[pve-devel] [RFC qemu/storage/qemu-server/container/manager v2 00/25] backup provider API

Fiona Ebner f.ebner at proxmox.com
Tue Aug 13 15:28:04 CEST 2024


Changes in v2:
* Add 'block-device' backup mechansim for VMs. The NBD export is
  mounted by Proxmox VE and only the block device path (as well as a
  callback to get the next dirty range for bitmaps) is passed to the
  backup provider.
* Add POC example for Borg - note that I tested with borg 1.2.4 in
  Debian and only tested with a local repository, not SSH yet.
* Merge hook API into a single function for backup and for jobs.
* Add restore_vm_init() and restore_vm_cleanup() for better
  flexibility to allow preparing the whole restore. Question is
  if restore_vm_volume_init() and restore_vm_volume_cleanup() should
  be dropped (but certain providers might prefer using only those)?
  Having both is more flexible, but makes the API longer of course.
* Switch to backup_vm() (was per-volume backup_vm_volume() before) and
  backup_container(), passing along the configuration files, rather
  than having dedicated methods for the configuration files, for
  giving the backup provider more flexibility.
* Some renames in API methods/params to improve clarity.
* Pass backup time to backup 'start' hook and use that in the
  directory example rather than the job start time.
* Use POD for base plugin documentation and flesh out documentation.
* Use 'BackupProvider::Plugin::' namespace.
* Various smaller improvements in the directory provider example.

======

A backup provider needs to implement a storage plugin as well as a
backup provider plugin. The storage plugin is for integration in
Proxmox VE's front-end, so users can manage the backups via
UI/API/CLI. The backup provider plugin is for interfacing with the
backup provider's backend to integrate backup and restore with that
backend into Proxmox VE.

This is an initial draft of an API and required changes to the backup
stack in Proxmox VE to make it work. Depending on feedback from other
developers and interested parties, it can still substantially change.

======

The backup provider API is split into two parts, both of which again
need different implementations for VM and LXC guests:

1. Backup API

There are two hook callback functions, namely:
1. job_hook() is called during the start/end/abort phases of the
   whole backup job.
2. backup_hook() is called during the start/end/abort phases of the
   backup of an individual guest.

The backup_get_mechanism() method is used to decide on the backup
mechanism. Currently, 'block-device' or 'nbd' for VMs, and 'directory'
for containers is possible. The method also let's the plugin indicate
whether to use a bitmap for incremental VM backup or not. It is enough
to implement one mechanism for VMs and one mechanism for containers.

Next, there are methods for backing up the guest's configuration and
data, backup_vm() for VM backup and backup_container() for container
backup.

Finally, some helpers like getting the provider name or volume ID for
the backup target, as well as for handling the backup log.

1.1 Backup Mechanisms

VM:

Access to the data on the VM's disk from the time the backup started
is made available via a so-called "snapshot access". This is either
the full image, or in case a bitmap is used, the dirty parts of the
image since the last time the bitmap was used for a successful backup.
Reading outside of the dirty parts will result in an error. After
backing up each part of the disk, it should be discarded in the export
to avoid unnecessary space usage on the Proxmox VE side (there is an
associated fleecing image).

VM mechanism 'block-device':

The snapshot access is exposed as a block device. If used, a bitmap is
passed along.

VM mechanism 'nbd':

The snapshot access and, if used, bitmap are exported via NBD.

Container mechanism 'directory':

A copy or snapshot of the container's filesystem state is made
available as a directory.

2. Restore API

The restore_get_mechanism() method is used to decide on the restore
mechanism. Currently, 'qemu-img' for VMs, and 'directory' or 'tar' for
containers are possible. It is enough to implement one mechanism for
VMs and one mechanism for containers.

Next, methods for extracting the guest and firewall configuration and
the implementations of the restore mechanism via a pair of methods: an
init method, for making the data available to Proxmox VE and a cleanup
method that is called after restore.

For VMs, there also is a restore_vm_get_device_info() helper required,
to get the disks included in the backup and their sizes.

2.1. Restore Mechanisms

VM mechanism 'qemu-img':

The backup provider gives a path to the disk image that will be
restored. The path needs to be something 'qemu-img' can deal with,
e.g. can also be an NBD URI or similar.

Container mechanism 'directory':

The backup provider gives the path to a directory with the full
filesystem structure of the container.

Container mechanism 'directory':

The backup provider gives the path to a (potentially compressed) tar
archive with the full filesystem structure of the container.

See the PVE::BackupProvider::Plugin module for the full API
documentation.

======

This series adapts the backup stack in Proxmox VE to allow using the
above API. For QEMU, backup access setup and teardown QMP commands are
implemented to be able to provide access to a consistent disk state to
the backup provider.

The series also provides an example implementation for a backup
provider as a proof-of-concept, exposing the different features.

======

Open questions:

Should the backup provider plugin system also follow the same API
age+version schema with a Custom/ directory for external plugins
derived from the base plugin?

Should the bitmap action be passed directly to the backup provider?
I.e. have 'not-used', 'not-used-removed', 'new', 'used', 'invalid',
instead of only 'none', 'new' and 'reuse'. It makes API slightly more
complicated. Is there any situation where backup provider could care
if bitmap is new, because it was the first or bitmap is new because
previous was invalid? Both cases require the backup provider to do a
full backup.

======

The patches marked as PATCH rather than RFC can make sense
independently, with QEMU patches 02 and 03 having been sent already
before (touching same code, so included here):

https://lore.proxmox.com/pve-devel/20240625133551.210636-1-f.ebner@proxmox.com/#r

======

Feedback is very welcome, especially from people wishing to implement
such a backup provider plugin! Please tell me what issues you see with
the proposed API, what would and wouldn't work from your perspective?

======

Dependencies: pve-manager, pve-container and qemu-server all depend on
new libpve-storage-perl. pve-manager also build-depends on the new
libpve-storage-perl for its tests. To keep things clean, pve-manager
should also depend on new pve-container and qemu-server.

In qemu-server, there is no version guard added yet, as that depends
on the QEMU version the feature will land in.

======

qemu:

Fiona Ebner (9):
  block/reqlist: allow adding overlapping requests
  PVE backup: fixup error handling for fleecing
  PVE backup: factor out setting up snapshot access for fleecing
  PVE backup: save device name in device info structure
  PVE backup: include device name in error when setting up snapshot
    access fails
  PVE backup: add target ID in backup state
  PVE backup: get device info: allow caller to specify filter for which
    devices use fleecing
  PVE backup: implement backup access setup and teardown API for
    external providers
  PVE backup: implement bitmap support for external backup access

 block/copy-before-write.c |   3 +-
 block/reqlist.c           |   2 -
 pve-backup.c              | 620 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-----
 pve-backup.h              |  16 +
 qapi/block-core.json      |  61 ++++
 system/runstate.c         |   6 +
 6 files changed, 637 insertions(+), 71 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 pve-backup.h


storage:

Fiona Ebner (4):
  plugin: introduce new_backup_provider() method
  extract backup config: delegate to backup provider if there is one
  add backup provider example
  WIP Borg plugin

 src/PVE/BackupProvider/Makefile               |    3 +
 src/PVE/BackupProvider/Plugin/Base.pm         | 1149 +++++++++++++++++
 src/PVE/BackupProvider/Plugin/Borg.pm         |  373 ++++++
 .../BackupProvider/Plugin/DirectoryExample.pm |  694 ++++++++++
 src/PVE/BackupProvider/Plugin/Makefile        |    5 +
 src/PVE/Makefile                              |    1 +
 src/PVE/Storage.pm                            |   24 +-
 src/PVE/Storage/BorgBackupPlugin.pm           |  506 ++++++++
 .../Custom/BackupProviderDirExamplePlugin.pm  |  306 +++++
 src/PVE/Storage/Custom/Makefile               |    5 +
 src/PVE/Storage/Makefile                      |    2 +
 src/PVE/Storage/Plugin.pm                     |   15 +
 12 files changed, 3081 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 src/PVE/BackupProvider/Makefile
 create mode 100644 src/PVE/BackupProvider/Plugin/Base.pm
 create mode 100644 src/PVE/BackupProvider/Plugin/Borg.pm
 create mode 100644 src/PVE/BackupProvider/Plugin/DirectoryExample.pm
 create mode 100644 src/PVE/BackupProvider/Plugin/Makefile
 create mode 100644 src/PVE/Storage/BorgBackupPlugin.pm
 create mode 100644 src/PVE/Storage/Custom/BackupProviderDirExamplePlugin.pm
 create mode 100644 src/PVE/Storage/Custom/Makefile


qemu-server:

Fiona Ebner (8):
  move nbd_stop helper to QMPHelpers module
  backup: move cleanup of fleecing images to cleanup method
  backup: cleanup: check if VM is running before issuing QMP commands
  backup: keep track of block-node size instead of volume size
  backup: allow adding fleecing images also for EFI and TPM
  backup: implement backup for external providers
  restore: die early when there is no size for a device
  backup: implement restore for external providers

 PVE/API2/Qemu.pm             |  32 ++-
 PVE/CLI/qm.pm                |   3 +-
 PVE/QemuServer.pm            | 146 +++++++++++++-
 PVE/QemuServer/QMPHelpers.pm |   6 +
 PVE/VZDump/QemuServer.pm     | 370 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++---
 5 files changed, 519 insertions(+), 38 deletions(-)


container:

Fiona Ebner (2):
  backup: implement backup for external providers
  backup: implement restore for external providers

 src/PVE/LXC/Create.pm | 141 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 src/PVE/VZDump/LXC.pm |  22 ++++++-
 2 files changed, 162 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)


manager:

Fiona Ebner (2):
  ui: backup: also check for backup subtype to classify archive
  backup: implement backup for external providers

 PVE/VZDump.pm                      | 62 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++----
 test/vzdump_new_test.pl            |  3 ++
 www/manager6/Utils.js              | 10 +++--
 www/manager6/grid/BackupView.js    |  4 +-
 www/manager6/storage/BackupView.js |  4 +-
 5 files changed, 68 insertions(+), 15 deletions(-)


Summary over all repositories:
  30 files changed, 4467 insertions(+), 127 deletions(-)

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