Backup

Automate Proxmox VM backups using ZFS snapshot replication. Deploy sanoid for snapshot management, syncoid for push replication, and automate the entire workflow with systemd timers.

Migrate Docker containers between homelab hosts with minimal downtime. Covers volume backup and restore, image export/import, Compose stack portability, and rsync-based data transfer strategies.

Step-by-step guide to deploying Proxmox Backup Server (PBS) on a homelab — from installation to automation, encryption, remote sync, and restore testing.

Complete guide to automating encrypted Docker volume backups with restic — local snapshots with deduplication, S3-compatible offsite storage, cron scheduling, retention policies, and disaster recovery for homelab containers.

Deploy Proxmox Backup Server in your homelab — bare-metal, LXC, or Docker-based setup with ZFS datastores, client config, verification schedules, and offsite sync for a complete 3-2-1 backup strategy.

ZFS is the default filesystem on Proxmox VE for good reason — checksumming, snapshots, compression, and built-in replication. But “default” doesn’t mean one-size-fits-all. Pool layout, recordsize, snapshot cadence, and backup strategy all depend on your workload. This post covers the ZFS setup on my Proxmox host (SRV1), the snapshot pipeline, and how ZFS send/receive + sanoid handle retention and offsite recovery. Pool Layout System: HP ProDesk 600 G4 DM (i5-8500T, 32 GB RAM) Disks: 1× NVMe (OS + VMs), 1× SATA SSD (bulk storage) Boot/OS Pool — rpool Standard Proxmox installation creates rpool on the boot disk. No RAID, no redundancy — just a single NVMe: ...

Proxmox Backup Server (PBS) is purpose-built backup storage for Proxmox VE. It does one thing and does it well: store, deduplicate, verify, and garbage-collect VM and container backups. No more cramming vzdump archives onto a NFS share and hoping they survive. This guide covers installing PBS on Debian 12, creating a datastore with sane retention, connecting a PVE host, and avoiding the gotchas that’ll eat your disk space. Why PBS Instead of a Simple NFS Export Capability NFS vzdump PBS Deduplication None Chunk-level, across all backups Incremental backups Full dump each time Changed blocks only Integrity verification None Auto-verify after backup Garbage collection None Prunes orphaned chunks Restore granularity Full restore only File-level, single disk, or full VM For a homelab with multiple VMs and LXCs, the deduplication alone saves hours of transfer and disk space. Incremental backups mean daily backups take seconds, not minutes. ...