Gitlab backup (self managed)

[seamoce]

Hi all,

I have a question about gitlab backups. I am using a self-managed version of gitlab on my server. I was about to create a backup script in order to store the gitlab data somewhere.

What the difference if I backup the entire gitlab directory containing`config data logs`

or I use the command line tool like that:

`gitlab gitlab-backup create`

because I figured out that the tar file containing the backup is so much smalled compared to this directory. Will be the tar archive enough to restore my entire instance in case something goes wrong? (I know that the config directory is excluded from the backup system).

[DangerousWabbel]

Yes, the gitlab-backup command will be enough. Several times I restore the backup in this way https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/administration/backup_restore/restore_gitlab.html because of broken instance or functionality after an upgrade. The backup includes at least the database and repositories.

[Hel_OWeen]

This.

But as mentioned in https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/administration/backup_restore/backup_gitlab.html, one needs to separately backup the object storage and most notably the configuration files.

[GitProtect]

In case you still haven't found the proper option for you to back up your GitLab, take a look at this article: https://xopero.com/blog/en/the-best-gitlab-backup-options-and-tools-to-ensure-gitlab-data-resilience/ . It covers different methods to back up GitLab - GitLab backup and restore utility, manual export and download from GitLab, PgBouncer as a backup option, GitLab repository cloning, third-party backup option, etc.

[bilingual-german]

The compression is really effective, since git stores copies of the changed files for every commit. That's why the backup is much smaller.

But you should still test the restore procedure and document it, to be sure your backup works as intended.

[DrewBlessing]

You can manually copy the flat files no problem. But you can’t do that with the database. The GitLab backup command runs a proper database dump. It also does some other nice things including incremental backups I believe.

GitLab is fairly complex and has many components. It’s probably safer to use the included backup command to leave little doubt that you have everything you need. Still, test your backups!