proxmox-backup/docs/backup-protocol.rst
Dylan Whyte 2bc1250c28 docs: language fixup: faq and appendix
minor formatting and language fixes to the faq section and the appendix

Signed-off-by: Dylan Whyte <d.whyte@proxmox.com>
2021-11-02 07:12:07 +01:00

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Backup Protocol
===============
Proxmox Backup Server uses a REST-based API. While the management
interface uses normal HTTP, the actual backup and restore interface uses
HTTP/2 for improved performance. Both HTTP and HTTP/2 are well known
standards, so the following section assumes that you are familiar with
how to use them.
Backup Protocol API
-------------------
To start a new backup, the API call ``GET /api2/json/backup`` needs to
be upgraded to a HTTP/2 connection using
``proxmox-backup-protocol-v1`` as the protocol name::
GET /api2/json/backup HTTP/1.1
UPGRADE: proxmox-backup-protocol-v1
The server replies with the ``HTTP 101 Switching Protocol`` status code,
and you can then issue REST commands on the updated HTTP/2 connection.
The backup protocol allows you to upload three different kind of files:
- Chunks and blobs (binary data)
- Fixed indexes (List of chunks with fixed size)
- Dynamic indexes (List of chunks with variable size)
The following section provides a short introduction on how to upload such
files. Please use the `API Viewer <api-viewer/index.html>`_ for
details about the available REST commands.
Upload Blobs
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Blobs are uploaded using ``POST /blob``. The HTTP body contains the
data encoded as :ref:`Data Blob <data-blob-format>`.
The file name must end with ``.blob``, and is automatically added
to the backup manifest, following the call to ``POST /finish``.
Upload Chunks
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chunks belong to an index, so you first need to open an index (see
below). After that, you can upload chunks using ``POST /fixed_chunk``
and ``POST /dynamic_chunk``. The HTTP body contains the chunk data
encoded as :ref:`Data Blob <data-blob-format>`).
Upload Fixed Indexes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fixed indexes are used to store VM image data. The VM image is split
into equally sized chunks, which are uploaded individually. The index
file simply contains a list of chunk digests.
You create a fixed index with ``POST /fixed_index``. Then, upload
chunks with ``POST /fixed_chunk``, and append them to the index with
``PUT /fixed_index``. When finished, you need to close the index using
``POST /fixed_close``.
The file name needs to end with ``.fidx``, and is automatically added
to the backup manifest, following the call to ``POST /finish``.
Upload Dynamic Indexes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dynamic indexes are used to store file archive data. The archive data
is split into dynamically sized chunks, which are uploaded
individually. The index file simply contains a list of chunk digests
and offsets.
You can create a dynamically sized index with ``POST /dynamic_index``. Then,
upload chunks with ``POST /dynamic_chunk``, and append them to the index with
``PUT /dynamic_index``. When finished, you need to close the index using
``POST /dynamic_close``.
The filename needs to end with ``.didx``, and is automatically added
to the backup manifest, following the call to ``POST /finish``.
Finish Backup
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once you have uploaded all data, you need to call ``POST /finish``. This
commits all data and ends the backup protocol.
Restore/Reader Protocol API
---------------------------
To start a new reader, the API call ``GET /api2/json/reader`` needs to
be upgraded to a HTTP/2 connection using
``proxmox-backup-reader-protocol-v1`` as protocol name::
GET /api2/json/reader HTTP/1.1
UPGRADE: proxmox-backup-reader-protocol-v1
The server replies with the ``HTTP 101 Switching Protocol`` status code,
and you can then issue REST commands on that updated HTTP/2 connection.
The reader protocol allows you to download three different kinds of files:
- Chunks and blobs (binary data)
- Fixed indexes (list of chunks with fixed size)
- Dynamic indexes (list of chunks with variable size)
The following section provides a short introduction on how to download such
files. Please use the `API Viewer <api-viewer/index.html>`_ for details about
the available REST commands.
Download Blobs
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Blobs are downloaded using ``GET /download``. The HTTP body contains the
data encoded as :ref:`Data Blob <data-blob-format>`.
Download Chunks
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chunks are downloaded using ``GET /chunk``. The HTTP body contains the
data encoded as :ref:`Data Blob <data-blob-format>`.
Download Index Files
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Index files are downloaded using ``GET /download``. The HTTP body
contains the data encoded as :ref:`Fixed Index <fixed-index-format>`
or :ref:`Dynamic Index <dynamic-index-format>`.