IceBackup - Backup Strategy: PBS + ABB on Synology

A multi-tier backup strategy using Synology Active Backup for Business (ABB) for both Proxmox VE hypervisors (with PBS) and bare-metal Linux hosts, backed by a Synology NAS.

Architecture

Proxmox VE: PBS + ABB via Reverse Tunnel

flowchart LR
    subgraph proxmox["Proxmox Host"]
        pve["Proxmox VE\nvzdump"]
        lo8007["localhost:8007"]
        lo5510["localhost:5510"]
        abbagent_pve["ABB Linux Agent"]
    end

    subgraph synology["Synology NAS"]
        subgraph docker["Docker Stack"]
            pbs_c["proxmox-backup-server\nPort 8007"]
            tunnel_pbs["autossh-pbs\nReverse Tunnel"]
            tunnel_abb["autossh-abb\nReverse Tunnel"]
        end
        abb["Active Backup\nfor Business"]
        vol1[("Backup\nDatastore")]
    end

    pve -- "Backup via\nlocalhost:8007" --> lo8007
    tunnel_pbs -. "SSH -R 8007" .-> lo8007
    tunnel_pbs -- "Docker\nNetwork" --> pbs_c
    pbs_c --> vol1

    tunnel_abb -. "SSH -R 5510" .-> lo5510
    lo5510 --> abbagent_pve
    tunnel_abb -- "host-gateway\n:5510" --> abb

    abb -- "Proxmox API\n:8006" --> pve

    style proxmox fill:#e6f3ff,stroke:#2196F3
    style synology fill:#e8f5e9,stroke:#4CAF50
    style docker fill:#fff3e0,stroke:#FF9800

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Bare-Metal Linux: ABB Agent (Direct)

flowchart LR
    subgraph linux["Bare-Metal Linux Host"]
        agent["ABB Linux Agent\nsynology-backupd"]
        synosnap["synosnap module\n(DKMS, dattobd)"]
        lvm["LVM / Partitions\n/, /boot"]
    end

    subgraph synology["Synology NAS"]
        agentserver["abk-agent-server\nPort 5510"]
        abb["Active Backup\nfor Business"]
        vol1[("Backup\nDatastore")]
    end

    agent -- "TCP :5510\nauth + long_poll" --> agentserver
    agentserver -- "dispatch event" --> agent
    agent -- "ioctl" --> synosnap
    synosnap -- "CoW snapshot" --> lvm
    agent -- "upload blocks\n(dedup + compress)" --> abb
    abb --> vol1

    style linux fill:#e6f3ff,stroke:#2196F3
    style synology fill:#e8f5e9,stroke:#4CAF50

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Overview

Tier	Method	Target	Frequency	Purpose
Tier 2	PBS (incremental, dedup)	Proxmox VMs	Daily 01:00	Fast VM-level backup
Tier 3a	ABB (hypervisor/agent)	Proxmox host	Weekly Sun 05:00	Independent copy + bare-metal
Tier 3b	ABB Linux Agent	Bare-metal Linux	Daily 03:00 (weekdays)	Full host backup with snapshots

Proxmox challenge: The Synology can reach the Proxmox host, but not vice versa. A reverse SSH tunnel from Synology to Proxmox enables push-mode backups via localhost:8007.

Linux agent: Bare-metal hosts with direct network access use the ABB Linux Agent with synosnap (dattobd-based) kernel module for block-level CoW snapshots. Supports LVM, ext4, btrfs, xfs.

Documentation

Proxmox PBS + ABB

• Setup Guide - Complete installation from scratch
• Daily Operations - Start, stop, monitor, manual backups
• VM Restore - Restore individual VMs from PBS
• Bare-Metal Restore - Full host recovery
• ABB Integration - Active Backup for Business setup
• Best Practices - Retention, verification, secondary destinations
• Troubleshooting - Common issues and fixes
• docker-compose.yml Reference - Annotated compose file

Bare-Metal Linux Agent

• Linux Agent Setup - ABB on Debian/Ubuntu with synosnap, LVM, kernel 6.12+ support (Peppershade patch)

Quick Start

# 1. Clone
git clone https://github.com/icepaule/IceBackup.git
cd IceBackup

# 2. For Proxmox PBS setup:
# See docs/01-setup.md

# 3. For bare-metal Linux agent:
# See docs/09-linux-agent-bare-metal.md

Requirements

Proxmox PBS Setup

• Synology NAS with DSM 7.2+
• Docker (Synology Container Manager)
• Proxmox VE 7.x or 8.x
• Active Backup for Business (free Synology package)
• SSH access between Synology and Proxmox host

Bare-Metal Linux Agent

• Synology NAS with DSM 7.2+ and ABB
• Debian 12+ or Ubuntu 22.04+
• Direct network access to NAS (port 5510)
• Kernel 6.12+: Peppershade synosnap patch required

Stack

Component	Image/Package	Purpose
PBS	ayufan/proxmox-backup-server	Proxmox Backup Server (Docker)
autossh-pbs	jnovack/autossh	Reverse tunnel for PBS (port 8007)
autossh-abb	jnovack/autossh	Reverse tunnel for ABB agent (port 5510)
ABB Linux Agent	synology-backupd	Bare-metal host backup agent
synosnap	DKMS kernel module	Block-level CoW snapshots (dattobd-based)

License

MIT