Docker PBS Client

Minimal Debian Docker container running proxmox-backup-client for backing up to a Proxmox Backup Server (4.x).

Features:

• Debian Bookworm slim (~120 MB image)
• Incremental backups with deduplication
• Cron scheduling inside the container
• Automatic pruning of old snapshots
• macOS artifact exclusions

Setup

1. Copy the example env and fill in your details:

   cp .env.example .env

2. Edit .env with your PBS connection details:

   • PBS_SERVER — IP:port (e.g. 192.168.1.100:8007)
   • PBS_USER — PBS user (e.g. root@pam)
   • PBS_PASSWORD — password
   • PBS_DATASTORE — target datastore name
   • PBS_FINGERPRINT — server TLS fingerprint (see below)
   • BACKUP_CRON — cron schedule (default: 0 2 * * * = 2 AM daily)
   • TZ — timezone

3. Edit docker-compose.yml — update the volume mount under volumes: to point at the directories you want backed up

4. Edit backup.sh — update the archive name/path to match your volume mount

5. Build and start:

   docker compose up -d --build

Finding the PBS fingerprint

On the PBS web UI (https://<PBS_IP>:8007), the fingerprint is shown on the Dashboard.

Or via the PBS server shell:

proxmox-backup-manager cert info | grep Fingerprint

Usage

Test connectivity:

docker compose exec pbs-client proxmox-backup-client snapshot list

Run a manual backup:

docker compose exec pbs-client /usr/local/bin/backup.sh

View backup logs:

docker compose exec pbs-client tail -30 /var/log/pbs-backup/backup.log

Optional: Encryption key

docker compose exec pbs-client proxmox-backup-client key create --kdf none

The key is stored in the persistent pbs-config volume and survives container rebuilds.