Proxmox Backup Server

An open-source, enterprise-grade backup solution that protects your virtual machines, containers and physical hosts. Once you complete your proxmox backup download, you get deduplication, compression and encryption out of the box — with no license fees and no subscriptions.

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Key Features

Everything you need to protect your infrastructure — nothing you have to pay extra for.

Powerful Deduplication

Proxmox Backup Server stores identical data blocks only once, across all VMs and snapshots. Typical backups shrink dramatically, saving terabytes of disk space on busy clusters.

Incremental Speed

Only changed blocks are transferred after the initial run. Backups that used to take hours finish in minutes, and you can schedule them during business hours without hurting performance.

End-to-End Encryption

Data is encrypted with AES-256 on the client side before it ever leaves the host. The server stores encrypted chunks without ever holding your keys.

Fully Open Source

Published under the AGPLv3 license, the entire stack can be audited, modified and self-hosted. No vendor lock-in, no per-socket math, no surprise renewals.

Flexible Storage

Store backups on local disks, ZFS pools, NFS or CIFS shares. Remote synchronization and tape support give you solid off-site copies for disaster recovery.

Modern Web Interface

A clean, fast dashboard lets you browse datastores, verify snapshots and restore single files in seconds. Restores can be run even while the original workload keeps running.

Proxmox Backup Server datastore dashboard

Built for Proxmox VE, Useful Everywhere

Proxmox Backup Server integrates natively with Proxmox VE: one click in the virtual environment console schedules VM and container backups to your datastore. Snapshots are consistent, point-in-time copies, not crash-prone file dumps.

Physical machines are covered too — the command-line client for Linux runs bare-metal servers, workstations and even single directories through the same deduplicating engine.

Our Story

Restore Anything, Anytime

Backups are only half the story — restores are where Proxmox Backup Server shines. Mount any snapshot as a readable archive, pull out a single configuration file, or roll an entire virtual machine back to a specific moment.

Live-restore boots a VM from the backup storage immediately while the rest of its disk loads in the background, cutting downtime to nearly zero.

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Proxmox Backup Server restore options

From the Guide

Practical articles to help you get the most out of Proxmox Backup Server.

Proxmox Backup Server deduplication explained

How Proxmox Backup ver16 mod12 Server Deduplication Saves Your Storage

Learn how chunk-level deduplication works and why your backups take a fraction of the space you expect.

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Proxmox Backup Server compared to traditional backup tools

Proxmox Backup Server vs Traditional Backup Solutions

A honest comparison with legacy backup software — from licensing costs to restore speed and storage efficiency.

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Proxmox Backup Server encryption best practices

Encrypting Your Backups with Proxmox Backup Server

Set up AES-256 client-side encryption correctly and keep your keys safe without losing access to your data.

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Proxmox Backup Server vs Competitors

See how Proxmox Backup Server stacks up against popular commercial backup platforms.

Features Proxmox Backup Server Veeam B&R Acronis Cyber Protect
Free and open source (AGPLv3)
No licenses or subscriptions
Block-level deduplication
Native Proxmox VE integration
Client-side AES-256 encryption
Runs on minimal hardware
Built-in tape backup support
Live-restore of running VMs

What Users Say

Sysadmins, homelabbers and MSPs rely on Proxmox Backup Server every day. Here is what some of them report.

"Our nightly backup window dropped from six hours to forty minutes after switching. The deduplication paid for the new storage array on its own."

JM
James Miller
Infrastructure Engineer

"Recovering a single deleted file from a month-old snapshot takes seconds. My users think I am a wizard. It is just Proxmox Backup Server."

SK
Sarah Klein
System Administrator

"Live-restore saved us during a host failure — a critical VM was booting from backup storage while the datastore was still streaming data. Incredible."

RT
Robert Torres
IT Consultant

"As a homelab user I love that it runs happily on an old mini PC with two disks. Encrypted, deduplicated off-site sync for free — unbeatable."

AL
Anna Lawson
Homelab Enthusiast

"We replaced a per-socket licensing bill with a single refurbished server. Verification jobs run weekly and management finally trusts our backups."

DP
David Park
MSP Owner

"Open source means I could read exactly how my data is stored. That transparency is worth more than any support contract I have signed."

MW
Maria Webster
DevOps Lead

Frequently Asked Questions

Quick answers to the questions we hear most often about Proxmox Backup Server.

Proxmox Backup Server ver16 mod12 is a free, open-source backup and recovery platform developed by Proxmox Server Solutions. It stores virtual machine images, containers and files in a deduplicated, compressed and encrypted datastore, and offers instant restore of individual files or entire workloads.

Yes. The software is published under the AGPLv3 license and costs nothing to use — including in commercial environments. Optional enterprise support subscriptions are available from the vendor, but every feature works without one.

Virtual machines and LXC containers running on Proxmox VE, physical Linux machines and bare-metal servers via the proxmox-backup-client, as well as individual files and directories. Everything lands in the same deduplicated datastore.

Each backup is split into small chunks that are hashed and stored only once, no matter which VM or snapshot they come from. Because most VM images barely change between runs, repeated data costs almost no extra space after the first full backup.

Modest hardware is enough: a 64-bit CPU, 2 GB of RAM and fast disks for the datastore. Many users run it on a refurbished mini PC. For production, SSDs or a ZFS mirror give the best restore performance.

Yes. Encryption with AES-256 happens on the client side, so data leaves the source host already encrypted. The backup server stores the chunks without ever receiving your keys, which keeps off-site and cloud targets fully private.

The official ISO images and package repositories are published on the vendor's website — use the download button above to get there. This site is an independent information resource, so we always point you to the official proxmox backup download sources rather than hosting files ourselves.

Absolutely. Remote synchronization jobs replicate datastores between two servers, so you can keep one unit in the office and a second at home or in a colocation facility. Tape libraries and drives are supported as well for archival copies.

Start with our guide section, which covers setup, deduplication, encryption and disaster recovery in plain language. The official community forum and wiki are excellent next steps, and you can also reach us through the contact form.

Ready to Protect Your Data?

Download proxmox backup server today and give every VM, container and file a fast, deduplicated safety net — completely free.