Backup and Restore

This section describes the backup and restoration features available within the server administration module.

Backup and Restore Overview

Clicking on the "Backup & Restore" tab will reveal the following panel:

The screen is divided into two columns:

• The left hand side represents backup tasks and schedules.
• The right hand side lists all the backups performed according to the associated task.

Backup Task Panel

The backup task panel contains a toolbar of backup and restoration actions, along with a list of backup tasks:

The backup and restoration tools available are defined as follows:

Below the toolbar is a list of backup tasks. Two items are permanently displayed:

The other items in the list (for example 'daily' in the example above) are backup tasks that have been configured by the administrator to execute automatically. For instance daily backups, weekly backups, etc. Selecting a row from the list will visualize a filtered list in the backup task listing on the right hand side.

Backup Listing

Every backup task has a set of backup files associated with it (which could be empty). Selecting a backup task on the left will show a filtered list of backups on the right:

Each backup row shows it's date, size, version and a set of actions available to be performed with that particular backup. Consult the following table for more details:

Manual Backup

There are two kinds of backups which can be executed. The first and simplest is a manual back, which we'll describe here. A manual backup is executed immediately, and the data is stored within the VM. This is likely not where you'll want to store the backup files long term, so it's assumed that you'll download a local copy and store it someplace safe outside of the virtual image.

Select the 'manual' entry in the backup tasks on the left

Click on the backup now icon  to initiate an immediate backup. After a moment you will see it listed on the right hand side:

Your backup is now complete, but unfortunately it's stored within your VM which isn't ideal. You should download a copy to your local device and then back it up somewhere of your choosing.

Click the backup tool   of the backup set to download. You will be prompted if you want to download the configuration or data:

Select configuration followed by OK and the configuration data will be downloaded to your local machine. Repeat this procedure, downloading the data instead. You will now have two archives locally which you can use to restore configuration and/or data at any point in the future.

Restoring from Backups

Once you have a backup you must be able to restore it. If the data is already contained in your VM as a backup set, you can restore it directly from there without uploading it in to your VM. If however you backed up your data somewhere manually (as suggested above), you'll need to upload your archives into the VM first.

Uploading Backups to the VM

Select the Uploaded row from the backup tasks on the left hand side to see all uploaded backup sets:

Ensure that your backup is not listed on the right hand side. This document assumes that it is not listed there. Click the upload action  from the backup toolbar. You will then be asked to select a file from your local machine.

You can select either configuration or data backups, and the upload will automatically detect which type was provided. Here we are assuming you selected a data backup set.

Once the upload is complete, you will see it listed on the right hand side:

Restoring Backups

Once a backup set has been located within the VM (and it can be within any of the filters from the backup task list on the left), you can restore it. 

Prior to restoring a data set you must shut down the active processes. Click on manage servers on the left, and then select your active server:

Click the manage button on the right to expand the server details:

Select the "web server" process followed by clicking the stop icon  from the top menu. After a few moments you'll see the server listed with a warning that some processes are stopped:

Return to the backup and restore tab and select the "uploaded" backup task filter. Locate the backup set you wish to restore.

Once you identified backup set, click the restore action . You will then be asked if you want to restore configuration or data. Assuming you chose a backup set with data in it, select the data option (again, assuming that's what you're attempting to restore):

After clicking OK wait a few moment. When the operation completes, you will be returned to the backup set listing.

Congratulations - you've restored from backup!

Scheduling Backups

Scheduling automated backups is an important component of any backup strategy. You can configure FileFlex to automate backups on a variety of schedules, but something similar to a daily and weekly combination is recommended.

Creating an Automated Backup Task

Start by clicking the new backup task button  from the backup toolbar. You will then be presented with a scheduling dialog box:

This is where you control exactly when the backups will be executed for this particular backup task.

Start by entering a name for your backup task:

Select a backup start time (defined in Greenwich Mean Time - GMT) for the backup set. For example, we will select midnight GMT:

The next step is to select the time period for the backups.

One Time Backups

One time backups allow you to backup on a specific day at a specific time one time.

Select "Once" from the period dropdown:

A summary will be shown along with an empty date field.

Click in the date field to reveal the date picker:

Select the date you want the backup performed.

Daily Backups

Daily backups allow you to backup every day at the specified time.

Select "Daily" from the period dropdown:

Weekly Backups

Weekly backups allow you to backup once a week on a selected day of the week at the specified time.

Select "Weekly" from the period dropdown:

Select the day of the week you'd like to have the backups performed:

Monthly Backups

Monthly backups allow you to backup once a month on a selected day of the month at the specified time.

Select "Monthly" from the period dropdown:

Select the date (day of the month) you'd like to have the backups performed:

Number of Backup Copies

Since backups consume space within the virtual machine, it's important to limit the number of copies to retain for any backup task. 

Drag the slider left or right to adjust the number copies. Values from 1 to 100 may be selected.

Once you're satisfied with your settings, click OK to confirm the backup schedule. You will then see your new entry in the list of backup tasks:

Congratulations - you've finished configuring your first backup schedule!

Offsite Backups

Offsite backups are a mechanism of automating the uploading of backup task results to a remote server. Keeping offsite copies allows you to automate the extraction of backup data from the FileFlex virtual machine and into your external servers for safe keeping.

To enable offsite backups within your backup task, select the "Upload" tab in the backup task dialog:

You will then have to click the "Offsite Backup" check box to enable automated uploads of your backups:

From the "Protocol" dropdown, select the "SFTP" option:

Enter a server/host you wish to connect to. In this example, we're connecting a local network IP:

Select the login type you wish to use. The options are "SSH Key" and "Password". This tutorial assumes that you will be using an SSH Key.

Enter a username for your remote SSH connection:

Next, you will need to generate a public/private keypair. Click the "generate" button to do so:

Click the "view" link to show the public key contents:

Copy the key into your clipboard by clicking the copy button, and then close the dialog by clicking the close button.

Open a text editor, and paste the content of the key into it. Save the file somewhere in the file system of your current browser's operating system.

awk 1 ~/backup.pub | ssh bkuser@192.168.2.60 "mkdir -p ~/.ssh && cat >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys && chmod 600 ~/.ssh/authorized_keys"

Enter a remote directory into which to place the backup files:

Click the test button to ensure everything is working. You should see a success message:

Click OK. Congratulations - when your backup task is executed your backups will be securely uploaded to the selected location using SFTP!