Data protection is one of the most important responsibilities of any IT administrator. In a virtualized environment like Proxmox VE, backups and restores are critical not just for disaster recovery, but also for migration, testing, and ensuring business continuity.
While Proxmox offers a user-friendly web interface for managing backups, it also provides powerful command-line tools for those who prefer automation and deeper control. In this how-to guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about creating and restoring backups in Proxmox — both through the GUI and the CLI.
Types of Proxmox Backups
Proxmox supports backups for VMs (QEMU/KVM) and Containers (LXC). These backups are always full backups (not incremental, unless you use Proxmox Backup Server).
Backup Modes
- Snapshot (Recommended): Uses storage snapshots (if supported). VM/CT runs with minimal downtime.
- Suspend: Pauses the VM/CT during backup and resumes after completion.
- Stop: Shuts down the VM/CT completely for a backup. Safest, but maximum downtime.
Backup Storage Options
Backups can be stored on:
- Local storage (
local,local-lvm) - NFS/SMB shares
- External drives
- Proxmox Backup Server (PBS) for deduplication, encryption, and incremental backups
Backup via Proxmox Web GUI
Step 1: Open the Backup Panel
- Log into the Proxmox Web GUI.
- Select the Datacenter, then choose the node where your VM/CT runs.
- Go to VM → Backup.
Step 2: Start a Manual Backup
- Click Backup now.
- Choose the storage target (e.g.,
localor PBS). - Select the mode (snapshot, suspend, stop).
- Choose the compression method (ZSTD is recommended for speed and efficiency).
- Click Start.
Step 3: Monitor Progress
You’ll see the backup log in real-time. Once completed, the backup file will be listed in the Backup tab.
Backup via Proxmox CLI
Proxmox uses the vzdump tool for command-line backups.
Example 1: Backup a Single VM
vzdump 101 --mode stop --storage local --compress zstd
root@proxmox:~# vzdump 100 –mode stop –storage local –compress zstd
INFO: starting new backup job: vzdump 100 –storage local –compress zstd –mode stop
INFO: Starting Backup of VM 100 (qemu)
INFO: Backup started at 2025-09-05 15:04:23
INFO: status = running
INFO: backup mode: stop
INFO: ionice priority: 7
INFO: VM Name: azamat
INFO: include disk ‘scsi0’ ‘local-lvm:vm-100-disk-0’ 32G
INFO: stopping virtual guest
INFO: snapshots found (not included into backup)
INFO: creating vzdump archive ‘/var/lib/vz/dump/vzdump-qemu-100-2025_09_05-15_04_23.vma.zst’
INFO: starting kvm to execute backup task
INFO: started backup task ‘f53562f3-be2b-4445-b068-339d7cab4e9d’
INFO: resuming VM again after 15 seconds
INFO: 3% (1.1 GiB of 32.0 GiB) in 3s, read: 387.9 MiB/s, write: 313.1 MiB/s
INFO: 6% (2.1 GiB of 32.0 GiB) in 6s, read: 327.8 MiB/s, write: 295.1 MiB/s
INFO: 7% (2.5 GiB of 32.0 GiB) in 9s, read: 154.3 MiB/s, write: 150.3 MiB/s
INFO: 9% (3.0 GiB of 32.0 GiB) in 12s, read: 154.7 MiB/s, write: 149.1 MiB/s
INFO: 10% (3.4 GiB of 32.0 GiB) in 15s, read: 148.6 MiB/s, write: 144.6 MiB/s
INFO: 12% (3.9 GiB of 32.0 GiB) in 18s, read: 154.4 MiB/s, write: 151.2 MiB/s
INFO: 14% (4.5 GiB of 32.0 GiB) in 21s, read: 202.0 MiB/s, write: 186.7 MiB/s
INFO: 15% (4.9 GiB of 32.0 GiB) in 24s, read: 148.7 MiB/s, write: 141.0 MiB/s
INFO: 23% (7.7 GiB of 32.0 GiB) in 27s, read: 936.5 MiB/s, write: 50.9 MiB/s
INFO: 26% (8.6 GiB of 32.0 GiB) in 30s, read: 333.5 MiB/s, write: 148.5 MiB/s
INFO: 28% (9.1 GiB of 32.0 GiB) in 33s, read: 156.8 MiB/s, write: 152.7 MiB/s
INFO: 29% (9.6 GiB of 32.0 GiB) in 36s, read: 168.3 MiB/s, write: 167.7 MiB/s
INFO: 31% (10.1 GiB of 32.0 GiB) in 39s, read: 157.6 MiB/s, write: 154.2 MiB/s
INFO: 32% (10.5 GiB of 32.0 GiB) in 42s, read: 166.3 MiB/s, write: 159.4 MiB/s
INFO: 34% (11.0 GiB of 32.0 GiB) in 45s, read: 143.8 MiB/s, write: 142.0 MiB/s
INFO: 35% (11.4 GiB of 32.0 GiB) in 48s, read: 145.0 MiB/s, write: 141.2 MiB/s
INFO: 36% (11.8 GiB of 32.0 GiB) in 51s, read: 134.1 MiB/s, write: 133.3 MiB/s
INFO: 38% (12.3 GiB of 32.0 GiB) in 54s, read: 180.0 MiB/s, write: 168.9 MiB/s
INFO: 39% (12.8 GiB of 32.0 GiB) in 57s, read: 155.5 MiB/s, write: 151.4 MiB/s
INFO: 41% (13.4 GiB of 32.0 GiB) in 1m, read: 202.1 MiB/s, write: 184.0 MiB/s
INFO: 43% (13.8 GiB of 32.0 GiB) in 1m 3s, read: 151.0 MiB/s, write: 149.5 MiB/s
INFO: 44% (14.3 GiB of 32.0 GiB) in 1m 6s, read: 172.8 MiB/s, write: 168.3 MiB/s
INFO: 46% (14.7 GiB of 32.0 GiB) in 1m 9s, read: 146.2 MiB/s, write: 145.8 MiB/s
INFO: 47% (15.2 GiB of 32.0 GiB) in 1m 12s, read: 151.0 MiB/s, write: 149.4 MiB/s
INFO: 48% (15.6 GiB of 32.0 GiB) in 1m 15s, read: 158.3 MiB/s, write: 149.7 MiB/s
INFO: 50% (16.1 GiB of 32.0 GiB) in 1m 18s, read: 166.8 MiB/s, write: 152.7 MiB/s
INFO: 51% (16.5 GiB of 32.0 GiB) in 1m 21s, read: 143.5 MiB/s, write: 139.2 MiB/s
INFO: 53% (17.0 GiB of 32.0 GiB) in 1m 24s, read: 157.3 MiB/s, write: 147.7 MiB/s
INFO: 74% (23.7 GiB of 32.0 GiB) in 1m 27s, read: 2.2 GiB/s, write: 298.7 KiB/s
INFO: 97% (31.2 GiB of 32.0 GiB) in 1m 30s, read: 2.5 GiB/s, write: 0 B/s
INFO: 100% (32.0 GiB of 32.0 GiB) in 1m 31s, read: 803.6 MiB/s, write: 8.0 KiB/s
INFO: backup is sparse: 18.85 GiB (58%) total zero data
INFO: transferred 32.00 GiB in 91 seconds (360.1 MiB/s)
INFO: archive file size: 5.37GB
INFO: Finished Backup of VM 100 (00:01:46)
INFO: Backup finished at 2025-09-05 15:06:09
INFO: Backup job finished successfully
INFO: notified via target `mail-to-root`
root@proxmox:/var/lib/vz/dump# ls -lsh
total 5.4G
8.0K -rw-r–r– 1 root root 4.1K Sep 5 15:06 vzdump-qemu-100-2025_09_05-15_04_23.log
5.4G -rw-r–r– 1 root root 5.4G Sep 5 15:06 vzdump-qemu-100-2025_09_05-15_04_23.vma.zst
Example 2: Backup Multiple VMs
vzdump 101 102 103 --storage local-lvm --mode snapshot
Example 3: Backup to a Custom Directory
vzdump 200 --dumpdir /mnt/backups --compress gzip
Backups are stored in /var/lib/vz/dump/ by default (or the storage you select).
Restoring Backups
Restoring is just as important as creating backups. Proxmox has separate commands for VMs and Containers.
Restore via GUI
- Navigate to the storage where backups are stored.
- Go to the Content tab.
- Select the backup file you want to restore.
- Click Restore.
- Choose:
- The target node
- The VMID/CTID (new or existing ID)
- The target storage
- Click Restore and monitor the progress.
Restore via CLI
1. Restore a VM
qmrestore /var/lib/vz/dump/vzdump-qemu-100-2025_09_05-15_04_23.vma.zst 601
- Restores VM into a new VM with ID 601.
root@proxmox:# qmrestore /var/lib/vz/dump/vzdump-qemu-100-2025_09_05-15_04_23.vma.zst 601
restore vma archive: zstd -q -d -c /var/lib/vz/dump/vzdump-qemu-100-2025_09_05-15_04_23.vma.zst | vma extract -v -r /var/tmp/vzdumptmp2906908.fifo – /var/tmp/vzdumptmp2906908
CFG: size: 437 name: qemu-server.conf
DEV: dev_id=1 size: 34359738368 devname: drive-scsi0
CTIME: Fri Sep 5 15:04:38 2025
WARNING: You have not turned on protection against thin pools running out of space.
WARNING: Set activation/thin_pool_autoextend_threshold below 100 to trigger automatic extension of thin pools before they get full.
Logical volume “vm-601-disk-0” created.
WARNING: Sum of all thin volume sizes (248.36 GiB) exceeds the size of thin pool pve/data and the size of whole volume group (237.47 GiB).
new volume ID is ‘local-lvm:vm-601-disk-0’
map ‘drive-scsi0’ to ‘/dev/pve/vm-601-disk-0’ (write zeros = 0)
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total bytes read 34359738368, sparse bytes 20241784832 (58.9%)
space reduction due to 4K zero blocks 1.37%
rescan volumes…
2. Restore a Container
pct restore 202 /var/lib/vz/dump/vzdump-lxc-202-2025_09_01-00_00_00.tar.zst --storage local
- Restores container 202 on
localstorage.
Verifying and Managing Backups
- List backups:
ls -lh /var/lib/vz/dump/ - Extract VM backups manually:
vma extract vzdump-qemu-101-2025_09_01-00_00_00.vma.zst /tmp/extract - Delete old backups to save space:
rm /var/lib/vz/dump/vzdump-qemu-101-*.vma.zst
Automating Backups with Cron
Set up automatic backups to run at scheduled times using cron.
Example: Run daily backups at 2 AM:
0 2 * * * vzdump 101 102 103 --storage local --mode snapshot --compress zstd --quiet 1
For production, you may prefer configuring backup jobs directly in Datacenter → Backup Jobs within the GUI, which integrates with Proxmox’s task scheduler.
Best Practices for Proxmox Backup & Restore
- Always test restores periodically — a backup is only useful if it can be restored.
- Use snapshot mode whenever possible (fastest, least downtime).
- Store backups on separate storage or a remote system (don’t keep them only on the same node).
- Use Proxmox Backup Server (PBS) for enterprise-grade backups: deduplication, encryption, and incremental snapshots.
- Automate your backups and monitor logs for failures.
Conclusion
Backups and restores in Proxmox are straightforward once you understand the workflow. Using the GUI, you can quickly create and restore backups with just a few clicks. For power users and automation, the CLI tools (vzdump, qmrestore, and pct restore) give complete control.
By following the steps in this guide and adopting best practices, you’ll ensure that your Proxmox environment remains safe, recoverable, and resilient against unexpected failures.