Servers and services
Backup role
Last updated: December 2022
Support documentation / Backup role
About
The Backup role provides backup space for websites and runs a separate instance of OpenSSH for data transfers on port 222.
The Backup role can be installed on a server alongside other roles (App, Email, DNS, Database) however, we strongly recommed using a dedicated server to run the backup role. (There is no additional licence cost per server.)
We recommend running the Application and Backup role on different servers. Enhance backups are push backups - the unix user on the web application server is allowed to push to its counterpart on the backup server, however it does not have the ability to create or destroy backup snaphots (that is handled by the control panel server) so the web server could never remove backups from the backup server.
Backup logs can be viewed by running "docker logs orchd" on the control panel server.
To learn more about website backups visit Website backups.
Installing Backup role
ℹ️ To install the Backup role on a server allow port 222 on your firewall and ensure a raw block device is attached to the server you are adding the Backup role too. This might be a RAID array, a single disk, a SAN or any other storage you wish to use. It must be unmounted. It will be formatted with btrfs and any existing data will be deleted.
The Backup role can be installed on an existing or new server.
To add a backup role to a new or existing server:
- Click 'Servers' in the left side bar
- Choose the server that you want to add the backup role to
- Click 'Add role' and select the 'Backup' check box. Complete the form and hit 'Add role'
The Device path should be the path to the block device you wish to use.
The Mount point can be anything which is not currently mounted - we recommend /backups.
ℹ️ You can navigate away from the server page when a service is being installed and you will be notified when the installation is completed.
ℹ️ The Backup role will not automatically be mapped to websites. If you are installing a role which did not previously exist on your Enhance estate and you want to map existing websites to it so they can use the new functionality, use the "Move server" option from the left hand menu.
Dedicated Backup server
The Backup role automatically inherits Enhance's global Service settings.
To configure global Backup role settings:
- Open 'Settings' in the left sidebar
- Select 'Service' settings in the menu
- Navigate to the 'Backup' section.
The following Backup settings can be configured:
Minimum backup age
The minimum time since the last backup was taken required for a website to be backed up again. This setting prevents creating an excessive number of backups.
Max backup age (hours)
The maximum time between backups of a website. This is a target and may be exceeded if your platform has high load.
Maximum backup retention
The length of time a backup is stored before it is deleted from the backup service.
Backup emails
Email accounts will be backed up alongside all website backups.
Maximum concurrent backups
The number of concurrent backups taken per server. If this setting is too low, it may not achieve the 'Maximum backup age'. If too high, this may cause excessive system load.
Allowed backup hours
The hours at which automatic backups will run. This adheres to the local timezone of your Enhance master server.
Optimise Backup role
Configure backups to run during the hours your platform is least used by customers.
To customise your backup times:
- Open ‘Settings’ in the left side bar
- Select ‘Platform’ and ‘Backups’
- Under ‘Allowed backup hours’ toggle on backups to be carried out at the times your platform is least busy
Increase minimum backup age
To customise your minimum backup age:
- Open ‘Settings’ in the left side bar
- Select ‘Platform’ and ‘Backups’
- Under ‘Minimum backup age (Hours)’