Imaging a bare-metal system using Proxmox Backup Client

Since I like to image systems I’m testing, here’s the process I use to capture the boot drive of a bare metal system in Proxmox Backup Server. I start by booting into a Debian Live image (the small one without a GUI). Next, I install Proxmox Backup Client from apt packages: #Run as root sudo bash #Add repo wget https://enterprise.proxmox.com/debian/proxmox-release-bookworm.gpg -O /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/proxmox-release-bookworm.gpg echo "deb http://download.proxmox.com/debian/pbs-client bookworm main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/pbs-client.list #Install PBS apt update apt install proxmox-backup-client -y After that, I set the environment variables for the backup client (I have a doc I can copy/paste from into my USB KVM):
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Rebuilding Proxmox Backup Server from Backups

So, while I was on vacation, my Proxmox Backup Server boot drive failed! No problem, I take backups of the server itself …. onto the backup server. So in this video, I’m going to start from a clean PBS install, mount my intact backup pool, and then restore the PBS configs out of the backup. Video Restoring the Datastore First, we need to mount the data disks. In my case, they are a zfs pool named backup, so we use zpool import -f backup to import the pool.
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UGreen NASync DXP4800 Plus Teardown

I did a full teardown of this unit, see the video below. This page also has the ’extra info’ (pci, cpu, ..) for you. Video Click on the thumbnail to view the video on Youtube Hardware Info All of this was taken via an Debian 12 system (Bookworm / kernel 6.1), so your kernel may be configured slightly differently lscpu Architecture: x86_64 CPU op-mode(s): 32-bit, 64-bit Address sizes: 39 bits physical, 48 bits virtual Byte Order: Little Endian CPU(s): 6 On-line CPU(s) list: 0-5 Vendor ID: GenuineIntel BIOS Vendor ID: Intel(R) Corporation Model name: Intel(R) Pentium(R) Gold 8505 BIOS Model name: Intel(R) Pentium(R) Gold 8505 To Be Filled By O.
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Ultimate Home Server Megaproject

In this project, I explore an all-in-one home server using low cost hardware, bringing together as many common home applications as possible in a single box. Terramaster NAS as low-cost Proxmox node? Teardown and SW Install! In the first video, I introduce the hardware for this project - a cheap Terramaster NAS! It combines two HDD bays and two NVMe slots in a very tiny and low power brick, with dual 2.
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Migrating my PERSONAL SERVER from TrueNAS to Proxmox

Today I’m taking my 10 servers and hopefully working that list down to just 7! JUST SEVEN! So, driven by my desire to consolidate my critical services into one box so I can lab away with the rest of the boxes, I am taking the time to shut down some of the most critical servers in the house and re-home them, then disassemble the parts for the next project. Come along with me on this adventure!
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Should I use TAPE BACKUP in 2023? LTO-5 Drive with Proxmox Backup Server

As promised in a previous video about my Proxmox Backup Server, I have a Quantum LTO-5 tape drive that I’m going to try and use to implement a proper 3-tier backup strategy with offsite tapes. I’m currently using Linode’s object storage for backing up my personal data (~200G), and not backing up the video files outside of the two existing copies (on the storage server and the PBS server). With the affordability of tapes, I can keep the video files and personal data off-site reliably.
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Setting Up my PROXMOX Backup Server!

I’ve gone from “no backups” to “raid is a backup” to “two zfs pools in one box”, and decided it’s finally time for a proper backup solution. So, I settled on Proxmox Backup Server! And today, I rebuild my HP Microserver Gen8 with 4x10T refurbished SAS drives, a new SAS controller card, and more! With this backup solution, I’m feeling a lot better about my data migration to Ceph. Contents Video SAS Drive Formatting ZFS Pool Setup Next Steps Video SAS Drive Formatting Since these drives were refurbished they were formerly formatted for a hardware RAID controller and were giving me lots of protection errors in dmesg - specifically blk_update_request: protection error (and failing to read, but not write).
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Making Proxmox into a pretty good NAS

Continuing the series where apalrd teaches proxmox skills through meaningful applications, today we are setting up a proper fileserver on our Proxmox system using Linux Containers. I’ve chosen to use a lightweight Linux Container (LXC) for this, so we can share the host’s ZFS filesystem. To manage shares and users using a web UI, I’m installing Cockpit, as well as some additional modules from 45Drives to deal with Samba. This should provide a pretty easy to use storage interface, keep all of our storage contained in the host Proxmox system without adding another layer of filesystem or a virtual machine, and run well on lower end hardware such as the Terramaster unit I’m using.
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Terramaster NAS as low-cost Proxmox node? Teardown and SW Install!

I get asked a lot about what hardware I recommend for homelabs and home servers. It’s a very difficult question since it depends on what exactly you want to get out of your setup. But, whatever you choose, I’m starting a new series where I’ll setup all of the commonly requested home server software in a single box. Since I want to try this on both used and new hardware, here’s a low cost NAS you can buy brand-new and run your own software on it!
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Backup System Build

As I outlined in my first blog post on the topic, I want to build a new backup server, and I want to explore the different options I have. This project included a lot of testing, and will eventually culminate in actually building and setting up a proper backup system. It’s definitely an important and often overlooked part of a homelab, or even small business networks. Ideally, I can also get a functional offsite backup working, but that might be a future project.
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