Backing up Rancher Installed with Docker

After completing your Docker installation of Rancher, we recommend creating backups of it on a regular basis. Having a recent backup will let you recover quickly from an unexpected disaster.

Before You Start

During the creation of your backup, you'll enter a series of commands, replacing placeholders with data from your environment. These placeholders are denoted with angled brackets and all capital letters (\<EXAMPLE\>). Here's an example of a command with a placeholder:

docker run  --volumes-from rancher-data-[DATE] -v $PWD:/backup busybox tar pzcvf /backup/rancher-data-backup-[RANCHER_VERSION]-[DATE].tar.gz /var/lib/rancher

In this command, [DATE] is a placeholder for the date that the data container and backup were created. 9-27-18 for example.

Cross reference the image and reference table below to learn how to obtain this placeholder data. Write down or copy this information before starting the procedure below.

\<sup\>Terminal `docker ps` Command, Displaying Where to Find `\<RANCHER_CONTAINER_TAG\>` and `\<RANCHER_CONTAINER_NAME\>`\</sup\>![Placeholder Reference](./assets/img/rancher/placeholder-ref.png)

Placeholder	Example	Description
\<RANCHER_CONTAINER_TAG\>	v2.0.5	The rancher/rancher image you pulled for initial install.
\<RANCHER_CONTAINER_NAME\>	festive_mestorf	The name of your Rancher container.
[RANCHER_VERSION]	v2.0.5	The version of Rancher that you're creating a backup for.
[DATE]	9-27-18	The date that the data container or backup was created.

You can obtain \<RANCHER_CONTAINER_TAG\> and \<RANCHER_CONTAINER_NAME\> by logging into your Rancher Server by remote connection and entering the command to view the containers that are running: docker ps. You can also view containers that are stopped with docker ps -a. Use these commands for help anytime while creating backups.

Creating a Backup

This procedure creates a backup that you can restore if Rancher encounters a disaster scenario.

1. Using a remote Terminal connection, log into the node running your Rancher Server.

2. Stop the container currently running Rancher Server. Replace \<RANCHER_CONTAINER_NAME\> with the name of your Rancher container.

   docker stop \<RANCHER_CONTAINER_NAME\>

3. \<a id="backup">\</a>Use the command below, replacing each placeholder, to create a data container from the Rancher container that you just stopped.

   docker create --volumes-from \<RANCHER_CONTAINER_NAME\> --name rancher-data-[DATE] rancher/rancher:\<RANCHER_CONTAINER_TAG\>

4. \<a id="tarball">\</a>From the data container that you just created (rancher-data-[DATE]), create a backup tarball:

rancher-data-backup-[RANCHER_VERSION]-[DATE].tar.gz

1. Use the following command, replacing each placeholder:

docker run  --volumes-from rancher-data-[DATE] -v $PWD:/backup:z busybox tar pzcvf /backup/rancher-data-backup-[RANCHER_VERSION]-[DATE].tar.gz /var/lib/rancher

**Step Result:** A stream of commands runs on the screen.

1. Enter the ls command to confirm that the backup tarball was created. It will have a name similar to rancher-data-backup-[RANCHER_VERSION]-[DATE].tar.gz.

2. Move your backup tarball to a safe location external to your Rancher Server. Then delete the rancher-data-[DATE] container from your Rancher Server.

3. Restart Rancher Server. Replace [RANCHER_CONTAINER_NAME] with the name of your Rancher container:

   docker start \<RANCHER_CONTAINER_NAME\>

Result: A backup tarball of your Rancher Server data is created. See Restoring Backups: Docker Installs if you need to restore backup data.