Intermediate5 lessons125 minutes
Backups and restores
Back up a database and files, apply retention, and above all verify that a restore works before you need it.
A backup never restored is not a backup: it is an assumption. This course builds a full chain, then spends as long restoring it as producing it.
What you will be able to do
- Back up a PostgreSQL or MariaDB database consistently
- Back up files with rsync without destroying the destination
- Apply a retention rule that does not delete the only valid copy
- Restore for real, and make that verification routine
Outline
- 01
Producing backups
Databases and files, with the traps particular to each.
- 02
Restoring
The only step that proves the rest was worth anything.
Technical content last reviewed on 3 August 2026