Introduction

Backing up your data regularly is essential, especially for critical applications like Home Assistant running MariaDB in a Docker container. This article will guide you through creating scripts that automate the backup and restoration processes, designed to be flexible by accepting arguments for the password and paths.

Prerequisites

  • Docker installed and running.
  • MariaDB container running with your data.

Backup Script with Arguments

To make our backup process versatile and reusable, we’ll create a shell script that accepts two arguments:

  1. MariaDB password
  2. Backup folder path

Script Creation

  1. Create and open a new script:
nano /path_to_scripts_folder/backup_mariadb.sh
  1. Copy and paste the following content:
#!/bin/bash

# Check if the right number of arguments are provided
if [ "$#" -ne 2 ]; then
    echo "Usage: $0 <password> <backup_folder_path>"
    exit 1
fi

PASSWORD=$1
BACKUP_PATH=$2

docker exec mariadb /usr/bin/mysqldump -u homeassistant --password=$PASSWORD --all-databases | gzip > "$BACKUP_PATH/database_backup_$(date +\%F).sql.gz"

  1. Save and exit the editor.

  2. Make the script executable:

chmod +x /path_to_scripts_folder/backup_mariadb.sh

Now, run the script, passing the password and backup folder path as arguments:

/path_to_scripts_folder/backup_mariadb.sh your_password /path_to_backup_folder/

Scheduling Backups with Crontab

To automate the backup process daily:

  1. Open the crontab:
crontab -e
  1. Add the following line to run the script every day at 3 am:
0 3 * * * /path_to_scripts_folder/backup_mariadb.sh your_password /path_to_backup_folder/

Restoring the Database from Backup

Restoration Script with Arguments

To simplify the restoration process, we’ll create a separate shell script that accepts two arguments:

  1. MariaDB password
  2. Path to the backup file you want to restore
Script Creation
  1. Create and open a new script:
nano /path_to_scripts_folder/restore_mariadb.sh
  1. Copy and paste the following content:
#!/bin/bash

# Check if the right number of arguments are provided
if [ "$#" -ne 2 ]; then
    echo "Usage: $0 <password> <backup_file_path>"
    exit 1
fi

PASSWORD=$1
BACKUP_FILE=$2

gunzip < "$BACKUP_FILE" | docker exec -i mariadb /usr/bin/mysql -u homeassistant --password=$PASSWORD

  1. Save and exit the editor.

  2. Make the script executable:

chmod +x /path_to_scripts_folder/restore_mariadb.sh

Now, run the script, passing the password and the path to the backup file as arguments:

/path_to_scripts_folder/restore_mariadb.sh your_password /path_to_backup_folder/database_backup_YOUR_DATE.sql.gz

Notes on Restoration

  1. Backup before restore: Always take a fresh backup before starting the restoration process. This ensures you have a fallback if the restore doesn’t go as planned.
  2. Check Compatibility: Ensure the MariaDB version you are restoring to is compatible with the version from which you took the backup.
  3. Downtime Considerations: Depending on the size of your database and the restoration environment’s performance, the restoration process might take some time. Plan accordingly.