Backup and Restore Procedures

Overview

Regular backups are critical for disaster recovery, data protection, and migration. ITSM-NG requires backing up both the database and file system components.

What to Backup

Database

The MySQL/MariaDB database contains:

All configuration data
User accounts and permissions
Tickets, changes, and problems
Assets and inventory
Historical data and logs

File System

Core files

ITSM-NG installation directory:

/var/www/html/itsm-ng/

Configuration file

Database connection and settings:

/var/www/html/itsm-ng/config/config_db.php

Uploaded files

Documents and attachments:

/var/www/html/itsm-ng/files/

Plugins

Installed plugins:

/var/www/html/itsm-ng/plugins/
/var/www/html/itsm-ng/marketplace/

Pictures

User photos and images:

/var/www/html/itsm-ng/files/_pictures/

Never backup the vendor directory or cache files. These should be regenerated using composer.

Database Backup

Using mysqldump

Basic Backup

# Backup entire database
mysqldump -u glpi -p glpi > itsm-ng-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).sql

# Backup with compression
mysqldump -u glpi -p glpi | gzip > itsm-ng-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).sql.gz

Complete Backup with Options

mysqldump \
  --user=glpi \
  --password \
  --single-transaction \
  --routines \
  --triggers \
  --events \
  --compress \
  glpi > itsm-ng-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).sql

Options explained:

--single-transaction: Consistent backup without locking tables
--routines: Include stored procedures
--triggers: Include triggers
--events: Include scheduled events
--compress: Compress data between client and server

Using MySQL Workbench

Connect to server

Open MySQL Workbench and connect to your database server.

Access data export

Navigate to Server > Data Export.

Select database

Check the ITSM-NG database (usually named glpi).

Configure export options

Export to self-contained file
Include stored procedures and events
Select all tables

Start export

Click Start Export and save the file.

Automated Database Backups

Cron Job Example

#!/bin/bash
# Daily backup script

# Configuration
DB_NAME="glpi"
DB_USER="glpi"
DB_PASS="your_password"
BACKUP_DIR="/backup/itsm-ng/db"
RETENTION_DAYS=30

# Create backup directory
mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR"

# Backup filename with timestamp
BACKUP_FILE="$BACKUP_DIR/itsm-ng-db-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S).sql.gz"

# Perform backup
mysqldump \
  --user="$DB_USER" \
  --password="$DB_PASS" \
  --single-transaction \
  --routines \
  --triggers \
  --events \
  "$DB_NAME" | gzip > "$BACKUP_FILE"

# Check if backup was successful
if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
    echo "Backup completed: $BACKUP_FILE"
    
    # Delete old backups
    find "$BACKUP_DIR" -name "itsm-ng-db-*.sql.gz" -mtime +$RETENTION_DAYS -delete
    echo "Old backups cleaned (retention: $RETENTION_DAYS days)"
else
    echo "Backup failed!"
    exit 1
fi

Schedule with Cron

# Edit crontab
crontab -e

# Add daily backup at 2 AM
0 2 * * * /usr/local/bin/itsm-ng-backup.sh >> /var/log/itsm-ng-backup.log 2>&1

File System Backup

Using rsync

# Backup ITSM-NG directory
rsync -avz \
  --exclude 'vendor' \
  --exclude 'files/_cache' \
  --exclude 'files/_sessions' \
  /var/www/html/itsm-ng/ \
  /backup/itsm-ng/files/itsm-ng-$(date +%Y%m%d)/

Using tar

# Create compressed archive
tar -czf \
  /backup/itsm-ng-files-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz \
  --exclude='vendor' \
  --exclude='files/_cache' \
  --exclude='files/_sessions' \
  -C /var/www/html itsm-ng/

Critical Files Only

# Backup only essential data
tar -czf /backup/itsm-ng-critical-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz \
  -C /var/www/html/itsm-ng \
  config/ \
  files/_pictures/ \
  files/_dumps/ \
  files/_plugins/ \
  files/_uploads/

Complete Backup Script

All-in-One Backup

#!/bin/bash
# Complete ITSM-NG backup script

set -e  # Exit on error

# Configuration
BACKUP_ROOT="/backup/itsm-ng"
ITSM_ROOT="/var/www/html/itsm-ng"
DB_NAME="glpi"
DB_USER="glpi"
DB_PASS="your_password"
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)
RETENTION_DAYS=30

# Create backup directories
mkdir -p "$BACKUP_ROOT/daily"
BACKUP_DIR="$BACKUP_ROOT/daily/$DATE"
mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR"

echo "Starting ITSM-NG backup: $DATE"

# 1. Backup database
echo "Backing up database..."
mysqldump \
  --user="$DB_USER" \
  --password="$DB_PASS" \
  --single-transaction \
  --routines \
  --triggers \
  --events \
  "$DB_NAME" | gzip > "$BACKUP_DIR/database.sql.gz"

if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
    echo "Database backup failed!"
    exit 1
fi

# 2. Backup files
echo "Backing up files..."
tar -czf "$BACKUP_DIR/files.tar.gz" \
  --exclude='vendor' \
  --exclude='files/_cache' \
  --exclude='files/_sessions' \
  -C "$ITSM_ROOT" .

if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
    echo "File backup failed!"
    exit 1
fi

# 3. Backup configuration
echo "Backing up configuration..."
cp "$ITSM_ROOT/config/config_db.php" "$BACKUP_DIR/config_db.php"

# 4. Create metadata file
cat > "$BACKUP_DIR/backup-info.txt" << EOF
Backup Date: $DATE
ITSM-NG Version: $(cat $ITSM_ROOT/version.txt 2>/dev/null || echo 'Unknown')
Database: $DB_NAME
Backup Type: Complete
EOF

# 5. Calculate checksums
echo "Calculating checksums..."
cd "$BACKUP_DIR"
sha256sum * > checksums.sha256

# 6. Clean old backups
echo "Cleaning old backups..."
find "$BACKUP_ROOT/daily" -maxdepth 1 -type d -mtime +$RETENTION_DAYS -exec rm -rf {} \;

echo "Backup completed successfully!"
echo "Location: $BACKUP_DIR"
echo "Size: $(du -sh $BACKUP_DIR | cut -f1)"

Restore Procedures

Database Restore

Stop web server

sudo systemctl stop apache2  # or nginx

Create new database

mysql -u root -p
DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS glpi;
CREATE DATABASE glpi CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON glpi.* TO 'glpi'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Restore database

# From uncompressed backup
mysql -u glpi -p glpi < itsm-ng-backup.sql

# From compressed backup
gunzip < itsm-ng-backup.sql.gz | mysql -u glpi -p glpi

Verify restoration

mysql -u glpi -p -e "USE glpi; SHOW TABLES; SELECT COUNT(*) FROM glpi_users;"

Restoring a database will overwrite ALL existing data. Ensure you have a current backup before proceeding.

File System Restore

Stop services

sudo systemctl stop apache2
sudo systemctl stop php*-fpm

Backup current installation

mv /var/www/html/itsm-ng /var/www/html/itsm-ng.old

Restore files

# From tar archive
mkdir -p /var/www/html/itsm-ng
tar -xzf itsm-ng-files.tar.gz -C /var/www/html/itsm-ng

# Or from rsync backup
rsync -avz /backup/itsm-ng/files/latest/ /var/www/html/itsm-ng/

Set permissions

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/itsm-ng
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/itsm-ng
sudo chmod -R 775 /var/www/html/itsm-ng/files
sudo chmod -R 775 /var/www/html/itsm-ng/config

Reinstall dependencies

cd /var/www/html/itsm-ng
sudo -u www-data composer install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader

Start services

sudo systemctl start php*-fpm
sudo systemctl start apache2

Disaster Recovery

Complete System Restore

Prepare new server

Install LAMP/LEMP stack and required PHP extensions.

Restore database

Follow database restore procedure above.

Restore files

Follow file system restore procedure above.

Update configuration

Edit /config/config_db.php if database credentials changed.

Run migrations

If restoring to a newer ITSM-NG version:

php bin/console migration:migrate

Test system

Access web interface
Verify login works
Check tickets and assets load
Test notifications

Best Practices

Backup Recommendations

3-2-1 Rule: 3 copies, 2 different media types, 1 offsite
Frequency: Daily backups minimum, hourly for critical systems
Testing: Test restores monthly to verify backup integrity
Retention: Keep daily backups for 30 days, monthly for 1 year
Monitoring: Set up alerts for backup failures
Encryption: Encrypt backups containing sensitive data
Documentation: Document restore procedures and test them
Offsite: Store backups in different physical location or cloud

Backup Verification

Automated Testing

#!/bin/bash
# Verify backup integrity

BACKUP_FILE="$1"

if [ ! -f "$BACKUP_FILE" ]; then
    echo "Backup file not found: $BACKUP_FILE"
    exit 1
fi

# Test database backup
if [[ $BACKUP_FILE == *.sql ]]; then
    # Try to parse SQL file
    mysql --skip-column-names -e "SELECT 1" < "$BACKUP_FILE" > /dev/null 2>&1
    if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
        echo "Database backup is valid"
    else
        echo "Database backup is corrupted!"
        exit 1
    fi
elif [[ $BACKUP_FILE == *.sql.gz ]]; then
    # Test gzip integrity
    gunzip -t "$BACKUP_FILE"
    if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
        echo "Compressed database backup is valid"
    else
        echo "Compressed backup is corrupted!"
        exit 1
    fi
elif [[ $BACKUP_FILE == *.tar.gz ]]; then
    # Test tar archive
    tar -tzf "$BACKUP_FILE" > /dev/null
    if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
        echo "File backup archive is valid"
    else
        echo "Archive is corrupted!"
        exit 1
    fi
fi

Cloud Backup Solutions

AWS S3 Integration

# Upload backup to S3
aws s3 cp itsm-ng-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz \
  s3://my-bucket/itsm-ng-backups/ \
  --storage-class GLACIER

# Download from S3
aws s3 cp s3://my-bucket/itsm-ng-backups/itsm-ng-backup-20240101.tar.gz ./

Rsync to Remote Server

# Backup to remote server via SSH
rsync -avz -e ssh \
  /backup/itsm-ng/ \
  backup-server:/mnt/backups/itsm-ng/

Troubleshooting

Backup Too Large

Use compression (gzip, bzip2)
Exclude non-essential data
Archive old tickets separately
Use incremental backups

Restore Failed

Check backup file integrity
Verify database credentials
Ensure sufficient disk space
Check file permissions
Review error logs

Slow Backups

Use --single-transaction for mysqldump
Schedule during off-peak hours
Optimize database before backup
Use faster storage for backups
Consider incremental backups

Get Started

Core Concepts

User Guide

Administration

Plugins & Extensions

​Overview

​What to Backup

​Database

​File System

​Database Backup

​Using mysqldump

​Basic Backup

​Complete Backup with Options

​Using MySQL Workbench

​Automated Database Backups

​Cron Job Example

​Schedule with Cron

​File System Backup

​Using rsync

​Using tar

​Critical Files Only

​Complete Backup Script

​All-in-One Backup

​Restore Procedures

​Database Restore

​File System Restore

​Disaster Recovery

​Complete System Restore

​Best Practices

Backup Recommendations

​Backup Verification

​Automated Testing

​Cloud Backup Solutions

​AWS S3 Integration

​Rsync to Remote Server

​Troubleshooting

​Backup Too Large

​Restore Failed

​Slow Backups

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

What to Backup

Database

File System

Database Backup

Using mysqldump

Basic Backup

Complete Backup with Options

Using MySQL Workbench

Automated Database Backups

Cron Job Example

Schedule with Cron

File System Backup

Using rsync

Using tar

Critical Files Only

Complete Backup Script

All-in-One Backup

Restore Procedures

Database Restore

File System Restore

Disaster Recovery

Complete System Restore

Best Practices

Backup Verification

Automated Testing

Cloud Backup Solutions

AWS S3 Integration

Rsync to Remote Server

Troubleshooting

Backup Too Large

Restore Failed

Slow Backups