What is the Best to Way to Backup UnRaid and which files are a must have?

[Ricardo Maranhao]

Hi guys, pretty new (3 months) of having a unraid server. 

 

For what i've seen that must have folder/files are:

• appdata
• Flash drive config folder

 

For the appdata i'm using the Backup/Restore Appdata and sending it the my other PC thru a remote share.

 

For the flash drive config folder, what can i do to backup it?

 

Is there any other file/folder that is a MUST HAVE to backup to insure safety to my unraid server?

 

Thanks guys!

[itimpi]

8 minutes ago, Ricardo Maranhao said:

For the flash drive config folder, what can i do to backup it?

 

There is the manual backup option available if you click on the drive on the ‘main tab.   Automated backups can be done via the My Servers or CA Backup plugins.

[Ricardo Maranhao]

Just now, itimpi said:

There is the manual backup option available if you click on the drive on the ‘main tab.   Automated backups can be done via the My Servers or CA Backup plugins (the latter also does appdata).

 

Is there any other thing that i should backup as well? Or these only two are enought?

 

Maybe the domains for the VMS?

The system one with the docker and libvert for the docker containers?

[tormi]

@Ricardo Maranhao did you get an answer somewhere to this question?

I would also like to know what I need to backup to be able to restore the most necessary files for a working Unraid setup. Is it only the appdata that is needed or is there other things? I have a bunch of containers running and in the future there might be a VM or two.

[ConnerVT]

I can't/won't write up a complete guide (I don't have the time now) but here is what to have on hand that will help you recover from most issues:

 

• Flash drive backup
• Appdata folder backup (assuming all Dockers have their config files in this default location)
• Print/Pic/PDF of Main Tab (shows drive assignments)
• Diagnostic zip file

 

The first two (Flash and Appdata) can be backed up manually (Flash has backup button on Main > flash tab), with Appdata plugin or from Unraid Connect.  Appdata either manually or with the plugin.  The flash drive holds all of the Unraid system configs, as well as your configured Docker templates that you can restore.  Appdata backup has all of the files for your dockers - how you configured the application, databases, metadata, etc.

 

Main tab showing drive assignments helps if you have major array issues and need to figure out which drive was assigned where.

 

Diagnostic files are always good to have on hand, as it gives you a human readable version of many of the configurations and such that may be helpful in a bad system fail.

 

I usually grab a fresh copy of these before a major upgrade (hardware or OS).

[tormi]

@ConnerVT GREAT answer. Thanks alot!

[tmoran000]

Is there a way to back up the Parity drive or make a Snapshot of sorts in case of a catastrophic failure.

[Hoopster]

37 minutes ago, tmoran000 said:

Is there a way to back up the Parity drive or make a Snapshot of sorts in case of a catastrophic failure.

The parity drive contains no data.  There is really nothing to back up.  It is just a "bucket of bits" that contains a zero or a  one in every sector which represents the calculated values of all the data in the same sector on all the data drives.  In a "catastrophic failure" situation, it is highly unlikely that any parity drive snapshot would be valid.  You would want to rebuild the parity drive.  You have to get the data drives back in order before parity is built again.  Backup the data drives and let parity be rebuilt after data is all in order again.

Edited October 25, 2023 by Hoopster