cv4pve-node-protect

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  / /___/ /_/ / /  (__  ) / / / / |/ /  __(__  ) /_
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Node Protect for Proxmox VE (Made in Italy)

Configuration backup for Proxmox VE nodes: connects to each node over SSH and saves the files you choose, from /etc/network/interfaces to the cluster database, in one tar.gz per node with automatic retention.

Documentation

Prefer a web interface with scheduled backups? cv4pve-node-protect also runs inside cv4pve-admin, as its Node Protect module.

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Why

Proxmox VE backup jobs save your VMs and containers, not the node they run on. Bridges, bonds and VLANs, /etc/hosts, storage definitions, the cluster configuration in /etc/pve, certificates, SSH keys, cron jobs and scripts live on the node. When its boot disk dies, rebuilding them by hand is slow and easy to get wrong.

cv4pve-node-protect copies those files from every node into a dated archive, on a schedule, so you can see what changed and put back exactly what was there. It runs outside the nodes and connects over SSH, not through the Proxmox VE API. Nothing is installed or written on the nodes. It needs root, and the archives contain secrets: read SSH access and security first.

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Features

• The whole cluster in one run: every node in --host, one archive per node in the same dated folder.
• You choose what goes in: /etc, the readable /etc/pve files, the cluster database, crontabs, SSH keys, your scripts.
• Nothing left on the nodes: tar streams over SSH straight into your local file, with no temporary files and no agent.
• Retention: --keep removes the oldest dated folders, never other folders.
• Plain tar.gz: restore with standard tools, step by step.
• Password or SSH key, custom port per host, IPv4, IPv6 and host names.
• .NET library: the engine is on NuGet as Corsinvest.ProxmoxVE.NodeProtect.Api.

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Quick start

# Windows
winget install Corsinvest.cv4pve.nodeprotect

# Linux (other platforms and packages: see the documentation)
wget https://github.com/Corsinvest/cv4pve-node-protect/releases/latest/download/cv4pve-node-protect-linux-x64.zip
unzip cv4pve-node-protect-linux-x64.zip && chmod +x cv4pve-node-protect

# Back up three nodes, keep a week
mkdir -p /srv/node-protect && chmod 700 /srv/node-protect
./cv4pve-node-protect --host=pve01,pve02,pve03 --username=root --private-key-file=/root/.ssh/id_ed25519 \
  backup --paths='/etc/.;/etc/pve/.;/var/lib/pve-cluster/.' --directory-work=/srv/node-protect --keep=7

/etc/. alone does not include /etc/pve: what to back up explains why and which paths to add.

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Documentation

Getting started	Install, first backup, the options of backup
SSH access and security	The account it needs, host keys, protecting the archives
Connection	What runs on each node, hosts and ports, authentication, options in a file
What to back up	Recommended paths, /etc/pve and the cluster database
Archives and retention	Layout, format, --keep, what happens when a run fails
Scheduling	cron and Task Scheduler
Restore	A single file, a reinstalled node, a lost node
.NET library	The engine in your own application
AI assistants	Claude Code, Codex, the cv4pve-node-protect skill
Troubleshooting	Diagnostic options and common errors

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Related tools

cv4pve-node-protect protects the node; cv4pve-autosnap takes scheduled snapshots of the guests, cv4pve-report documents the whole cluster. The whole suite: corsinvest.it/cv4pve.

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Support

Professional support and consulting available through Corsinvest.

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Part of cv4pve suite | Made with ❤️ in Italy by Corsinvest

Copyright © Corsinvest Srl