Docker & Kubernetes
Back up and restore Docker volumes and images, databases in Docker Compose, Coolify, Dokku, Portainer, Kubernetes and k3s clusters and etcd, without copying files out from under a running container.
How to back up and restore Docker volumes
Back up Docker named volumes with a throwaway helper container, restore them into a new volume, move them to another host, and keep the data consistent.
9 min readHow to back up a database running in Docker Compose
Dump PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB or MongoDB from a Compose service to the host with docker compose exec -T, restore it, check it and schedule it with cron.
9 min readHow to back up a Kubernetes cluster with Velero
Install Velero with an S3-compatible bucket, back up namespaces and persistent volumes, schedule backups with retention, and restore into the same or a new cluster.
9 min readHow to back up and restore Coolify
Schedule Coolify's database and volume backups to S3, back up the Coolify instance and its APP_KEY, restore a dump, and move Coolify to a new server.
10 min readHow to back up and restore etcd for a Kubernetes cluster
Take etcd snapshots on a kubeadm control plane with etcdctl, check them with etcdutl, ship them off the node on a timer, and restore them into a new data directory.
8 min readHow to back up and restore Portainer
Back up Portainer with its built-in backup file or its API, copy the portainer_data volume, restore onto a fresh install, and back up your containers' data separately.
9 min readHow to back up and restore a k3s cluster
Back up k3s's SQLite or embedded etcd datastore and its server token, schedule etcd snapshots to S3, restore with --cluster-reset, and back up volume data separately.
9 min readHow to back up Docker images (and when you don't need to)
Decide which Docker images need a copy, save them with docker save, load them on a new host, pin the rest by digest and keep copies in a private registry.
10 min readHow to back up a Dokku server
Back up a Dokku server: database exports and the Postgres plugin's S3 backups, app config, domains, storage mounts and Dokku's own directories, then restore it all on a new server.
10 min read