Scheduling Backups

Backups only protect you if they run regularly. Without automation, it’s easy to forget to run one, and the backup you didn’t run is the one you’ll wish you had when something goes wrong. The fix is to run plakar backup automatically on a schedule.

We can schedule backups using operating system tools such as:

• cron: available on virtually every Linux and macOS system.
• systemd timers: the recommended option on modern Linux distributions.
• launchd: the native scheduler on macOS.
• Windows Task Scheduler: the native scheduler on Windows.

Using the OS scheduler means your backups appear alongside every other scheduled job on the machine, with the logging, monitoring, and failure handling your platform already provides.

Create a configuration entry for your Kloset store, then create the store itself:

$ plakar store add mybackups /var/backups passphrase=mysuperpassphrase
$ plakar at "@mybackups" create

This is the most important step. A scheduled job runs without a terminal, so if Plakar has to prompt for the store passphrase the job will simply fail. You must supply the passphrase non-interactively. Pick one of the following:

• Store it in the configuration (simplest). The passphrase=mysuperpassphrase option above writes the passphrase into stores.yml. Plakar reads it automatically, so the scheduled command needs nothing extra.

• Retrieve it with a command (recommended for production). Set passphrase_cmd instead of passphrase, pointing at a command that prints the passphrase, so the secret can come from a keychain or a secrets manager rather than a file:

  $ plakar store add mybackups /var/backups passphrase_cmd="gopass show mystore/passphrase"

• Use a key file. Pass -keyfile /path/to/key as a flag . Plakar reads the passphrase from that file. This flag overrides PLAKAR_PASSPHRASE if both are set.

• Use an environment variable. Export PLAKAR_PASSPHRASE in the job’s environment.

Every scheduler below runs the same command. Back up a path into the store and verify the result:

$ plakar at "@mybackups" backup -check /var/www

-check runs a full integrity check after the backup is completed.

Follow the guide for the scheduler on your platform:

After the first scheduled run, confirm snapshots are being created:

$ plakar at "@mybackups" ls

For monitoring and alerting, rely on the exit status: plakar backup returns 0 on success and a non-zero code on failure.