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@pirate
Last active March 29, 2024 13:33
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Backup a docker-compose project, including all images, named and unnamed volumes, container filesystems, config, logs, and databases.
#!/usr/bin/env bash
### Bash Environment Setup
# http://redsymbol.net/articles/unofficial-bash-strict-mode/
# https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/html_node/The-Set-Builtin.html
# set -o xtrace
set -o errexit
set -o errtrace
set -o nounset
set -o pipefail
IFS=$'\n'
# Fully backup a docker-compose project, including all images, named and unnamed volumes, container filesystems, config, logs, and databases.
project_dir="${1:-$PWD}"
if [ -f "$project_dir/docker-compose.yml" ]; then
echo "[i] Found docker-compose config at $project_dir/docker-compose.yml"
else
echo "[X] Could not find a docker-compose.yml file in $project_dir"
exit 1
fi
project_name=$(basename "$project_dir")
backup_time=$(date +"%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M")
backup_dir="$project_dir/data/backups/$backup_time"
# Source any needed environment variables
[ -f "$project_dir/docker-compose.env" ] && source "$project_dir/docker-compose.env"
[ -f "$project_dir/.env" ] && source "$project_dir/.env"
echo "[+] Backing up $project_name project to $backup_dir"
mkdir -p "$backup_dir"
echo " - Saving docker-compose.yml config"
cp "$project_dir/docker-compose.yml" "$backup_dir/docker-compose.yml"
# Optional: pause the containers before backing up to ensure consistency
# docker compose pause
# Optional: run a command inside the contianer to dump your application's state/database to a stable file
echo " - Saving application state to ./dumps"
mkdir -p "$backup_dir/dumps"
# your database/stateful service export commands to run inside docker go here, e.g.
# docker compose exec postgres env PGPASSWORD="$POSTGRES_PASSWORD" pg_dump -U "$POSTGRES_USER" "$POSTGRES_DB" | gzip -9 > "$backup_dir/dumps/$POSTGRES_DB.sql.gz"
# docker compose exec redis redis-cli SAVE
# docker compose exec redis cat /data/dump.rdb | gzip -9 > "$backup_dir/dumps/redis.rdb.gz"
for service_name in $(docker compose config --services); do
image_id=$(docker compose images -q "$service_name")
image_name=$(docker image inspect --format '{{json .RepoTags}}' "$image_id" | jq -r '.[0]')
container_id=$(docker compose ps -q "$service_name")
service_dir="$backup_dir/$service_name"
echo "[*] Backing up ${project_name}__${service_name} to ./$service_name..."
mkdir -p "$service_dir"
# save image
echo " - Saving $image_name image to ./$service_name/image.tar"
docker save --output "$service_dir/image.tar" "$image_id"
if [[ -z "$container_id" ]]; then
echo " - Warning: $service_name has no container yet."
echo " (has it been started at least once?)"
continue
fi
# save config
echo " - Saving container config to ./$service_name/config.json"
docker inspect "$container_id" > "$service_dir/config.json"
# save logs
echo " - Saving stdout/stderr logs to ./$service_name/docker.{out,err}"
docker logs "$container_id" > "$service_dir/docker.out" 2> "$service_dir/docker.err"
# save data volumes
mkdir -p "$service_dir/volumes"
for source in $(docker inspect -f '{{range .Mounts}}{{println .Source}}{{end}}' "$container_id"); do
volume_dir="$service_dir/volumes$source"
echo " - Saving $source volume to ./$service_name/volumes$source"
mkdir -p $(dirname "$volume_dir")
cp -a -r "$source" "$volume_dir"
done
# save container filesystem
echo " - Saving container filesystem to ./$service_name/container.tar"
docker export --output "$service_dir/container.tar" "$container_id"
# save entire container root dir
echo " - Saving container root to $service_dir/root"
cp -a -r "/var/lib/docker/containers/$container_id" "$service_dir/root"
done
echo "[*] Compressing backup folder to $backup_dir.tar.gz"
tar -zcf "$backup_dir.tar.gz" --totals "$backup_dir" && rm -Rf "$backup_dir"
echo "[√] Finished Backing up $project_name to $backup_dir.tar.gz."
# Resume the containers if paused above
# docker compose unpause
@pirate
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pirate commented Nov 12, 2020

How much do you need restored? @jslettengren if you only need the volume data it's trivial, just copy the stuff out of the volume data folder into a new dir and point your new container at it. If you need the image too then you'll have to load the image from the tar file docker load < some_backed_up_image.tar. If you need the whole container filesystem or root dir then you'll have to manually do some copy pasting in the running container to get it working. There's no one command solution because it depends on exactly what you need. Restoring too much could be potentially harmful or more complicated than needed, so just restore what you need.

@jslettengren
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jslettengren commented Nov 15, 2020

Thanks a lot @pirate

Right now I have no real need, other than I just want to know what to to do when the need arises :-)

To use the script, I run sudo bash docker-compose-backup.sh. I had to change in one of the cp commands from:
cp "$project_dir/docker-compose.yml" > "$backup_dir/docker-compose.yml"
to
cp "$project_dir/docker-compose.yml" "$backup_dir/docker-compose.yml"

Why was the > in there in the first place?

@whjvdijk
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whjvdijk commented Dec 16, 2020

Awsome script, could you edit it so you can add environment variables for containers in the docker compose file so you can specify if you want to make backups of the attached volumes or not? For Example when backing-up Plex i dont want to backup the volume that contains my music and movies.

@ppkliu
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ppkliu commented Feb 1, 2021

Thanks a lot @pirate
Would you give us a migration or restore example ??

@sephentos
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Thank you very much for this script!
A restore script would be greatly appreciated :)

@dilawar
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dilawar commented Jul 4, 2021

I am getting permission denied problem on an AWS machine. Do I need to run this script as admin? Or should I tweak the volumes key in my docker-compose.yml file?

Looks like these are from mariadb service.

cp: cannot access '/var/lib/docker/volumes/api_db-data/_data/mysql': Permission denied
cp: cannot access '/var/lib/docker/volumes/api_db-data/_data/performance_schema': Permission denied
cp: cannot open '/var/lib/docker/volumes/api_db-data/_data/multi-master.info' for reading: Permission denied
cp: cannot open '/var/lib/docker/volumes/api_db-data/_data/ib_buffer_pool' for reading: Permission denied
cp: cannot open '/var/lib/docker/volumes/api_db-data/_data/ibtmp1' for reading: Permission denied
cp: cannot open '/var/lib/docker/volumes/api_db-data/_data/ibtmp1' for reading: Permission denied

@derAlff
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derAlff commented Jul 9, 2021

Very very cool script! It is easy to use.

But restore with docker load < backupfile_from_docker_compose.tar.gz is not possible.
This command ends with the message open /var/lib/docker/tmp/docker-import-805572190/opt/json: no such file or directory. How i can solve this?

@pirate
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pirate commented Aug 4, 2021

@necotec The top-level archive contains much more than just the image file. You have to uncompress the top-level .tar.gz to get the image file within, then pass the image file to docker load < ....

@Basti-Fantasti
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Basti-Fantasti commented Jan 19, 2022

Hi and thanks for the awsome script.

Can you add the note in the comment section, that jq needs to be installed?
I've just stumbled about this not being installed by default on my debian.

oh and maybe the hint that the container must be up and running for the backup 😄

Best regards
Bastian

@arifrhm
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arifrhm commented Apr 4, 2022

- Saving docker-compose.yml config
- Saving application state to ./dumps

time="2022-04-04T11:14:43+07:00" level=warning msg="The "REACT_APP_API_V1" variable is not set. Defaulting to a blank string."
time="2022-04-04T11:14:43+07:00" level=warning msg="network default: network.external.name is deprecated in favor of network.name"
time="2022-04-04T11:14:46+07:00" level=warning msg="The "REACT_APP_API_V1" variable is not set. Defaulting to a blank string."
time="2022-04-04T11:14:46+07:00" level=warning msg="network default: network.external.name is deprecated in favor of network.name"
docker-compose-backup.sh: line 51: jq: command not found
time="2022-04-04T11:14:49+07:00" level=error msg="write /dev/stdout: The pipe is being closed.\n"

@arifrhm
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arifrhm commented Apr 4, 2022

$ sh docker-compose-backup.sh
[i] Found docker-compose config at /g/BNS-dev-phase-2(30Mar2022)/ufe-bns/docker-compose.yml
[+] Backing up ufe-bns project to /g/BNS-dev-phase-2(30Mar2022)/ufe-bns/data/backups/2022-04-04_12-06
- Saving docker-compose.yml config
- Saving application state to ./dumps
time="2022-04-04T12:06:37+07:00" level=warning msg="The "REACT_APP_API_V1" variable is not set. Defaulting to a blank string."
time="2022-04-04T12:06:37+07:00" level=warning msg="network default: network.external.name is deprecated in favor of network.name"
time="2022-04-04T12:06:39+07:00" level=warning msg="The "REACT_APP_API_V1" variable is not set. Defaulting to a blank string."
time="2022-04-04T12:06:39+07:00" level=warning msg="network default: network.external.name is deprecated in favor of network.name"
time="2022-04-04T12:06:42+07:00" level=warning msg="The "REACT_APP_API_V1" variable is not set. Defaulting to a blank string."
time="2022-04-04T12:06:42+07:00" level=warning msg="network default: network.external.name is deprecated in favor of network.name"
[*] Backing up ufe-bns__api to ./api...
- Saving registry.gitlab.com/ihsansolusi/universal-front-end/api:latest image to ./api/image.tar
- Saving container config to ./api/config.json
- Saving stdout/stderr logs to ./api/docker.{out,err}
- Saving G:\BNS-dev-phase-2(30Mar2022)\ufe-bns\api\app volume to ./api/volumesG:\BNS-dev-phase-2(30Mar2022)\ufe-bns\api\app
- Saving container filesystem to ./api/container.tar
- Saving container root to /g/BNS-dev-phase-2(30Mar2022)/ufe-bns/data/backups/2022-04-04_12-06/api/root
cp: cannot stat '/var/lib/docker/containers/f7d4ec6770e19e07bc1cf716715bc16f60e3ffbdb4d5db3db546ee8f5800dc90': No such file or directory

@Joeshiett
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Don't use docker-compose installed with snap. This will result in the cp: cannot stat '/var/lib/docker/containers/f7d4e........ error. Install docker-compose the manual way.

@killmasta93
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Hi not sure if someone else has gotten this
bak.sh: 8: set: Illegal option -o errtrace

running on ubuntu 20 LTS server

@SilverJan
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Nice script. What doesn't work properly is the execution of the script from another directory, since the docker-compose calls are missing the -p option.

@pirate
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pirate commented Jan 14, 2023

It's not intended to work from another directory, you must place the script inside the dir that contains your docker-compose.yml file.

@homonto
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homonto commented Jan 14, 2023

I am very fresh to docker and compose as well, but I managed to offload my Home Assistant with some add ons using another linux machine with docker compose
currently I am running there:

docker compose config --services
chrony
duckdns
grafana
mariadb
mosquitto
node-red
phpmyadmin
pihole
timemachine
wireguard

now, I am trying to find some good backup solution. and this is how I landed here.
I took your script, modified where needed "docker-compose" to "docker compose" and voila - all works.
But I have 3 questions:
1- my "timemachine" container uses "/mnt/timemachine" volume where the data is stored - apparently we are talking GB here, so I would like to exclude this container from the backup script - is there any way here to exclude it?
2- when database is backed up apparently it would be nice to stop it, right? not necessarily other containers - is there any easy way to do it in this script?
3- in case I stop the container (docker compose stop mariadb) - would simple command: "tar cfz maria.tar.gz /srv/docker/mariadb" be enough to really have EVERYTHING backed up for this container (of course, also the docker-compose.yml)?
what are all these "dumps", "logs" etc - isn't everything in the volume itself? provided my only volumes are inside the same folder, in this example /srv/docker/mariadb

thank you for your help ;)

@pirate
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pirate commented May 31, 2023

  1. to exclude a container you'd modify this line to add a filter to the list of containers it loops through, e.g.
- for service_name in $(docker compose config --services); do
+ for service_name in $(docker compose config --services | grep -v timemachine); do
  1. this is up to you, pgdump and redis SAVE don't require you pause the container to ensure consistency, but if you need to pause your other containers to ensure consistency at the application layer, I did mention that in these lines already:
# Optional: pause the containers before backing up to ensure consistency
# docker compose pause
  1. no, that only backs up some of that containers state, there is other hidden state in the docker system like remote mounts, stdout/stderr log output, container config and environment state, etc. which is why this script exists in the first place. you can read the state it generates on :67, :71, etc. to see how it's separate from the volume contents

@erictcarter
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@pirate i need your help, i customized the script and executed the one you shared as is, and my docker is gone, how do i reverse this

@GeoHolz
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GeoHolz commented Nov 3, 2023

Awsome script, could you edit it so you can add environment variables for containers in the docker compose file so you can specify if you want to make backups of the attached volumes or not? For Example when backing-up Plex i dont want to backup the volume that contains my music and movies.

I add this feature : https://gist.github.com/GeoHolz/ee9362c82ee13f8a5690d86d6ec7bb0c
Thanks pirate !

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