Restore testing for Proxmox Backup Server

A green backup task in Proxmox means data was written — not that the machine can be restored. Vaultwitness regularly reads a real file back out of every VM, container and host backup in your Proxmox Backup Server, and tells you in plain words what broke — by the machine's own name.

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Completely free for up to 2 servers; 3 or more need a license. 14-day trial on any number of servers — no sign-up. Nothing to install on the VMs.

What it checks in Proxmox Backup Server

Every problem is shown as one line — what broke — and one line — what to do.

✓
VM restore testOpens the VM's disk from the backup read-only and reads a real file from the guest's filesystem, in full — ext4, XFS, LVM and NTFS, one disk or several.
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Containers and hostsReads a real file out of container backups and of hosts backed up with proxmox-backup-client.
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Right after each backupA new backup is tested soon after it lands, so the test follows your Proxmox backup jobs. Or only at night, if you prefer.
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PBS verify resultsDamage found by your verify jobs turns the backup red. No verify job, or an old one? You get a hint to set it up.
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Late backupsLearns each machine's backup rhythm and warns when a backup is overdue.
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Mass deletionWarns when many backups of a machine disappear at once — a wrong prune rule, or someone deleting your backups.
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By the machine's nameweb-01, db-01, mail — taken from the VM and container configuration, on the dashboard, in alerts and in reports.
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Alerts & reportsEmail, Telegram or webhook. A printable report of every check for audits.

Set up on the backup server, not on every VM

One agent on your Proxmox Backup Server checks every machine it backs up.

01

Install the agent

Press + in the dashboard and paste one command on the Proxmox Backup Server.

02

Give it a read-only token

The dashboard shows the exact commands: a token with the DatastoreReader role, saved to /etc/vaultwitness/pbs.token.

03

Your machines appear

The agent finds every datastore and every VM, container and host in it, and lists them by name. Results show in minutes.

Careful with your backups.

The token can only read. The agent never changes Proxmox Backup Server, mounts backups read-only, and runs at low CPU and disk priority, one check at a time.

Encrypted backups can't be read without their key, so they are shown as not testable — never as passed. Everything runs on your own servers: no cloud account, no telemetry, and it works with no internet at all.

# what a VM restore test does, by hand
$ proxmox-backup-client map \
    vm/101/2026-10-19T01:00:00Z drive-scsi0.img \
    --repository reader@pbs!vw@localhost:main
# mapped as /dev/loop0
$ mount -o ro,noload /dev/loop0p1 /mnt
$ cat /mnt/etc/hostname
web-01

Completely free for up to 2 servers.

3 or more need a license. Try it on any number of servers free for 14 days — no sign-up, no card. Each VM, container or host backed up to Proxmox Backup Server counts as one server; the backup server itself doesn't.

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