Velero Backup and Restore Guide

Overview

This guide explains how Velero is used for backup and restore processes in the Sunbird infrastructure. Velero is installed as part of the ED Installer and is used to take entire cluster backups and database-level backups. We use Velero to:

• Schedule and manage database and cluster-wide backups

• Enable volume snapshots for persistent storage

• Restore specific workloads and namespaces as needed

For more detailed features and configurations, refer to the official Velero documentation.

Backup Scheduling

Backups are scheduled using Helm values under the schedules section. You can enable or disable specific schedules, change backup times, and set retention policies.

Example Velero Schedule Config

schedules:
  edcluster-backup:
    disabled: false
    schedule: "0 0 * * *"
    useOwnerReferencesInBackup: false
    template:
      ttl: "240h"
      includedNamespaces:
        - "sunbird"
      snapshotVolumes: true  

  database-backup:
    disabled: true # disabled by default; enable and configure the schedule as per the needs
    schedule: "0 0 * * *"
    useOwnerReferencesInBackup: false
    template:
      ttl: "240h"
      includedNamespaces:
        - "sunbird"
      labelSelector:
        matchExpressions:
          - key: app.kubernetes.io/name
            operator: In
            values:
              - cassandra
              - neo4j
              - redis
              - postgresql
      snapshotVolumes: true

Restoring from Backup

Retrieving Backup Names

To find the backup names in your cluster where Velero is installed, execute the following command:

velero get backups

This will list all the backups available, allowing you to choose the specific <backup-name> for restoration.

Namespace Level Restore

To restore a specific namespace from a backup, use the following command:

velero restore create --from-backup <backup-name> --namespace-mappings <source-namespace>:<target-namespace>

Replace <backup-name>, <source-namespace>, and <target-namespace> with your specific backup and namespace details.

Service Level Restore

For service level restoration, you might need to specify particular resources. Here’s an example command:

velero restore create --from-backup <backup-name> --include-resources <resource-type>

Example: The following command demonstrates how to restore the entire Cassandra service, including all associated resources and volumes:

velero restore create cassandra-restore-test \
  --from-backup <backup-name> \
  --namespace-mappings sunbird:sunbird \
  --selector app.kubernetes.io/name=cassandra \
  --restore-volumes

This ensures that all components of the Cassandra service are restored from the specified backup.

Entire Cluster Restore

To restore the entire cluster from a backup, execute the following command:

velero restore create --from-backup <backup-name>

Replace <backup-name> with the name of your specific backup to initiate a full cluster restoration.

References:

1. Velero - https://velero.io/docs/main/