How to Perform Backup and Restore Using Velero

Introduction

In this tutorial, you will learn how to deploy Velero to your Kubernetes cluster, create backups, and recover from a backup if something goes wrong.

You can back up your entire cluster, or optionally choose a namespace or label selector to back up.

Backups can be run one off or scheduled. It’s a good idea to have scheduled backups so you are certain you have a recent backup to easily fall back to. You can also create backup hooks, if you want to execute actions before or after a backup is made.

Why choose Velero ?

Velero gives you tools to back up and restore your Kubernetes cluster resources and persistent volumes. You can run Velero with a cloud provider or on-premises.

Advantages of using Velero:

Take backups of your cluster and restore in case of loss.
Migrate cluster resources to other clusters.
Replicate your production cluster to development and testing clusters.

After finishing this tutorial, you will be able to:

Backup and restore your applications, or your entire DOKS cluster.
Create scheduled backups for your applications.
Configure DO Spaces storage for Velero to use.

Introduction
Prerequisites
Step 1 - How Velero Works
Step 2 - Installing Velero
Step 3 - Namespace Backup and Restore Example
Step 4 - Backup and Restore Whole Cluster Example
Step 5 - Scheduled Backup and Restore
- Verifying the Scheduled Backup state
- Restoring the Scheduled Backup
Step 6 - Deleting Backups
- Manually Deleting a Backup
- Automatic Backup Deletion via TTL
Conclusion

Prerequisites

To complete this tutorial, you need the following:

A DO spaces bucket bucket and access keys. Save the access and secret keys in a safe place for later use.
A DigitalOcean API token for Velero to use.
A Git client, to clone the Starter Kit repository.
Helm, for managing Velero releases and upgrades.
Doctl, for DigitalOcean API interaction.
Kubectl, for Kubernetes interaction.
Velero client, to manage Velero backups.

Step 1 - How Velero Works

Velero consists of two parts:

A server that runs on your cluster
A command-line client that runs locally

Each Velero operation – on-demand backup, scheduled backup, restore – is a custom resource, defined with a Kubernetes Custom Resource Definition (CRD) and stored in etcd. Velero also includes controllers that process the custom resources to perform backups, restores, and all related operations.

Backup and Restore workflow

Whenever you execute a backup command, the Velero CLI makes a call to the Kubernetes API server to create a Backup object. The Backup Controller then validates the backup object i.e. whether it is cluster backup, namespace backup, etc. and then it makes a call to the API server to query the data to be backed up. Finally it starts the backup process once it collects the data to be backed up. Backup Controller then makes a call to DigitalOcean Spaces to store the backup file. The backup file is stored as a tarball file (.tar.gz).

Similarly whenever you execute a restore command, the Velero CLI makes a call to Kubernetes API server to restore from a backup object. Based on the restore command executed, Velero Restore Controller makes a call to DigitalOcean Spaces and initiates restore from the particular backup object.

Below is a diagram that shows the Backup/Restore workflow:

Velero is ideal for the disaster recovery use case, as well as for snapshotting your application state, prior to performing system operations on your cluster, like upgrades. For more details on this topic, please visit the How Velero Works official page.

In the next step, you will learn how to install Velero, using Helm.

Step 2 - Installing Velero

In this step, you will deploy Velero and all the required components, so that it will be able to perform backups for your Kubernetes cluster resources (PV's as well). The backup data will be stored in the DO Spaces bucket created earlier in the Prerequisites section.

Steps to follow:

First, clone the Starter Kit Git repository and change directory to your local copy:

git clone https://github.com/digitalocean/Kubernetes-Starter-Kit-Developers.git

cd Kubernetes-Starter-Kit-Developers

Next, add the Helm repository and list the available charts:

helm repo add vmware-tanzu https://vmware-tanzu.github.io/helm-charts

helm search repo vmware-tanzu

The output looks similar to the following:

NAME                    CHART VERSION   APP VERSION     DESCRIPTION            
vmware-tanzu/velero     2.23.6          1.6.3           A Helm chart for velero

Note:

The chart of interest is vmware-tanzu/velero, which will install Velero on the cluster. Please visit the velero-chart page for more details about this chart.

Then, open and inspect the 06-setup-velero/assets/manifests/velero-values.yaml file provided in the Starter kit repository, using an editor of your choice (preferably with YAML lint support). You can use VS Code, for example:
```
code 06-setup-velero/assets/manifests/velero-values.yaml
```
Next, please replace the <> placeholders accordingly for your DO Spaces Velero bucket (like: name, region and secrets). Make sure that you provide your DigitalOcean API token as well (DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN key).
Finally, install Velero using Helm:
```
HELM_CHART_VERSION="2.23.6"

helm install velero vmware-tanzu/velero --version "${HELM_CHART_VERSION}" \
  --namespace velero \
  --create-namespace \
  -f 06-setup-velero/assets/manifests/velero-values-v${HELM_CHART_VERSION}.yaml
```
Note:

A specific version for the Helm chart is used. In this case 2.23.6 is picked, which maps to the 1.6.3 version of the application (see the output from Step 2.). It’s good practice in general, to lock on a specific version. This helps to have predictable results, and allows versioning control via Git.

Now, please check your Velero deployment:

helm ls -n velero

The output looks similar to the following (STATUS column should display deployed):

NAME    NAMESPACE       REVISION        UPDATED                                 STATUS          CHART           APP VERSION
velero  velero          1               2021-08-25 13:16:24.383446 +0300 EEST   deployed        velero-2.23.6   1.6.3

Next, verify that Velero is up and running:

kubectl get deployment velero -n velero

The output looks similar to the following (all pods must be in Ready state):

NAME     READY   UP-TO-DATE   AVAILABLE   AGE
velero   1/1     1            1           67s

Notes:

If you’re interested in looking further, you can view Velero’s server-side components:

kubectl -n velero get all

Explore Velero CLI help pages, to see what comands and sub-commands are available. You can get help for each, by using the --help flag:

List all the available commands for Velero:
```
velero --help
```
List backup command options for Velero:
```
velero backup --help
```

Velero uses a number of CRD's (Custom Resource Definitions) to represent its own resources like backups, backup schedules, etc. You'll discover each in the next steps of the tutorial, along with some basic examples.

Step 3 - Namespace Backup and Restore Example

In this step, you will learn how to backup an entire namespace of your DOKS cluster, and restore it afterwards making sure that all the resources are re-created. The namespace in question is ambassador.

Next, you will perform the following tasks:

Creating the ambassador namespace backup, using Velero CLI.
Deleting the ambassador namespace.
Restoring the ambassador namespace, using Velero CLI.
Checking the ambassador namespace restore status, using Velero CLI.

Creating the Ambassador Namespace Backup

First, initiate the backup:

velero backup create ambassador-backup --include-namespaces ambassador

Next, check that the backup was created:

velero backup get

The output looks similar to:

NAME                                       STATUS      ERRORS   WARNINGS   CREATED                          EXPIRES   STORAGE LOCATION   SELECTOR
ambassador-backup                          Completed   0        0          2021-08-25 19:33:03 +0300 EEST   29d       default            <none>

Then, after a few moments, you can inspect it:

velero backup describe ambassador-backup --details

The output looks similar to:

Name:         ambassador-backup
Namespace:    velero
Labels:       velero.io/storage-location=default
Annotations:  velero.io/source-cluster-k8s-gitversion=v1.21.2
              velero.io/source-cluster-k8s-major-version=1
              velero.io/source-cluster-k8s-minor-version=21

Phase:  Completed

Errors:    0
Warnings:  0

Namespaces:
  Included:  ambassador
  Excluded:  <none>
  ...

Hints:

Look for the Phase line. It should say Completed.
Check that no Errors are reported as well.

A new Kubernetes Backup object is created:

~ kubectl get backup/ambassador-backup -n velero -o yaml

apiVersion: velero.io/v1
kind: Backup
metadata:
annotations:
  velero.io/source-cluster-k8s-gitversion: v1.21.2
  velero.io/source-cluster-k8s-major-version: "1"
  velero.io/source-cluster-k8s-minor-version: "21"
...

Finally, take a look at the DO Spaces bucket - there's a new folder named backups, which contains the assets created for your ambassador-backup:

Deleting the Ambassador Namespace and Resources

First, simulate a disaster, by intentionally deleting the ambassador namespace:

kubectl delete namespace ambassador

Next, check that the namespace was deleted (namespaces listing should not print ambassador):

kubectl get namespaces

Finally, verify that the echo and quote backend services endpoint is DOWN (please refer to Creating the Ambassador Edge Stack Backend Services or Creating the Nginx Backend Services, regarding the backend applications used in the Starter Kit tutorial). You can use curl to test (or you can use your web browser):

curl -Li http://quote.starter-kit.online/quote/

curl -Li http://quote.starter-kit.online/echo/

Restoring the Ambassador Namespace Backup

First, restore the ambassador-backup:

velero restore create --from-backup ambassador-backup

Important note:

When you delete the ambassador namespace, the load balancer resource associated with the ambassador service will be deleted as well. So, when you restore the ambassador service, the LB will be recreated by DigitalOcean. The issue is that you will get a NEW IP address for your LB, so you will need to adjust the A records for getting traffic into your domains hosted on the cluster.

Checking the Ambassador Namespace Restore Status

First, check the Phase line from the ambassador-backup restore command output. It should say Completed (also, please take a note of the Warnings section - it tells if something went bad or not):

velero restore describe ambassador-backup

Next, verify that all the resources were restored for the ambassador namespace (look for the ambassador pods, services and deployments):

kubectl get all --namespace ambassador

The output looks similar to:

NAME                                    READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
pod/ambassador-5bdc64f9f6-9qnz6         1/1     Running   0          18h
pod/ambassador-5bdc64f9f6-twgxb         1/1     Running   0          18h
pod/ambassador-agent-bcdd8ccc8-8pcwg    1/1     Running   0          18h
pod/ambassador-redis-64b7c668b9-jzxb5   1/1     Running   0          18h

NAME                       TYPE           CLUSTER-IP       EXTERNAL-IP      PORT(S)                      AGE
service/ambassador         LoadBalancer   10.245.74.214    159.89.215.200   80:32091/TCP,443:31423/TCP   18h
service/ambassador-admin   ClusterIP      10.245.204.189   <none>           8877/TCP,8005/TCP            18h
service/ambassador-redis   ClusterIP      10.245.180.25    <none>           6379/TCP                     18h

NAME                               READY   UP-TO-DATE   AVAILABLE   AGE
deployment.apps/ambassador         2/2     2            2           18h
deployment.apps/ambassador-agent   1/1     1            1           18h
deployment.apps/ambassador-redis   1/1     1            1           18h

NAME                                          DESIRED   CURRENT   READY   AGE
replicaset.apps/ambassador-5bdc64f9f6         2         2         2       18h
replicaset.apps/ambassador-agent-bcdd8ccc8    1         1         1       18h
replicaset.apps/ambassador-redis-64b7c668b9   1         1         1       18h

Finally, after reconfiguring your LoadBalancer and DigitalOcean domain settings, please verify that the echo and quote backend services endpoint is UP (please refer to Creating the Ambassador Edge Stack Backend Services or Creating the Nginx Backend Services, regarding the backend applications used in the Starter Kit tutorial). For example, you can use curl to test each endpoint:

curl -Li https://quote.starter-kit.online/

curl -Li https://echo.starter-kit.online/

In the next step, you will simulate a disaster by intentionally deleting your DOKS cluster (the Starter Kit DOKS cluster).

Step 4 - Backup and Restore Whole Cluster Example

In this step, you will simulate a disaster recovery scenario. The whole DOKS cluster will be deleted, and then restored from a previous backup.

Next, you will perform the following tasks:

Creating the DOKS cluster backup, using Velero CLI.
Deleting the DOKS cluster, using doctl.
Restoring the DOKS cluster, using Velero CLI.
Checking the DOKS cluster state.

Creating the DOKS Cluster Backup

First, create a backup for the whole DOKS cluster:

velero backup create all-cluster-backup

Next, check that the backup was created and it's not reporting any errors. The following command lists all the available backups:

velero backup get

The output looks similar to:

NAME                                       STATUS      ERRORS   WARNINGS   CREATED                          EXPIRES   STORAGE LOCATION   SELECTOR
all-cluster-backup                         Completed   0        0          2021-08-25 19:43:03 +0300 EEST   29d       default            <none>

Finally, inspect the backup state and logs (check that no errors are reported):

velero backup describe all-cluster-backup

velero backup logs all-cluster-backup

Deleting the DOKS Cluster

First, delete the whole DOKS cluster (make sure to replace the <> placeholders accordingly):

doctl kubernetes cluster delete <DOKS_CLUSTER_NAME>

Next, re-create the cluster, as described in Section 1 - Set up DigitalOcean Kubernetes. Please make sure the new DOKS cluster node count is equal or greater with to the original one - this is important!

Then, install Velero CLI and Server, as described in the Prerequisites section, and Step 2 - Installing Velero respectively. Please make sure to use the same Helm Chart version - this is important!

Finally, restore everything, by using the below command:

velero restore create --from-backup all-cluster-backup

Checking DOKS Cluster State

First, check the Phase line from the all-cluster-backup restore describe command output. It should say Completed (also, please take a note of the Warnings section - it tells if something went bad or not):

velero restore describe all-cluster-backup

Next, an important aspect to keep in mind is that whenever you destroy a DOKS cluster, the associated Load Balancer is destroyed as well. It means that each time the DOKS cluster is re-created, the Load Balancer is re-created as well with a different IP address. You have to make sure that DNS records will be updated as well, to reflect the change.

Now, verify all cluster Kubernetes resources (you should have everything in place):

kubectl get all --all-namespaces

Finally, the backend applications should respond to HTTP requests as well (please refer to Creating the Ambassador Edge Stack Backend Services or Creating the Nginx Backend Services, regarding the backend applications used in the Starter Kit tutorial):

curl -Li http://quote.starter-kit.online/quote/

curl -Li http://quote.starter-kit.online/echo/

In the next step, you will learn how to perform scheduled backup and restore for your DOKS cluster applications.

Step 5 - Scheduled Backup and Restore

Taking backups automatically based on a schedule, is a really useful feature to have. It allows you to rewind back time, and restore the system to a previous working state if something goes wrong.

Creating a scheduled backup is a very straightforward process. An example is provided below for a 1 minute interval (the kube-system namespace was picked).

First, create the schedule:

velero schedule create kube-system-minute-backup --schedule="@every 1m" --include-namespaces kube-system

Hint:

Linux cronjob format is supported also:

schedule="*/1 * * * *"

Next, verify that the schedule was created:

velero schedule get

The output looks similar to:

NAME                        STATUS    CREATED                          SCHEDULE    BACKUP TTL   LAST BACKUP   SELECTOR
kube-system-minute-backup   Enabled   2021-08-26 12:37:44 +0300 EEST   @every 1m   720h0m0s     32s ago       <none>

Then, inspect all the backups, after one minute or so:

velero backup get

The output looks similar to:

NAME                                       STATUS      ERRORS   WARNINGS   CREATED                          EXPIRES   STORAGE LOCATION   SELECTOR
kube-system-minute-backup-20210826093916   Completed   0        0          2021-08-26 12:39:20 +0300 EEST   29d       default            <none>
kube-system-minute-backup-20210826093744   Completed   0        0          2021-08-26 12:37:44 +0300 EEST   29d       default            <none>

Verifying the Scheduled Backup state

First, check the Phase line from one of the backups (please replace the <> placeholders accordingly) - it should say Completed:

velero backup describe kube-system-minute-backup-<timestamp>

Finally, take a note of possible Erros and Warnings from the above command output as well - it tells if something went bad or not.

Restoring the Scheduled Backup

To restore one of the minute backups, please follow the same steps as you learned in the previous steps of this tutorial. This is a good way to exercise and test your experience accumulated so far.

In the next step, you will learn how to manually or automatically delete specific backups you created over time.

Step 6 - Deleting Backups

When you decide that some older backups are not needed anymore, you can free up some resources both on the Kubernetes cluster, as well as on the Velero DO Spaces bucket.

In this step, you will learn how to use one of the following methods to delete Velero backups:

Manually (or by hand), using Velero CLI.
Automatically, by setting backups TTL (Time To Live), via Velero CLI.

Manually Deleting a Backup

First, pick a one minute backup for example, and issue the following command (please replace the <> placeholders accordingly):

velero backup delete kube-system-minute-backup-<timestamp>

Now, check that it's gone from the velero backup get command output. It should be deleted from the DO Spaces bucket as well.

Next, you will learn how to delete multiple backups at once, by using a selector. The velero backup delete subcommand provides a flag called --selector. It allows you to delete multiple backups at once based on Kubernetes Labels. The same rules apply as for Kubernetes Label Selectors.

First, list the available backups:

velero backup get

The output looks similar to:

NAME                                       STATUS      ERRORS   WARNINGS   CREATED                          EXPIRES   STORAGE LOCATION   SELECTOR
ambassador-backup                          Completed   0        0          2021-08-25 19:33:03 +0300 EEST   23d       default            <none>
backend-minute-backup-20210826094116       Completed   0        0          2021-08-26 12:41:16 +0300 EEST   24d       default            <none>
backend-minute-backup-20210826094016       Completed   0        0          2021-08-26 12:40:16 +0300 EEST   24d       default            <none>
backend-minute-backup-20210826093916       Completed   0        0          2021-08-26 12:39:16 +0300 EEST   24d       default            <none>
backend-minute-backup-20210826093816       Completed   0        0          2021-08-26 12:38:16 +0300 EEST   24d       default            <none>
backend-minute-backup-20210826093716       Completed   0        0          2021-08-26 12:37:16 +0300 EEST   24d       default            <none>
backend-minute-backup-20210826093616       Completed   0        0          2021-08-26 12:36:16 +0300 EEST   24d       default            <none>
backend-minute-backup-20210826093509       Completed   0        0          2021-08-26 12:35:09 +0300 EEST   24d       default            <none>

Next, say that you want to delete all the backend-minute-backup-* assets. Pick a backup from the list, and inspect the Labels:

velero describe backup backend-minute-backup-20210826094116

The output looks similar to (notice the velero.io/schedule-name label value):

Name:         backend-minute-backup-20210826094116
Namespace:    velero
Labels:       velero.io/schedule-name=backend-minute-backup
              velero.io/storage-location=default
Annotations:  velero.io/source-cluster-k8s-gitversion=v1.21.2
              velero.io/source-cluster-k8s-major-version=1
              velero.io/source-cluster-k8s-minor-version=21

Phase:  Completed

Errors:    0
Warnings:  0

Namespaces:
Included:  backend
Excluded:  <none>
...

Next, you can delete all the backups that match the backend-minute-backup value of the velero.io/schedule-name label:

velero backup delete --selector velero.io/schedule-name=backend-minute-backup

Finally, check that all the backend-minute-backup-* assets disappeared from the velero backup get command output, as well as from the DO Spaces bucket.

Automatic Backup Deletion via TTL

When you create a backup, you can specify a TTL (Time To Live), by using the --ttl flag. If Velero sees that an existing backup resource is expired, it removes:

The Backup resource
The backup file from cloud object storage
All PersistentVolume snapshots
All associated Restores

The TTL flag allows the user to specify the backup retention period with the value specified in hours, minutes and seconds in the form --ttl 24h0m0s. If not specified, a default TTL value of 30 days will be applied.

Next, you will create a short lived backup for the ambassador namespace, with a TTL value set to 3 minutes.

First, create the ambassador backup, using a TTL value of 3 minutes:

velero backup create ambassador-backup-3min-ttl --ttl 0h3m0s --include-namespaces ambassador

Next, inspect the ambassador backup:

velero backup describe ambassador-backup-3min-ttl

The output looks similar to (notice the Namespaces -> Included section - it should display ambassador, and TTL field is set to 3ms0):

Name:         ambassador-backup-3min-ttl
Namespace:    velero
Labels:       velero.io/storage-location=default
Annotations:  velero.io/source-cluster-k8s-gitversion=v1.21.2
              velero.io/source-cluster-k8s-major-version=1
              velero.io/source-cluster-k8s-minor-version=21

Phase:  Completed

Errors:    0
Warnings:  0

Namespaces:
Included:  ambassador
Excluded:  <none>

Resources:
Included:        *
Excluded:        <none>
Cluster-scoped:  auto

Label selector:  <none>

Storage Location:  default

Velero-Native Snapshot PVs:  auto

TTL:  3m0s
...

A new folder should be created in the DO Spaces Velero bucket as well, named ambassador-backup-3min-ttl.

Finally, after three minutes or so, the backup and associated resources should be automatically deleted. You can verify that the backup object was destroyed, using: velero backup describe ambassador-backup-3min-ttl. It should fail with an error, stating that the backup doesn't exist anymore. The corresponding ambassador-backup-3min-ttl folder from the DO Spaces Velero bucket, should be gone as well.

Going further, you can explore all the available velero backup delete options, via:

velero backup delete --help

Conclusion

In this tutorial, you learned how to perform one time, as well as scheduled backups, and to restore everything back. Having scheduled backups in place, is very important as it allows you to revert to a previous snapshot in time, if something goes wrong along the way. You walked through a disaster recovery scenario, as well.

You can learn more about Velero, by following below topics:

Backup Command Reference
Restore Command Reference
Backup Hooks
Cluster Migration
Velero Troubleshooting

Next, you will learn how to set up Alerts and Notifications using AlertManager, to give you real time notifications (e.g. Slack), if something bad happens in your DOKS cluster.

Go to Section 7 - Alerts and Notifications.

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README.md

README.md

How to Perform Backup and Restore Using Velero

Introduction

Table of contents

Prerequisites

Step 1 - How Velero Works

Backup and Restore workflow

Step 2 - Installing Velero

Step 3 - Namespace Backup and Restore Example

Creating the Ambassador Namespace Backup

Deleting the Ambassador Namespace and Resources

Restoring the Ambassador Namespace Backup

Checking the Ambassador Namespace Restore Status

Step 4 - Backup and Restore Whole Cluster Example

Creating the DOKS Cluster Backup

Deleting the DOKS Cluster

Checking DOKS Cluster State

Step 5 - Scheduled Backup and Restore

Verifying the Scheduled Backup state

Restoring the Scheduled Backup

Step 6 - Deleting Backups

Manually Deleting a Backup

Automatic Backup Deletion via TTL

Conclusion

Files

README.md

Latest commit

History

README.md

File metadata and controls

How to Perform Backup and Restore Using Velero

Introduction

Table of contents

Prerequisites

Step 1 - How Velero Works

Backup and Restore workflow

Step 2 - Installing Velero

Step 3 - Namespace Backup and Restore Example

Creating the Ambassador Namespace Backup

Deleting the Ambassador Namespace and Resources

Restoring the Ambassador Namespace Backup

Checking the Ambassador Namespace Restore Status

Step 4 - Backup and Restore Whole Cluster Example

Creating the DOKS Cluster Backup

Deleting the DOKS Cluster

Checking DOKS Cluster State

Step 5 - Scheduled Backup and Restore

Verifying the Scheduled Backup state

Restoring the Scheduled Backup

Step 6 - Deleting Backups

Manually Deleting a Backup

Automatic Backup Deletion via TTL

Conclusion