=false)
             Include all mounted subdirectories.

 --backup-id <string>
             Backup ID.

 --backup-time <integer> (1 - N)
             Backup time (Unix epoch.)

 --backup-type vm|ct|host
             Backup type.

 --burst    <integer> (1000 - N)
             Size of the token bucket (for Token bucket filter) in bytes.

 --chunk-size <integer> (64 - 4096)   (default=4096)
             Chunk size in KB. Must be a power of 2.

 --crypt-mode none|encrypt|sign-only   (default=encrypt)
             Defines whether data is encrypted (using an AEAD cipher), only
             signed, or neither.

 --dry-run  <boolean>   (default=false)
             Just show what backup would do, but do not upload anything.

 --entries-max <integer>   (default=1048576)
             Max number of entries to hold in memory.

 --exclude  <string>
             List of paths or patterns for matching files to exclude. Can be
             specified more than once.

 --include-dev <string>
             Include mountpoints with same st_dev number (see ``man fstat``) as
             specified files. Can be specified more than once.

 --keyfd    <integer> (0 - N)
             Pass an encryption key via an already opened file descriptor.

 --keyfile  <string>
             Path to encryption key. All data will be encrypted using this key.

 --master-pubkey-fd <integer> (0 - N)
             Pass a master public key via an already opened file descriptor.

 --master-pubkey-file <string>
             Path to master public key. The encryption key used for a backup
             will be encrypted using this key and appended to the backup.

 --ns       <string>
             Namespace.

 --rate     <integer> (100000 - N)
             Rate limit (for Token bucket filter) in bytes/second.

 --repository <string>
             Repository URL.

 --skip-lost-and-found <boolean>   (default=false)
             Skip lost+found directory.

Please can someone kindly point out what I am doing wrong?

 

[Chris]

Hi,

proxmox-backup-client backup test_data:/media/test --repository 192.168.1.103:repo_name

you are missing the .pxar extension for the archive format. This should be test_data.pxar:/media/test, for examples see https://pbs.proxmox.com/docs/backup-client.html#creating-backups

 

[barrydocks]

Hi,

you are missing the .pxar extension for the archive format. This should be test_data.pxar:/media/test, for examples see https://pbs.proxmox.com/docs/backup-client.html#creating-backups

Ah, right. Sorry I didn't realise that the file extension was important

Thankyou!!

 

[barrydocks]

Hi,

you are missing the .pxar extension for the archive format. This should be test_data.pxar:/media/test, for examples see https://pbs.proxmox.com/docs/backup-client.html#creating-backups

Where are the .pxar files sorted?
For further backups of the same directory, do I just issue the same command? ie can I set up a cron job?

 

[Chris]

Where are the .pxar files sorted?
For further backups of the same directory, do I just issue the same command? ie can I set up a cron job?

The archives are stored as part of a backup snapshot, the snapshot being identified by the backup group (type and hostname or vmid) it belongs to and backup timestamp. You can see the snapshots via e.g. proxmox-backup-client snapshot list.

So if you run the same backup command multiple times or in a scheduled manner, this will add new backup snapshots to the backup group.

 

[barrydocks]

The archives are stored as part of a backup snapshot, the snapshot being identified by the backup group (type and hostname or vmid) it belongs to and backup timestamp. You can see the snapshots via e.g. proxmox-backup-client snapshot list.

So if you run the same backup command multiple times or in a scheduled manner, this will add new backup snapshots to the backup group.

So does each backup take up local storage space on the machine that is being back up?

Also, how do I set the environment variable to allow password less backups?

Sorry, I did read the documentation but I find they have a level of assumed knowledge that I don't have

 

[Chris]

So does each backup take up local storage space on the machine that is being back up?

I recommend to read https://pbs.proxmox.com/docs/technical-overview.html#technical-overview

Also, how do I set the environment variable to allow password less backups?

and for this https://pbs.proxmox.com/docs/backup-client.html#environment-variables

 

[barrydocks]

I recommend to read https://pbs.proxmox.com/docs/technical-overview.html#technical-overview


and for this https://pbs.proxmox.com/docs/backup-client.html#environment-variables

Unfortunately, these documents are not really much help as the have quite a lot off assumed knowledge. A "How to" document to go with them would be very useful