How to back up MAAS

While MAAS doesn’t offer specialised backup tools, you can rely on your existing backup solutions. Know the key files and procedures to ensure both a clean backup and a smooth restoration.

For snap installations

Preliminaries

  1. Database backup: Run sudo -u postgres pg_dumpall -c > ~/dump.sql to back up your database.
  2. Active sessions: Confirm no other sessions are active with sudo -u postgres psql -c "SELECT * FROM pg_stat_activity".

Stopping services

  1. Stop PostgreSQL: sudo systemctl stop postgresql.service
  2. Stop MAAS: sudo snap stop maas

Snapshot and export

  1. Take snapshot: Run sudo snap save maas and note the snapshot ID.
  2. Verify snapshot: Check the snapshot with sudo snap check-snapshot <snapshot-id>.
  3. Export snapshot: Use sudo snap export-snapshot <snapshot-id> <external-media-path/snapshot-filename> to save it externally.

Restart and restore

  1. Restart: If continuing to use the system, restart MAAS with sudo snap restart maas.
  2. Clean slate: To reinstall, remove the old instance with sudo snap remove --purge maas.
  3. Restore database: Use sudo -u postgres psql -f dump.sql postgres to restore the database dump.
  4. Restore snapshot: Import and restore the snapshot with sudo snap import-snapshot <external-media-path/snapshot-filename> and sudo snap restore <snapshot-id>.

For package installations

Preliminaries

  1. Database backup: Same as above.
  2. Active sessions: Same as above.

Stopping services

  1. Stop services: Use sudo systemctl stop postgresql.service; sudo systemctl stop maas-dhcpd.service; sudo systemctl stop maas-rackd.service; sudo systemctl stop maas-regiond.service.

Archival

  1. Archive: Use sudo tar cvpzf <some-external-path>/backup.tgz --exclude=/var/lib/maas/boot-resources /etc/maas /var/lib/maas ~/dump.sql to archive essential files and DB dump.

Restoration steps

  1. Initial setup: Begin with a fresh Ubuntu install.
  2. Stop services: Similar to the stopping services step above.
  3. Untar backup: Use sudo tar xvzpf backup.tgz to extract the backup.
  4. Restore database: Same as above.

Copy configs and restart

  1. Move old configs: Use sudo sh -c "mv /etc/maas /etc/_maas; mv /var/lib/maas /var/lib/_maas".
  2. Restore new configs: Use sudo sh -c "cp -prf etc/maas /etc/; cp -prf var/lib/maas /var/lib/".
  3. Restart services: Similar to the restart steps in the Snap installations.

With these steps, you’ll be able to backup and restore your MAAS environment effectively.

Last updated 24 days ago.

Help improve this document in the forum.