Proxmox VE

How to Implement Incremental Backups - Complete Guide

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How to Implement Incremental Backups - Complete Guide

Question: How do I save backup space with incremental backups?

Answer: Use Proxmox Backup Server or differential backup

Understanding Backup Types

Full Backup

  • Copies entire VM every time
  • Largest storage needed
  • Simplest to restore

Incremental Backup

  • First backup is full
  • Subsequent backups only changed data
  • Requires PBS for true incremental
  • Small storage footprint

Differential Backup

  • Tracks changes since last full backup
  • Smaller than full, larger than incremental
  • Easy to restore

How to Use Incremental with PBS

Step 1: Install PBS

apt install proxmox-backup-server

Step 2: Configure in Proxmox

pvesm add proxmox-backup-server pbs01 \
  --server 192.168.1.250 \
  --datastore main

Step 3: Create Backup Job

  1. Datacenter → Backup → Add
  2. Select PBS storage
  3. Enable Incremental option

How to Schedule Differential Backup (Without PBS)

Using Script

#!/bin/bash
# differential-backup.sh
 
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d)
LOCAL="/var/lib/vz/dump"
REMOTE="/mnt/backup"
 
# Weekly full backup
if [ $(date +%u) -eq 1 ]; then
    echo "Full backup"
    vzdump --mode suspend --vmid all --storage local --compress zstd
    rsync -avz $LOCAL $REMOTE/full-$DATE
else
    echo "Differential backup"
    # Copy only changed files
    rsync -avz --compare-dest=$REMOTE/full-$(date -d "last monday" +%Y%m%d) $LOCAL $REMOTE/diff-$DATE
fi

Keywords

incremental backup how-to pbs differential

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