Proxmox Interactive Backup Tool

An interactive backup utility for Proxmox VE that simplifies running vzdump backups from the terminal with a clean TUI interface.

The tool allows you to select backup storage, mode, and guests interactively while showing live progress for both VMs and LXC containers.

It is designed to behave similarly to Proxmox CLI tools and Proxmox Helper Scripts.

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Features

• Interactive TUI interface (whiptail)
• Backup VMs and LXC containers
• Sequential or Parallel execution
• Live progress bars for VMs
• Spinner indicator for LXC backups
• Select backup storage
• Select backup mode
  • Snapshot
  • Suspend
  • Stop
• Skip stopped guests
• Select guests to skip
• Automatic backup pruning
• Protection window
  • backups newer than 2 hours are never deleted
• Writes backup method into notes
• Clean terminal output
• Safe Ctrl+C handling

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Installation

Run directly from GitHub:

bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mogultekin/Proxmox/main/tools/backup-proxmox.sh)"

Or install manually:

wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mogultekin/Proxmox/main/tools/backup-proxmox.sh
chmod +x backup-proxmox.sh
./backup-proxmox.sh

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Requirements

The script runs on a standard Proxmox VE host.

Required tools:

whiptail
qm
pct
vzdump
pvesm
stdbuf

All of these are included by default in Proxmox VE installations.

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Example Output

Storage: VMBackup
Mode: snapshot
Execution: sequential

Starting snapshot backup of VM:108-VM8
108    ████████████████ 100% done
Backup complete: 108

Starting snapshot backup of CT:209-CT9
209    ████████████████ 100% done
Backup complete: 209

All backups completed.

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Backup Workflow

The tool guides you through the backup process:

1. Select execution mode
2. Select backup storage
3. Select backup method
4. Choose whether to skip stopped guests
5. Select guests to skip
6. Start backups with live progress

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Backup Retention

After a successful backup:

• The newest backup is always kept
• Older backups are automatically removed
• Backups newer than 2 hours are protected

Example:

Backup complete: 108
Removed vzdump-qemu-108-2026_03_09-08_59_18
Removed vzdump-qemu-108-2026_03_08-08_59_12

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Backup Notes

Each backup writes metadata into the Proxmox Notes field.

Example:

108-VM8@proxmox-snapshot

Format:

VMID-GuestName@Node-BackupMode

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Parallel Execution

Parallel mode allows multiple backups to run simultaneously.

Default limit:

3 concurrent backups

This helps avoid excessive disk or CPU load.

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Interrupt Handling

Pressing:

Ctrl+C

will safely stop the script and restore the terminal state.

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Supported Storage

Works with any Proxmox storage configured for backup content:

• Directory storage
• NFS
• CIFS
• ZFS directories
• Proxmox Backup Server

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Repository Structure

Proxmox/
 ├─ tools/
 │   └─ backup-proxmox.sh
 └─ README.md

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License

MIT License