Backups: strategy

In this guide: Backups: strategy. What and how to back up.

A backup only counts if you can restore it. Keep multiple restore points and periodically test restores on a separate machine/environment.

If something goes wrong: check the service is running, listening on the expected port, and that your firewall allows the connection. For web services, `nginx -t` and `journalctl -u nginx` are good starting points. A solid baseline is 3-2-1 (3 copies, 2 media types, 1 off-site).

For production you should decide upfront: where backups live, how many restore points you keep (retention), and how you will restore during an incident. Do this before the data becomes critical.

Below you’ll find a quick checklist, verification commands, and common pitfalls. This helps you not only “do it”, but also confirm what a correct outcome looks like.

Quick checklist

• Keep an off-site copy.
• Encrypt backups if they include personal data/credentials.
• Regularly test restores on a separate environment.
• Make one small change at a time and verify the result immediately.
• Keep notes of what you changed (file/command/time).

Verify the result

# Verify / sanity checks
ls -lah | head -n 50
sha256sum --version >/dev/null 2>&1 && echo 'sha256sum: ok' || true
# Example restore test (adjust paths)
# tar -tf backup.tar.gz | head

Common pitfalls

• Backups exist, restores don’t (never tested).
• Keeping the only copy on the same server.

• Data + configs.
• Off-site storage.
• Test restores.