Feature Request: Proxmox

[haraldgrau]

Hi @all!
Proxmox , in my opinion, is a very useful, professional and uprising virtual environment based on KVM, which can be used productively with a clear conscience. Unfortunately, there is no smart backup solution for this environment .
In our VMware environments we use Veeam and it is the best backup software ever!
So my question: Are there plans to support Proxmox in the same way as VMware?
Note: I read some articles, which gave me the hint to do it with the linux agents, but to be honest, that's a very poor workaround, especially when you know Veeam's capabilities.

Thanks a lot and best regards!

[Egor Yakovlev]

Hi Harald.

No close plans on this to happen.
Using agents is a good way to protect proxmox machines, as those are quite close feature-wise to VM level backup - file level restore, application level restore, instant VM restore - all can be done from Veeam Agent backups as well. All Backup Copy operations, cloud offloads, tape copy are also valid for agent based backups. Aside of maybe VM level replication you should not see much difference between two.

Usability wise, Agents can be deployed automatically without your attendance, can be updated automatically to newer versions when needed, can be automatically added to existing backup jobs\policies. Pretty much fully automated from top to bottom, so you won't notice the difference aside of backup icon in VBR interface

Which VM-only options you are lacking in agents?

[haraldgrau]

Hi Egor! Thanks for your reply.
The point is, the agent backup is as far as I know a file-evel backup not a VM oriented backup. So I backup the volume where the virtual machines are stored as once. And not the VMs as objects. That is in my eyes the great advantage in a "smart" virtual environmental backup solution.
And: The restore...I have to do it from the host ...(?)
That's not really a smart solution ....

And in my opinion, it is one oft the easiest way to backup a VM, to create a snapshot, copy the quiescenced virtual disk to the backup target, and remove the snapshot (many years ago we have done it with a simple shellscript on the esx hosts - but this wasn't smart, too ).
Ok, than you have to provide a piece of software to mount this backed up virtual disks for restore purposes ... but I believe in you, that you can do it. )))

I think, that should not be a big problem to make it available for another plattform other than vmware or hyper-v. Especially not for a big backup software company like Veeam.

[Gostev]

We don't add features just because we can though as a business, we have to look at ROI of anything we do.

[tsightler]

The point is, the agent backup is as far as I know a file-evel backup not a VM oriented backup. So I backup the volume where the virtual machines are stored as once. And not the VMs as objects. That is in my eyes the great advantage in a "smart" virtual environmental backup solution.
And: The restore...I have to do it from the host ...(?)
That's not really a smart solution ....

I'd also like to point out that this isn't really a correct perception of Veeam agent backups. While the Veeam agents for Windows/Linux do have an option to perform an old-school style file level backups, the default behavior is to create image based backups exactly like the VM based products. Snapshots aren't created at the hypervisor level, but use VSS on Windows, and the Veeam created "veeamsnap" module on Linux and, in both cases, there is full support for CBT just like with hypervisor based backups. Basically, when using Veeam, agent based backups are nearly identical to VM based backups, unless you explicitly choose to use file level backup.

For restore, yes, you must do it from within the guest but we have a simple, bootable ISO which boots up a wizard and lets you restore the system quite easily. Is it as easy as hypervisor? OK, probably not, but it's still very easy and fast. And, technically, we also support a simple method to export agent backups to VHD/VHDX from the VBR server, and I believe Promox supports importing both of these formats, with a simple import function.

So sure, it won't be a 100% VMware experience, but it's probably 95%, with the major exception being full system restore needing a little more work, but those should be quite rare events.

[Zew]

If only Veeam had API's someone could use to script exporting VHD/VHDX to the datastore used by Proxmox, then use API's from Proxmox to create a VM and mount the VHD / VHDX.
Tada VM style recovery for proxmox. This of course would all depend on configurations of said datastore and how access is granted. This is also a super over-simplification of what it would take.

[Gostev]

I'm pretty sure there's API for this already, @oleg.feoktistov can you confirm if there is a PowerShell cmdlet this wizard functionality?

[oleg.feoktistov]

There sure is. Start-VBRRestoreVirtualDisks fully covers it. Thanks!

[sbou]

@haraldgrau have you tried the new Proxmox Backup Server released few months ago (vs vzdump) ?

Featurewise, for sure it's pretty far from VMware+Veeam solution, but if you don't need the full featureset it looks like a cost effective solution for small businesses with the basic handled (rest api, deduplication, granular restoration, cluster replication(handled by proxmox)).

[furyflash]

We have production project based on VMs in Openstack + KVM public cloud. Currently 170 VMs managed by Veeam Backup and Replication and Enterprise Manager + Veeam Agents.
I have started personal video tutorial based on community edition for small customers.
It is valid for KVM, Proxmox, VirtualBox.
In some nearest video I will show how to restore Windows and Linux KVMs from from scratch if it isn't possible to mount ISO/CDROM device.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XE5OCFd ... eGbYPfl8J5

[fractalenergy]

+1 for proxmox with new incremental feature added to Veeam

[Periquillo]

+1 for Proxmox to be added as first class citizen to Veeam Backup & Replication list of supported platforms.

We recently inherited a client whose infraestructure was based on a Proxmox setup. We had to migrate it all to Hyper-V just to be able to reliably and effortlessly backup such infraestructure with Veeam Backup & Replication.

[hypersonic]

+1 from me, too.

IMHO Veeam has another advantage: It PULLS the backup from the Host and proxmox backup PUSHES the backup.
So in the very unlikely event of an proxmox host become hacked, its very easy for the attacker to delete the backups, because the proxmox backup server is always mounted.
Veeam fetches the backups and the attackers doesn't see the backups.

[crowsprofiles]

+1 for proxmox support

For restore, yes, you must do it from within the guest but we have a simple, bootable ISO which boots up a wizard and lets you restore the system quite easily. Is it as easy as hypervisor? OK, probably not, but it's still very easy and fast. And, technically, we also support a simple method to export agent backups to VHD/VHDX from the VBR server, and I believe Promox supports importing both of these formats, with a simple import function.

Quickly restoring a backup to Proxmox is the feature I'd like. For me the Agent based backup is great but it's the restore I need. Especially for situations where you need to do a restore to copy out a particular file or if you want to automate a verification that the backup worked, including SureBackup. As a first step, would it be possible to add qcow2 output format for the Start-VBRRestoreVirtualDisks API mentioned above.

[Ninkasi]

+1 for proxmox support

Especially now, since Broadcom own VMware

[ericksonj]

+1

My 2 cents:

Broadcom's acquisition of VMware, and their stated intention to essentially ignore all but their top 600 customers, is both an opportunity and a risk for Veeam. People will be looking for other virtualization solutions over the next 3-5 years, and if Veeam doesn't support a wider array of cost-effective alternatives to VMware, Veeam will lose their business as well.

On the other hand, if Veeam starts natively supporting alternatives, including open source ones like Proxmox, they can both help set the direction of the market and differentiate themselves even further from other backup software vendors.

[OmiFreak]

+1
The purchase of VMware by Broadcom is certainly not an advantage for VMware customers and also makes us think about alternatives. Proxmox and KVM would definitely be one, if there was a reasonable backup solution for it.

[woutboog]

+1, this should be a thing.

[mr-manuel]

+1, would need this feature for >10 clients and definitely would buy a license for that

[franciosi]

+1 for Proxmox support, as well as for oVirt.

[jorgedlcruz]

Hello,
oVirt is Red Hat Virtualization, and that is already supported and in GA https://www.veeam.com/backup-red-hat-vi ... ation.html

I have been using it on my lab since early releases and never had any issues. If you want to see some videos or blogs, just google veeam ovirt installation.

[pfcamaral93]

Hello @jorgedlcruz,

Just out of cuuriosity, Red Hat said in 2020 that it would stop all development for RHV and would only support it until 2026.
If that is the case, why would veeam, invest time, money and people into building support for this product?
Am i seeing things the wrong way?
I can understand why veeam would not invest those resources into supporting Proxmox but not RHV.

Hope to hear from you.

[Gostev]

Proxmox is too SMB for us. We prefer to invest in platforms which are enterprise-worthy, which in particular requires that they are backed by an established vendor as one of the qualifiers. It's not a big issue that Red Hat decided to discontinue their own KVM fork as multiple other big vendors are stepping up to fill the gap. We will see how it plays out, including with Proxmox.

[Frank218]

+1 for proxmox support

[SkyDiver79]

Hello,
I migrated some customers from vSphere and HyperV to Proxmox last year.
With Proxmox and Ceph you have a great alternative to vSphere with VSAN or HyperV with S2D.
Compared to vSphere you save a lot of money and Proxmox is much easier to use than HyperV.

So far I use the Proxmox backup server for DR backups and when only filelevel restores are needed.
For AD, SQL and so on, I use Veeam B&R with the agents.
Disadvantage for Veeam, only a few VMs are licensed.

You don't have to reinvent the wheel, you can use the PBS (Proxmox Backup Server), only with a frontend where I can configure application aware backups and do application restores. The pure backup, with incremental backups and deduplicated storage, can still be done in the background by the PBS.

Especially through the VMware buyout by Broadcom and the discontinuation of REV, Proxmox has received an extreme boost.

P.S. I also often use Veeam for the migration to Proxmox, simply start an instant restore to an ESXi and mount the NFS share on the Proxmox host and simply mount the VMDK in a new VM.
Start the VM and storage migration in live mode. Works perfectly.

[Coldfirex]

+1

[avogardo]

+1

[kylegordon]

Having just seen the news about VMWare[1], I need to start planning what's going to happen in the next few years on my employer's infrastructure.

It's pretty much guaranteed that I'll be on the 'trail'[2] that Broadcom are happy to lose, or milk for cash, so changes are no doubt afoot for me.

I do hope Veeam goes on to support Proxmox or XCP-NG, or some other product with similar feature parity to ESXi & vSphere, as we really do actually like Veeam B&R! It would suck badly to have to find an alternative to Veeam just because VMware are being crap.

[1] - https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comme ... to_vmware/
[2] - https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/30/ ... er_impact/

[sebastian]

+1

[DerOest]

+1
Tested Proxmox for a year in anticipation for what Broadcom would really do.
Now as a first step we're moving ~200TB from VMware to Proxmox (HCI with CEPH).
I hate to lose Veeam in the process, maybe there'll be a change of mind somewhen.