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Beta testers for hosted Borg backup services wanted. 100GB free space - Page 4
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Beta testers for hosted Borg backup services wanted. 100GB free space

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Comments

  • bjobjo Member

    What's the best way to migrate a repo to borgbase? I have a 40GB repo on a storage VPS, and I don't want to reupload the whole data with my 5Mbit upload from home again.

  • m4num4nu Member, Patron Provider
    edited January 2019

    @bjo said:
    What's the best way to migrate a repo to borgbase? I have a 40GB repo on a storage VPS, and I don't want to reupload the whole data with my 5Mbit upload from home again.

    1. add a new repo on Borgbase
    2. send me the repo ID together with a download link to the repo. I'll put it in directly.
    Thanked by 1bjo
  • Hi! Just wanted to say this service is great! Extremely impressed! I paid for the 100GB for now and am testing it and wow. It's so well designed, so easy, and so fast! I am using the BorgBase repo with your Ansible role (https://github.com/borgbase/ansible-role-borgbackup) and I was ready in no time. Now I just hope this service lasts and doesn't shut down overnight... I hope you have good plans for it. Definitely better than rsync.net etc. Thanks!

    Thanked by 2bjo m4nu
  • m4num4nu Member, Patron Provider

    Thanks for subscribing @SkyLinx! There are no plans to shut this down. I've been doing backups for business clients for a long time. The new public service is an extension and will stay around.

  • I don't get it, can someone please Explain Like I Am 5 year old what is this Borg Backup? Also, can it do selective backup of my VPS? Like can I exclude some folders when backing up?

  • m4num4nu Member, Patron Provider
    edited January 2019

    Adding to @eol's link:

    ps20090 said: I don't get it, can someone please Explain Like I Am 5 year old what is this Borg Backup?

    The main Borg maintainer – Thomas – recently gave a lightning talk at 35c3, which has a great intro. Find it here.

    Also, can it do selective backup of my VPS? Like can I exclude some folders when backing up?

    For a VPS, I'd recommend Borgmatic. It wraps Borg and makes it easy to keep configs and run it as Cron job. Just add your important directories, put the destination repo and you're done. You can copy a pre-filled Borgmatic template in BorgBase under Setup in the main menu. There are also more complex exclusions, but I don't use them too often on a VPS. (If you use Ansible, there is also an Ansible role to install it automatically.)

    Thanked by 1eol
  • Hey @m4nu

    Your service looks great. And in my opinion you will have success if you can give users very simple instructions / steps to make the bellow 3 backup scenarios:

    • Backup some specific folders and files
    • Backup ALL folders and files
    • Backup ALL Databases
    • Backup Docker (for easyengine.io users for example).

    You should invest time in creating a good KB and very good simple and step by step articles. If someone already is an expert in Backups or Borg, that person will not buy your service. He will run it's own backup server.

    I think most of your client base will be newbies in the backup world and I know many people that have and run unmanaged VPS's, and they know ZERO about backups and Borg.

    All the best! Good luck!

  • @nqservices said:
    Hey @m4nu

    Your service looks great. And in my opinion you will have success if you can give users very simple instructions / steps to make the bellow 3 backup scenarios:

    • Backup some specific folders and files
    • Backup ALL folders and files
    • Backup ALL Databases
    • Backup Docker (for easyengine.io users for example).

    You should invest time in creating a good KB and very good simple and step by step articles. If someone already is an expert in Backups or Borg, that person will not buy your service. He will run it's own backup server.

    I think most of your client base will be newbies in the backup world and I know many people that have and run unmanaged VPS's, and they know ZERO about backups and Borg.

    All the best! Good luck!

    Documentation is pretty good so far. There's a wizard that walks you through 4 steps to get you running and provides a borgmatic config template you can easily configure your dirs. There isn't anything about database backup, so I suppose that could be added. But that's more like a client side problem and not server problem.

  • m4num4nu Member, Patron Provider
    edited January 2019

    nqservices said: You should invest time in creating a good KB and very good simple and step by step articles. If someone already is an expert in Backups or Borg, that person will not buy your service. He will run it's own backup server.

    I think most of your client base will be newbies in the backup world and I know many people that have and run unmanaged VPS's, and they know ZERO about backups and Borg.

    True. I already started working on a KB. Currently at https://docs.borgbase.com

    Backing up container applications, like Docker and K8s is particularly interesting. Some clients are already testing this. Borg is well suited for this scenario because no monitoring, volume or state is required on the client to create and restore backups. Will have some guides online soon.

    Until then the currently best articles are:

    To be added next:

    • Backup Docker/K8s
    • Backup Synology DSM
    • Backup FreeNAS
    • A Probabilistic Evaluation of the 3-2-1 Backup Strategy (some maths)
    • Backup Debian/Ubuntu (including MariaDB and Postgres backups)
  • SkyLinxSkyLinx Member
    edited January 2019

    @nqservices said:
    If someone already is an expert in Backups or Borg, that person will not buy your service. He will run it's own backup server.

    Uhm why if this makes life a lot easier? I used to run my own backup server but I definitely prefer something that is this easy and optimised for Borg.

  • bjobjo Member
    edited January 2019

    +1. Especially that the space above 100GB is dynamic is a big advantage. At the moment I have a 100GB OVZ box for storage, and I have to upgrade or so if I want to use more space. And providing reliable storage is also an advantage compared to some cheap LET-storagebox where you don't know what happens when a disk dies.

    Thanked by 1vimalware
  • @m4nu well done on getting approved for stipe they declined my application for my storage site.

  • TimboJones said: Documentation is pretty good so far.

    Documentation needs to be improved. Info is scattered. Users need to piece information together to use his service, require trial and error.

    Advanced user like you may not buy his service.

  • m4num4nu Member, Patron Provider
    edited January 2019

    greattomeetyou said:
    Documentation needs to be improved. Info is scattered. Users need to piece information together to use his service, require trial and error.

    There is still work left to do on the documentation. I'm currently adding bits and pieces based on questions I get by email. In the best case there should be a flow guiding you through it. Not quite there yet, but I have some plans to improve it.

  • m4num4nu Member, Patron Provider

    @lurch said:
    @m4nu well done on getting approved for stipe they declined my application for my storage site.

    That's an old Stripe account. I sent them the site a few weeks before starting and nobody complained. They just asked to add pricing and list of benefits. I heard they don't like hosting companies. As an alternative, you can try Braintree. Similar features and fees.

    Did your site have a public download function? Maybe they are afraid of copyright violation stuff?

  • @m4nu No there was no public file sharing option when I contacted stripe but they knocked me back anyway but the do provide processing for backblaze, guess that's because they have a high turnover.

    I did look at braintree but the PayPal association put me off but I've just read there aup and it doesn't mention file or web hosting so will give them a try, if not stuck with crypto.

  • m4num4nu Member, Patron Provider

    lurch said: I did look at braintree but the PayPal association put me off but I've just read there aup and it doesn't mention file or web hosting so will give them a try, if not stuck with crypto.

    Best to be pragmatic here. I'm no fan of Paypal either, but I added it as additional option and people are using it. So if Braintree enables running your business, just go for it.

  • @greattomeetyou said:

    TimboJones said: Documentation is pretty good so far.

    Documentation needs to be improved. Info is scattered. Users need to piece information together to use his service, require trial and error.

    Advanced user like you may not buy his service.

    "Documentation needs to be improved"

    That's true for 99% of things. I'm not disagreeing, there's lots more ways the service can hold my hand through the process. But that takes time and process refinement.

    I am not an advanced user. I think the basic requirements is a little command line experience. This beta was the reason to look into borg for the first time. I used the wizard provided to get setup for the first time. I have that one and only set up so far until I get around to more.

    I did futz around with ansible for a bit, but that was a waste of time. I don't have many servers, so it's less time to just copy and paste my working steps going forward than setting up ansible and different roles that might get used once or twice.

    Thanked by 1m4nu
  • m4num4nu Member, Patron Provider
    edited January 2019

    Just pushed a much-requested feature:

    • assign multiple SSH keys for each repo (e.g. from different machines)
    • manage permissions per-key, not per-repo (e.g. to have an append-only key on the live server and a full-access key on your laptop)

    Hope it's useful. As always, I'm interested in feedback and bugs. New features can also be suggested and voted on here.

    drawing
    drawing

  • @m4nu said:
    Just pushed a much-requested feature:

    • assign multiple SSH keys for each repo (e.g. from different machines)
    • manage permissions per-key, not per-repo (e.g. to have an append-only key on the live server and a full-access key on your laptop)

    Hope it's useful. As always, I'm interested in feedback and bugs. New features can also be suggested and voted on here.

    drawing
    drawing

    Found this useful today. Was able to create the repo and add SSH key after. Previously, you had to select keys to create a repo.

  • m4num4nu Member, Patron Provider

    Seems like some people have a lot of machines to back up. Time to automate that stuff.

    Since BorgBase is already powered by a GraphQL API, it's fairly simple for anyone to use it and manage their backups with it. I did a small sample client in Python this morning. It can already add new keys and repos.

    If anyone has other use cases or is interested in automating their backup creation, just get in touch or open a Github issue.

    Link: https://github.com/borgbase/borgbase-api-client

  • @m4nu said:
    Seems like some people have a lot of machines to back up. Time to automate that stuff.

    Since BorgBase is already powered by a GraphQL API, it's fairly simple for anyone to use it and manage their backups with it. I did a small sample client in Python this morning. It can already add new keys and repos.

    If anyone has other use cases or is interested in automating their backup creation, just get in touch or open a Github issue.

    Link: https://github.com/borgbase/borgbase-api-client

    Any plans for implementing an API key that doesn't use account login password? One that can be disabled if a script was compromised or server hardware stolen...

  • m4num4nu Member, Patron Provider

    Yes. That's on the roadmap if a few people end up using the API.

    For now it's mostly a way to avoid manual clicking when initially setting up a lot of new backup sources. I don't recommend hardcoding your password in scripts.

  • BochiBochi Member

    First, congratulations @m4nu for what you achieved so far!
    I just signed up and am planning to perform a few tests as soon as I find some time and am planning to switch over to your service eventually.

    One thing that I noticed: When setting up 2FA, there are no backup tokens provided - is this on the roadmap yet? :)

  • m4num4nu Member, Patron Provider

    Thanks for the encouragement, @Bochi. It has been an interesting journey and this thread here gave me a lot of support. I never expected to find any friendly people on the internet. :-)

    I still try to make a small improvement every other day. Since I'm a heavy user myself, I always notice something that bugs me. And there are always some ideas on https://borgbase.fider.io

    Regarding 2FA backup tokens, the best way is probably to make a backup of your 2FA app, though not all clients support this (and it could introduce new security challenges). Since nobody ever requested to reset their 2FA, it's probably too soon to automate this and I'll do it manually for now.

    Thanked by 1Bochi
  • BochiBochi Member

    Another thing that crossed my mind when playing around a bit:
    Would be nice to have some kind of protection against (accidental) deletion of a repo from within the backup, i.e. a "lock" you could apply which then requires an additional step to delete the repository.

    Other then that, everything worked flawlessly on the first attempt. Performance of the EU server seems pretty good as well!
    Would you mind sharing a few details about the setup in the background? :)

  • sinsin Member

    Nice, this looks awesome! Just signed up :)

  • m4num4nu Member, Patron Provider

    Bochi said: Would be nice to have some kind of protection against (accidental) deletion of a repo from within the backup, i.e. a "lock" you could apply which then requires an additional step to delete the repository.

    Can be added. I'm thinking of having users type the repo name, similar to Github. I added an issue for it on Fider.

    Bochi said: Would you mind sharing a few details about the setup in the background?

    The frontend is in Vue.js, which connects to a Django backend via GraphQL (can be used by anyone to automate backup setup). The actual data is kept on separate servers in the respective EU/US locations. Currently a Python daemon is managing repos there, but I'll soon replace that with Golang for a slightly leaner setup and simpler deployment.

    Thanked by 1Bochi
  • sinsin Member

    Are the free beta plans still going on or did those end? I haven't set anything up yet but I'm really loving the layout of the site and this looks like it will be really great to back up all my vms and dedis :).

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