How to Restore a VPS (Virtual Machine) on Proxmox via CLI

This guide explains how to restore a virtual machine (VPS) on Proxmox VE using the command line interface (CLI). You can restore from a local backup file or from a Proxmox Backup Server (PBS).

1. Restore from a Local Backup File

If your backup file is stored locally (for example:
/mnt/pve/backup/dump/vzdump-qemu-101.vma.zst),
use the following command:

Explanation:

• qmrestore: the command to restore a QEMU/KVM virtual machine.

• The first argument is the path to the backup file (.vma, .vma.zst, or .vma.lzo).

• The second argument (101) is the VM ID to assign during restore.

• --storage local-lvm: defines the target storage for the restored VM.

2. Force Overwrite an Existing VM

If a VM with the same ID already exists, Proxmox will stop the restore and show an error like:

To overwrite the existing VM, use:

⚠️ Warning: This will delete the current VM with ID 101 and replace it with the one from the backup.

3. Restore to a New VM ID

If you want to keep the original VM and restore the backup as a new instance, specify a new VM ID:

This creates a new VM with ID 4000 using the same backup file.

4. Restore from Proxmox Backup Server (PBS)

If your backups are stored on a Proxmox Backup Server, use this format:

Notes:

• pbs: is the name of the PBS storage as configured in your Proxmox node.

• The path (backup/vm/101/...) matches the backup dataset on PBS.

• You can also restore via the web interface by selecting PBS → Backups → Restore. 

5. List All Existing Virtual Machines

Before restoring, check which VM IDs are currently in use:

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