Your First Backup¶

This guide walks you through setting up your first automated backup.

Prerequisites¶

docker-backup daemon running (see Installation)
A container you want to back up (we'll use PostgreSQL as an example)

Step 1: Add Backup Labels¶

Add labels to your container to enable backups:

compose.yml

services:
  postgres:
    image: postgres:16
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER: myuser
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: mypassword
      POSTGRES_DB: myapp
    labels:
      # Enable docker-backup for this container
      - docker-backup.enable=true
      # Define a backup configuration named "db"
      - docker-backup.db.type=postgres
      - docker-backup.db.schedule=0 3 * * *
      - docker-backup.db.retention=7

Label Breakdown¶

Label	Description
`docker-backup.enable=true`	Enables backup discovery for this container
`docker-backup.db.type=postgres`	Use PostgreSQL backup type for config "db"
`docker-backup.db.schedule=0 3 * * *`	Run daily at 3:00 AM
`docker-backup.db.retention=7`	Keep last 7 backups

Step 2: Restart Your Container¶

Apply the labels by recreating the container:

docker compose up -d

Step 3: Verify Discovery¶

Check the docker-backup logs to confirm your container was discovered:

docker logs docker-backup

You should see:

INFO starting docker-backup daemon
INFO container discovered container=postgres backups=1
INFO scheduled backup container=postgres config=db next_run="2024-01-16 03:00:00"

Step 4: Trigger a Manual Backup¶

Don't want to wait for the schedule? Trigger a backup immediately:

# Using the CLI (if running as binary)
docker-backup backup run postgres

# Or via Docker exec
docker exec docker-backup docker-backup backup run postgres

Step 5: Verify the Backup¶

List your backups:

docker-backup backup list postgres

Output:

KEY                                           SIZE      DATE
postgres/db/2024-01-15/143022.sql.gz         1.2 MB    2024-01-15 14:30:22

Total: 1 backup(s)

Step 6: Access the Dashboard¶

If you enabled the dashboard (--dashboard=:8080), open your browser to:

http://localhost:8080

You'll see:

Overview of all monitored containers
Backup configurations and schedules
Recent backup history
Options to trigger, download, or restore backups