Backups
NOTE: This document is deprecated. Please see the Rattail Manual instead.
The approach described here is meant to be useful for any machine, not just one which runs a Rattail/Poser app. Also it's meant to back up the entire machine, not just the Rattail/Poser app (if present).
Conventions
Technically our approach will involve the installation of the rattail software package. (Note however that we are not describing the installation process here, only the end result.)
We assume, as usual, that a virtual environment will be used, and that the "home" folder for these environments is at /srv/envs. We further assume a virtual environment named "backup" which lives at /srv/envs/backup.
In addition to the rattail package, we also assume that BorgBackup is installed to the virtual environment, as that does much of the heavy lifting.
Configuration
Within the virtual environment, the file at /srv/envs/backup/app/rattail.conf is of particular importance. This will contain all configuration regarding the "specifics" of the machine's backup.
Contents of /srv/envs/backup/app/rattail.conf should include something like the following. Note that we've used thismachine in place of this machine's hostname.
Also PLEASE be sure to properly secure this file. Our recommendation is to make it readable only by the "root" user.
############################################################
#
# config for backups
#
############################################################
##############################
# rattail
##############################
[rattail.config]
# bring in system-wide rattail config, mostly for sake of generic logging config
include = /etc/rattail/rattail.conf
[rattail.backup]
# database dumps
dbdump = true
# here is shown default path, can set to whatever you like
#dbdump.output = /root/data
# if true, each table will also be dumped separately
#dbdump.dump_tables = false
# rsync feature is typically disabled, since borg is a superior approach. however both
# the rsync and borg features will share the `rsync.include` and `rsync.exclude` config.
rsync = false
# "global" borg config - in particular declares which remotes borg should write backups to
borg.enabled = true
# note that you can have just one, or as many remotes as you like; each "named" whatever here
borg.remotes = local, cloud
borg.archive_hostname = thismachine
# borg config for "local" remote (note, the "local" name must correspond to a remote listed above)
borg.remote.local.repo = /trailer/borg/thismachine
borg.remote.local.passphrase = YOURBORGPASSPHRASE
# borg config for "cloud" remote - note the different style of repo compared to "local" remote
borg.remote.cloud.repo = borg@cloud.example.com:/trailer/borg/thismachine
borg.remote.cloud.passphrase = YOURBORGPASSPHRASE
# this should represent the path to `borg` binary on remote cloud system
borg.remote.cloud.borg = /srv/envs/backup/bin/borg
# these paths are to be included in any rsync or borg backup
rsync.include =
/etc
/home
/opt
/root
/srv
/usr/local
/var
# these paths are to be excluded from any rsync or borg backup
rsync.exclude =
/var/lib/*/.cache/
/var/spool/postfix/
##############################
# logging
##############################
# note, the minimal config here is made possible by including `/etc/rattail/rattail.conf`
# above, since that system-wide file contains most of the logging config
[handler_file]
args = ('/srv/envs/backup/app/log/rattail.log', 'a', 'utf_8')
[handler_email]
args = ('localhost', 'root@example.com', ['root@example.com'], "[Backup] Logging")
Scripts
NOTE: Below we always run "sudo" commands as sudo -H ... because we want to ensure that the "root" user (whom we're running commands as) has access to the /root home folder. On some systems, if you omit the -H flag, root will think its home folder is "yours" - i.e. the same as whoever ran the sudo command. We must avoid this because /root is where certain Borg config etc. will reside, therefore accurate home folder is important.
While technically you can run the rattail backup command like this:
cd /srv/envs/backup
sudo -H bin/rattail -c app/quiet.conf backup --help
We generally assume the presence of a script at /usr/local/bin/rattail-backup which is a wrapper around that and makes it a little nicer to run:
sudo -H rattail-backup --help
However you likely won't be using that script too often. The more useful script is at /usr/local/bin/backup-everything which is yet another wrapper, also simple to run. Note that this command doesn't have an extensive help system, as it only supports one flag:
sudo -H backup-everything [--verbose]
What that script does, is a) upgrade the rattail source/package, and b) run the rattail backup command. The behavior of the latter will of course depend on /srv/envs/backup/app/rattail.conf contents.
Scheduling with Cron
This part may vary more often, but the default is to create a file at /etc/cron.d/backup which contains the backup cron job (usually there's just one). Contents of this would be like:
MAILTO="root,you@example.com"
# backup everything of importance at 2:00am
# TODO: remove the `time -v` bit once you're happy with logic
# (this should mean no more emails unless an error happens)
00 02 * * * root /usr/bin/time -v /usr/local/bin/backup-everything
Borg Archives
Now what about accessing files from a Borg backup? Here we touch on a few commands you'll find useful.
Please note that you will (most likely) be prompted for the Borg passphrase when using most of these commands. You should have a copy of this passphrase within your /srv/envs/backup/app/rattail.conf file.
Repo on Local Path
These instructions assume you wish to interact with a "local path" from the perspective of the machine whose backups you're interested in. This path doesn't need to truly exist on the local disk, for instance it may be a CIFS mount on a NAS or similar. The important point is that it "appears" to be a local path.
To see available archives:
sudo -H borg list /trailer/borg/thismachine
To mount a particular archive, e.g.:
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/borg
sudo -H borg mount /trailer/borg/thismachine::thismachine-2018-09-06T15:38:13 /mnt/borg
While that is mounted, you can access its files via the /mnt/borg folder.
To unmount the archive:
sudo -H borg umount /mnt/borg
Repo on Remote Machine
These instructions assume you wish to interact with a truly "remote" Borg repo, i.e. which resides on a machine other than the local one, and which must be accessed via SSH.
Note that for each command you may will need to provide a path to the Borg binary on the remote machine, via --remote-path argument.
To see available archives:
sudo -H borg list borg@cloud.example.com:/trailer/borg/thismachine
To mount a particular archive, e.g.:
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/borg
sudo -H borg mount borg@cloud.example.com:/trailer/borg/thismachine::thismachine-2018-09-06T15:38:13 /mnt/borg
While that is mounted, you can access its files via the /mnt/borg folder.
To unmount the archive:
sudo -H borg umount /mnt/borg