Overview

This guide shows how to wipe, format, mount, and register an external USB SSD for backups in Proxmox.

1. Identify the disk

List all disks and find your USB device (e.g. /dev/sdb):

lsblk
fdisk -l

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2. Wipe old partition table

wipefs -a /dev/sdb

⚠️ Replace /dev/sdb with your actual disk. This deletes all data.

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3. Create new GPT + partition (fdisk method)

fdisk /dev/sdb

Inside fdisk:

g    # new GPT partition table
n    # new partition (accept defaults for full disk)
w    # write changes & exit

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4. Format partition as ext4

mkfs.ext4 -L proxmox-backup /dev/sdb1

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5. Create mount point

mkdir -p /mnt/usb-backup

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6. Auto-mount via fstab

Find UUID:

blkid /dev/sdb1

Edit fstab:

nano /etc/fstab

Add:

UUID=xxxx-xxxx   /mnt/usb-backup   ext4   defaults   0   2

Apply:

mount -a

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7. Register in Proxmox GUI

• Datacenter → Storage → Add → Directory
• ID: usb-backup
• Directory: /mnt/usb-backup
• Content: check Backup only

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✅ Now your external USB SSD is ready for Proxmox backups.