reminder to (test your) backup
from illusionist@lemmy.zip to selfhosted@lemmy.world on 18 Apr 07:34
https://lemmy.zip/post/62773059

Somehow I had a database corruption and I did not know how to restore from backup. It was a bad experience until I saw that it worked. Make regular and check your backups.

#selfhosted

threaded - newest

frongt@lemmy.zip on 18 Apr 07:57 next collapse

An untested backup is not a backup, it’s a wish.

IsoKiero@sopuli.xyz on 18 Apr 08:33 collapse

Also known as Schrödinger’s Backup.

aeronmelon@lemmy.world on 18 Apr 08:41 collapse

Schrödinger did not have a backup cat.

Davel23@fedia.io on 18 Apr 09:32 next collapse

Well, he did and he didn't...

uenticx@lemmy.world on 20 Apr 08:09 collapse

Restored my backup and have all and none of the files, sir. Don’t look at it until we fsck.

illusionist@lemmy.zip on 18 Apr 22:38 collapse

But he had quantum entanglement

irmadlad@lemmy.world on 18 Apr 08:38 next collapse

That’s a gimmie. I test server image backups in a VM. So far, I’ve never had to resort of a backup, but I don’t want to find out that my image is worthless if I ever had the need.

KingGordon@lemmy.world on 18 Apr 08:55 next collapse

Two backups is one and one is none.

comrade_twisty@feddit.org on 18 Apr 09:47 collapse

Two untested backups are worse than one tested backup though.

Rhaedas@fedia.io on 18 Apr 09:09 next collapse

Narrator: The fire detector in fact did not work.

There's more than one kind of backup in life, check them all.

captcha_incorrect@lemmy.world on 18 Apr 23:34 collapse

That’s one I’d have the facility owner hire someone to test.

Shimitar@downonthestreet.eu on 18 Apr 09:17 next collapse

3, 2, 1… Test the backup!

… Is that the rule, right?

illusionist@lemmy.zip on 18 Apr 09:59 next collapse

From now on!

morriscox@lemmy.world on 18 Apr 13:49 collapse
conrad82@lemmy.world on 18 Apr 10:05 next collapse

How do you guys test your backups?

I have restored my proxmox setup from backup and it worked, but that is not something I do on regular basis.

I have from time to time done spot checks that certain files are working.

Most of the time I rely on the verification done by proxmox backup server…

irmadlad@lemmy.world on 18 Apr 11:56 next collapse

How do you guys test your backups?

The image backups I do of my server are tested in a VM

frongt@lemmy.zip on 18 Apr 21:04 collapse

PBS verification is only a checksum of file integrity. If somehow the backup was zero-length, or was otherwise corrupt, the verification would succeed but the backup would be useless. How often you do file or full restores is up to you, but required for actual verification.

captcha_incorrect@lemmy.world on 18 Apr 11:26 next collapse

I run Borg backup, and I did a successful live test yesterday. Deleted the wrong file and hade to restore it.

HubertManne@piefed.social on 18 Apr 13:51 next collapse

this drove me nuts at workplaces. we have to test the backups after backup. so many did not want to waste the resources. if it worked fine once it will always work fine to them.

illusionist@lemmy.zip on 18 Apr 22:37 collapse

Sounds like there’s room for a tool that checks backups

HubertManne@piefed.social on 19 Apr 06:21 collapse

or ai that evaluates. For me the backup works if the whole system actually works. Its more commonly known as disaster recovery.

GreenKnight23@lemmy.world on 18 Apr 17:55 next collapse

rule of thumb. any backup you don’t regularly test isn’t a backup.

mikerr@programming.dev on 19 Apr 06:37 collapse

Somebody tell that to tindie.com !

incompetent@programming.dev on 19 Apr 20:24 collapse

Who’s that?

mikerr@programming.dev on 20 Apr 12:05 collapse

It’s a DIY electronics marketplace, went offline for “routine maintenance” as has been offline for 4 days and counting …