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Backups

Regular backups protect your data from hardware failures, accidental deletions, and other disasters. This guide covers what to backup and how to restore your Erugo installation.

Don't skip backups

Without backups, a disk failure or accidental deletion means permanent data loss. Set up automated backups and test restores regularly.

What to Backup

Erugo stores all persistent data in a single directory mounted as a Docker volume. This includes:

  • Database — User accounts, shares, settings, and metadata
  • Uploaded files — All files that have been shared
  • Configuration — Application settings and customizations
  • Custom assets — Logos, backgrounds, and custom themes

Storage Directory Structure

If you followed the Quick Start guide, your storage directory looks like this:

Directory Structure 
erugo-storage/
├── app/
│   ├── database/      # SQLite database
│   ├── uploads/       # Uploaded files
│   └── ...
├── framework/
│   └── cache/         # Application cache
└── logs/              # Application logs
Single directory backup

The beauty of Erugo's architecture is that backing up the entire erugo-storage directory captures everything you need to restore your installation.

Backup Methods

Method 1: Simple Archive

The simplest approach is to create a compressed archive of the storage directory:

Terminal 
# Stop Erugo to ensure data consistency
docker compose down

# Create backup archive
tar -czvf erugo-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz erugo-storage/

# Start Erugo again
docker compose up -d
Stop Erugo during backup

For data consistency, stop the containers before backing up. This prevents files from being modified during the backup process.

Method 2: Rsync

For incremental backups to a remote server, use rsync:

Terminal 
# Sync to remote server
rsync -avz --delete erugo-storage/ user@backup-server:/backups/erugo/

# Or sync to local backup drive
rsync -avz --delete erugo-storage/ /mnt/backup-drive/erugo/

Method 3: Automated with Cron

Set up automated daily backups with a cron job:

backup-erugo.sh 
#!/bin/bash
BACKUP_DIR="/backups/erugo"
ERUGO_DIR="/home/erugo/erugo"
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)

# Create backup directory if it doesn't exist
mkdir -p $BACKUP_DIR

# Stop Erugo
cd $ERUGO_DIR
docker compose down

# Create backup
tar -czvf $BACKUP_DIR/erugo-$DATE.tar.gz erugo-storage/

# Start Erugo
docker compose up -d

# Keep only last 7 backups
ls -t $BACKUP_DIR/erugo-*.tar.gz | tail -n +8 | xargs -r rm

Add to crontab to run daily at 3 AM:

Terminal 
# Edit crontab
crontab -e

# Add this line for daily 3 AM backups
0 3 * * * /home/erugo/backup-erugo.sh >> /var/log/erugo-backup.log 2>&1

Method 4: Cloud Storage

For offsite backups, sync to cloud storage using tools like:

  • rclone — Supports S3, Google Drive, Dropbox, and many more
  • AWS CLI — For Amazon S3
  • gsutil — For Google Cloud Storage
Terminal (rclone example) 
# Configure rclone first: rclone config
# Then sync to cloud storage
rclone sync erugo-storage/ remote:erugo-backups/

Restoring from Backup

To restore Erugo from a backup:

Step 1: Stop Erugo

Terminal 
cd /home/erugo/erugo
docker compose down

Step 2: Remove or Rename Existing Data

Terminal 
# Rename existing data (just in case)
mv erugo-storage erugo-storage-old

Step 3: Extract Backup

Terminal 
# Extract the backup
tar -xzvf /path/to/erugo-backup-20241207.tar.gz

Step 4: Start Erugo

Terminal 
docker compose up -d

Step 5: Verify

Log in to Erugo and verify:

  • User accounts are intact
  • Shares are accessible
  • Settings are correct
  • Uploaded files are present
Test your restores

Periodically test your backup and restore process to ensure it works when you need it. A backup you can't restore from is worthless.

Backup Best Practices

  • Automate backups — Don't rely on remembering to backup manually
  • Use the 3-2-1 rule — Keep 3 copies, on 2 different media, with 1 offsite
  • Test restores regularly — Verify backups actually work
  • Monitor backup jobs — Set up alerts for failed backups
  • Encrypt sensitive backups — Especially for offsite/cloud storage
  • Document your process — So anyone can restore in an emergency

Disaster Recovery

If you need to restore to a completely new server:

  1. Set up a new server with Docker (see Prerequisites)
  2. Create the Erugo directory and docker-compose.yml
  3. Restore the storage directory from backup
  4. Start Erugo with docker compose up -d
  5. Update DNS to point to the new server
  6. Reconfigure your reverse proxy if needed

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