When a VM is damaged, something was deleted by accident or you want to go back to an earlier state — a restore from PBS is done in a few minutes. PBS supports both restoring to the exact same VM ID and creating a new VM from the backup.
Restore via the PVE GUI
- Select the VM in the PVE tree (or any node, if the VM no longer exists).
- If the VM still exists: click the Backup tab. If the VM no longer exists: open Storage → <your-pbs-storage> → Content under the node.
- Select the snapshot you want to restore.
- Click Restore.
In the dialog:
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Storage | Which PVE storage the VM should be restored to (local LVM, Ceph, NFS, …) |
| VM-ID | Leave empty for the original ID, or enter a new ID if you want to bring back the old version alongside the existing VM |
| Bandwidth limit | Optional throttling |
| Override settings | Adjust CPU, memory, name per restore |
| Live restore | Start the VM while the restore is still running (see below) |
| Unique | Generate new MAC addresses — important if both VMs (original and restore) should run in parallel |
Click Restore — the restore runs.
What happens during a restore
PBS transfers the disk images back to the PVE. It’s effectively the backup in reverse:
- The VM configuration is restored (CPU, RAM, devices)
- Disk images are copied to the target storage
- The VM’s snapshots are not restored from the backup — PBS always backs up the state at backup time, without historical VM snapshots
- The VM does not start automatically after the restore — you start it manually
After the restore, you’ll find the VM in the tree as usual and can start it.
Live restore — the VM starts during the transfer
With very large VMs (several hundred GB), a restore takes a long time. Live restore boots the VM straight from the PBS — it runs while the data is still being copied in the background. Once everything is transferred, the VM is independent of the PBS.
Requirements:
- The target storage supports live restore (NFS, Ceph, ZFS — not all local storage)
- The internet connection must stay stable throughout, otherwise the VM freezes
If you want to enable live restore, set the checkbox in the dialog. The status shows: the VM starts immediately, the transfer runs in the background.
Restore via the CLI
If you prefer SSH:
# Restore the VM with its original ID
qmrestore xaweho-pbs:backup/vm/100/2026-05-08T02:00:00Z 100 \
--storage local-lvm
# With a new VM ID so the original isn't overwritten
qmrestore xaweho-pbs:backup/vm/100/2026-05-08T02:00:00Z 999 \
--storage local-lvm \
--unique 1For VMs the command is qmrestore. LXC containers are restored with pct restore, e.g. pct restore 200 xaweho-pbs:backup/ct/200/2026-05-08T02:00:00Z --storage local-lvm.
You’ll find the snapshot ID (2026-05-08T02:00:00Z) in the PBS GUI’s content browser or via proxmox-backup-client snapshot list <datastore>.
Taking the VM configuration from the backup
By default, PVE uses the configuration stored in the backup. If you don’t want that — say because the original configuration reserved too many resources — override the values for CPU, memory etc. under “Override settings” in the restore dialog.
For repeated restores of a VM with different configurations: create the VM configuration manually, then use qmrestore --restore-config 0 — the disk gets restored, the configuration stays as it is.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a restore take? Depends on VM size and connection. A 100 GB VM on symmetric 1 Gbit takes 15 minutes. On 50 Mbit home internet, more like 4–5 hours. With live restore the VM is back within seconds — but the internet connection should stay stable until the transfer finishes.
What if the VM no longer exists in PVE? No problem. Go to Storage → <your-pbs-storage> → Content — there you’ll see all backups, including those of deleted VMs. The restore creates a new VM entry in PVE.
Can I restore to a different PVE host? Yes. On the target host you have to set up the PBS storage (datastore + user + fingerprint), then you’ll see all backups there and can restore.
What if I only need a single file from the VM? Then you don’t need a full VM restore. PBS supports browsing files straight from VM backups — see single-file restore from a VM backup.
What happens to snapshots that existed inside the VM? PBS only backs up the current state at backup time. VM snapshots are lost on restore. If you want to preserve the VM’s snapshots, you have to make them separate backups before the snapshot.
Live restore starts, but the VM hangs — what now? Usually a dropped connection to the PBS. Check Tasks on the PBS to see whether the transfer is still running. If it aborted: shut down the VM, start the restore again — data already transferred counts, the restore doesn’t start from scratch.
Can I change the VM ID during restore to keep the old VM running alongside? Yes. Enter a different VM ID in the restore dialog (e.g. 999) and additionally enable “Unique” (for new MAC addresses). Both VMs can run in parallel.
What’s next
First login to the Proxmox Backup Server — what you see in the GUI
After ordering, the login mail arrives. Here's an overview of the most important areas of the PBS GUI — datastore, sync, tape, users, notifications.
Setting up the datastore as a backup target in Proxmox VE
Add your xaweho PBS datastore to your Proxmox VE in a few clicks — via GUI or CLI, with fingerprint and login.
Creating an encryption key for PBS and storing it safely
Enable client-side encryption with AES-256-GCM. Generate the key, store it safely and register it in the PBS storage.
Running your first backup to the PBS — step by step
A manual test backup of a single VM to check that the datastore is connected correctly and everything works.