frappe_docker/production/backup

ERPNext Backup System - Complete Guide

Automated backup system with Digital Ocean Spaces (S3) for ERPNext production.

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🚀 Quick Production Setup (5 minutes)

Option 1: Interactive Setup

cd production/backup
./manage-backups.sh setup    # Interactive wizard
chmod 600 backup.env
./manage-backups.sh start
./manage-backups.sh test

Option 2: Manual Configuration

Edit backup/backup.env:

ENV_PREFIX=production              # Change from 'development'
BACKUP_SITES=your-domain.com       # Change from 'erp.localhost'
S3_BACKUP_RETENTION_DAYS=30        # Increase from 5
S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your-key
S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your-secret

Deploy:

chmod 600 backup/backup.env
./manage-backups.sh restart
./manage-backups.sh test
./manage-backups.sh list-s3 | grep "production/"

Verify automated backups:

• Hourly DB backup runs every hour from container start time
• Daily full backup runs at 3:00 AM
• Check status: ./manage-backups.sh status
• Monitor logs: ./manage-backups.sh logs

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📦 What Gets Backed Up?

Always Included

✅ Database - All data, doctypes, settings (compressed SQL)

Backup Modes

Full Backup (recommended for daily):

BACKUP_WITH_FILES=1    # Everything: DB + all files + site_config

Database Only (recommended for frequent/hourly):

BACKUP_WITH_FILES=0    # Database + site_config only

What's in site_config.json:

{
  "db_name": "_73c82ec6d255ebe3",
  "db_password": "Dp0yVfnoBvwYpR0y",
  "db_type": "mariadb"
}

Note: production.env and other secrets are NOT included

---

⏰ Backup Schedules

Single Schedule (Simple)

# Note: For dual-schedule setup, see compose.backup-s3.yaml
# Single schedule is not commonly used in production
BACKUP_CRON_SCHEDULE=@every 1h    # Every hour

Dual Schedule (Recommended for Your Use Case)

Frequent DB backups + Occasional full backups:

Edit compose.backup-s3.yaml to add two jobs:

scheduler:
  labels:
    # Job 1: Hourly database-only backup (official @every syntax)
    ofelia.job-exec.backup-db.schedule: "@every 1h"
    ofelia.job-exec.backup-db.command: "bash -c 'export BACKUP_WITH_FILES=0 && /bin/bash /usr/local/bin/backup-to-s3.sh'"
    ofelia.job-exec.backup-db.user: "frappe"
    ofelia.job-exec.backup-db.no-overlap: "true"
    
    # Job 2: Daily full backup at 3 AM (standard cron)
    ofelia.job-exec.backup-full.schedule: "0 3 * * *"
    ofelia.job-exec.backup-full.command: "bash -c 'export BACKUP_WITH_FILES=1 && /bin/bash /usr/local/bin/backup-to-s3.sh'"
    ofelia.job-exec.backup-full.user: "frappe"
    ofelia.job-exec.backup-full.no-overlap: "true"

Common Schedules

# Interval syntax (recommended for sub-daily)
@every 1h        # Every hour
@every 2h        # Every 2 hours
@every 30m       # Every 30 minutes

# Standard cron format (for specific times)
0 3 * * *        # Daily at 3 AM
0 3 * * 0        # Weekly on Sunday at 3 AM
0 0,12 * * *     # Twice daily (midnight and noon)

References:

• Go cron intervals
• Cron format generator

---

🗂️ S3 Structure & Environment Segregation

s3://erp-is-backup/
├── production/              ← ENV_PREFIX=production
│   └── erp.example.com/
│       └── 2025-11-20/      ← Single date folder
│           ├── 20251120_120000-database.sql.gz
│           ├── 20251120_120000-files.tar
│           └── 20251120_120000-site_config_backup.json
├── staging/                 ← ENV_PREFIX=staging
├── development/             ← ENV_PREFIX=development
└── local/                   ← ENV_PREFIX=local

Set environment:

ENV_PREFIX=production    # For production
ENV_PREFIX=staging       # For staging
ENV_PREFIX=local         # For local dev

---

⚙️ Configuration

File: backup/backup.env

Essential Settings

# Credentials (MUST CHANGE)
S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your_key_here
S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your_secret_here

# S3 Config
S3_ENDPOINT_URL=https://blr1.digitaloceanspaces.com
S3_BUCKET_NAME=erp-is-backup
S3_REGION=blr1

# Environment
ENV_PREFIX=production

# Schedule (configured in compose.backup-s3.yaml)
# See "Dual Schedule" section for details

# What to backup
BACKUP_WITH_FILES=1              # 1=DB+files, 0=DB only
BACKUP_COMPRESS=1                # Compress SQL (recommended)

# Sites
BACKUP_SITES=erp.localhost

# Retention
BACKUP_RETENTION_DAYS=7          # Local retention
S3_BACKUP_RETENTION_DAYS=30      # S3 retention

---

🛠️ Management Commands

cd production/backup

# Service control
./manage-backups.sh start        # Start backup services
./manage-backups.sh stop         # Stop backup services
./manage-backups.sh restart      # Restart services

# Operations
./manage-backups.sh test         # Run backup now
./manage-backups.sh status       # Check status
./manage-backups.sh logs         # View logs
./manage-backups.sh list-s3      # List S3 backups
./manage-backups.sh validate     # Validate config

# Interactive setup
./manage-backups.sh setup        # Configuration wizard

---

📋 Example Configurations

Dual Schedule: Hourly DB + Daily Full (Recommended)

# backup.env
ENV_PREFIX=production
BACKUP_SITES=erp.localhost
BACKUP_WITH_FILES=0              # Default (overridden by cron)
BACKUP_COMPRESS=1
BACKUP_RETENTION_DAYS=1          # Keep local 1 day
S3_BACKUP_RETENTION_DAYS=5       # Keep S3 5 days

# Schedules are in compose.backup-s3.yaml:
# - Hourly: BACKUP_WITH_FILES=0 (DB only)
# - Daily 3AM: BACKUP_WITH_FILES=1 (Full)

High-Traffic Production

# Note: Schedule is set in compose.backup-s3.yaml, not in backup.env
ENV_PREFIX=production
BACKUP_WITH_FILES=1
S3_BACKUP_RETENTION_DAYS=90

# In compose.backup-s3.yaml:
# ofelia.job-exec.backup-db.schedule: "@every 2h"

Staging/Dev

ENV_PREFIX=staging
BACKUP_WITH_FILES=0              # DB only
S3_BACKUP_RETENTION_DAYS=14

# In compose.backup-s3.yaml:
# ofelia.job-exec.backup-daily.schedule: "0 3 * * *"

---

🔄 Restore Process

Download from S3

# List backups
aws s3 ls s3://erp-is-backup/production/erp.localhost/ --recursive \
    --endpoint-url=https://blr1.digitaloceanspaces.com

# Download specific backup
aws s3 cp s3://erp-is-backup/production/erp.localhost/2025-11-20/backup.sql.gz . \
    --endpoint-url=https://blr1.digitaloceanspaces.com

Restore Database

# Copy to container
docker cp backup.sql.gz erpnext-production-backend:/tmp/

# Restore
docker compose -p erpnext-production exec backend \
    bench --site erp.localhost --force restore /tmp/backup.sql.gz

Restore with Files

docker compose -p erpnext-production exec backend \
    bench --site erp.localhost --force restore \
    --with-public-files /tmp/files.tar \
    --with-private-files /tmp/private-files.tar \
    /tmp/backup.sql.gz

---

🔍 Monitoring

Check Status

./manage-backups.sh status

# Or manually
docker ps | grep backup
docker compose -p erpnext-production logs -f backup-cron

View Recent Backups

# Local backups
docker compose -p erpnext-production exec scheduler \
    ls -lht /home/frappe/frappe-bench/sites/*/private/backups/ | head -10

# S3 backups
./manage-backups.sh list-s3

---

📁 File Structure

production/
├── backup/                          ← All backup configs here
│   ├── backup.env                   ← Main configuration
│   ├── compose.backup-s3.yaml       ← Docker compose override
│   ├── backup-to-s3.sh             ← S3 backup script
│   ├── backup-site.sh              ← Local backup script
│   └── manage-backups.sh           ← Management helper
│
├── backups/                         ← Local backup storage
│   └── {timestamp}-{site}-*.{sql.gz|tar|json}
│
├── scripts/                         ← Other scripts
└── docs/                           ← This documentation

---

🚨 Troubleshooting

Services Not Running

./manage-backups.sh restart
docker ps -a | grep backup

S3 Upload Fails

• Check credentials in backup.env
• Verify bucket exists in Digital Ocean
• Test connection: ./manage-backups.sh validate

No Backups Created

# Verify site name
docker compose -p erpnext-production exec backend bench list-apps

# Check site in backup.env matches actual site
grep BACKUP_SITES backup.env

# Run with debug
docker compose -p erpnext-production exec scheduler bash -c "
    export BACKUP_DEBUG=1
    /bin/bash /usr/local/bin/backup-to-s3.sh
"

AWS CLI Missing

Script auto-installs, but if issues:

docker compose -p erpnext-production exec scheduler bash -c "
    pip3 install --user awscli --upgrade
    export PATH=\"\$HOME/.local/bin:\$PATH\"
    aws --version
"

---

🔐 Security

# Protect credentials
chmod 600 backup/backup.env

# Gitignore
echo "production/backup/backup.env" >> .gitignore

# Use Digital Ocean IAM
# Create dedicated API keys with bucket-only access

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💡 Best Practices

1. Test Restores - Regularly test restore in staging
2. Monitor Sizes - Check backup sizes, adjust file inclusion
3. Environment Prefix - Always use for clarity
4. Start Conservative - Begin with less frequent, increase as needed
5. Document Changes - Note when you modify backup config

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Storage Estimates

Frequency	With Files	DB Only	Monthly (30d)
Hourly	~200MB × 24 = 4.8GB/day	~50MB × 24 = 1.2GB/day	144GB / 36GB
Every 6h	~200MB × 4 = 800MB/day	~50MB × 4 = 200MB/day	24GB / 6GB
Daily	~200MB × 1 = 200MB/day	~50MB × 1 = 50MB/day	6GB / 1.5GB

Your Config (Hourly DB + Daily Full):

• Hourly DB: ~50MB × 24 = 1.2GB/day
• Daily Full: ~200MB × 1 = 200MB/day
• Total: ~1.4GB/day = ~42GB/month (30 day retention)

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Support & Resources

• Digital Ocean Spaces Docs
• Ofelia Cron Scheduler
• ERPNext Backup Docs
• Cron Schedule Generator

Management Script:

./manage-backups.sh help