Disaster recovery

NGBackup can rebuild a lost server from nothing but your backups.

The essentials to protect

1. A current catalog backup (or be ready to rebuild it with backup-scan).
2. Your bootstrap files (they pinpoint the volumes/records for the fastest restore).
3. The configuration in /opt/backup/etc/ and your PKI keys (if encryption is enabled).

Bare-metal recovery

1. Boot the replacement machine from rescue media (or install a minimal OS).
2. Install the File Daemon (backup-fd).
3. From the Director, run a Restore job to the new machine (Restore Client = newhost, Where = /).
4. For VMs, use Instant Recovery to boot directly from backup while data migrates — see Restore.

Rebuilding the catalog

If the catalog is lost, backup-scan reads your volumes and reconstructs the records, after which normal restores resume.

Caution

Test your DR plan regularly. A backup you have never restored is a hope, not a plan.