GNet Solutions » GNU/Linux Administration

Create a backup of the GitLab system¶

A backup creates an archive file that contains the database, all repositories and all attachments. This archive will be saved in backup_path (see config/gitlab.yml). The filename will be [TIMESTAMP]_gitlab_backup.tar. This timestamp can be used to restore an specific backup. You can only restore a backup to exactly the same version of GitLab that you created it on, for example 7.2.1.

1. Backup installation from source
   

   bundle exec rake gitlab:backup:create RAILS_ENV=production
   

• Example output:
  

  Dumping database tables:
  - Dumping table events... [DONE]
  - Dumping table issues... [DONE]
  - Dumping table keys... [DONE]
  - Dumping table merge_requests... [DONE]
  - Dumping table milestones... [DONE]
  - Dumping table namespaces... [DONE]
  - Dumping table notes... [DONE]
  - Dumping table projects... [DONE]
  - Dumping table protected_branches... [DONE]
  - Dumping table schema_migrations... [DONE]
  - Dumping table services... [DONE]
  - Dumping table snippets... [DONE]
  - Dumping table taggings... [DONE]
  - Dumping table tags... [DONE]
  - Dumping table users... [DONE]
  - Dumping table users_projects... [DONE]
  - Dumping table web_hooks... [DONE]
  - Dumping table wikis... [DONE]
  Dumping repositories:
  - Dumping repository abcd... [DONE]
  Creating backup archive: $TIMESTAMP_gitlab_backup.tar [DONE]
  Deleting tmp directories...[DONE]
  Deleting old backups... [SKIPPING]
  

Storing configuration files¶

Please be informed that a backup does not store your configuration files. If you have a manual installation please consider backing up your gitlab.yml file and any SSL keys and certificates.

Restore a previously created backup¶

NOTE: You can only restore a backup to exactly the same version of GitLab that you created it on, for example 7.2.1.

1. Restore backup of installation from source
   

   bundle exec rake gitlab:backup:restore RAILS_ENV=production
   

   • Options:
     

     BACKUP=timestamp_of_backup (required if more than one backup exists)
     

   • Example output:
     

     Unpacking backup... [DONE]
     Restoring database tables:
     -- create_table("events", {:force=>true})
        -> 0.2231s
     [...]
     - Loading fixture events...[DONE]
     - Loading fixture issues...[DONE]
     - Loading fixture keys...[SKIPPING]
     - Loading fixture merge_requests...[DONE]
     - Loading fixture milestones...[DONE]
     - Loading fixture namespaces...[DONE]
     - Loading fixture notes...[DONE]
     - Loading fixture projects...[DONE]
     - Loading fixture protected_branches...[SKIPPING]
     - Loading fixture schema_migrations...[DONE]
     - Loading fixture services...[SKIPPING]
     - Loading fixture snippets...[SKIPPING]
     - Loading fixture taggings...[SKIPPING]
     - Loading fixture tags...[SKIPPING]
     - Loading fixture users...[DONE]
     - Loading fixture users_projects...[DONE]
     - Loading fixture web_hooks...[SKIPPING]
     - Loading fixture wikis...[SKIPPING]
     Restoring repositories:
     - Restoring repository abcd... [DONE]
     Deleting tmp directories...[DONE]
     

• Configure cron to make daily backups:
  

  cd /home/git/gitlab
  sudo -u git -H editor config/gitlab.yml # Enable keep_time in the backup section to automatically delete old backups
  sudo -u git crontab -e # Edit the crontab for the git user
  

• Add the following lines at the bottom:
  

  # Create a full backup of the GitLab repositories and SQL database every day at 2am
  0 2 * * * cd /home/git/gitlab && PATH=/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin bundle exec rake gitlab:backup:create RAILS_ENV=production
  

Resources¶

• https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/blob/master/doc/raketasks/backup_restore.md