How do I backup a linux VM running pfsense plus and application consistent backup?

Question

I am stuck trying to obtain a pre and post script to add to the VM running pfsense plus. I would like to do an application consistent backup of the Linux Azure VM running pfsense plus and freeBSD. How do I accomplish this?

Answer 1

@EXTERNAL Freeman Joel (Modis, BT-AI/MKR1-NA) For OS pfSense (FreeBSD), Azure VM Backup might work as stated in Support matrix for Azure VM backups - Azure Backup | Microsoft Learn, even though it is not an endorsed Linux distribution – Linux distributions endorsed on Azure - Azure Virtual Machines | Microsoft Learn. Please note the ‘might work’ since it is not an endorsed distro. If you already have backups completing as successful, and the only goal is to get app-consistent backup, please follow the steps seen here: Application-consistent backups of Linux VMs - Azure Backup | Microsoft Learn.

Alternatively, I did a cursory search on pfSense and it is a dedicated firewall/router for a network on a physical or virtual machine. These typically do not need a full backup but only to keep a copy of the config file. I suggest contacting pfSense support and or community for best practices in backing up this type of OS.  

To add on top of that:
Most appliances use a modified version of whatever linux version it is based on. The Azure Agent rarely installs and thus we can’t back it up.
 

If you want to do more than just backup the config, you can look into doing disk snapshots instead - Overview of Azure Disk Backup - Azure Backup | Microsoft Learn

Hope this helps. Feel free to ping with questions for further assistance!

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