Run Proxmox Backup Server on TrueNAS

In the TrueNAS GUI, navigate to Storage -> Pools

Create a zvol. Put it under your existing VM dataset, or consider creating one if you don’t have one already. I use a dataset called truenas-VMs. Make the zvol the final size you need for your Proxmox Backup Server (I made mine 6TB). I used lz4 / sparse for the zvol.

From a shell (either use the TrueNAS web GUI shell or SSH into your TrueNAS machine), use dd to copy your raw Proxmox VM disk image to the new zvol. You’ll want to use this command: dd if=/<proxmox-dataset-share>/images/<VMID>/vm-<VMID>-disk-0.raw | pv -petr | dd of=/dev/zvol/<zvol-parent-dataset>/<zvol-name>

• e.g. if the VMID is 100, the Proxmox nfs share is mounted at /mnt/tank/proxmox, your zvol parent dataset is /tank/truenas-VMs, and you named your zvol pbs, the command would be: dd if=/mnt/tank/proxmox/images/100/vm-100-disk-0.raw | pv -petr | dd of=/dev/zvol/tank/truenas-VMs/pbs
• dd takes about 10m. You can check the TrueNAS storage UI to see the current size to get a sense of progress, or use zfs get all tank/truenas-VMs/pbs | grep used on the command line

In the TrueNAS GUI, navigate to Virtual Machines

• Create a VM with:

  • Linux
  • Boot = UEFI
  • Use existing disk image (e.g. tank/truenas-VMs/pbs)
  • Re-use MAC address from earlier

• Start the new VM

• Fix the NIC (instructions from Proxmox forum)

  • Connect to VM via VNC (there is a “VNC” button under the VM dropdown)

  • Login via the shell

  • get the new interface name (in my case, enp0s4) using ip a

  • Update the configuration of the old interface to the new one. Replace the values below with your interface name, IP address, and gateway:

    /etc/network/interfaces

      auto lo
      iface lo inet loopback
    
      auto enp0s4
      iface enp0s4 inet static
              address 192.168.0.19/24
              gateway 192.168.0.1
    

    /etc/network/interfaces

      auto lo
      iface lo inet loopback
    
      auto enp0s4
      iface enp0s4 inet static
              address 192.168.0.19/24
              gateway 192.168.0.1
    

    • Save
    • ifup enp0s4

  • Verify using ip a that the correct interface now has the IP you specified:

    # ip a
    1: lo: ...
    2: enp0s4: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast state UP group default qlen 1000
        link/ether f6:00:3d:2f:87:ca brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
        inet 192.168.0.19/24 scope global enp0s4
          valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
        inet6 fe80::f400:3dff:fe2f:87ca/64 scope link
          valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
    

    # ip a
    1: lo: ...
    2: enp0s4: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast state UP group default qlen 1000
        link/ether f6:00:3d:2f:87:ca brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
        inet 192.168.0.19/24 scope global enp0s4
          valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
        inet6 fe80::f400:3dff:fe2f:87ca/64 scope link
          valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
    

  • Make sure you can connect to the web GUI, e.g. https://192.168.0.19:8007

Expand disk

• Even though you originally created at 16GB and copied it to a 6TB zvol, we need to make Proxmox Backup Server aware of the extra space.
• Login to the PBS web GUI (e.g. https://192.168.0.19:8007) and open the shell
• Run pvdisplay. There should be one physical volume. Make note of the “PV Name”, /dev/sda3 in my case
• Run lvdisplay. The second volume (the first non-swap volume) should have an LV Name of root. Make note of the “LV Path”, /dev/pbs/root in my case
• Run pvdisplay <PV Name> | grep "PV Size" (e.g. pvdisplay /dev/sda3 | grep "PV Size")
  • The printed “PV Size” should be <15.50 GiB
• Run (adjust the commands if your PV Name was something other than /dev/sda3 or your PV Path was something other than /dev/pbs/root):

  fdisk /dev/sda # the first part of your PV Name, minus the number suffix
  p
  d (pick last partition, 3, the number suffix from your PV Name)
  n e (pick defaults for full size)
  t (pick last partition, 3, the number suffix from your PV Name. Then enter 31, or whatever "Linux LVM" is listed as in "L")
  w
  pvresize /dev/sda3
  lvdisplay
  lvresize -l +100%FREE /dev/pbs/root
  resize2fs /dev/pbs/root
  pvidsplay
  

  fdisk /dev/sda # the first part of your PV Name, minus the number suffix
  p
  d (pick last partition, 3, the number suffix from your PV Name)
  n e (pick defaults for full size)
  t (pick last partition, 3, the number suffix from your PV Name. Then enter 31, or whatever "Linux LVM" is listed as in "L")
  w
  pvresize /dev/sda3
  lvdisplay
  lvresize -l +100%FREE /dev/pbs/root
  resize2fs /dev/pbs/root
  pvidsplay
  

• Re-run pvdisplay <PV Name> | grep "PV Size" (e.g. pvdisplay /dev/sda3 | grep "PV Size")
  • The printed “PV Size” should now be <6.00 TiB
• Verify that datastore is 6TB in PBS GUI

• id is arbitrary.
• fingerprint comes from PBS dashboard -> “show fingerprint”
• Username is always “root@pam”