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authorLuis Johnstone <67982749+luisj1983@users.noreply.github.com>2024-02-28 16:02:25 +0000
committerGitHub <noreply@github.com>2024-02-28 18:02:25 +0200
commit57ffef0c92c479a0bb5e48c87c90c31d660d8049 (patch)
tree8f88900f915be9e82b01f87c10aab15dab83d359
parentbb543181220d9f643570cdd6edd51dbd0ea58e8a (diff)
Netdata Agent: Backup restore documentation (#17006)
A document on how to backup and restore the Netdata agent for the public docs. This works in a test environment and I've used it once in production so please check it over as it may need ammendments. --------- Co-authored-by: Fotis Voutsas <fotis@netdata.cloud>
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+# Backing up a Netdata Agent
+
+## Introduction
+
+When preparing to backup a Netdata Agent it is worth considering that there are different kinds of data that you may wish to backup independently or all together:
+
+| Data type | Description | Location |
+|---------------------|------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
+| Agent configuration | Files controlling configuration of the Netdata Agent | [config directory](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/netdata-agent/configuration.md) |
+| Metrics | Database files | /var/cache/netdata |
+| Identity | Claim token, API key and some other files | /var/lib/netdata |
+
+
+## Scenarios
+
+### Backing up to restore data in case of a node failure
+
+In this standard scenario you are backing up your Netdata Agent in case of a node failure or data corruption so that the metrics and the configuration can be recovered. The purpose is not to backup/restore the application itself.
+
+1. Verify that the directory-paths in the table above contain the information you expect.
+
+ > **Note**
+ > The specific paths may vary depending upon installation method, Operating System and whether it is a Docker/Kubernetes deployment.
+
+2. It is recommended that you [stop the Netdata Agent](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/configure/start-stop-restart.md) when backing up the Metrics/database files.
+ Backing up the Agent configuration and Identity folders is straight-forward as they should not be changing very frequently.
+
+3. Using a backup tool such as `tar` you will need to run the backup as _root_ or as the _netdata_ user in order to access all the files in the directories.
+
+ ```
+ sudo tar -cvpzf netdata_backup.tar.gz /etc/netdata/ /var/cache/netdata /var/lib/netdata
+ ```
+
+ Stopping the Netdata agent is mostly required in order to back up the _database files_ of the Netdata Agent.
+
+ If you wish to minimize the gap in metrics caused by stopping the Netdata Agent, then you could have a backup job or script that uses the following sequence:
+
+- Backup the Agent configuration Identity directories
+- Stop the Netdata service
+- Backup up up the database files
+- Restart the netdata agent.
+
+### Restoring Netdata
+
+1. Ensure that the Netdata agent is installed and is [stopped](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/packaging/installer/README.md#maintaining-a-netdata-agent-installation)
+
+ If you plan to deploy the Agent and restore a backup on top of it, then you might find it helpful to use the [`--dont-start-it`](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/packaging/installer/methods/kickstart.md#other-options) option upon installation.
+
+ ```
+ wget -O /tmp/netdata-kickstart.sh https://get.netdata.cloud/kickstart.sh && sh /tmp/netdata-kickstart.sh --dont-start-it
+ ```
+
+ > **Note**
+ > If you are going to restore the database files then you should first ensure that the Metrics directory is empty.
+ >
+ > ```
+ > sudo rm -Rf /var/cache/netdata
+ > ```
+
+2. Restore the backup from the archive
+
+ ```
+ sudo tar -xvpzf /path/to/netdata_backup.tar.gz -C /
+ ```
+
+3. [Start the Netdata agent](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/packaging/installer/README.md#maintaining-a-netdata-agent-installation)