Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud: Back Up Linux Servers With the Acronis Agent

Updated: 29 September 2026 · Applies to: Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud (formerly Acronis Backup Cloud) with Agent for Linux on AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux, RHEL, Ubuntu and Debian

Acronis Backup Cloud, which this article used to describe, is now called Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud. It is a service that backup providers and IT companies run for their customers, managed from a web console. The backups themselves can be stored in Acronis's own data centres, in a public cloud, or on storage you run yourself. The old guide installed "Acronis Software Defined Infrastructure" on a CentOS server for that last option; that product is now Acronis Cyber Infrastructure, and its installation is covered in Acronis's own documentation. This article gives the current overview and the steps to protect a Linux server with the agent.

How the parts fit together

• Management console: the web console of Cyber Protect Cloud, where you create backup plans and restore data. Your account comes from Acronis or from a service provider that resells it.
• Agent for Linux: installed on each server you want to back up. It registers with the console and sends backups to the chosen storage.
• Backup storage: Acronis cloud storage, a partner's storage, or on-premises storage built with Acronis Cyber Infrastructure (installed on its own hardware, not on the servers you back up).

Install the Agent for Linux

1. Prepare the server. The agent builds kernel modules, so it needs the kernel headers for the running kernel, gcc, make, perl and the libelf development package, for example:

   dnf install kernel-devel-$(uname -r) gcc make perl elfutils-libelf-devel      # AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux, RHEL
   apt install linux-headers-$(uname -r) gcc make perl libelf-dev                 # Ubuntu, Debian

   Acronis also needs at least 2 GB of free disk space for the installation.
2. In the Cyber Protect console, open Devices > Add and download the installation file for Linux.
3. Copy the file to the server, then run it as root:

   chmod +x Cyber_Protection_Agent_for_Linux_x86_64.bin
   ./Cyber_Protection_Agent_for_Linux_x86_64.bin

   The actual file name may differ. To register automatically, add --token=TOKEN with a registration token from the console, or --register-with-credentials to be asked for a user name and password.
4. Select Agent for Linux (and, if you need them, the agents for MySQL/MariaDB or other applications from the same package), and finish the installation.
5. The server appears under Devices in the console. Apply a protection plan: what to back up (the whole machine, volumes or folders), where to store it, the schedule and how long to keep backups.

After the first backup

• Test a restore of a few files, and plan how you would restore the whole server if it failed.
• Kernel updates may require the agent's modules to be rebuilt; keep the kernel headers package updated together with the kernel.
• Keep at least one copy of important backups off the server's own site.

Official documentation: Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud: installing agents in Linux.