nethserver-backup-config

Configuration backup contains only system configuration files (passwd, config databases, etc). It’s scheduled to be executed every night and will create a new archive only if any file is changed in the last 24 hours.

Backup libraries use conf.d directory behavior (see perldoc NethServer::Backup). When a backup is started, the system will search for all files in /etc/backup-config.d directory. This directory can contain .include and .exclude files. Each file contain a list of file to include/exclude into/from the backup.

Example file /etc/backup-config.d/nethserver-base.include

/etc/e-smith/templates-custom
/etc/e-smith/templates-user-custom
/etc/ssh
/etc/sudoers
/etc/passwd
/etc/shadow
/etc/group
/etc/gshadow

Exclusions are evaluated after all inclusions.

All libraries are inside the nethserver-backup-config package.

Configuration backup

The nethserver-backup-config package implements the backup of configuration and relies on the backup-config key inside the configuration database.

Properties:

  • status : enable or disable the automatic backup, can be enabled or disabled. Default is enabled.

Backup

The main command is /sbin/e-smith/backup-config which starts the backup process (if enabled). The backup process has 3 steps:

  • pre-backup-config event: used to prepare data, for example a LDAP dump of users
  • backup-config-execute action: actually execute the backup if any file is changed in the last 24 hours. The backup file is saved in /var/lib/nethserver/backup/backup-config.tar.xz (see perldoc NethServer::BackupConfig)
  • post-backup-config event: used to post-process the backup file, for example to copy the backup to a remote server or encrypting the archive

The configuration backup runs every night and it creates a new backup only if:

  • destination file does not exist
  • or new files are added or removed to/from the backup set
  • or content of any file inside the set is changed

This package does not provide any default action in the pre-backup-config and post-backup-config events. But you can create a script inside the post-backup-config event to copy the configuration backup to a remote machine using, for example, the SSH protocol.

The configuration backup is included inside the data backup.

Restore

The main command is /sbin/e-smith/restore-config which starts the restore process:

  • pre-restore-config event: used to prepare the system, for example stop a running service
  • restore-config-execute action: search for a backup file in the well-known directory (see above) and restore it
  • post-restore-config event: used to apply restored configuration, for example reinstall packages and load the LDAP dump

This package does not provide any action in the pre-restore-config event.

Please note that if no /var/lib/nethserver/backup/backup-config.tar.xz file is found, the restore-config command will try to access the data backup to retrieve the configuration backup.

The restore-config options:

  • --no-reinstall : disable package reinstall during restore
  • --mask-unit=<name> : use systemd to mask the specified unit (example: disable httpd-admin restart during restore)
  • --skip-network: do not restore the network configuration

Customization

Add custom include/exclude inside following files:

  • /etc/backup-config.d/custom.include
  • /etc/backup-config.d/custom.exclude