How to install Proxmox Backup Client on a Linux host

Proxmox Backup Client allows you to back up files and directories from any Linux host to a Proxmox Backup Server instance — including Cloud-PBS. This guide covers installation on Debian 12/13 or Ubuntu.

Prerequisites

• A Linux host (Debian, Ubuntu, or other supported distributions)
• A Cloud-PBS or Proxmox Backup Server instance
• Connection credentials (server address, username, fingerprint)

Installation on Debian/Ubuntu

Add the Proxmox repository and install the client (tested on Debian 12/13):

# Get Debian codename
CODENAME=$(. /etc/os-release && echo "$VERSION_CODENAME")

# Add Proxmox repository key
wget "https://enterprise.proxmox.com/debian/proxmox-release-${CODENAME}.gpg" \
  -O "/etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/proxmox-release-${CODENAME}.gpg"

# Add repository
echo "deb http://download.proxmox.com/debian/pbs-client ${CODENAME} main" \
  > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/pbs-client.list

# Install
apt update
apt install proxmox-backup-client

Basic usage

Create a backup

proxmox-backup-client backup root.pxar:/ \
  --repository user@pbs!token@your-cloud-pbs-instance:store

List snapshots

proxmox-backup-client list \
  --repository user@pbs!token@your-cloud-pbs-instance:store

Restore files

proxmox-backup-client restore host/hostname/2024-01-01T00:00:00Z root.pxar /restore-target/ \
  --repository user@pbs!token@your-cloud-pbs-instance:store

Automating backups

Create a systemd timer to run backups automatically:

# Create /etc/systemd/system/pbs-backup.service
[Unit]
Description=Proxmox Backup Client backup

[Service]
Type=oneshot
ExecStart=/usr/bin/proxmox-backup-client backup root.pxar:/ --repository user@pbs!token@server:store

# Create /etc/systemd/system/pbs-backup.timer
[Unit]
Description=Daily PBS backup

[Timer]
OnCalendar=daily
Persistent=true

[Install]
WantedBy=timers.target

Enable the timer:

systemctl enable --now pbs-backup.timer

Using with Cloud-PBS

The same client works seamlessly with Cloud-PBS. Use the credentials from your Cloud-PBS dashboard as the repository URL.

Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues, check our troubleshooting guides:

• Backup owner check failed
• PBS Client error: missing key