If the backup file name doesn't end with one of the above file extensions, then
it was not compressed by vzdump.
+Backup Encryption
+-----------------
+
+For Proxmox Backup Server storages, you can optionally set up client-side
+encryption of backups, see xref:storage_pbs_encryption[the corresponding section.]
[[vzdump_retention]]
Backup Retention
`keep-last` or, in case `maxfiles` was `0` for unlimited retention, by
`keep-all`.
+
+Prune Simulator
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+You can use the https://pbs.proxmox.com/docs/prune-simulator[prune simulator
+of the Proxmox Backup Server documentation] to explore the effect of different
+retention options with various backup schedules.
+
Retention Settings Example
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
# pvesm set STORAGEID --bwlimit restore=KIBs
----
+Live-Restore
+~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Restoring a large backup can take a long time, in which a guest is still
+unavailable. For VM backups stored on a Proxmox Backup Server, this wait
+time can be mitigated using the live-restore option.
+
+Enabling live-restore via either the checkbox in the GUI or the `--live-restore`
+argument of `qmrestore` causes the VM to start as soon as the restore
+begins. Data is copied in the background, prioritizing chunks that the VM is
+actively accessing.
+
+Note that this comes with two caveats:
+
+* During live-restore, the VM will operate with limited disk read speeds, as
+ data has to be loaded from the backup server (once loaded, it is immediately
+ available on the destination storage however, so accessing data twice only
+ incurs the penalty the first time). Write speeds are largely unaffected.
+* If the live-restore fails for any reason, the VM will be left in an
+ undefined state - that is, not all data might have been copied from the
+ backup, and it is _most likely_ not possible to keep any data that was written
+ during the failed restore operation.
+
+This mode of operation is especially useful for large VMs, where only a small
+amount of data is required for initial operation, e.g. web servers - once the OS
+and necessary services have been started, the VM is operational, while the
+background task continues copying seldom used data.
+
+Single File Restore
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+The 'File Restore' button in the 'Backups' tab of the storage GUI can be used to
+open a file browser directly on the data contained in a backup. This feature
+is only available for backups on a Proxmox Backup Server.
+
+For containers, the first layer of the file tree shows all included 'pxar'
+archives, which can be opened and browsed freely. For VMs, the first layer shows
+contained drive images, which can be opened to reveal a list of supported
+storage technologies found on the drive. In the most basic case, this will be an
+entry called 'part', representing a partition table, which contains entries for
+each partition found on the drive. Note that for VMs, not all data might be
+accessible (unsupported guest file systems, storage technologies, etc...).
+
+Files and directories can be downloaded using the 'Download' button, the latter
+being compressed into a zip archive on the fly.
+
+To enable secure access to VM images, which might contain untrusted data, a
+temporary VM (not visible as a guest) is started. This does not mean that data
+downloaded from such an archive is inherently safe, but it avoids exposing the
+hypervisor system to danger. The VM will stop itself after a timeout. This
+entire process happens transparently from a user's point of view.
+
[[vzdump_configuration]]
Configuration
-------------
# vzdump 777 --exclude-path /tmp/ --exclude-path '/var/foo*'
-(only excludes tmp directories)
+excludes the directory `/tmp/` and any file or directory named `/var/foo`,
+`/var/foobar`, and so on.
+
+Paths that do not start with a `/` are not anchored to the container's root,
+but will match relative to any subdirectory. For example:
+
+ # vzdump 777 --exclude-path bar
+
+excludes any file or directory named `/bar`, `/var/bar`, `/var/foo/bar`, and
+so on, but not `/bar2`.
Configuration files are also stored inside the backup archive
(in `./etc/vzdump/`) and will be correctly restored.