Backups and Restore

What needs to be backed up

Data	Volume / Location	Criticality
MakerLab domain data	makerlab_postgres Docker volume	Critical
Snipe-IT database	snipeit_db_data Docker volume	Critical
Snipe-IT file storage	snipeit_storage Docker volume	High
Environment files	apps/api/.env, infra/db/.env.postgres, infra/snipeit/.env.snipeit	Critical
TLS certificates	infra/nginx/certs/	High

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PostgreSQL backup

Create a backup

# Backup to a SQL dump file
docker compose -f infra/docker/docker-compose.yml exec postgres \
  pg_dump -U makerlab -d makerlab -F c -f /tmp/makerlab_backup.dump

# Copy the file out of the container
docker cp makerlab-postgres:/tmp/makerlab_backup.dump ./backups/makerlab_$(date +%Y%m%d).dump

Or using pg_dumpall for all databases:

docker compose -f infra/docker/docker-compose.yml exec postgres \
  pg_dumpall -U makerlab > ./backups/makerlab_all_$(date +%Y%m%d).sql

Restore PostgreSQL

# Stop the API to avoid writes during restore
docker compose -f infra/docker/docker-compose.yml stop api

# Restore from dump
docker cp ./backups/makerlab_YYYYMMDD.dump makerlab-postgres:/tmp/restore.dump
docker compose -f infra/docker/docker-compose.yml exec postgres \
  pg_restore -U makerlab -d makerlab -c /tmp/restore.dump

# Restart the API
docker compose -f infra/docker/docker-compose.yml start api

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MariaDB / Snipe-IT backup

Create a backup

# Backup MariaDB
docker compose -f infra/docker/docker-compose.yml exec snipeit-db \
  mysqldump -u root -p<MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD> snipeit > ./backups/snipeit_$(date +%Y%m%d).sql

Replace <MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD> with the value from infra/snipeit/.env.snipeit.

Restore MariaDB

docker cp ./backups/snipeit_YYYYMMDD.sql snipeit-db-container:/tmp/restore.sql
docker compose -f infra/docker/docker-compose.yml exec snipeit-db \
  mysql -u root -p<MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD> snipeit < /tmp/restore.sql

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Snipe-IT file storage

Snipe-IT stores uploaded files (images, documents) in the snipeit_storage Docker volume.

Backup

# Find the volume path
docker volume inspect deti_maker_lab_snipeit_storage

# Or copy from container
docker run --rm -v snipeit_storage:/data -v $(pwd)/backups:/backup \
  alpine tar czf /backup/snipeit_storage_$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz -C /data .

Restore

docker run --rm -v snipeit_storage:/data -v $(pwd)/backups:/backup \
  alpine tar xzf /backup/snipeit_storage_YYYYMMDD.tar.gz -C /data

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Environment file backups

Store the following files securely (not in version control):

• apps/api/.env
• infra/db/.env.postgres
• infra/snipeit/.env.snipeit
• infra/nginx/certs/selfsigned.crt (or real cert)
• infra/nginx/certs/selfsigned.key (or real key)

warning

These files contain secrets. Store backups in an encrypted location. Do not commit them to version control.

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Backup schedule recommendations

Backup type	Recommended frequency
PostgreSQL full backup	Daily
MariaDB full backup	Daily
Snipe-IT file storage	Weekly
Environment files	After any change

Consider automating backups with a cron job or a backup tool (e.g., restic, borgbackup).

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Testing restores

Periodically test that your backups can be restored:

1. Spin up a separate test environment.
2. Restore a backup.
3. Verify that the application starts and data is accessible.
4. Verify that Snipe-IT loads and assets are visible.

A backup that has never been tested should not be trusted.