Backup

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Reitti stores all your location data, visits, and trips in a PostgreSQL database. Since version 2.0, Reitti also stores uploaded images for the Memories feature in a mounted volume or path under /data. Both the database and the data volume need to be backed up, as all other data can be regenerated or reconfigured.

What Needs to Be Backed Up

Database and Data Volume - All your location tracking data, processed visits, trips, and user settings are stored in the PostgreSQL database. Uploaded images for Memories are stored in the data volume (typically a Docker named volume like reitti_data mounted at /data). The application code and configuration can be easily restored from your deployment setup.

Creating Database Backups

Since Reitti typically runs with PostgreSQL in a Docker Compose stack, you can create backups using the following commands:

Full Database Backup

docker compose exec postgis pg_dump -U reitti -d reittidb > backup_$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S).sql

docker compose exec postgis pg_dump -U reitti -d reittidb | gzip > backup_$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S).sql.gz

Custom Format Backup (Fastest Restore)

docker compose exec postgis pg_dump -U reitti -d reittidb -Fc > backup_$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S).dump

Backing Up the Data Volume

For the data volume (e.g., a named Docker volume called reitti_data that stores uploaded images), you can create backups using Docker commands. This assumes your volume is named reitti_data and mounted at /data in the container.

Full Data Volume Backup

docker run --rm -v reitti_data:/data -v $(pwd):/backup alpine tar czf /backup/reitti_data_backup_$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S).tar.gz -C /data .

This command: - Runs a temporary Alpine Linux container. - Mounts the reitti_data volume to /data inside the container. - Mounts your current directory to /backup for output. - Creates a compressed tar archive of the entire /data directory (containing the images) and saves it to your local directory.

The command above already compresses the archive using gzip. For very large volumes, consider splitting the backup:

docker run --rm -v reitti_data:/data -v $(pwd):/backup alpine sh -c "tar czf /backup/reitti_data_backup_$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S).tar.gz -C /data . && split -b 1G /backup/reitti_data_backup_$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S).tar.gz /backup/reitti_data_backup_$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S).part_"

Restoring from Backup

From Database SQL Backup

docker compose exec -T postgis psql -U reitti -d reittidb < backup_20240101_120000.sql

From Compressed Database SQL Backup

gunzip -c backup_20240101_120000.sql.gz | docker compose exec -T postgis psql -U reitti -d reittidb

From Custom Format Database Backup

docker compose exec -T postgis pg_restore -U reitti -d reittidb -c backup_20240101_120000.dump

Restoring the Data Volume

To restore the data volume from a backup archive:

docker run --rm -v reitti_data:/data -v $(pwd):/backup alpine tar xzf /backup/reitti_data_backup_20240101_120000.tar.gz -C /data

This command: - Runs a temporary Alpine Linux container. - Mounts the reitti_data volume to /data. - Mounts your current directory to /backup for input. - Extracts the compressed tar archive back into /data, restoring the images.

If you split the backup, first recombine the parts:

cat reitti_data_backup_20240101_120000.part_* > reitti_data_backup_20240101_120000.tar.gz

Then proceed with the restore command above.

Automated Backup Strategy

Consider setting up automated backups using a cron job for both database and data volume:

# Add to crontab for daily backups at 2 AM
0 2 * * * cd /path/to/reitti && docker compose exec postgis pg_dump -U reitti -d reittidb | gzip > /backup/path/reitti_db_$(date +\%Y\%m\%d).sql.gz && docker run --rm -v reitti_data:/data -v /backup/path:/backup alpine tar czf /backup/reitti_data_$(date +\%Y\%m\%d).tar.gz -C /data .

Best Practices

  • Regular Schedule: Set up automated daily or weekly backups for both database and data volume
  • Multiple Locations: Store backups in different locations (local, cloud storage)
  • Test Restores: Periodically test your backup restoration process for both components
  • Retention Policy: Keep multiple backup versions but clean up old ones to save space
  • Monitor Size: Track backup file sizes to detect potential issues, especially for image-heavy data volumes
  • Volume Naming: Ensure your Docker Compose file uses a named volume like reitti_data for easy backup commands

Storage Considerations

Location tracking data can grow significantly over time, and image uploads for Memories can add substantial storage needs. Monitor your backup sizes and consider: - Compressing backups to save storage space - Implementing backup rotation to manage disk usage - Using incremental backups for very large datasets - Allocating sufficient space for the reitti_data volume in your Docker setup

Getting Started