ethanpil

I disagree with you. In any case, I never asked for a hot backup solution. Just documentation on how to backup and restore. I've made my point, Limetech doesn't seem to care about this, and seems like customers don't either.

It's unreasonable to ask for official documentation on how to fully backup and restore my configuration?

Here is all the evidence I need to prove my point. Where did you get the information about app data? What if you did want to back up your VMs because you started to use them seriously? This information should be officially provided by line tech. That's the minimum I'm requesting, I'm shocked that no one else sees this or cares.

I don't agree. Unraid users are power users. We wouldn't be here otherwise. We run duplicity, duplicati, s3cmd, etc and all kinds of other configurations to backup array data and everything else we can rig up. We are capable, but we need to have an official and updated DOCUMENTATION of what needs to be backed up, how to back it up and how to restore it. What is needed is the knowledge to be able to backup and restore (and test the system). Really, without official backup and restore Unraid becomes a toy. I dint understand why there is resistance to this notion that we should be informed and prepared for the inevitable. Limetech claims on the homepage that Unraid allows users "to have ultimate control over their data" and thats nice, and Unraid is a great product. Ultimately, however, if Limetech doesnt share and maintain the knowledge of how we can backup and restore our systems perfectly, or perhaps doesn't provide that, then we have no control at all. Documentation is a minimum, import/export tools/scripts will go the extra mile. Silence and third party support are cop outs.

Well, all of the above are very nice, unofficial suggestions and recommendations that may work. I'm simply asking for some OFFICIAL, definitive documentation (or better - tools) to ensure our reliance on Unraid for all personal data are safe and sound.

Where do you learn to do this backup "as little as a copy/paste" Did you see it in official documentation? As I said above AT MINIMUM i'm requesting/stating that Limetech needs to add a page to their wiki that is tested and maintained with each release so we have a (semi?) guaranteed disaster recover path.. Example below. Better yet, some OFFICIALLY SUPPORTED tools to make these things easier. We already have some of them officially (flash tool) and some unofficially (CA Appdata Backup, etc) "How to Backup and Restore Your Unraid Box" 1. Flash Drive Backup - Use the backup tool Restore - ... 2. Array Data Backup - make a copy of everything in /mnt/user Restore ... 3. Plugins and Configuration Included in flash backup 3. Dockers ... 4. VMs ..

Maybe you misunderstand. It doesn't need to be a live backup, but it does need to be automated. If I need to shutdown the hypervisor or docker engine to make a reliable backup, by all means, we can do a shutdown, backup and restart. Very reasonable. I dont need VMWare enterprise level hot backups for Unraid. But even the free VM tools all allow import/export of VMs...

Unraid is obviously a tool we rely on for data storage and integrity. Parity and regular array data backups are also necessary and self-explanatory on how to perform. Even the flash backup is basically perfect. The issue is all of the other stuff we spend hours setting up, debugging, tweaking, etc. Particularly, Dockers and VMss. There is no official way to backup and restore all of this configuration. We rely on third party plugins. That is what I think is unacceptable. There should be a path to backup and restore ALL data in my unraid box. Even if there isn't an official tool, at a distant second best, there should be at minimum, official documentation for every release on how to do this. So I can make sure I have ALL of my data and configurations safe from disaster, with a path to recovery. Honestly, I am shocked that the community wouldn't demand this, and is happy to rely on unofficial third party tools which can become instantly unsupported or abandoned...

Thanks for the "official" answer. I understand that "backup is a business in and of itself" and certainly a fully integrated backup/restore solution is a complex feature to add and might take some time. In my humble opinion, keeping our data and configuration safe this should be a priority for a company whose core product is a data storage and archiving tool. Unraid is an excellent, mature tool that has an amazing combination power and flexibility. This is the last weakness that needs to be addressed. You may have missed my core point. Its easy to backup array data, I think everyone gets that. The real impetus here is that we should be informed/able to completely backup and restore all of our configurations for Unraid INCLUDING VM and Docker settings and data even if it has to be done manually until the official tool is developed. Otherwise our work and efforts setting up and configuring Unraid can go to waste. Even the blog post you mentioned only covers backup of array data. There is a glaring omission everywhere in regards to docker and VMs. Just look at my original post, search reddit, etc. This is a common question without any official or reliable solution. I don't think anyone needs another tutorial on backing up array data, its the other proprietary Limetech magic that we need to be able to backup/restore. The USB image backup is 90% of the way there. Thanks for listening. So, how can I backup and restore my Dockers and VMs?

@limetech@Squid@ich777 Hey Bosses... will you address this issue? If its too complex to build into the roadmap for whatever reason, can you fully document the backup and restore process for all Unraid functions and data in an official capacity so we can have peace of mind for disaster recovery?

This proves my point. Why can't we have a simple built in solution that covers "everything" without exception? How do we backup and restore VM settings and why does this need to be a separate process?

Unraid is a great tool, making very complex system administration functions seem like playtime. This is wonderful, and every release keeps adding great new features. One thing that I think is sorely missing is an official backup & restore tools and guide. I know there are many forum posts and guides and plugins, and even a flash backup tool built in. None of this makes it easy or clear on how to properly backup ALL the configuration and data in a simple and safe way. Obviously, the shares are critical, and backup of this data should be handled by standard backup tools. What I am talking about is a way to export/import/migrate: Configuration Settings Installed Plugins and their configuration Docker settings VM settings Users and Share settings per user I think it would be useful and provide peace of mind if there was an official tool (or at least an official updated guide on how) to backup and reproduce an unraid system upon failure or desire to migrate hardware. Unraid is a digital hoarders paradise. But how to we make a copy of paradise! Clearly, there is a need for this, something that covers everything, OFFICIALLY. Here is just a sampling of people trying to figure out how to do this with a hodgepodge of solutions: https://forums.unraid.net/topic/72090-backing-up-the-unraid-server/ https://forums.unraid.net/topic/86303-vm-backup-plugin/ https://forums.unraid.net/topic/61211-plugin-ca-appdata-backup-restore-v2/ https://forums.unraid.net/topic/81233-unraid-671-easy-way-to-backup-and-restore-specific-dockers https://forums.unraid.net/topic/102669-unraid-backup-strategy https://forums.unraid.net/topic/81740-a-reliable-backup-solution-with-gui-ca-backup-restore-or-duplicati/ https://forums.unraid.net/topic/79539-best-way-to-backup-unraid-config https://forums.unraid.net/topic/100202-latest-super-easy-method-for-automated-flash-zip-backup https://forums.unraid.net/topic/68970-kvm-backups-snapshots https://www.reddit.com/r/unRAID/comments/dcuxqc/community_backup_methods/ There are probably 100+ threads like this all over the internet.

Sorry to resurrect an old thread. Next question.. How would I restore this?

Can you point me in the right direction? Where can I read up on this?

Just got a brand new Unraid setup and had the problem described in this thread, and this seemed to solve it.

Thanks so much for the excellent work LinuxServer! You really make a huge difference not just in the Unraid community, but to all those who want to quickly and easily get up and running around the world in so many different ways. One request/rant... Is there any way we can allow VNC or Guacamole/RDP? I see this trend on a lot of Dockers recently, but I really don't like Guacamole and have so much with VNC working well, I wish I could just use the same for most/all of my containers. Am I the only one to request the change or option?

Per the Docker documentation, it seems we can specify a hostname for the machine. https://docs.docker.com/config/containers/container-networking/ I am hoping we can give our dockers hostnames which might register with the system DNS. So we can type things like http://jellyfin.tower to access instead of remembering all of the IPs...

But if I use a VM then I need to watch over vnc?

I would love to connect my UnRaid box directly via HDMI to my TV and play files from storage via web/phone app. Or even plex or similar, but instead of stream/transcode to remote, just play it locally with some linuxy video player. Is there any way to do this without VMs, etc?