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Backing up applications with File System Backup: Kopia or Restic

You can use OADP to back up and restore Kubernetes volumes attached to pods from the file system of the volumes. This process is called File System Backup (FSB) or Pod Volume Backup (PVB). It is accomplished by using modules from the open source backup tools Restic or Kopia.

If your cloud provider does not support snapshots or if your applications are on NFS data volumes, you can create backups by using FSB.

Restic is installed by the OADP Operator by default. If you prefer, you can install Kopia instead.

FSB integration with OADP provides a solution for backing up and restoring almost any type of Kubernetes volumes. This integration is an additional capability of OADP and is not a replacement for existing functionality.

You back up Kubernetes resources, internal images, and persistent volumes with Kopia or Restic by editing the Backup custom resource (CR).

You do not need to specify a snapshot location in the DataProtectionApplication CR.

In OADP version 1.3 and later, you can use either Kopia or Restic for backing up applications.

For the Built-in DataMover, you must use Kopia.

In OADP version 1.2 and earlier, you can only use Restic for backing up applications.

FSB does not support backing up hostPath volumes. For more information, see FSB limitations.
PodVolumeRestore fails with a …​/.snapshot: read-only file system error

The …​/.snapshot directory is a snapshot copy directory, which is used by several NFS servers. This directory has read-only access by default, so Velero cannot restore to this directory.

Do not give Velero write access to the .snapshot directory, and disable client access to this directory.

Additional resources
Prerequisites

  • You must install the OpenShift API for Data Protection (OADP) Operator.

  • You must not disable the default nodeAgent installation by setting spec.configuration.nodeAgent.enable to false in the DataProtectionApplication CR.

  • You must select Kopia or Restic as the uploader by setting spec.configuration.nodeAgent.uploaderType to kopia or restic in the DataProtectionApplication CR.

  • The DataProtectionApplication CR must be in a Ready state.

Procedure

  • Create the Backup CR, as in the following example:

    apiVersion: velero.io/v1
kind: Backup
metadata:
  name: <backup>
  labels:
    velero.io/storage-location: default
  namespace: openshift-adp
spec:
  defaultVolumesToFsBackup: true (1)
...
    1 In OADP version 1.2 and later, add the defaultVolumesToFsBackup: true setting within the spec block. In OADP version 1.1, add defaultVolumesToRestic: true.