Protecting Proxmox VE
Barracuda Backup follows the lifecycle policy of each supported vendor and does not support versions that are end of life or end of support as indicated by the product vendor.
Barracuda Backup uses an auto-deployed agent to perform backups of Proxmox Virtual Environment (VE) virtual machines (VMs). Once configured, the agent handles information gathering and backup processing on the Proxmox VE cluster node where it is deployed.
Currently not supported
• Live Browse of data within a virtual machine
• Box-to-Box replication of Proxmox data
• Offsite Vaulting for Proxmox data
• Backup of the Proxmox host machine
Tip: Configure the data source using the IP address or FQDN of the Proxmox host. This ensures reliable connectivity between the Barracuda Backup appliance and the Proxmox VE environment.
Configure the Proxmox VE data source
Use the following steps to configure a Proxmox VE data source:
Log in to Barracuda Backup and select the associated Barracuda Backup device in the left pane or in the devices table for customers with multiple Barracuda Backup devices.
Go to Backup > Sources, and click Add a Computer.
Complete the following information on the Add a Computer page:
Computer description
Computer name
In the Computer type drop-down menu, select Proxmox VE.
In the Proxmox VE Computer Information section, enter the credentials of the account that Barracuda Backup is to use to connect to the primary node in the Proxmox VE cluster.
Note
In the initial release, it is required to temporarily allow password-based authentication for the root user by editing the SSH configuration on the first node where the agent is deploying. You can disable this after the cluster is configured on the Barracuda Backup.
As a best practice, use a unique account for this integration point and grant it the least level of privileges required, coordinating with the system administrator. This account requires administrative privileges to the Proxmox VE cluster. For additional information, see Security for Integrating with Other Systems - Best Practices.
Click Test Credentials to verify that Barracuda Backup can successfully communicate with the Proxmox VE cluster. If the connection is unsuccessful, verify that the credentials are correct.
Once the Proxmox data source is configured, click Save.
The Add Data Source page displays. Ensure that Enable Backups is checked. This allows Barracuda Backup to perform backups of the VMs.
In the Proxmox VE Agent deployment section, click on Deploy Proxmox VE Agent. This will deploy the agent responsible for information gathering and backup processing to the node in the cluster it is configured on.
By default, if a snapshot fails when trying to quiesce a VM, Barracuda Backup retries the snapshot without quiescing. Quiescing pauses disk activity to ensure a clean, consistent snapshot. To require quiescing on every snapshot, select Quiesce Only.
Finish configuring the offsite replication destination, and click Save.
Once the data source is configured, the Schedules page displays. For more information, see Backup Scheduling.
Change tracking configuration
Change Block Tracking (CBT) speeds up incremental backups by tracking only the data blocks that changed since the last backup, rather than re-reading the entire disk.
Navigate to the Proxmox data source configuration.
Locate the Enable Change Tracking checkbox.
Enable the option for optimal incremental backup performance.
Click Save.
Default behavior
Change tracking is enabled by default for new Proxmox data sources, with a maximum of six incremental backups after each full backup.
Application-consistent backups
For VMs that require application-level consistency, such as database or email server workloads, install and enable the QEMU Guest Agent and then require application-consistent backups in the backup configuration.
Install the QEMU Guest Agent
Enable the guest agent in the VM configuration
Log in to the Proxmox VE web interface.
Select the virtual machine in the left pane. Click Options.
Double-click QEMU Guest Agent, check Use QEMU Guest Agent, and click OK.
Restart the VM for the change to take effect.
Require application-consistent backups
Log in to Barracuda Backup and navigate to the Proxmox data source.
Click Backup > Schedules, and select the backup set you want to edit.
Check Require Application Consistent Backups via QEMU Guest Agent.
Click Save.
Important
If the guest agent is not installed or not responsive at the time of backup, the backup fails to ensure data consistency. Without the guest agent, backups are crash-consistent point-in-time snapshots (similar to what you'd get if the VM lost power).