Backups

Services are automatically backed up nightly using restic to Backblaze B2. Backup targets are auto-discovered from data.sqlite/data.postgres/data.files declarations in mkService modules.

Schedule

• Time: 02:00 AM daily
• Random delay: 0–2 hours (spreads load across services)
• Retention: 3 snapshots, 7 daily, 5 weekly, 12 monthly

CLI

The atelier-backup command provides an interactive TUI:

sudo atelier-backup              # Interactive menu
sudo atelier-backup status       # Show backup status for all services
sudo atelier-backup list         # Browse snapshots
sudo atelier-backup backup       # Trigger manual backup
sudo atelier-backup restore      # Interactive restore wizard
sudo atelier-backup dr           # Disaster recovery mode

Service integration

Automatic (mkService)

Services using mkService with data.* declarations get automatic backup:

mkService {
  name = "myapp";
  extraConfig = cfg: {
    atelier.services.myapp.data = {
      sqlite = "${cfg.dataDir}/data/app.db";  # Auto WAL checkpoint + stop/start
      files = [ "${cfg.dataDir}/uploads" ];    # Just backed up, no hooks
    };
  };
}

The backup system automatically checkpoints SQLite WAL, stops the service during backup, and restarts after completion.

Manual registration

For services not using mkService:

atelier.backup.services.myservice = {
  paths = [ "/var/lib/myservice" ];
  exclude = [ "*.log" "cache/*" ];
  preBackup = "systemctl stop myservice";
  postBackup = "systemctl start myservice";
};

Disaster recovery

On a fresh NixOS install:

1. Rebuild from flake: nixos-rebuild switch --flake .#hostname
2. Run: sudo atelier-backup dr
3. All services restored from latest snapshots

Setup

1. Create a B2 bucket and application key
2. Create agenix secrets for restic/password, restic/env, restic/repo
3. Enable: atelier.backup.enable = true;

See modules/nixos/services/restic/README.md for full setup details.