Wikispooks talk:Site Backup

Request to improve backups

How about GZipping the daily .sql dump? This should reduce it by about 2/3 - making for a much easier download. Robin (talk) 02:00, 5 January 2014 (GMT)

Agreed. I too have been mulling backups. I think it would also be better to provide just the SQL dump and the /images directory structure. That would obviate the need to provide the entire suite of MW and its extensions and remove any risk associated with LocalSettings.php. We would need to adjust the instructions a bit so that info about which extensions were mandatory + current version info etc, but it would further reduce both backup size and content complexity. I'll have a look. We'll no doubt need to tweek your script. --Peter P (talk) 09:38, 5 January 2014 (GMT)

I've tweeked your script and tested it - backup.3-2.sh - Seems to be OK. It does 2 backups (images directory and ws.sql to Files-date.zip and sqldump-date.zip) and copies both to -latest and deletes old zips as before. The results of the test are in the backups directory now. Another reason to change to just the sql dump and the images directory is the complex set of exclusions which may need to change. We can easily add the MW script and extension files to a separate backup if necessary. I'll start on revising the instructions if you're happy with this. --Peter P (talk) 15:24, 5 January 2014 (GMT)

Progress

I've been pre-occupied with grandchildren today - will be tomorrow too. The revised shell script tested OK. We now have 3 separate sets of aging backups: the files, the images and the software - needed to incorporate the iframeDocs and ClimateChange directories into the files one so that's why it has grown. I should get the instructions finished tomorrow. I've also set up a cron job to push the files and database backups to another server. If you have one with shell access, just give me access credentials and I'll get them pushed there too if you like. --Peter P (talk) 16:05, 6 January 2014 (GMT)

Good work on this. How about keeping a monthly "all in this file" backup as before - for people who don't want to read but just get everything in one click? Robin (talk) 17:00, 7 January 2014 (GMT)

Difficulties?

It seems like you've decided against the 'unzip and go' approach, suggesting people install extensions manually. This increases the difficulty, as well as looking more daunting. Why the change? Robin (talk) 13:59, 14 January 2014 (GMT)