Backup of Unraid Array Configuration & other critical files

[nmethod]

Hi Folks,

 

I've been searching the forum and I still have a few questions. I'm trying to prepare for the worst case scenario which would result in me having to rebuild my unraid system from scratch (and of course, have no data loss).

 

From forum posts I've read, I see "Community Applications" recommended to backup flash and files. I have this plugin but don't see any option where I can actually perform a backup of the flash/array files... Am I missing something?

 

Thanks!

[trurl]

Backup flash:

 

Main - Boot Device - Flash - Flash Device Settings - Flash backup

 

This downloads a zip file with all of the flash contents. The flash contains all of your configuration, including disk assignments.

 

There is no one way to backup array files probably because no one way will suit every user. There are numerous ways to copy from user shares or from actual disks to disks outside the array or to other computers. You might take a look in Community Applications and see if anything there suits your purposes.

 

Probably the most straightforward way is using rsync from the command line or script, since that allows you to specify sources and destinations with a lot of options. Rsync is a builtin linux command which is well documented on the internet.

[trurl]

Community Applications is just a way to install dockers and plugins. It doesn't actually do any backup itself. You can install the CA Backup plugin which has the ability to backup flash and your appdata.

 

Some other possible ideas are in the script samples for the User Scripts and Unassigned Devices plugins.

[showstopper]

On 3/5/2018 at 8:57 PM, trurl said:

Backup flash:

 

Main - Boot Device - Flash - Flash Device Settings - Flash backup

 

This downloads a zip file with all of the flash contents. The flash contains all of your configuration, including disk assignments.

 

There is no one way to backup array files probably because no one way will suit every user. There are numerous ways to copy from user shares or from actual disks to disks outside the array or to other computers. You might take a look in Community Applications and see if anything there suits your purposes.

 

Probably the most straightforward way is using rsync from the command line or script, since that allows you to specify sources and destinations with a lot of options. Rsync is a builtin linux command which is well documented on the internet.

 

 

Sorry to bring up a slightly old post...

 

I have duplicati backing up the files that i absolutely cannot lose. I have also backed up the flash config. Is there anything else that i should be backing up, in terms of unraid? I have seen people saying to backup appdata - wondering if it is needed?

[trurl]

4 hours ago, showstopper said:

I have seen people saying to backup appdata - wondering if it is needed?

 

Would it matter to you if you lost everything in appdata? Typically appdata contains the working storage of dockers. So, for example, if you have a plex docker that is where it keeps its database, and if you lost it you would have to reinstall plex and it wouldn't remember anything about your media.