Opa Jan's Homelab

backup-restore

3 min read

How to Backup and Restore

Procedures for backing up and restoring homelab services.

When to use

  • Regular backup maintenance
  • Before making major changes
  • Recovering from data loss
  • Migrating to new hardware

Prerequisites

  • Backup destination available (external drive, network storage, etc.)
  • Know which services to backup
  • Database credentials (for DB backups)

Service Data Backups

File-based backups

Most service data is in /lxcdata/<service>/:

# Backup specific service
rsync -av /lxcdata/<service>/ /backup/homelab/<service>/$(date +%F)/
 
# Backup all services
for service in /lxcdata/*; do
    name=$(basename "$service")
    rsync -av "$service/" "/backup/homelab/$name/$(date +%F)/"
done

ZFS snapshots

If using ZFS for /lxcdata:

# Snapshot before changes
zfs snapshot zpool/lxcdata/<service>@before-$(date +%F)
 
# List snapshots
zfs list -t snapshot
 
# Restore from snapshot (destructive)
zfs rollback zpool/lxcdata/<service>@snapshot-name
 
# Clone snapshot (non-destructive)
zfs clone zpool/lxcdata/<service>@snapshot-name zpool/lxcdata/<service>-restore

Database Backups

MariaDB (WordPress)

Backup:

# All databases
pct exec 128 -- bash -c 'docker exec mariadb mysqldump -u root -p --all-databases' > mariadb-backup-$(date +%F).sql
 
# Single database
pct exec 128 -- bash -c 'docker exec mariadb mysqldump -u root -p wordpress' > wordpress-backup-$(date +%F).sql

Restore:

# All databases
cat mariadb-backup.sql | pct exec 128 -- bash -c 'docker exec -i mariadb mysql -u root -p'
 
# Single database
cat wordpress-backup.sql | pct exec 128 -- bash -c 'docker exec -i mariadb mysql -u root -p wordpress'

PostgreSQL (Planka)

Backup:

pct exec 122 -- bash -c 'docker exec postgres pg_dumpall -U planka' > planka-backup-$(date +%F).sql

Restore:

cat planka-backup.sql | pct exec 122 -- bash -c 'docker exec -i postgres psql -U planka'

Container Configuration Backups

LXC configs:

# Backup all LXC configs
for ct in /etc/pve/lxc/*.conf; do
    cp "$ct" /backup/homelab/lxc-configs/
done

VM configs:

# Backup all VM configs
for vm in /etc/pve/qemu-server/*.conf; do
    cp "$vm" /backup/homelab/vm-configs/
done

Complete Service Restore

1. Restore data

# Stop container
pct stop <CT_ID>
 
# Restore data
rsync -av /backup/homelab/<service>/ /lxcdata/<service>/
 
# Start container
pct start <CT_ID>

2. Restore database (if applicable)

See database restore sections above.

3. Verify

# Check service status
pct exec <CT_ID> -- bash -c 'cd /opt/homelab-docker/<service> && docker compose ps'
 
# View logs
pct exec <CT_ID> -- bash -c 'cd /opt/homelab-docker/<service> && docker compose logs'

Verification

  • Backup files exist at destination
  • Backup files are not corrupted (check file sizes)
  • Test restore procedure periodically
  • Document any restore issues

Troubleshooting

Restore fails permissions issue:

# Fix ownership for unprivileged LXC
chown -R 100033:100033 /lxcdata/<service>  # for www-data (UID 33)

Database connection errors after restore:

  • Verify database credentials in .env files
  • Check database container is running
  • Restart application container

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