Managed VPS: backups and restore
Which backups are taken for a Managed VPS, how long they are kept, how to restore the server or the data, and how to keep your own copy.
Managed VPS backups are taken by us — there is nothing to set up. This article covers what exactly is saved and how to get your data back.
What is saved
Once a day (after 03:00 UTC) a data dump is taken from the server: the Rivo database, files and settings in an encrypted archive. It goes to a separate storage, off the server.
- The 7 latest daily and 4 weekly dumps are kept. Days are counted by copies taken: a server stopped for a month does not lose its history after it is started.
- The archive is encrypted on the server itself with a key that only your server and we have. There are no storage keys on the server: other customers’ backups cannot be read from it.
- A dump is taken only from a running server. If a copy fails, it is retried automatically.
- Where the server’s platform allows it, a snapshot — a copy of the whole machine disk — is taken as well, with the same rotation. Support can tell you whether your server has one.
In addition, Rivo on the server has its own daily backup — local archives on the machine’s disk (sudo rivo backup, see Updates, backup and restore). They are on the same disk and are deleted with the machine.
How to restore
Restores are done by support: write to [email protected] from the email the server is registered to, and say what happened and which date to go back to.
| Situation | What we do |
|---|---|
| Data broken, a failed update, an error after changes over SSH | Restore from a dump for the chosen day: the Rivo data is replaced with the archive. Everything changed after it is lost |
| The same, but the system itself is broken and the server has snapshots | Roll back to a snapshot: the whole machine disk returns to the chosen day |
| The server is lost due to a failure on our side | we create the machine again and bring the data back from the latest dump |
- Before a restore the current state is saved as a safety copy — the restore can be undone.
- Rivo is unavailable while the restore is running.
- The password vault is restored together with the rest of the Rivo data.
Recreating and backups
The “Recreate” button in the cabinet deletes the machine together with its local archives (and snapshots, if there were any). Assume the data cannot be recovered after it, and build your own archive before recreating.
Your own copy
Our backups do not replace your own copy. Save your data now and then:
- in Rivo: Settings → Account and data → “Build archive” — see Exporting all your data and deleting your account;
- or over SSH:
sudo rivo backupand download the archive from/opt/rivo/backups(or from your own backup directory if you changed it).