pwaring, 2 months ago

@syntaxseed I have a Bash wrapper script which calls mysqldump with a config file so I'm not prompted for passwords. I then copy the dump file to various places, including USB drives (rotated off-site) and I also use rclone to upload/download files.

My general approach is to get all data onto my local system, then back that up to other places.

I use tar, Borg and restic for managing the backup process.

https://github.com/pwaring/backup-scripts

dgoosens, 2 months ago

@syntaxseed

Depends
Cold or warm backup?

Cold meaning meant to stay there for a long time just in case, does not need to be super accessible

Warm meaning short term backup but with fast and easy access

syntaxseed, 2 months ago

@dgoosens Definitely need easy access. We have layers of automated backups on the server, but these generally need to be restored wholesale. But if for example we just accidentally overwrite one file or one directory... it's hard to get just that out of these huge compressed server backups.

dgoosens, 2 months ago

@syntaxseed

right... so you really have different use cases

for the example you mention, an hourly or daily uncompressed rsync would be best
with only a couple of days of rotation

backups are not meant for that

michael, 2 months ago

@syntaxseed I use SnapShooter to backup to S3 / B2.

Rclone works really well if you got just files to backup, but SnapShooter includes conveniences such as a simple UI for things like DB backups, and notifications in case of problems.

syntaxseed, 2 months ago

@michael Snapshooter looks good but it costs more than the storage... 😓

michael, 2 months ago

@syntaxseed does it? I pay SnapShooter exactly 0.00 😁

syntaxseed, 2 months ago

@michael Their website says the basic plan is $13/m 🤔

syntaxseed, 2 months ago

@michael Maybe that's because they were acquired by Digital Ocean.

michael, 2 months ago

@syntaxseed They still list a free plan here:

syntaxseed, 2 months ago

@michael Ooooh! I always assume "try" for free means for a limited time. 😆

michael, 2 months ago

@syntaxseed Well, I've used it for a few years now 😆

Sadly, the support has declined a lot since the acquisition by DO (It used to be great before, when it was basically the founder answering all support queries).

But support is still functional, and honestly overall the app just works…

syntaxseed, 2 months ago

@michael Ah yeah, no surprise there. 🙄

If you don't mind me asking one more question (I don't mean to treat you like their sales team...)

What is meant by "single resource" or "1 backup job"?

Like if I want to backup multiple directories on the same server (like multiple web apps)... does that count as "1 resource"? 🤔

If so that might work!

michael, 2 months ago

@syntaxseed lol. Where’s my commission?! 😂

I’m not sure tbh. I’ve never tried to use it like that.

At work we have a paid plan, so aren’t constrained by those, and for my personal use I backup one sql database + file system through it.

syntaxseed, 2 months ago

@michael Ok thank you so much! I have some reading to do. I appreciate the suggestion. I'm already using other DO products so this might be a good fit. 😁

michael, 2 months ago

@syntaxseed I mean, otherwise rclone is a solid option:

Dump the databases and rclone to S3/R2/B2/whatever. Do a call to something like healthchecks.io after every successful backup, and you’ll get notified of failures as well.

Rclone has incremental backup support (—backup-dir), if that’s what you want, or you take a full backup and implement a retention strategy.

That’s how I backup my nextcloud and it works well enough.

syntaxseed, 2 months ago

This guide was nice and straightforward.

https://rclone.org/dropbox/

Going to pair this with a cron and a Bash script to dump the DB.