Lab
A Cloud Guru

Backing Up a LXD Server

While there are multiple methods to backing up a LXD server, one way involves creating a second LXD server to work as a live spare that we can failover to should the need arise. This server will contain recent copies of our containers and should be set up to automatically receive these container copies. In this hands-on lab, we'll be doing just that. We'll create a secondary backup server, then write a short Bash script to copy over our backups. This script will then get added to our crontab to run automatically.

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Path Info

Level

Beginner

Duration

30m

Published

Apr 03, 2020

Challenge

Configure the Remote
Log in to the "Backup Remote" server. LXD has already been installed, and only needs to be configured:
```
lxd init
```
Use the default settings until asked if LXD should be available over the network, then type yes. Bind to all addresses and the default port, then set the password to pinehead:
```
Would you like LXD to be available over the network? (yes/no) [default=no]: yes
Address to bind LXD to (not including port) [default=all]:
Port to bind LXD to [default=8443]:
Trust password for new clients: pinehead
Again: pinehead
```
On the LXD server, add the Backup server as a remote:
```
lxc remote add backups 10.0.1.110
```
Challenge

Write a Backup Script
To create a backup, we want to work in two steps: Taking the snapshot and copying over the snapshot over to the backup remote. We also need to remove any existing backup snapshots and containers:
```
#! /bin/bash

containers="web1 db1"

for c in $containers
do
        lxc delete $c/backup &> /dev/null
        lxc snapshot $c backup
        lxc delete backup:$c &> /dev/null
        lxc copy local:${c}/backup backups:$c
done
```
When finished, ensure the script is executable:
```
chmod +x backups.sh
```
Challenge

Add the Script to the Crontab
Add the script to your crontab:
```
crontab -e
```
```
0 0 * * * /home/cloud_user/backups.sh
```

Author

A Cloud Guru

The Cloud Content team comprises subject matter experts hyper focused on services offered by the leading cloud vendors (AWS, GCP, and Azure), as well as cloud-related technologies such as Linux and DevOps. The team is thrilled to share their knowledge to help you build modern tech solutions from the ground up, secure and optimize your environments, and so much more!

What's a lab?

Hands-on Labs are real environments created by industry experts to help you learn. These environments help you gain knowledge and experience, practice without compromising your system, test without risk, destroy without fear, and let you learn from your mistakes. Hands-on Labs: practice your skills before delivering in the real world.