Commit d2889b67 authored by Achilleas Pipinellis's avatar Achilleas Pipinellis

Refactor backup/restore docs

parent 43f73107
---
title: Refactor backup/restore docs
merge_request:
author:
# Backup restore
# Backing up and restoring GitLab
![backup banner](backup_hrz.png)
An application data backup creates an archive file that contains the database,
all repositories and all attachments.
This archive will be saved in `backup_path`, which is specified in the
`config/gitlab.yml` file.
The filename will be `[TIMESTAMP]_gitlab_backup.tar`, where `TIMESTAMP`
identifies the time at which each backup was created.
> In GitLab 8.15 we changed the timestamp format from `EPOCH` (`1393513186`)
> to `EPOCH_YYYY_MM_DD` (`1393513186_2014_02_27`)
You can only restore a backup to exactly the same version of GitLab on which it
was created. The best way to migrate your repositories from one server to
You can only restore a backup to **exactly the same version** of GitLab on which
it was created. The best way to migrate your repositories from one server to
another is through backup restore.
To restore a backup, you will also need to restore `/etc/gitlab/gitlab-secrets.json`
(for omnibus packages) or `/home/git/gitlab/.secret` (for installations
from source). This file contains the database encryption key,
[CI secret variables](../ci/variables/README.md#secret-variables), and
secret variables used for [two-factor authentication](../security/two_factor_authentication.md).
If you fail to restore this encryption key file along with the application data
backup, users with two-factor authentication enabled and GitLab Runners will
lose access to your GitLab server.
## Backup
GitLab provides a simple command line interface to backup your whole installation,
and is flexible enough to fit your needs.
## Create a backup of the GitLab system
### Backup timestamp
>**Note:**
In GitLab 9.2 the timestamp format was changed from `EPOCH_YYYY_MM_DD` to
`EPOCH_YYYY_MM_DD_GitLab version`, for example `1493107454_2017_04_25`
would become `1493107454_2017_04_25_9.1.0`.
The backup archive will be saved in `backup_path`, which is specified in the
`config/gitlab.yml` file.
The filename will be `[TIMESTAMP]_gitlab_backup.tar`, where `TIMESTAMP`
identifies the time at which each backup was created, plus the GitLab version.
The timestamp is needed if you need to restore GitLab and multiple backups are
available.
For example, if the backup name is `1493107454_2017_04_25_9.1.0_gitlab_backup.tar`,
then the timestamp is `1493107454_2017_04_25_9.1.0`.
### Creating a backup of the GitLab system
Use this command if you've installed GitLab with the Omnibus package:
```
sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:backup:create
```
Use this if you've installed GitLab from source:
```
sudo -u git -H bundle exec rake gitlab:backup:create RAILS_ENV=production
```
If you are running GitLab within a Docker container, you can run the backup from the host:
```
docker exec -t <container name> gitlab-rake gitlab:backup:create
```
......@@ -69,9 +80,9 @@ Deleting tmp directories...[DONE]
Deleting old backups... [SKIPPING]
```
## Backup Strategy Option
### Backup strategy option
> **Note:** Introduced as an option in 8.17
> **Note:** Introduced as an option in GitLab 8.17.
The default backup strategy is to essentially stream data from the respective
data locations to the backup using the Linux command `tar` and `gzip`. This works
......@@ -91,7 +102,7 @@ To use the `copy` strategy instead of the default streaming strategy, specify
`STRATEGY=copy` in the Rake task command. For example,
`sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:backup:create STRATEGY=copy`.
## Exclude specific directories from the backup
### Excluding specific directories from the backup
You can choose what should be backed up by adding the environment variable `SKIP`.
The available options are:
......@@ -115,7 +126,7 @@ sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:backup:create SKIP=db,uploads
sudo -u git -H bundle exec rake gitlab:backup:create SKIP=db,uploads RAILS_ENV=production
```
## Upload backups to remote (cloud) storage
### Uploading backups to a remote (cloud) storage
Starting with GitLab 7.4 you can let the backup script upload the '.tar' file it creates.
It uses the [Fog library](http://fog.io/) to perform the upload.
......@@ -259,7 +270,7 @@ For installations from source:
remote_directory: 'gitlab_backups'
```
## Backup archive permissions
### Backup archive permissions
The backup archives created by GitLab (`1393513186_2014_02_27_gitlab_backup.tar`)
will have owner/group git:git and 0600 permissions by default.
......@@ -277,7 +288,7 @@ gitlab_rails['backup_archive_permissions'] = 0644 # Makes the backup archives wo
archive_permissions: 0644 # Makes the backup archives world-readable
```
## Storing configuration files
### Storing configuration files
Please be informed that a backup does not store your configuration
files. One reason for this is that your database contains encrypted
......@@ -294,11 +305,74 @@ At the very **minimum** you should backup `/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb` and
`/home/git/gitlab/config/secrets.yml` (source) to preserve your database
encryption key.
## Restore a previously created backup
### Configuring cron to make daily backups
>**Note:**
The following cron jobs do not [backup your GitLab configuration files](#storing-configuration-files)
or [SSH host keys](https://superuser.com/questions/532040/copy-ssh-keys-from-one-server-to-another-server/532079#532079).
**For Omnibus installations**
To schedule a cron job that backs up your repositories and GitLab metadata, use the root user:
```
sudo su -
crontab -e
```
There, add the following line to schedule the backup for everyday at 2 AM:
```
0 2 * * * /opt/gitlab/bin/gitlab-rake gitlab:backup:create CRON=1
```
You may also want to set a limited lifetime for backups to prevent regular
backups using all your disk space. To do this add the following lines to
`/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb` and reconfigure:
You can only restore a backup to exactly the same version of GitLab that you created it on, for example 7.2.1.
```
# limit backup lifetime to 7 days - 604800 seconds
gitlab_rails['backup_keep_time'] = 604800
```
### Prerequisites
Note that the `backup_keep_time` configuration option only manages local
files. GitLab does not automatically prune old files stored in a third-party
object storage (e.g., AWS S3) because the user may not have permission to list
and delete files. We recommend that you configure the appropriate retention
policy for your object storage. For example, you can configure [the S3 backup
policy as described here](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/37553070/gitlab-omnibus-delete-backup-from-amazon-s3).
**For installation from source**
```
cd /home/git/gitlab
sudo -u git -H editor config/gitlab.yml # Enable keep_time in the backup section to automatically delete old backups
sudo -u git crontab -e # Edit the crontab for the git user
```
Add the following lines at the bottom:
```
# Create a full backup of the GitLab repositories and SQL database every day at 4am
0 4 * * * cd /home/git/gitlab && PATH=/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin bundle exec rake gitlab:backup:create RAILS_ENV=production CRON=1
```
The `CRON=1` environment setting tells the backup script to suppress all progress output if there are no errors.
This is recommended to reduce cron spam.
## Restore
GitLab provides a simple command line interface to backup your whole installation,
and is flexible enough to fit your needs.
The [restore prerequisites section](#restore-prerequisites) includes crucial
information. Make sure to read and test the whole restore process at least once
before attempting to perform it in a production environment.
You can only restore a backup to **exactly the same version** of GitLab that
you created it on, for example 9.1.0.
### Restore prerequisites
You need to have a working GitLab installation before you can perform
a restore. This is mainly because the system user performing the
......@@ -307,13 +381,23 @@ the SQL database it needs to import data into ('gitlabhq_production').
All existing data will be either erased (SQL) or moved to a separate
directory (repositories, uploads).
If some or all of your GitLab users are using two-factor authentication (2FA)
then you must also make sure to restore `/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb` and
`/etc/gitlab/gitlab-secrets.json` (Omnibus), or
`/home/git/gitlab/config/secrets.yml` (installations from source). Note that you
need to run `gitlab-ctl reconfigure` after changing `gitlab-secrets.json`.
To restore a backup, you will also need to restore `/etc/gitlab/gitlab-secrets.json`
(for Omnibus packages) or `/home/git/gitlab/.secret` (for installations
from source). This file contains the database encryption key,
[CI secret variables](../ci/variables/README.md#secret-variables), and
secret variables used for [two-factor authentication](../user/profile/account/two_factor_authentication.md).
If you fail to restore this encryption key file along with the application data
backup, users with two-factor authentication enabled and GitLab Runners will
lose access to your GitLab server.
Depending on your case, you might want to run the restore command with one or
more of the following options:
- `BACKUP=timestamp_of_backup` - Required if more than one backup exists.
Read what the [backup timestamp is about](#backup-timestamp).
- `force=yes` - Do not ask if the authorized_keys file should get regenerated.
### Installation from source
### Restore for installation from source
```
# Stop processes that are connected to the database
......@@ -322,13 +406,6 @@ sudo service gitlab stop
bundle exec rake gitlab:backup:restore RAILS_ENV=production
```
Options:
```
BACKUP=timestamp_of_backup (required if more than one backup exists)
force=yes (do not ask if the authorized_keys file should get regenerated)
```
Example output:
```
......@@ -360,13 +437,13 @@ Restoring repositories:
Deleting tmp directories...[DONE]
```
### Omnibus installations
### Restore for Omnibus installations
This procedure assumes that:
- You have installed the exact same version of GitLab Omnibus with which the
backup was created
- You have run `sudo gitlab-ctl reconfigure` at least once
- You have installed the **exact same version** of GitLab Omnibus with which the
backup was created.
- You have run `sudo gitlab-ctl reconfigure` at least once.
- GitLab is running. If not, start it using `sudo gitlab-ctl start`.
First make sure your backup tar file is in the backup directory described in the
......@@ -374,7 +451,7 @@ First make sure your backup tar file is in the backup directory described in the
`/var/opt/gitlab/backups`.
```shell
sudo cp 1393513186_2014_02_27_gitlab_backup.tar /var/opt/gitlab/backups/
sudo cp 1493107454_2017_04_25_9.1.0_gitlab_backup.tar /var/opt/gitlab/backups/
```
Stop the processes that are connected to the database. Leave the rest of GitLab
......@@ -392,7 +469,7 @@ restore:
```shell
# This command will overwrite the contents of your GitLab database!
sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:backup:restore BACKUP=1393513186_2014_02_27
sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:backup:restore BACKUP=1493107454_2017_04_25_9.1.0
```
Restart and check GitLab:
......@@ -404,59 +481,7 @@ sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:check SANITIZE=true
If there is a GitLab version mismatch between your backup tar file and the installed
version of GitLab, the restore command will abort with an error. Install the
[correct GitLab version](https://about.gitlab.com/downloads/archives/) and try again.
## Configure cron to make daily backups
### For installation from source:
```
cd /home/git/gitlab
sudo -u git -H editor config/gitlab.yml # Enable keep_time in the backup section to automatically delete old backups
sudo -u git crontab -e # Edit the crontab for the git user
```
Add the following lines at the bottom:
```
# Create a full backup of the GitLab repositories and SQL database every day at 4am
0 4 * * * cd /home/git/gitlab && PATH=/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin bundle exec rake gitlab:backup:create RAILS_ENV=production CRON=1
```
The `CRON=1` environment setting tells the backup script to suppress all progress output if there are no errors.
This is recommended to reduce cron spam.
### For omnibus installations
To schedule a cron job that backs up your repositories and GitLab metadata, use the root user:
```
sudo su -
crontab -e
```
There, add the following line to schedule the backup for everyday at 2 AM:
```
0 2 * * * /opt/gitlab/bin/gitlab-rake gitlab:backup:create CRON=1
```
You may also want to set a limited lifetime for backups to prevent regular
backups using all your disk space. To do this add the following lines to
`/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb` and reconfigure:
```
# limit backup lifetime to 7 days - 604800 seconds
gitlab_rails['backup_keep_time'] = 604800
```
Note that the `backup_keep_time` configuration option only manages local
files. GitLab does not automatically prune old files stored in a third-party
object storage (e.g. AWS S3) because the user may not have permission to list
and delete files. We recommend that you configure the appropriate retention
policy for your object storage. For example, you can configure [the S3 backup
policy here as described here](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/37553070/gitlab-omnibus-delete-backup-from-amazon-s3).
NOTE: This cron job does not [backup your omnibus-gitlab configuration](#backup-and-restore-omnibus-gitlab-configuration) or [SSH host keys](https://superuser.com/questions/532040/copy-ssh-keys-from-one-server-to-another-server/532079#532079).
[correct GitLab version](https://packages.gitlab.com/gitlab/) and try again.
## Alternative backup strategies
......@@ -481,6 +506,19 @@ Example: LVM snapshots + rsync
If you are running GitLab on a virtualized server you can possibly also create VM snapshots of the entire GitLab server.
It is not uncommon however for a VM snapshot to require you to power down the server, so this approach is probably of limited practical use.
## Additional notes
This documentation is for GitLab Community and Enterprise Edition. We backup
GitLab.com and make sure your data is secure, but you can't use these methods
to export / backup your data yourself from GitLab.com.
Issues are stored in the database. They can't be stored in Git itself.
To migrate your repositories from one server to another with an up-to-date version of
GitLab, you can use the [import rake task](import.md) to do a mass import of the
repository. Note that if you do an import rake task, rather than a backup restore, you
will have all your repositories, but not any other data.
## Troubleshooting
### Restoring database backup using omnibus packages outputs warnings
......@@ -490,7 +528,6 @@ If you are using backup restore procedures you might encounter the following war
psql:/var/opt/gitlab/backups/db/database.sql:22: ERROR: must be owner of extension plpgsql
psql:/var/opt/gitlab/backups/db/database.sql:2931: WARNING: no privileges could be revoked for "public" (two occurrences)
psql:/var/opt/gitlab/backups/db/database.sql:2933: WARNING: no privileges were granted for "public" (two occurrences)
```
Be advised that, backup is successfully restored in spite of these warnings.
......@@ -499,14 +536,3 @@ The rake task runs this as the `gitlab` user which does not have the superuser a
Those objects have no influence on the database backup/restore but they give this annoying warning.
For more information see similar questions on postgresql issue tracker[here](http://www.postgresql.org/message-id/201110220712.30886.adrian.klaver@gmail.com) and [here](http://www.postgresql.org/message-id/2039.1177339749@sss.pgh.pa.us) as well as [stack overflow](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4368789/error-must-be-owner-of-language-plpgsql).
## Note
This documentation is for GitLab CE.
We backup GitLab.com and make sure your data is secure, but you can't use these methods to export / backup your data yourself from GitLab.com.
Issues are stored in the database. They can't be stored in Git itself.
To migrate your repositories from one server to another with an up-to-date version of
GitLab, you can use the [import rake task](import.md) to do a mass import of the
repository. Note that if you do an import rake task, rather than a backup restore, you
will have all your repositories, but not any other data.
Markdown is supported
0%
or
You are about to add 0 people to the discussion. Proceed with caution.
Finish editing this message first!
Please register or to comment