diff --git a/backend/src/routes/backup.js b/backend/src/routes/backup.js
index 96130c2..3121ec4 100644
--- a/backend/src/routes/backup.js
+++ b/backend/src/routes/backup.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { Router } from 'express';
+import { spawn } from 'node:child_process';
 import { finished } from 'node:stream/promises';
 import { setTimeout as delay } from 'node:timers/promises';
 import { config } from '../config.js';
@@ -19,13 +20,20 @@ backupRouter.post('/:vmName', async (req, res, next) => {
 });
 
 export async function startBackupForVm(vmName) {
-  await validateVmExists(vmName);
+  const instance = await validateVmExists(vmName);
   const job = createJob('backup', vmName);
-  runBackupJob(job).catch(() => {});
+  job.instanceType = instance.type;
+  runBackupJob(job, instance).catch(() => {});
   return job;
 }
 
-export async function runBackupJob(job) {
+export async function runBackupJob(job, instance = null) {
+  const currentInstance = instance || await validateVmExists(job.vmName);
+  if (currentInstance.type === 'container') {
+    await runContainerBackupJob(job);
+    return;
+  }
+
   const timestamp = new Date().toISOString().replace(/[-:.TZ]/g, '').slice(0, 14);
   const snapshotName = `s3-backup-${timestamp}`;
   const zvol = `${config.zfsPoolName}/virtual-machines/${job.vmName}.block`;
@@ -92,6 +100,62 @@ export async function runBackupJob(job) {
   }
 }
 
+async function runContainerBackupJob(job) {
+  const timestamp = new Date().toISOString().replace(/[-:.TZ]/g, '').slice(0, 14);
+  const snapshotName = `s3-backup-${timestamp}`;
+  const dataset = `${config.zfsPoolName}/containers/${job.vmName}`;
+  const snapshot = `${dataset}@snapshot-${snapshotName}`;
+
+  try {
+    const totalBytes = await zfsDatasetUsed(dataset);
+
+    setJobRunning(job, 'Creating Incus snapshot');
+    setJobProgress(job, { percent: 2 });
+    await spawnCommand('incus', ['snapshot', 'create', job.vmName, snapshotName], { log: (line) => appendJobLog(job, line) });
+
+    setJobStep(job, 'Streaming ZFS snapshot to Restic');
+    const zfs = spawn('zfs', ['send', snapshot], { stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'pipe'] });
+    const zfsClosed = waitForProcess(zfs, 'zfs send');
+    zfs.stderr.on('data', (chunk) => appendJobLog(job, chunk.toString().trimEnd()));
+    const progressStream = createProgressStream(totalBytes, ({ currentBytes, totalBytes: bytesTotal, percent }) => {
+      setJobProgress(job, {
+        currentBytes,
+        totalBytes: bytesTotal,
+        percent: 10 + percent * 0.78,
+        detail: `Streaming ${formatBytes(currentBytes)} of ${formatBytes(bytesTotal)}`,
+      });
+    });
+    let resticOk = false;
+    try {
+      await spawnCommand('restic', ['backup', '--stdin', '--stdin-filename', `${job.vmName}.zfs`, '--tag', job.vmName, '--tag', 'container'], {
+        env: { ...process.env, ...config.resticEnv },
+        input: zfs.stdout.pipe(progressStream),
+        log: (line) => appendJobLog(job, line),
+      });
+      resticOk = true;
+    } finally {
+      if (!resticOk && !zfs.killed) zfs.kill('SIGTERM');
+    }
+    await zfsClosed;
+
+    setJobStep(job, 'Deleting temporary Incus snapshot');
+    setJobProgress(job, { percent: 93 });
+    await deleteIncusSnapshotWithRetry(job, snapshotName);
+
+    setJobStep(job, 'Applying Restic retention policy');
+    setJobProgress(job, { percent: 96 });
+    await runRestic(retentionArgs(job.vmName), {
+      log: (line) => appendJobLog(job, line),
+    });
+
+    finishJob(job, 'success');
+  } catch (error) {
+    appendJobLog(job, error.message);
+    await deleteIncusSnapshotWithRetry(job, snapshotName, { ignoreExitCode: true });
+    finishJob(job, 'failed', error);
+  }
+}
+
 async function deviceReadStream(path) {
   const { createReadStream } = await import('node:fs');
   return createReadStream(path);
@@ -103,6 +167,25 @@ async function zfsVolumeSize(zvol) {
   return Number.isFinite(size) && size > 0 ? size : null;
 }
 
+async function zfsDatasetUsed(dataset) {
+  const result = await spawnCommand('zfs', ['get', '-Hp', '-o', 'value', 'used', dataset]);
+  const size = Number(result.stdout.trim());
+  return Number.isFinite(size) && size > 0 ? size : null;
+}
+
+function waitForProcess(child, label) {
+  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+    child.on('error', reject);
+    child.on('close', (exitCode) => {
+      if (exitCode !== 0 && exitCode !== null) {
+        reject(new Error(`${label} exited with ${exitCode}`));
+        return;
+      }
+      resolve();
+    });
+  });
+}
+
 function formatBytes(value) {
   if (!value) return '-';
   const units = ['B', 'KiB', 'MiB', 'GiB', 'TiB'];
diff --git a/backend/src/routes/restore.js b/backend/src/routes/restore.js
index 6a3a02f..fe82865 100644
--- a/backend/src/routes/restore.js
+++ b/backend/src/routes/restore.js
@@ -16,7 +16,12 @@ restoreRouter.post('/:vmName', async (req, res, next) => {
       throw error;
     }
 
-    await validateVmExists(vmName);
+    const instance = await validateVmExists(vmName);
+    if (instance.type === 'container') {
+      const error = new Error('Container restore is not implemented yet. Container backups can be created, but restore needs a safe zfs receive workflow.');
+      error.status = 501;
+      throw error;
+    }
     const snapshot = await validateSnapshotForVm(vmName, snapshotId);
     const job = createJob('restore', vmName);
     runRestoreJob(job, snapshot.id).catch(() => {});
diff --git a/backend/src/routes/vms.js b/backend/src/routes/vms.js
index 1203b84..b8d3f7e 100644
--- a/backend/src/routes/vms.js
+++ b/backend/src/routes/vms.js
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ vmsRouter.get('/', async (_req, res, next) => {
       const latestJob = latestJobForVm(vm.name);
       return {
         name: vm.name,
+        type: vm.type,
         status: vm.status,
         activeJob: activeJob ? summarizeJob(activeJob) : null,
         lastJobStatus: latestJob?.status || null,
diff --git a/backend/src/validators.js b/backend/src/validators.js
index 4bb5257..cf0b7a9 100644
--- a/backend/src/validators.js
+++ b/backend/src/validators.js
@@ -20,22 +20,26 @@ export function assertSnapshotIdShape(snapshotId) {
   }
 }
 
-export async function listIncusVms() {
+export async function listIncusInstances() {
   const result = await spawnCommand('incus', ['list', '--format', 'json']);
   const entries = JSON.parse(result.stdout || '[]');
-  return entries.filter((entry) => entry.type === 'virtual-machine');
+  return entries.filter((entry) => ['virtual-machine', 'container'].includes(entry.type));
 }
 
-export async function validateVmExists(vmName) {
-  assertVmNameShape(vmName);
-  const vms = await listIncusVms();
-  const vm = vms.find((entry) => entry.name === vmName);
-  if (!vm) {
-    const error = new Error(`VM "${vmName}" was not found.`);
+export async function listIncusVms() {
+  return listIncusInstances();
+}
+
+export async function validateVmExists(instanceName) {
+  assertVmNameShape(instanceName);
+  const instances = await listIncusInstances();
+  const instance = instances.find((entry) => entry.name === instanceName);
+  if (!instance) {
+    const error = new Error(`Instance "${instanceName}" was not found.`);
     error.status = 404;
     throw error;
   }
-  return vm;
+  return instance;
 }
 
 export async function listSnapshotsForVm(vmName) {
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/Dashboard.jsx b/frontend/src/components/Dashboard.jsx
index eb4f2d2..0029af1 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/Dashboard.jsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/Dashboard.jsx
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ export function Dashboard({ health, jobs, loading, onManage, vms }) {
               <tr>
                 <th className="px-4 py-3 font-medium">VM</th>
                 <th className="px-4 py-3 font-medium">Node</th>
+                <th className="px-4 py-3 font-medium">Type</th>
                 <th className="px-4 py-3 font-medium">Incus</th>
                 <th className="px-4 py-3 font-medium">Last Job</th>
                 <th className="px-4 py-3 font-medium">Active Job</th>
@@ -38,6 +39,7 @@ export function Dashboard({ health, jobs, loading, onManage, vms }) {
                 <tr className="hover:bg-zinc-900" key={vm.id || vm.name}>
                   <td className="px-4 py-3 font-medium text-zinc-100">{vm.name}</td>
                   <td className="px-4 py-3 text-zinc-300">{vm.nodeName || '-'}</td>
+                  <td className="px-4 py-3 text-zinc-300">{vm.type === 'container' ? 'Container' : 'VM'}</td>
                   <td className="px-4 py-3">
                     <span className="inline-flex items-center gap-2 text-zinc-300">
                       <Circle className={`h-2.5 w-2.5 fill-current ${vm.status === 'Running' ? 'text-emerald-400' : 'text-red-400'}`} />
@@ -71,7 +73,7 @@ export function Dashboard({ health, jobs, loading, onManage, vms }) {
               ))}
               {!vms.length ? (
                 <tr>
-                  <td className="px-4 py-8 text-center text-zinc-500" colSpan="6">
+                  <td className="px-4 py-8 text-center text-zinc-500" colSpan="7">
                     No VMs loaded.
                   </td>
                 </tr>
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/VMDetail.jsx b/frontend/src/components/VMDetail.jsx
index aab0d2d..db1c0d8 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/VMDetail.jsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/VMDetail.jsx
@@ -90,6 +90,7 @@ export function VMDetail({ jobs, onBack, onChanged, vm }) {
           </button>
           <div className="flex items-center gap-3">
             <h1 className="text-2xl font-semibold text-zinc-100">{vm.name}</h1>
+            <span className="rounded-md border border-zinc-800 px-2 py-1 text-xs text-zinc-300">{vm.type === 'container' ? 'Container' : 'VM'}</span>
             <span className="rounded-md border border-zinc-800 px-2 py-1 text-xs text-zinc-300">{vm.status || 'Unknown'}</span>
           </div>
           <p className="mt-2 text-sm text-zinc-500">Node: {vm.nodeName || '-'}</p>
@@ -118,7 +119,13 @@ export function VMDetail({ jobs, onBack, onChanged, vm }) {
       <SnapshotTable
         snapshots={snapshots}
         onInspect={inspectSnapshot}
-        onRestore={(snapshot) => setSelectedSnapshot(snapshot)}
+        onRestore={(snapshot) => {
+          if (vm.type === 'container') {
+            setError('Container restore is not implemented yet. Backups are available, restore needs a safe zfs receive workflow.');
+            return;
+          }
+          setSelectedSnapshot(snapshot);
+        }}
       />
       <SnapshotFilesPanel
         files={snapshotFiles}