Chapter 1. Backing up and restoring MicroShift data


You can manually back up and restore the MicroShift database on all supported systems. For application data, you must create custom procedures.

Before you can create a manual backup, greenboot health checks must finish running and you must stop the MicroShift service.

  • On rpm-ostree systems, MicroShift automatically creates a backup on every start. These automatic backups are deleted and replaced with the latest backup each time the system restarts.
  • Data is also automatically restored on an rpm-ostree system after a greenboot system rollback. This data restoration ensures that the database matches the software running on the host after the rollback is completed.
  • On other system types, you must back up and restore data manually.

Automated backups are in the /var/lib/microshift-backups directory by default. You can use this directory for manually backing up and restoring data by specifying it in each command. When you restore a backup, you must use the entire file path.

Note

The following procedures only backup and restore MicroShift data. Application data is not included.

1.2. Stopping the MicroShift service

Use the following procedure to stop the MicroShift service.

Prerequisites

  • The MicroShift service is running.

Procedure

  1. Enter the following command to stop the MicroShift service:

    $ sudo systemctl stop microshift
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  2. Workloads deployed on MicroShift might continue running even after the MicroShift service has been stopped. Enter the following command to display running workloads:

    $ sudo crictl ps -a
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  3. Enter the following commands to stop the deployed workloads:

    $ sudo systemctl stop kubepods.slice
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1.3. Backing up MicroShift data manually

You can back up MicroShift data manually at any time. Back up your data before system updates to preserve it for use if an update fails or for other system trouble. You can use the /var/lib/microshift-backups for manually backing up and restoring data by specifying it in each command. When you create a backup, you must use the entire file path for the output file.

Prerequisites

  • You have root access to the host.
  • MicroShift is stopped.

Procedure

  1. Manually create a backup by using the parent directory and specifying a name, such as /var/lib/microshift-backups/<manual_backup>, by running the following command:

    $ sudo microshift backup /var/lib/microshift-backups/<manual_backup> 
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    Replace <manual_backup> with the backup name that you want to use.

    Example output

    ??? I1017 07:38:16.770506    5900 data_manager.go:92] "Copying data to backup directory" storage="/var/lib/microshift-backups" name="test" data="/var/lib/microshift"
    ??? I1017 07:38:16.770713    5900 data_manager.go:227] "Starting copy" cmd="/bin/cp --verbose --recursive --preserve --reflink=auto /var/lib/microshift /var/lib/microshift-backups/test"
    ??? I1017 07:38:16.776162    5900 data_manager.go:241] "Finished copy" cmd="/bin/cp --verbose --recursive --preserve --reflink=auto /var/lib/microshift /var/lib/microshift-backups/test"
    ??? I1017 07:38:16.776256    5900 data_manager.go:125] "Copied data to backup directory" backup="/var/lib/microshift-backups/test" data="/var/lib/microshift"
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  2. Optional: Manually create a backup in a specific parent directory with a custom name by running the following command:

    $ sudo microshift backup /mnt/<other_backups_location>/<another_manual_backup>
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    Replace <other_backups_location> with the directory you want to use and <my_manual_backup> with the backup name you want to use.

Verification

  • You can verify that the backup exists by viewing the data in the directory you chose. For example, /var/lib/microshift-backups/<manual_backup>/ or /mnt/<other_backups_location>/<another_manual_backup>.

1.4. Restoring MicroShift data backups manually

You can restore MicroShift data from a backup manually. Backups can be restored after updates, or after other system events that remove or damage required data. When you restore a backup, you must use the entire file path.

Note

On an rpm-ostree system, MicroShift backs up and restores data automatically. Automated backups are in the /var/lib/microshift-backups directory by default.

Prerequisites

  • Root access to the host.
  • You have the full path of the data backup file.
  • The MicroShift service is stopped.

Procedure

  1. Manually restore MicroShift data by using the full file path of the backup you want to restore by running the following command:

    $ sudo microshift restore /var/lib/microshift-backups/<manual_backup> 
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    Replace <manual_backup> with the backup name that you used. Optional: You can also restore automatic ostree backups using the full file path.

    Example output

    ??? I1017 07:39:52.055165    6007 data_manager.go:131] "Copying backup to data directory" storage="/var/lib/microshift-backups" name="test" data="/var/lib/microshift"
    ??? I1017 07:39:52.055243    6007 data_manager.go:154] "Renaming existing data dir" data="/var/lib/microshift" renamedTo="/var/lib/microshift.saved"
    ??? I1017 07:39:52.055326    6007 data_manager.go:227] "Starting copy" cmd="/bin/cp --verbose --recursive --preserve --reflink=auto /var/lib/microshift-backups/test /var/lib/microshift"
    ??? I1017 07:39:52.061363    6007 data_manager.go:241] "Finished copy" cmd="/bin/cp --verbose --recursive --preserve --reflink=auto /var/lib/microshift-backups/test /var/lib/microshift"
    ??? I1017 07:39:52.061404    6007 data_manager.go:175] "Removing temporary data directory" path="/var/lib/microshift.saved"
    ??? I1017 07:39:52.063745    6007 data_manager.go:180] "Copied backup to data directory" name="test" data="/var/lib/microshift"
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  2. Optional. Manually restore data from a customized directory by using the full file path of the backup. Run the following command:

    $ sudo microshift restore /mnt/<other_backups_location>/<another_manual_backup> 
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    Replace <other_backups_location> with the directory you used and <my_manual_backup> with the backup name you used when creating the backup you are restoring.
  3. Restart the host. Restarting the host enables all workloads and pods to restart.

Verification

  • Use the oc get pods -A command to verify that the node is running, then check the restored data.

    $ oc get pods -A
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    Example output

    NAMESPACE                   NAME                                                     READY   STATUS   RESTARTS  AGE
    default                     i-06166fbb376f14a8bus-west-2computeinternal-debug-qtwcr  1/1     Running  0		    46m
    kube-system                 csi-snapshot-controller-5c6586d546-lprv4                 1/1     Running  0		    51m
    openshift-dns               dns-default-45jl7                                        2/2     Running  0		    50m
    openshift-dns               node-resolver-7wmzf                                      1/1     Running  0		    51m
    openshift-ingress           router-default-78b86fbf9d-qvj9s                          1/1     Running  0		    51m
    openshift-ovn-kubernetes    ovnkube-master-5rfhh                                     4/4     Running  0		    51m
    openshift-ovn-kubernetes    ovnkube-node-gcnt6                                       1/1     Running  0		    51m
    openshift-service-ca        service-ca-bf5b7c9f8-pn6rk                               1/1     Running  0		    51m
    openshift-storage           topolvm-controller-549f7fbdd5-7vrmv                      5/5     Running  0		    51m
    openshift-storage           topolvm-node-rht2m                                       3/3     Running  0		    50m
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    Note

    This example output shows a basic MicroShift installation. If you installed optional RPMs, the status of pods running those services is also expected in your output.

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