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Backing up and Restoring the Management Node

You can create or schedule management node backups. This is useful for recovering your management node in case of failure or migrating your management node to a different server.

In this topic, you'll learn how to do the following:

  • Add backup nodes.
  • Create management node backups.
  • Restore the management node from backup.
  • Delete management node backups.

What is Being Backed Up?

Here's the complete list of data included in management node backups:

  • Up-to-date service configuration
  • SolusVM 2 installer binary
  • SSL/TLS certificates
  • Configuration files
  • License files
  • Public files, such as custom images and icons
  • Redis data
  • PostgreSQL backup
  • InfluxDB backup
  • RabbiMQ config, certificates, and definitions

Adding Backup Nodes

Before you can create management node backups, you need somewhere to store them. For this purpose, you will need to add one or more servers dedicated to backup storage. We call them backup nodes. You can use the same backup node to store both management node backups and server backups.

Note

Although it is possible to use a single server in multiple roles (for example, for hosting servers and storing backups at the same time), we strongly recommend against such practices. Doing so increases the risk of suffering major data loss in case of equipment failure or other contingency.

A backup node must meet the following requirements:

  • Rsync must be installed.
  • Firewall rules must allow connections to the backup node's SSH port from the management server.
  • Enough disk space to store backups.

    Note

    To determine how much free disk space the backup node must have for your particular SolusVM 2 cluster, you can create a management node backup, multiply its size by the maximum number of backups you plan to store at any given time, and then multiply the resulting number again by 1.2 to account for contingencies. The end result is the approximate amount of free disk space the backup node should have.

You can also use the Storage Box cloud storage service from Hetzner to store your backups.

To add a backup node:

  1. Go to Backups > Backup Nodes, and then click Add Backup Node.
  2. Give your node a recognizable name.
  3. (Optional) To store your backups in a Hetzner Storage Box, select the corresponding option.
  4. Specify the hostname or IP address of the server you're adding as a backup node.
  5. Keep the default 22 SSH port or specify a custom one (not applicable for Hetzner Storage Boxes).
  6. Provide the SSH login and the SSH private key corresponding to an SSH public key placed on the server or Storage Box.
  7. Specify the path where backup files will be stored (not applicable for Hetzner Storage Boxes).

    Note

    If you plan to use the backup node to also store server backups, it might be a good idea to store management node backups separately from server backups to avoid mixing them up. To store server backups as well as management node backups, we recommend that you add another backup node using the same server but specifying a different path.

  8. Click Save.

Your backup node is now ready and can be used to store management node backups.

Creating Management Node Backups

You can create a management node backup at any time. This method is suitable in the following scenarios:

  • Quickly rolling back the changes after applying an update.
  • Migrating the management node to a different server.

To create a management node backup:

  1. Go to Backups > Management Node Backups, and then select a backup node from the drop-down list. Management node backups will be stored on that backup node. If the drop-down list is empty, add a backup node first.

    Note

    You can select a different backup node for storing management node backups at any time. Already created management node backups will not be affected and will remain on the backup node(s) they were originally created on.

  2. Click Create Backup. You cannot create a management node backup if a management node backup is being created or restored, or if the management node is being updated.

The backup process has now started and will take up to a few minutes to complete. You can see the running backup process in Backups > Management Node Backups. Once the backup is created, you will see it in the same location.

Scheduling Management Node Backups

For disaster recovery, we strongly recommend that you set up regularly scheduled management node backups.

To schedule management node backups:

  1. Go to Backups > Management Node Backups, and then set the "Automatic backups" toggle switch to "On" (light blue).
  2. Click Backup settings.
  3. Select the desired schedule (monthly, weekly, or daily), and also the day of the month or week (for example, "13th of every month" or "every Friday") to create the backup on.
  4. Select the desired time to start the backup at, and then click Save Changes.

The backup has now been scheduled, and will be created automatically at the specified day and time. This does not prevent you from creating additional backups manually. You can see the created scheduled backups in Backups > Management Node Backups.

To disable scheduled backups, go to Backups > Management Node Backups and set the "Automatic backups" toggle switch to "Off" (light gray). This will not affect the scheduled backups that have already been created.

Restoring Management Node Backups via the Graphical Interface

This method is suitable if the management node is operational, and the SolusVM 2 graphical interface is accessible.

To restore a management node backup via the Graphical Interface:

  1. Go to Backups > Management Node Backups.
  2. Locate the backup you want to restore, click the corresponding button, and then click Restore.

The restore process has now started and will take some time to complete. Once the restore process is finished, you can log in at the same URL using the same credentials as before.

Restoring Management Node Backups via the Command Line

This method is suitable in the following scenarios:

  • Restoring a backup if the management node is not operational, and the SolusVM 2 graphical interface is inaccessible.
  • Migrating the management node to a different server. You can only migrate your management node this way if you're using a domain name (e.g. https://example.com/admin) to log in.

To restore a management node backup via the Command Line:

  1. Install SolusVM 2 on the server that will host the management node.
  2. Locate the file containing the management node backup you want to restore on the backup node storing. Download it to the server that will host the management node.
  3. Start the restore process:
    ./installer -restore <path to the backup file>
    
    The restore process has now started and will take some time to complete. Once the restore process is finished, the installer will show the URL to the new management node's web interface. You can log in with the same credentials you used before.

Limiting the Number of Management Node Backups

To save disk space on the backup node, you can set a limit on the number of management node backups to keep. The limit applies to both manually created backups and scheduled backups. Once the number of created backups exceeds the limit, the oldest backup is deleted automatically.

To limit the number of management node backups:

  1. Go to Backups > Management Node Backups, and then click Backup settings.
  2. Under "Maximum number of backups to store", click Limit.
  3. Set the desired number of backups to keep, and then click Save Changes.

Oldest backup will now be deleted automatically once the total number of manually created backups and scheduled backups exceeds the configured limit.

To stop limiting the number of management node backups, go to Backups > Management Node Backups, click Backup settings, and then under "Maximum number of backups to store", click Unlimited.

Warning

When you set the limit on the number of management node backups to store, if the number of existing management node backups exceeds the limit, oldest management node backups will be deleted automatically until the number of existing management node backups matches the limit. You will not be prompted to confirm the deletion of those backups.

Deleting Management Node Backups

To free up disk space on the backup node, delete obsolete management node backups.

To delete one or more management node backups:

  1. Go to Backups > Management Node Backups.
  2. Select one or more backups you want to delete, and then click Delete.

The selected backups are now deleted and the disk space they took is now free.

Warning

It is not possible to recover a management node backup that has been deleted.

Deleting Backup Nodes

If you plan to decommission the server currently hosting a backup node, you can remove a backup node used to store management node backups. You cannot remove a backup node that is currently selected for storing management node backups even if it does not currently store any management node backups.

Before removing a backup node, make sure that:

  • It is not currently selected as the backup node for storing management node backups. Go to Backups > Management Node Backups, and then Select a different backup node if necessary.
  • It is not currently storing any management node backups. Go to Backups > Management Node Backups. Delete any management node backups stored on that backup node if necessary.

Note

If you want to preserve some or all management node backups currently being stored on the backup node you want to delete, physically copy the backup files someplace safe. To be able to restore those backups, place them on the server you will add as a backup node in the directory you will use to store backups. When you add the server as a backup node, SolusVM 2 will scan the specified path for storing backup files and register any management node backups it finds. You will see them in Backups > Management Node Backups.

To delete a backup node:

  1. Go to Backups > Backup Nodes.
  2. Locate the backup node you want to delete and click the corresponding button.

The backup node has now been deleted and can no longer be used to store backups.

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