Learn how to back up and restore DataStores on NFS. Our NFS Support team is here to help you with your questions and concerns.

Back Up and Restore Data Stores on NFS | A Complete Guide

Network File System is a widely used protocol for sharing files and directories across networked systems. It’s popular in enterprise environments and cloud-native deployments for its scalability and ease of integration.

However, backing up and restoring data in NFS environments requires careful planning to preserve data integrity, file permissions, and configuration settings.

Today, we will walk through the fundamentals of NFS, how to back up and restore NFS shares and permissions, and how to handle everyday challenges in NFS data management.

What is NFS?

NFS is a protocol that enables users to access files over a network just as if they were stored locally. Operating on a client-server model:

• Server: Exports one or more directories, known as shares.
• Client: Mounts these shares and interacts with them like local file systems.

Setting up an NFS share is straightforward. For instance, if you’re using a Debian system, here’s a helpful guide on exporting NFS shares in Debian that walks through the process.

NFS supports access control and security through various permission settings and configuration options, making it suitable for both small networks and large-scale infrastructures.

Backing Up NFS Share Data and Permissions

Proper backups of NFS shares ensure data availability and disaster recovery readiness. Here are the most effective ways to back up NFS data and permissions:

• Tar and Rsync:

  Use these command-line tools to archive files or sync directories. Ensure we preserve permissions (`-p` for `rsync`, `–preserve-permissions` for `tar`).
• Snapshot Tools:

  Filesystems like ZFS or Btrfs offer snapshot capabilities for point-in-time backups.
• Backup Software:

  Tools like Bacula, Amanda, or Duplicity provide more advanced features, including incremental backups and encryption.
• Automation:

  Use `cron` jobs or shell scripts to automate regular backups and integrate with remote storage solutions.

If you’re using Veeam in your environment, you can also explore how to back up NFS shares with Veeam, which offers step-by-step guidance for integrating Veeam with NFS storage systems.

Backing Up Data Stores on NFS

The backup process can include secrets and capability configurations when dealing with Kubernetes environments and NFS-backed data stores. Here’s a step-by-step process:

1. First, backup Kubernetes Secrets:

   echo $(kubectl get secret rethink-secret -n $(kubectl get namespaces | grep arcsight | cut -d ' ' -f1) -o json | jq '.data["rethink-password"]' | sed 's/"//g') > rethink-secret-bkp
   
   echo $(kubectl get secret reporting-secret -n $(kubectl get namespaces | grep arcsight | cut -d ' ' -f1) -o json | jq '.data["reporting-password"]' | sed 's/"//g') > reporting-secret-bkp
   
   
2. Then, undeploy capabilities:

   cd /opt/NFS_volume/arcsight-volume
3. We can redeploy after backup depending on the update cycle to keep services functional.

Restoring NFS Share Data and Permissions

Follow these steps to restore NFS shares from a backup safely:

1. Stop NFS Services on the server and unmount the shares from clients.
2. Restore files and directories, preserving ownership and permissions.
3. Then, restart the NFS service and remount the shares.
4. Finally, verify access and security settings on the restored shares.

For virtual environments like Proxmox, check out this detailed tutorial on using NFS as a Proxmox backup server to streamline your storage strategy.

Restoring Kubernetes Data Stores

Here’s how to restore NFS-backed data stores in a Kubernetes environment:

1. First, go to the backup directory:

   cd /opt/NFS_volume/arcsight-volume/backup
2. Then, restore search data:

   rm -rf /opt/NFS_volume/arcsight-volume/search/*
   
   cp -R search/* /opt/NFS_volume/arcsight-volume/search
   
   
3. Now, it is time to restore the management database:

   
   
   cd /opt/NFS_volume/arcsight-volume/mgmt/db/
   
   rm -rf h2.lock.db
   
   cp /opt/NFS_volume/arcsight-volume/backup/mgmt/db/h2.mv.db .
   
   
4. Next, verify integrity:

   diff -r -s /opt/NFS_volume/arcsight-volume/mgmt/db/h2.mv.db /opt/NFS_volume/arcsight-volume/backup/mgmt/db/h2.mv.db
   
   diff -r -s /opt/NFS_volume/arcsight-volume/backup/search /opt/NFS_volume/arcsight-volume/search
5. Then, reset directory permissions:

   chown 1999:1999 -R /opt/NFS_volume/arcsight-volume/
6. Next, restore secrets:

   export RETHINK_SECRET=$(cat rethink-secret-bkp)
   
   kubectl get secret rethink-secret -n $(kubectl get namespaces | grep arcsight | cut -d ' ' -f1) -o json | jq '.data["rethink-password"]=env.RETHINK_SECRET' | kubectl apply -f -
   
   export REPORTING_SECRET=$(cat reporting-secret-bkp)
   
   kubectl get secret reporting-secret -n $(kubectl get namespaces | grep arcsight | cut -d ' ' -f1) -o json | jq '.data["reporting-password"]=env.REPORTING_SECRET' | kubectl apply -f -
   
   
7. Now, restart Kubernetes pods:

   kubectl delete pods -n $(kubectl get namespaces | grep arcsight | cut -d ' ' -f1) –all
8. Then, redeploy and validate. Make sure all pods are running:
   

   kubectl get pods –all-namespaces

Common Challenges and Best Practices

• Challenges
  • Large data volumes can slow down backup and restore.
  • Cross-platform issues occur when different file systems or OS versions are involved.
  • Maintaining permissions and attributes is critical and often overlooked.
• Solutions
  • Use incremental or differential backups to reduce time and storage.
  • Enable multi-threaded transfers for faster performance.
  • Choose compatible file systems (e.g., `ext4`, `xfs`) for smoother restores.
  • Leverage tools that understand NFS configurations, such as Bacula, Amanda, or ZFS/Btrfs.

An issue like “NFS returned a bad sequence ID error” can disrupt normal operations and backups. Learn how to troubleshoot the bad sequence ID error in NFS and maintain consistent file access.

[Need assistance with a different issue? Our team is available 24/7.]

Conclusion

Whether we are managing a small NFS share or a Kubernetes-based data platform, having a reliable backup and restore strategy is important. With the right tools and procedures, we can ensure minimal downtime and maximum data integrity across the infrastructure.

In brief, our Support Experts demonstrated how to back up and restore DataStores on NFS.