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Deploy Proxmox backup proxy

To deploy backup proxy, you can:

Create backup proxy VM and install proxy packages

Follow these steps to register a Proxmox node and set up your backup environment.

Step 1: Deploying the backup proxy VM

To register a Proxmox node, you must first create a dedicated Virtual Machine (VM) on that node to serve as the backup proxy.
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VM Specifications

Ensure the VM is configured with the following minimum requirements:

  • Operating System: Ubuntu 22.04

  • OS Disk Size: 32 GB

  • Memory: 8 GB (8192 MiB), 10 GiB swap memory

  • CPU Cores: 8

Creation steps in Proxmox

  1. Initiate Creation: Right-click the specific Proxmox Node and select Create VM, or use the Create VM button in the top right corner of the interface.
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  2. General Settings: Provide a Name for the proxy (for example, proxmox-backup-proxy) and assign a VM ID.
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  3. Operating System: Select the Ubuntu 22.04 ISO image.
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  4. System Settings: Ensure that the Qemu Agent is enabled. (Recommended) Enable the Qemu agent.
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  5. Disks: Set the Storage type to LVM-Thin (recommended) with a minimum disk size of 32 GB.
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  6. CPU: Configure the CPU for a minimum of 8 total cores.
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  7. Memory: Set the memory to a minimum of 8192 MiB.
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  8. Network: Use the Linux Bridge of the node for network connectivity.
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  9. Confirm and Finish: Review the details. Ensure that the Start after created option is selected, and click Finish.
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  10. Verification: The Create VM task is triggered. Wait for the task status to show OK.
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  11. The VM will then appear under the assigned node.
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Step 2: Agent installation and proxy setup

Once the VM is running, you must install the backup agent.

  1. Download agent: Perform the following steps to download the backup proxy from the Register Proxmox Node setup:

    1. Log in to the Management Console.

    2. Select the workload from the Protect menu. Note that if the All Organizations menu is enabled, you have to first select an organization and then select the workload.

    3. On the All Nodes page, click Register New Node.
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  2. In the Register Proxmox Node dialog box, under Download the backup proxy image, click Download to download the latest Debian package.
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  3. Install agent: Access the VM terminal and install the Debian package using the command:
    ​dpkg -i <DEBIAN PACKAGE>
    ​root@proxmox:~# dpkg -i EnterpriseWorkloads-ProxmoxBackupProxy-7.0.0-958375-amd64.deb

    Selecting previously unselected package enterpriseworkloads.

    (Reading database ... 77941 files and directories currently installed.)

    Preparing to unpack EnterpriseWorkloads-ProxmoxBackupProxy-7.0.0-958375-amd64.deb ...

    Do you want enable signature verification for Druva-EnterpriseWorkloads ?

    If yes, The public key will be added on your machine

    Please enter input in option [yes/no][default: no].

    If you select yes should follow steps mentioned in page Package Signature Verification and Binary Signature Verification.
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  4. (Optional) Configure Web proxy: If your environment requires a web proxy to reach the Druva Cloud, use the following command:
    ​/opt/Druva/EnterpriseWorkloads/bin/EnterpriseWorkloadsAgent web-proxy-config -s -t http -i <WEB-PROXY-IP> -u <USERNAME> -p <PASSWORD>

Step 3: Node activation and registration

Link the backup proxy to the Management Console to complete the node registration.

Generate activation token

To register your Proxmox setup, an activation token is required. Perform the following to generate an activation token.

  1. Log in to the Management Console.

  2. From the top menu bar, select your organization if organizations are enabled. Otherwise, proceed to the next step.

  3. Click Protect > Proxmox.

  4. Click Register New Node.

  5. From the Register Proxmox Node dialog box, select the Copy Token icon under the Activate backup proxy and set node credentials section. The activation token is copied successfully.
    This token is valid for 25 servers and 7 days. This is required for connecting with the Druva Cloud during proxy deployment.

📝 Note

​If this token has expired, click Generate New Token. Enter the required details in the Generate Token dialog box and click Generate. Alternatively, if you have generated an activation token earlier, you can copy it from the Manage Activation Tokens page.

Activate and set credentials

Run the following commands on the backup proxy VM:

  • Activate the agent:
    ​EnterpriseWorkloadsAgent proxmox activate --token <TOKEN>

  • Configure node credentials: Provide the IP/FQDN and credentials of the Proxmox node:
    ​EnterpriseWorkloadsAgent proxmox setproxmoxcred --fqdn <ip/fqdn of node server> --user <pam user of node>

    • ​To skip certificate verification:

      • ​EnterpriseWorkloadsAgent proxmox setproxmoxcred --fqdn <ip/fqdn of node server> --user <pam root user / custom user of node> -k OR

      • ​EnterpriseWorkloadsAgent proxmox setproxmoxcred --fqdn <ip/fqdn of node server> --user <pam user of node / custom user> --skipCertVerify

    • To provide certificate verification:

      • ​EnterpriseWorkloadsAgent proxmox setproxmoxcred --fqdn <ip/fqdn of node server> --user <pam user of node / custom user> -c OR

      • ​EnterpriseWorkloadsAgent proxmox setproxmoxcred --fqdn <ip/fqdn of node server> --user <pam user of node / custom user> --caCertsBundlePath
        ​

        📝 Note

        ​You can download the path (/etc/pve/pve-root-ca.pem) from the node.

        For more information on how to set a custom user, see Proxmox User Permissions.
        ​

      📝 Note​

      If your Proxmox VE port is other than 8006, then add a flag:

      EnterpriseWorkloadsAgent proxmox setproxmoxcred --fqdn <ip/fqdn of node server> --user <pam user of node>-P <CUSTOM_PORT>

Once activated, the registered node will appear on the All Nodes page of the Management Console.

Install the Proxmox backup proxy using the OVA

To back up your virtual machines, you must first download and install a backup proxy in your virtual infrastructure environment and then register it from the Management Console. This article describes how to get the backup proxy and activation token and register your servers.

Download OVA to deploy Proxmox backup proxy

You must download the latest version of the Proxmox backup proxy. Visit the Downloads page using the following link:

https://downloads.druva.com/phoenix/#proxmox
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OR


Perform the following steps to download the backup proxy from the Register New Node setup:

  1. Log in to the Management Console.

  2. Select the workload from the Protect menu. Note that if the All Organizations menu is enabled, you have to first select an organization and then select the workload.

  3. Click Register New Node.

  4. The Register Proxmox Node page is displayed.
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  5. Click Download to download the Proxmox Backup Proxy (OVA). You are redirected to the Downloads page.

  6. Select your cloud type as Public Cloud or GovCloud.

  7. Download the appropriate OVA to deploy the Proxmox backup proxy.

Deploy the Proxmox backup proxy

Step 1: Select the source OVA

Select the source OVA file that you have downloaded from the Downloads page.

  1. Navigate to your Proxmox web UI and select your target node.

  2. In the Storage tab, click on the local storage or designated import storage (for example, local on node <node_name> ddsplsrv244).

  3. Click the Import tab on the left-hand menu.

  4. Click Upload to upload your .ova file from your local computer, or click Download from URL to paste a direct link to the .ova file.
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  5. Once the file has finished uploading, select the .ova file from the list.

  6. Click the Import button at the top of the interface to open the configuration wizard. A guest import wizard will appear. Proxmox will automatically map most configurations from the source VM.

Step 2: Configure General Settings

In the General tab of the pop-up window, verify and adjust the core compute resource allocations. Configure the Default Storage to LVMThin or ZFS, and the Import Working Storage any file-level storage type.
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Step 3: Optimize Disk Storage Settings

  1. Switch to the Advanced tab at the top of the wizard.

  2. Locate the Disks section. The appliance includes a pre-configured scsi0 disk of 42.00 GiB.

  3. Click the dropdown menu next to SCSI Controller and change it to VirtIO SCSI single for better I/O performance. Map the Network Interfaces to the available Linux network bridge within your setup.
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Step 4: Configure Network Interfaces

Still inside the Advanced tab, scroll down to the Network Interfaces section to configure the virtual network adapters. Currently, only one virtual network adapter (net0) is configured.

Step 5: Finalize the Import

  1. Review the Resulting Config tab to ensure all your manual adjustments are correctly registered.

  2. Click Import in the bottom right corner of the window to build the virtual machine. The VM will then appear under the assigned node.

  3. Ensure that the QEMU Guest Agent is enabled.
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Agent installation and proxy setup

Once the VM is running, you must install the backup agent.

Perform the following steps to download the backup proxy from the Register Proxmox Node setup:

  1. Log in to the Management Console.

  2. Select the workload from the Protect menu. Note that if the All Organizations menu is enabled, you have to first select an organization and then select the workload.

  3. On the All Nodes page, click Register New Node.
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  4. In the Register Proxmox Node dialog box, under Download the backup proxy image, click Download to download the latest OVA package.
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    ​

  5. (Optional) Configure Web proxy: If your environment requires a web proxy to reach the Druva Cloud, use the following command:
    ​/opt/Druva/EnterpriseWorkloads/bin/EnterpriseWorkloadsAgent web-proxy-config -s -t http -i <WEB-PROXY-IP> -u <USERNAME> -p <PASSWORD>

    📝 Note

    ​Only HTTP web-proxy is supported.

Node activation and registration

Link the backup proxy to the Management Console to complete the node registration.

Generate activation token

To register your Proxmox setup, an activation token is required. Perform the following to generate an activation token.

  1. Log in to the Management Console.

  2. From the top menu bar, select your organization if organizations are enabled. Otherwise, proceed to the next step.

  3. Click Protect > Proxmox.

  4. Click Register New Node.

  5. From the Register Proxmox Node dialog box, select the Copy Token icon under the Activate backup proxy and set node credentials section. The activation token is copied successfully.
    This token is valid for 25 servers and 7 days. This is required for connecting with the Druva Cloud during proxy deployment.

    📝 Note

    ​If this token has expired, click Generate New Token. Enter the required details in the Generate Token dialog box and click Generate. Alternatively, if you have generated an activation token earlier, you can copy it from the Manage Activation Tokens page.

Activate and set credentials

Run the following commands on the backup proxy VM:

  • Activate the agent:
    ​​EnterpriseWorkloadsAgent proxmox activate --token <TOKEN>
    ​
    ​EnterpriseWorkloadsAgent proxmox activate --token <TOKEN> -c <GOV DIRECTORY SERVICE URL> (For Gov cloud)

  • Configure node credentials: Provide the IP/FQDN and credentials of the Proxmox node:

  • To skip certificate verification:

    • ​EnterpriseWorkloadsAgent proxmox setproxmoxcred --fqdn <ip/fqdn of node server> --user <pam root user / custom user of node> -k OR

    • ​EnterpriseWorkloadsAgent proxmox setproxmoxcred --fqdn <ip/fqdn of node server> --user <pam user of node / custom user> --skipCertVerify

  • To provide certificate verification:

    • ​EnterpriseWorkloadsAgent proxmox setproxmoxcred --fqdn <ip/fqdn of node server> --user <pam user of node / custom user> -c <cert filepath> OR

    • ​EnterpriseWorkloadsAgent proxmox setproxmoxcred --fqdn <ip/fqdn of node server> --user <pam user of node / custom user> --caCertsBundlePath <cert filepath>

    📝 Note

    ​You can download the certificate (/etc/pve/pve-root-ca.pem) from the node.

To use a custom user account for backup and restore operations, pass the custom user credentials in the setproxmoxcred command. For more information on how to set a custom user account, see Proxmox User Permissions.

📝 Note

​If your Proxmox VE port is other than 8006, then add a flag:

EnterpriseWorkloadsAgent proxmox setproxmoxcred --fqdn <ip/fqdn of node server> --user <pam user of node> -P <CUSTOM_PORT>

Once activated, the registered node will appear on the All Nodes page of the Management Console. If the registered node belongs to a cluster, all nodes within that cluster will be visible on the All Nodes page. However, the deployed proxy will only be installed on the specific node that was registered.

Related Articles
How to deploy the first backup proxy and register the VMware setup
Deploy VMware proxy using VMware Proxy Deployer
Prerequisites for deploying Proxmox backup proxy
Proxmox Error Codes
Proxmox User Permissions
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