Cross-Cluster Backup and Restore

This guide will show you how to take backup and restore across clusters using Stash.

Before You Begin

At first, you need to have running Kubernetes clusters, and the kubectl command-line tool must be configured to communicate with your clusters. We will use kind clusters throughout this tutorial. To know more about kind clusters, follow this doc here.
You should be familiar with the following Stash concepts:

Backup from `prod` Cluster

To demonstrate the cross-clusters backup and restore capabilities, we will use the prod cluster for taking backup and restoring the backup into the staging cluster.

Prepare Cluster

Let’s create a cluster named prod,

$ kind create cluster --name prod
Creating cluster "prod" ...
 ✓ Ensuring node image (kindest/node:v1.23.0) 🖼
 ✓ Preparing nodes 📦  
 ✓ Writing configuration 📜 
 ✓ Starting control-plane 🕹️ 
 ✓ Installing CNI 🔌 
 ✓ Installing StorageClass 💾 
Set kubectl context to "kind-prod"
You can now use your cluster with:

kubectl cluster-info --context kind-prod

Have a nice day! 👋

To verify your current cluster,

$ kubectl config current-context
kind-prod

if you are currently not in the prod cluster, you can switch your cluster by the following command,

$ kubectl config use-context kind-prod
Switched to context "kind-prod".

We are going to create a namespace named demo in the prod cluster,

$ kubectl create ns demo
namespace/demo created

Note: YAML files used in this tutorial can be found here.

Install Stash in your prod cluster following the steps here.

Deploy Workload

Let’s deploy a Deployment and an associated PVC in the prod cluster at the beginning. This Deployment will automatically generate sample data in the /source/data directory.

Below are the YAMLs of the Deployment and PVC that we are going to create,

kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
apiVersion: v1
metadata:
  name: stash-sample-data
  namespace: demo
spec:
  accessModes:
  - ReadWriteOnce
  resources:
    requests:
      storage: 1Gi
---

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  labels:
    app: stash-demo
  name: stash-demo
  namespace: demo
spec:
  replicas: 3
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: stash-demo
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: stash-demo
      name: busybox
    spec:
      containers:
      - args: ["echo sample_data > /source/data/data.txt && sleep 3000"]
        command: ["/bin/sh", "-c"]
        image: busybox
        imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
        name: busybox
        volumeMounts:
        - mountPath: /source/data
          name: source-data
      restartPolicy: Always
      volumes:
      - name: source-data
        persistentVolumeClaim:
          claimName: stash-sample-data

Let’s create the Deployment and PVC we have shown above,

$ kubectl apply -f https://github.com/stashed/docs/raw/v2024.4.8/docs/guides/use-cases/cross-cluster-backup/examples/deployment_prod.yaml
persistentvolumeclaim/stash-sample-data created
deployment.apps/stash-demo created

Now, wait for the pods of the Deployment to go into the Running state. You can verify the Status of the pods by executing the following command,

$ kubectl get pods -n demo
NAME                          READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
stash-demo-7678679bcb-2s927   1/1     Running   0          29s
stash-demo-7678679bcb-b849l   1/1     Running   0          29s
stash-demo-7678679bcb-p62vn   1/1     Running   0          29s

Verify that the sample data has been created in /source/data directory using the following command,

$ kubectl exec -n demo stash-demo-7678679bcb-2s927 -- cat /source/data/data.txt
sample_data

Prepare Backend

We are going to store our backed-up data into a GCS bucket. We have to create a Secret with the necessary credentials and a Repository CRD to use this backend.

If you want to use a different backend, please read the respective backend configuration doc here.

For GCS backend, if the bucket does not exist, Stash needs Storage Object Admin role permissions to create the bucket. For more details, please check the following guide.

Create Secret:

Let’s create a secret called gcs-secret in demo namespace with access credentials to our desired GCS bucket,

$ echo -n 'changeit' > RESTIC_PASSWORD
$ echo -n '<your-project-id>' > GOOGLE_PROJECT_ID
$ cat /path/to/downloaded-sa-key.json > GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_JSON_KEY
$ kubectl create secret generic -n demo gcs-secret \
    --from-file=./RESTIC_PASSWORD \
    --from-file=./GOOGLE_PROJECT_ID \
    --from-file=./GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_JSON_KEY
secret/gcs-secret created

Now, we are ready to backup our workload’s data to our desired backend.

Create Repository:

Now, create a Repository using this secret. Below is the YAML of the Repository object we are going to create,

apiVersion: stash.appscode.com/v1alpha1
kind: Repository
metadata:
  name: gcs-repo
  namespace: demo
spec:
  backend:
    gcs:
      bucket: stash-testing
      prefix: /cross-cluster/deployment/sample-deployment
    storageSecretName: gcs-secret

Let’s create the Repository we have shown above,

$ kubectl apply -f https://github.com/stashed/docs/raw/v2024.4.8/docs/guides/use-cases/cross-cluster-backup/examples/repository_prod.yaml
repository.stash.appscode.com/gcs-repo created

Now, we are ready to backup our sample data into this backend.

Configure Backup

We are going to create a BackupConfiguration object in the demo namespace targeting the stash-demo Deployment that we have deployed earlier. This BackupConfiguration will refer to the gcs-repo repository. Stash will inject a sidecar container into the target. It will also create a CronJob to take periodic backup of the /source/data directory of the target.

Create BackupConfiguration:

Below is the YAML of the BackupConfiguration crd that we are going to create,

apiVersion: stash.appscode.com/v1beta1
kind: BackupConfiguration
metadata:
  name: deployment-backup
  namespace: demo
spec:
  repository:
    name: gcs-repo
  schedule: "*/5 * * * *"
  target:
    ref:
      apiVersion: apps/v1
      kind: Deployment
      name: stash-demo
    volumeMounts:
    - name: source-data
      mountPath: /source/data
    paths:
    - /source/data
  retentionPolicy:
    name: 'keep-last-5'
    keepLast: 5
    prune: true

Here,

spec.repository.name refers to the Repository object that holds backend information.
spec.schedule is a cron expression that indicates BackupSession will be created at 5 minutes intervals.
spec.target.ref refers to the stash-demo Deployment.
spec.target.volumeMounts specifies a list of volumes and their mountPath that contain the target paths.
spec.target.paths specifies list of file paths to backup.

Let’s create the BackupConfiguration object we have shown above,

$ kubectl apply -f https://github.com/stashed/docs/raw/v2024.4.8/docs/guides/use-cases/cross-cluster-backup/examples/backupconfiguration_prod.yaml
backupconfiguration.stash.appscode.com/deployment-backup created

Verify BackupConfiguration Ready:

If everything goes well, the Phase of the BackupConfiguration should be Ready. Let’s check the BackupConfiguration phase,

❯ kubectl get backupconfiguration -n demo

NAME                TASK   SCHEDULE      PAUSED   PHASE   AGE
deployment-backup          */5 * * * *            Ready   48s

Verify CronJob:

Stash will also create a CronJob with the schedule specified in the spec.schedule field of the BackupConfiguration crd.

Verify that the CronJob has been created using the following command,

$ kubectl get cronjob -n  prod
NAME                              SCHEDULE      SUSPEND   ACTIVE   LAST SCHEDULE   AGE
stash-trigger-deployment-backup   */5 * * * *   False     0        28s             2m14s

Verify Backup

The stash-trigger-deployment-backup CronJob will trigger a backup on each scheduled slot by creating a BackupSession crd. The sidecar container watches for the BackupSession object. When it finds one, it will take backup immediately.

Wait for the next schedule for the backup. Run the following command to watch BackupSession crd,

$ kubectl get backupsession -n prod -w

NAME                           INVOKER-TYPE          INVOKER-NAME        PHASE      DURATION   AGE
deployment-backup-1647238200   BackupConfiguration   deployment-backup   Running               5s
deployment-backup-1647238200   BackupConfiguration   deployment-backup   Running               16s
deployment-backup-1647238200   BackupConfiguration   deployment-backup   Running               27s
deployment-backup-1647238200   BackupConfiguration   deployment-backup   Succeeded   28s       27s

We can see from the above output that the backup session has succeeded.

Restore into `staging` Cluster

This section will demonstrate restoring the backed-up data into the staging cluster.

Stop Taking Backup of the Old Deployment:

At first, let’s stop taking any further backup of the old Deployment so that no backup is taken during the restore process. We are going to pause the BackupConfiguration that we created earlier. Then, Stash will stop taking any further backup for this Deployment. You can learn more how to pause a scheduled backup here

Let’s pause the deployment-backup BackupConfiguration,

$ kubectl patch backupconfiguration -n demo deployment-backup --type="merge" --patch='{"spec": {"paused": true}}'
backupconfiguration.stash.appscode.com/deployment-backup patched

You can also use the Stash kubectl plugin to pause the backup like the following,

$ kubectl stash pause backup --backupconfig=deployment-backup -n demo
BackupConfiguration demo/deployment-backup has been paused successfully.

Verify that the BackupConfiguration has been paused,

$ kubectl get backupconfiguration -n demo
NAME                TASK   SCHEDULE      PAUSED   PHASE   AGE
deployment-backup          */5 * * * *   true     Ready   49m

Notice the PAUSED column. Value true indicates that the BackupConfiguration has been paused.

Prepare Cluster

Let’s create a cluster named staging,

$ kind create cluster --name staging
Creating cluster "staging" ...
 ✓ Ensuring node image (kindest/node:v1.23.0) 🖼
 ✓ Preparing nodes 📦  
 ✓ Writing configuration 📜 
 ✓ Starting control-plane 🕹️ 
 ✓ Installing CNI 🔌 
 ✓ Installing StorageClass 💾 
Set kubectl context to "kind-staging"
You can now use your cluster with:

kubectl cluster-info --context kind-staging

Have a nice day! 👋

To verify the current cluster you are working on,

$ kubectl config current-context
kind-staging

If you are currently not in the staging cluster, you can switch your cluster by the following command,

$ kubectl config use-context kind-staging
Switched to context "kind-staging".

We are going to create a namespace named demo in the staging cluster,

$ kubectl create ns demo
namespace/demo created

Install Stash in your staging cluster following the steps here.

Deploy Restore Workload

We are going to create a new Deployment named stash-recovered and a PVC as a storage of the Deployment. We will restore the backed-up data inside it.

Here is the YAML of the PVC and the Deployment,

kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
apiVersion: v1
metadata:
  name: demo-pvc
  namespace: demo
spec:
  accessModes:
  - ReadWriteOnce
  resources:
    requests:
      storage: 1Gi
---

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  labels:
    app: stash-recovered
  name: stash-recovered
  namespace: demo
spec:
  replicas: 3
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: stash-recovered
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: stash-recovered
      name: busybox
    spec:
      containers:
      - args:
        - sleep
        - "3600"
        image: busybox
        imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
        name: busybox
        volumeMounts:
        - mountPath: /source/data
          name: source-data
      restartPolicy: Always
      volumes:
      - name: source-data
        persistentVolumeClaim:
          claimName: demo-pvc

Let’s create the Deployment we have shown above.

$ kubectl apply -f https://github.com/stashed/docs/raw/v2024.4.8/docs/guides/use-cases/cross-cluster-backup/examples/deployment_staging.yaml
persistentvolumeclaim/demo-pvc created
deployment.apps/stash-recovered created

Prepare Backend Info

We have to re-create the Repository CR and the respective Secret that we have used in the prod cluster.

Create Secret:

Let’s create a secret called gcs-secret in demo namespace with access credentials to our GCS bucket,

$ echo -n 'changeit' > RESTIC_PASSWORD
$ echo -n '<your-project-id>' > GOOGLE_PROJECT_ID
$ cat /path/to/downloaded-sa-key.json > GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_JSON_KEY
$ kubectl create secret generic -n demo gcs-secret \
    --from-file=./RESTIC_PASSWORD \
    --from-file=./GOOGLE_PROJECT_ID \
    --from-file=./GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_JSON_KEY
secret/gcs-secret created

Create Repository:

Now, create a Repository using this secret. Below is the YAML of Repository crd we are going to create,

apiVersion: stash.appscode.com/v1alpha1
kind: Repository
metadata:
  name: gcs-repo
  namespace: demo
spec:
  backend:
    gcs:
      bucket: stash-testing
      prefix: /cross-cluster/deployment/sample-deployment
    storageSecretName: gcs-secret

Let’s create the Repository we have shown above,

$ kubectl apply -f https://github.com/stashed/docs/raw/v2024.4.8/docs/guides/use-cases/cross-cluster-backup/examples/repository_prod.yaml
repository.stash.appscode.com/gcs-repo created

Now, we are ready to restore our sample data from this specified backend.

Configure Restore

Now, we need to create a RestoreSession object targeting the stash-recovered Deployment to restore the backed-up data inside it.

Create RestoreSession:

Below is the YAML of the RestoreSesion object that we are going to create,

apiVersion: stash.appscode.com/v1beta1
kind: RestoreSession
metadata:
  name: deployment-restore
  namespace: demo
spec:
  repository:
    name: gcs-repo
  target: # target indicates where the recovered data will be stored
    ref:
      apiVersion: apps/v1
      kind: Deployment
      name: stash-recovered
    volumeMounts:
    - name:  source-data
      mountPath:  /source/data
    rules:
    - paths:
      - /source/data/

Here,

spec.repository.name specifies the name of the Repository.
spec.target.ref refers to the target workload where the recovered data will be stored.
spec.target.volumeMounts specifies a list of volumes and their mountPath where the data will be restored.
- mountPath must be the same mountPath as the original volume because Stash stores the absolute path of the backed-up files. If you use a different mountPath for the restored volume the backed up files will not be restored into your desired volume.

Let’s create the RestoreSession crd we have shown above,

$ kubectl apply -f https://github.com/stashed/docs/raw/v2024.4.8/docs/guides/use-cases/cross-cluster-backup/examples/restoresession_staging.yaml
restoresession.stash.appscode.com/deployment-restore created

Now, wait for the RestoreSession phase to go into Succeeded state.

Wait for RestoreSession to Succeeded:

Run the following command to watch the RestoreSession phase,

$ kubectl get restoresession -n demo -w

NAME                 REPOSITORY   PHASE       DURATION   AGE
deployment-restore   gcs-repo     Succeeded   10s        35s

So, we can see from the output of the above command that the restore process succeeded.

Verify Restored Data

In this section, we are going to verify whether the desired data has been restored successfully or not.

Get the pods of the stash-recovered Deployment,

$ kubectl get pods -n demo -l app='stash-recovered'
NAME                               READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
stash-recovered-56547b7b57-scxl4   1/1     Running   0          16m
stash-recovered-56547b7b57-w4rf5   1/1     Running   0          16m
stash-recovered-56547b7b57-zxb2p   1/1     Running   0          16m

Verify that the backed-up data has been restored in /source/data directory of the stash-recovered pods of the Deployment using the following commands,

$ kubectl exec -n demo stash-recovered-56547b7b57-scxl4 -- cat /source/data/data.txt
sample_data

Cleaning Up

To clean up the Kubernetes resources created by this tutorial in prod and staging clusters, run the following commands:

Cleanup prod Cluster

Switch your cluster to prod,

$ kubectl config use-context kind-prod
Switched to context "kind-prod".

Clean up the Stash resources in the prod cluster,

kubectl delete -n demo deployments stash-demo
kubectl delete -n demo pvc stash-sample-data
kubectl delete -n demo backupconfiguration deployment-backup
kubectl delete -n demo repository gcs-repo
kubectl delete -n demo secret gcs-secret

Cleanup staging Cluster

Switch your cluster to staging,

$ kubectl config use-context kind-staging
Switched to context "kind-staging".

Clean up the Stash resources in the staging cluster,

kubectl delete -n demo deployments stash-recovered
kubectl delete -n demo pvc demo-pvc
kubectl delete -n demo restoresession deployment-restore
kubectl delete -n demo repository gcs-repo
kubectl delete -n demo secret gcs-secret

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Cross-Cluster Backup and Restore

Before You Begin

Backup from prod Cluster

Prepare Cluster

Deploy Workload

Prepare Backend

Configure Backup

Verify Backup

Restore into staging Cluster

Prepare Cluster

Deploy Restore Workload

Prepare Backend Info

Configure Restore

Verify Restored Data

Cleaning Up

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Backup from `prod` Cluster

Restore into `staging` Cluster