Proxmox Backup Client Script

A simple yet powerful shell script to back up physical servers or clients to a Proxmox Backup Server (PBS).

It supports:

• Dynamic folder backups
• Environment configuration via .env
• Daily cron execution
• Automatic updates
• Logging with rotation

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Features

• Backup multiple directories defined in .env
• Secure API-based connection to Proxmox Backup Server
• Automatically installed as a daily cron job
• Optional auto-update from the repository
• Log rotation to avoid filling up disk space
• Exit codes ready for monitoring integration (Nagios/Icinga/Prometheus)

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Installation

1. Install directly via curl

Run this command on your server:

curl -fsSL https://git.onesystems.ch/System-Tools/Proxmox-Backup-Client/raw/branch/main/backup.sh | bash -s install

This will:

• Download the latest version of the script
• Place it in /opt/pbs-backup/
• Create a default .env file (you must edit it before first run)
• Install a daily cron job at /etc/cron.daily/pbs-backup

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2. Configure the .env file

After installation, edit the configuration file:

nano /opt/pbs-backup/.env

Example configuration:

# Proxmox Backup Server settings
PBS_HOST="pbs-ch-01.onesystems.ch"
PBS_PORT="8007"
PBS_USERNAME="pbs-user@pbs!api"
PBS_PASSWORD="your-api-password"
PBS_DATASTORE="DS01"
PBS_NAMESPACE="Clients/Servers"
PBS_FINGERPRINT="your-pbs-fingerprint"

# Backup repository (auto-generated from above variables)
PBS_REPOSITORY="${PBS_USERNAME}@${PBS_HOST}:${PBS_PORT}:${PBS_DATASTORE}"

# Directories to back up
PBS_BACKUP_DIRS=(
    "/etc"
    "/home"
    "/opt"
    "/srv"
)

# Enable auto-update (true/false)
ONLINE_UPDATE=true

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Manual Run

To run the backup manually:

/opt/pbs-backup/backup.sh

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Cron Job

The script creates a symlink in /etc/cron.daily/:

/etc/cron.daily/pbs-backup

This runs automatically once a day.

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How It Works

1. Loads configuration from .env
2. Checks for updates if ONLINE_UPDATE=true
3. Validates all required environment variables
4. Backs up each directory in PBS_BACKUP_DIRS as individual pxar archives
5. Stores logs in /opt/pbs-backup/logs/
6. Deletes logs older than 7 days (configurable via LOG_RETENTION_DAYS)

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Log Files

Logs are stored at:

/opt/pbs-backup/logs/

File naming format:

backup-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS.log

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Exit Codes

Code	Meaning
0	Backup successful
1	Backup failed
2	Configuration error

These exit codes are suitable for integration with monitoring systems.

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Uninstall

To completely remove the script and cron job:

rm -f /etc/cron.daily/pbs-backup
rm -rf /opt/pbs-backup/

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Requirements

• Proxmox Backup Client (v2.4+)
• Bash 4+
• curl

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License

MIT License – free for commercial and private use.