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BackupBlueprint

What is BackupBlueprint

Stash uses 1-1 mapping among Repository, BackupConfiguration and the target. So, whenever you want to backup a target(workload/PV/PVC/database), you have to create a Repository and BackupConfiguration object. This could become tiresome when you are trying to backup similar types of target and the Repository and BackupConfiguration has only slight difference. To mitigate this problem, Stash provides a way to specify a blueprint for these two objects via BackupBlueprint crd.

A BackupBlueprint is a Kubernetes CustomResourceDefinition(CRD) which specifies a blueprint for Repository and BackupConfiguration in a Kubernetes native way.

You have to create only one BackupBlueprint for all similar types of workloads (i.e. Deployment, DaemonSet, StatefulSet etc.). Then, you just need to add some annotations in the target workload. Stash will automatically create respective Repository, BackupConfiguration object using the blueprint. In Stash parlance, we call this process as auto backup.

BackupBlueprint CRD Specification

Like any official Kubernetes resource, a BackupBlueprint has TypeMeta, ObjectMeta and Spec sections. However, unlike other Kubernetes resources, it does not have a Status section.

A sample BackupBlueprint object to auto backup the volumes of a Deployment is shown below,

apiVersion: stash.appscode.com/v1beta1
kind: BackupBlueprint
metadata:
  name: workload-backup-blueprint
spec:
  # ============== Blueprint for Repository ==========================
  backend:
    gcs:
      bucket: stash-backup
      prefix: stash/${TARGET_NAMESPACE}/${TARGET_KIND}/${TARGET_NAME}
    storageSecretName: gcs-secret
  wipeOut: false
  # ============== Blueprint for BackupConfiguration =================
  schedule: "* * * * *"
  backupHistoryLimit: 3
  # task: # no task section is required for workload data backup
  #   name: workload-backup
  runtimeSettings:
    container:
      securityContext:
        runAsUser: 2000
        runAsGroup: 2000
  tempDir:
    medium: "Memory"
    size:  "1Gi"
    disableCache: false
  retentionPolicy:
    name: 'keep-last-5'
    keepLast: 5
    prune: true

The sample BackupBlueprint that has been shown above can be used to backup Deployments, DaemonSets, StatefulSets, ReplicaSets and ReplicationControllers. You only have to add some annotations to these workloads. For more details on how auto backup works in Stash, please visit here.

Here, we are going to describe the various sections of BackupBlueprint crd.

BackupBlueprint Spec

We can divide BackupBlueprint’s .spec section into two parts. One part specifies a blueprint for Repository object and other specifies a blueprint for BackupConfiguration object.

Repository Blueprint

You can configure Repository blueprint using spec.backend field and spec.wipeOut field.

• spec.backend : spec.backend field is backend specification similar to spec.backend field of a Repository crd. There is only one difference. You can now templatize prefix section (subPath for local volume) of the backend to store backed up data of different workloads at different directory. You can use the following variables to templatize spec.backend field:

The following variables are available only for database backup.

If you use the sample BackupBlueprint that has been shown above to backup a Deployment named my-deploy of test namespace, the backed up data will be stored in stash/test/deployment/my-deploy directory of the stash-backup bucket. Similarly, if you want to backup a StatefulSet with name my-sts of same namespace, the backed up data will be stored in /stash/test/statefulset/my-sts directory of the backend.

• spec.backend.<backend type>.storageSecretName: specifies the name of the secret that holds the access credentials to the backend.

Note: BackupBlueprint is a non-namespaced crd. So, you can use a BackupBlueprint to backup targets in multiple namespaces. However, Storage Secret is a namespaced object. So, you have to manually create the secret in each namespace where you have a target for backup.

• spec.wipeOut : spec.wipeOut indicates whether Stash should delete the respective backed up data from the backend if a user deletes a Repository crd. For more details, please visit here.

BackupConfiguration Blueprint

You can provide a blueprint for the BackupConfiguration object that will be created for respective target using the following fields:

• spec.schedule : spec.schedule is the schedule that will be used to create BackupConfiguration for respective target. For more details, please visit here.

• spec.backupHistoryLimit : spec.backupHistoryLimit specifies a limit for backup history to keep for debugging purposes. For more details, please visit here.

• spec.task : spec.task specifies the name and the parameters of Task to use to backup the target. You can template the name field with TARGET_APP_VERSION variable for database backup. Stash will replace this variable with respective database version. This will allow you to backup multiple database versions with the same BackupBlueprint. For more details, please check the following guide.

• spec.runtimeSettings : spec.runtimeSettings allows to configure runtime environment for backup sidecar or job. For more details, please visit here.

• spec.tempDir : spec.tempDir specifies the temporary volume setting that will be used to create respective BackupConfiguration object. For more details, please visit here.

• spec.interimVolumeTemplate : spec.interimVolumeTemplate specifies a PVC template for holding data temporarily before uploading to the backend. For more details, please visit here.

• spec.retentionPolicy : spec.retentionPolicy specifies the retention policies that will be used to create respective BackupConfiguration object. For more details, please visit here.

Next Steps

• Learn how to use BackupBlueprint for auto backup of workloads data from here.
• Learn how to use BackupBlueprint for auto backup of database from here.
• Learn how to use BackupBlueprint for auto backup of stand-alone PVC from here.