How To Install Offsite Proxmox Backup Server On AWS Cloud
Many companies would like to make periodic backups of their critical software & data, they may also like to create a disaster recovery site should the local site fail.
In this tutorial, we will set up an offsite (remote) proxmox backup server on the AWS cloud to backup critical VMs and Data in case of disaster.
SETUP AND INSTALLATION OVERVIEW
We will install the Proxmox backup server on top of EC2 VM Instance (Debian Linux Virtual Machine) and then we will add storage, after this, we will open port 8007 in the cloud firewall for remote web access, and then we will enable ssh access to our VM and copy-paste a few Linux commands, and this will finalize our offsite Proxmox backup server installation. Once our backup server is ready we will remote connect it to our on-premise Proxmox Virtualization Environment Server ( also called proxmox PvE) and schedule automated periodic backups for our critical VMs.
Creating a Debian based VM instance on AWS
Time to get our hands dirty, assuming that you have a credit/debit card and already owned or have readily created an AWS account then once you log in to your account you will reach AWS Management Console.
From the AWS Management Console search for EC2 which will then take you to the following page.
Then choose your nearest location and then select launch Instance which will take you to the official AWS images page there you will then search for the keyword Debian and then select Debian 10 (HVM), SSD Volume Type – ami-08ca9d63b8d4ec276 (64-bit x86) / ami-0230b2fe0f1eb96a3 (64-bit Arm) or better.
if you have just a couple of VMS to backup then just select t3.small (2 vcpus, 2Gb Ram), and if you have bigger resources to backup then choose t3.medium (2 vcpus, 4 GB Ram), and after this click Next.
On Configure Instance Details page there is no need to change or tune any settings unless desired so just click Next. Now it’s time to add storage to your instance so click Add New Volume, for volume settings I will go with default volume type settings. Choose the desired size let it be 100 or 1500 Gigs are up to you, and be cautious not to go for overkill because you will be charged for storage.
After adding storage click Next Add Tags -> click Security Group. On this page click Add Rule and for the Type choose Custom TCP Rule, Protocol -> TCP, Port Range ->8007 then Source->Custom -> 0.0.0.0/0, and for Description->pbs-webinterface. This will create an allow rule in the AWS firewall for the PBS web interface and the rest leave at default. Once done click Review and Launch to review your VM settings if anything is missed just revisit the desired page and re-add it once done click the launch button.
After this, you will be asked to either create a key pair or choose an existing pair, if you have other VMS then you may choose existing ones, and if not then choose to create a new pair and name it “PBS” as in relation to Proxmox Backup Server and after this select the Download Key Pair button to download the PBS. pem file on your machine.
After this just select the Launch button which will turn on your Debian Linux VM Instance. It takes about a minute for instance to be in the running mode.
Now go back to EC2 Dashboard and Select your Instance and then from the top menu select Connect and then you will see the following page
To connect to your VM instance you need to follow this easy guide from AWS.
Assuming that all went well up to this point and you are able to access your VM through ssh then it’s time to copy and paste a few Linux commands which will install proxmox backup server on your VM instance.
You can copy and paste all in one go into your instance ssh terminal and let the magic begin.
I have added a small description of these commands separately otherwise you will have to copy and paste them one by one.
IMP { you will be prompted for different things during installation, just hitting enter will do the job but do select the right harddisk to install backup server when prompted}
sudo su
apt-get install wget -y
wget https://enterprise.proxmox.com/debian/proxmox-release-bullseye.gpg -O /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/proxmox-release-bullseye.gpg
sha512sum /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/proxmox-release-bullseye.gpg
echo deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian bullseye main contrib >> /etc/apt/sources.list
echo deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian bullseye-updates main contrib >> /etc/apt/sources.list
echo deb http://download.proxmox.com/debian/pbs bullseye pbs-no-subscription >> /etc/apt/sources.list
echo deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security bullseye-security main contrib >> /etc/apt/sources.list
apt-get update -y
apt install proxmox-backup ifupdown -y
apt dist-upgrade -yOnce you are done copying, pasting, and with installation then be sure to run this command again apt dist-upgrade -y because mostly when you are copy-pasting the last command is not executed or pasted, so make sure you run it so that you can have the latest version of proxmox backup server.
Proxmox Installation on Debian, command’s description
if you are already a Linux user then you may skip and if not then just take a note of few commands.
sudo su ### gives you root privilege to install the software.
apt install wget ### command to install the wget utility
wget https://enterprise.proxmox.com/debian/proxmox-release-bullseye.gpg -O /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/proxmox-release-bullseye.gpg ### allows you to install the security key to get access to the bullseye release/version of the proxmox backup server.
Next, all the echo commands copy the HTTP://sources to the /etc/apt/sources.list, adding these echo commands will do two things 1st it will allow you to install proxmox backup server, and the 2and It will allow you to have beta updates and then also allow you to upgrade to new distribution.
apt-get update -y #### updates your repositories database with proxmox sources.
Ifupdown2 Issue
apt install proxmox-backup ifupdown -y #### It is obvious from the command that it installs proxmox backup server but there is a small additional information that related to “ifupdown”, This a program used by the AWS to manage your VM network configuration, and by default, the proxmox backup server installs ifupdown version 2, as a result, the installation hangs and become inaccessible as AWS will not allow it. So the following command “apt install proxmox-backup ifupdown” instructs the installer to install the proxmox backup server while keeping the ifupdown program installed.
apt dist-upgrade -y ### updates your present distribution to the latest available distribution.
Finalize Installing Proxmox Backup Server
if everything goes smoothly then you should test your installation with the following command.
/sbin/modprobe zfs and hit enter . If you see no errors then great your installation is a success.
The last step to wind up the installation phase is to add a password, By default, Proxmox Backup Server uses the root as a username so we need to create a password for the root.
passwd root
# Then a new passwd will be asked, so enter new passwd and then confirm it.
#then make sure you reboot.
rebootAfter reboot, it’s time to access your backup server web interface. Head back to ec2-dashboard->instances then scroll horizontally to the point where you see the Public IP Address attached to your instance, copy this IP address and use it like this on your web browser.
https://your-instance-public-IP-Address:8007
After hitting enter you should see an SSL warning that the site/connection is not secure and when you proceed you should see the following page.
Now just log in with username root and your password and enter the PROXMOX BACKUP SERVER dashboard page .
Create Datastore on Proxmox Backup Server
The Datastore act as shared storage that is made accessible to our remote/on-premise VMS running on PVE (let’s call it our proxmox virtualization server), as in the previous step we have added an additional storage to our PBS (Proxmox Backup Server), so now its time to use it, so from the left pane select Storage/Disks->ZFS->Create ZFS you will see the following Popup.
you can have the same settings as I have but your disk size may be different. Now keep the HDD selected, set compression to ztsd (Compression good and Fast), and name your data store, I have named mine as “vmbkps1” as in vmbkpserver-1, and after this select ok and then your datastore will be created, and will show under Datastore.
A Static Public IP for Our Prmoxmox Backup Server on AWS Cloud
By default, an EC2 VM does not have a static IP so as you restart your present public IP will or may change and since we are planning to add this remote backup server to our on-premise proxmox pve server then we need a static public IP for our cloud Backup Server.
To get a static IP we need to configure an elastic IP and attach it to our back server VM.
In order to set up an Elastic IP go to EC2 Dashboard from the left pane–>Network and Security –> Elastic IPs, Select Elastic IP –> right menu select Allocate Elastic IP Address–> A new page open don’t change anything just click Allocate then you will see the following page.
Now it’s time to attach this elastic IP to your proxmox backup VM. Now go to Actions–> Associate Elastic IP Address and then the following page opens.
Now choose your newly created instance and then select Associate and then the elastic IP will be associated to your proxmox backup server instance to verify go to EC2 Dashboard –> Instances and then see your newly created instance IP by scrolling a little right and then you will see the new elastic IP attached.
It is highly recommended to name your AWS cloud instance to something meaningful.
And there you have it, a state-of-the-art backup server on the ec2 AWS cloud, which is ready to act as an offsite backup and disaster recovery facility.
Ready To Send Local VM Backups To Remote Disaster Facility?
Here is an easy guide to backup local VMs to a remote proxmox backup server (Remote Disaster Recovery Site).
Next:
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