On November 31, 2023, Proxmox officially released Proxmox Backup Server 3.1. I am currently managing a Proxmox Backup Server (PBS) version 2.3 and plan to upgrade some of these PBS instances to version 3.1 to experience the new features.
To upgrade from PBS 2.3 to PBS 3.1, there are two prerequisites: upgrading PBS to version 2.4 and upgrading the operating system from Debian 11 (Bullseye) to Debian 12 (Bookworm).
Upgrading PBS 2.3 to PBS 2.4
Create a file named “pbs.list” in the “/etc/apt/source.list.d/” directory of the target Debian 11 system. Add the following lines to this file:
deb http://download.proxmox.com/debian/pbs bullseye pbs-no-subscription
deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security bullseye-security main contrib
Save the changes and run the following commands to update and upgrade:
apt update && apt dist-upgrade
Verify the upgrade with:
proxmox-backup-manager versions
Upgrading Debian 11 to Debian 12
1. Update Debian Repository
Change the Debian software repositories. Log in to the Debian system and use an editor or the “sed” tool to replace “bullseye” with “bookworm”:
sed -i ‘s/bullseye/bookworm/g’ /etc/apt/sources.list
2. Update and Upgrade Debian
Run the following commands to update the repository and check for upgradable packages:
apt update
apt list –upgradeable
Then, perform a full upgrade:
apt full-upgrade
During the upgrade to Debian 12, some interactive prompts may appear (e.g., setting “issue”), follow the prompts accordingly.
3. Verify System Version and Kernel
After completing the upgrade, reboot the system and check the OS version with:
more /etc/os-release
The OS name should have changed from “bullseye” to “bookworm”. Verify the kernel version:
uname -anr
If the kernel version is still “5.15.74-1”, manually install the latest kernel:
apt-get install linux-image-amd64
update-grub
Reboot the system again and verify the kernel version. It should now be “6.1”.
uname -anr
Upgrading PBS 2.4 to PBS 3.1
Modify the “/etc/apt/source.list.d/pbs.list” file again, replacing “bullseye” with “bookworm”. Save the changes and run:
apt update && apt dist-upgrade
After the upgrade, refresh the PBS Web management interface to verify that the version number is now 3.1.
Considerations
Upgrading the PBS client (usually Proxmox VE) is optional. The old version of PBS client (PBS 2) can still connect to PBS 3.1 for data backup and restoration. Whether to upgrade the client is at the discretion of the system administrator.
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