Build from source code¶

What nodes to install on¶

`pbm-agent`¶

Install pbm-agent on all servers that have mongod nodes in the MongoDB cluster (or non-sharded replica set). You don’t need to start it on the arbiter node, since it doesn’t have the data set.

`pbm` CLI¶

You can install pbm CLI on any or all servers or desktop computers you wish to use it from. Those computers must not be network-blocked from accessing the MongoDB cluster.

Before you start¶

Check the system requirements and supported MongoDB versions.

Prerequisites¶

To build Percona Backup for MongoDB from source, you need the following:

Go 1.19 or above. Install and set up Go tools
make
git
krb5-devel for Red Hat Enterprise Linux / CentOS or libkrb5-dev for Debian / Ubuntu. This package is required for Kerberos authentication in Percona Server for MongoDB.

Procedure¶

Here’s how to build Percona Backup for MongoDB:

Clone the repository

$ git clone https://github.com/percona/percona-backup-mongodb

Go to the project directory and build it

$ cd percona-backup-mongodb
$ make build

After make completes, you can find pbm and pbm-agent binaries in the ./bin directory.

Check that Percona Backup for MongoDB has been built correctly and is ready for use.

$ cd bin
$ ./pbm version

Output

Version:   [pbm version number]
Platform:  linux/amd64
GitCommit: [commit hash]
GitBranch: main
BuildTime: [time when this version was produced in UTC format]
GoVersion: [Go version number]

Tip

Instead of specifying the path to pbm binaries, you can add it to the PATH environment variable:

$ export PATH=/percona-backup-mongodb/bin:$PATH

Post-install steps¶

On Debian and Ubuntu On Red Hat Enterprise Linux and derivatives

After the installation, do the following:

Create the environment file:
```
$ touch /etc/default/pbm-agent
```

Create the pbm-agent.service systemd unit file.

$ sudo vim /lib/systemd/system/pbm-agent.service

In the pbm-agent.service file, specify the following:

[Unit]
Description=pbm-agent
After=time-sync.target network.target

[Service]
EnvironmentFile=-/etc/default/pbm-agent
Type=simple
User=mongod
Group=mongod
PermissionsStartOnly=true
ExecStart=/usr/bin/pbm-agent

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Note

Make sure that the ExecStart directory includes the Percona Backup for MongoDB binaries. Otherwise, copy them from the ./bin directory of you installation path.

Make systemd aware of the new service:
```
$ sudo systemctl daemon-reload
```

After the installation, do the following:

Create the environment file:
```
$ touch /etc/sysconfig/pbm-agent
```

Create the pbm-agent.service systemd unit file.

$ sudo vim /usr/lib/systemd/system/pbm-agent.service

In the pbm-agent.service file, specify the following:

[Unit]
Description=pbm-agent
After=time-sync.target network.target

[Service]
EnvironmentFile=-/etc/default/pbm-agent
Type=simple
User=mongod
Group=mongod
PermissionsStartOnly=true
ExecStart=/usr/bin/pbm-agent

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Note

Make sure that the ExecStart directory includes the Percona Backup for MongoDB binaries. Otherwise, copy them from the ./bin directory of you installation path.

Make systemd aware of the new service:
```
$ sudo systemctl daemon-reload
```

Next steps¶

Initial setup

Last update: October 23, 2025
Created: October 23, 2025