Backups

1. Backups

This article explains the critical importance of Data management backups for your MediaWiki installation, covering various methods, strategies, and best practices. Backups are your safety net against data loss due to hardware failure, software errors, accidental deletion, malicious attacks (like Security breaches), or even natural disasters. Without a reliable backup strategy, losing your wiki’s content can be devastating. This guide is geared towards beginners, but also provides information useful for more experienced administrators.

Why are Backups Important?

Imagine building a comprehensive knowledge base, a collaborative project with countless hours of effort, or a vital internal documentation system. Now imagine losing it all in an instant. That’s the reality without regular backups.

• **Data Loss Prevention:** The primary purpose of a backup is to protect against data loss. Hard drives fail, servers crash, and mistakes happen. Backups allow you to restore your wiki to a previous, working state.
• **Disaster Recovery:** A robust backup strategy is essential for disaster recovery. Whether it's a fire, flood, or cyberattack, having offsite backups ensures your data survives.
• **Error Recovery:** Even seemingly minor errors, like a faulty software update or a problematic extension installation, can corrupt your wiki’s data. Backups allow you to revert to a known good version.
• **Testing and Development:** Backups are invaluable for testing new features, extensions, or configurations. You can restore a backup to a test environment without affecting your live wiki. This supports Extension management best practices.
• **Compliance and Auditing:** Depending on your wiki’s content and purpose (e.g., legal or regulatory documentation), backups may be required for compliance and auditing purposes.

What Needs to Be Backed Up?

A complete MediaWiki backup includes more than just the wiki content itself. You need to back up the following:

• **Wiki Database:** This is where all the wiki’s content (pages, revisions, user information, categories, etc.) is stored. Typically, this is a Database software like MySQL/MariaDB, PostgreSQL, or SQLite. This is the *most* critical component.
• **Wiki Files (Images, Documents, etc.):** The `images/` directory contains all uploaded files, such as images, PDFs, and other documents.
• **Configuration Files:** `LocalSettings.php` is the main configuration file for your MediaWiki installation. It contains important settings like database credentials, site URL, and other customizations. Backing this up is *essential*. Other configuration files, depending on extensions installed, may also need to be backed up.
• **Extensions:** If you have installed any Extensions, you should also back up their files. While extensions can generally be re-downloaded, their configuration data within the database *must* be backed up along with the database itself.
• **Custom CSS/JavaScript:** Any custom CSS or JavaScript files you've added to modify the wiki’s appearance or behavior should be included in your backups.
• **`.htaccess` (Apache) or equivalent:** This file controls access to your wiki and may contain important security settings. (Relevant if using Apache web server).

Backup Methods

There are several methods for backing up your MediaWiki installation. The best method depends on your technical expertise, server access, and budget.

• **Manual Backups:** This involves manually backing up the database and files using command-line tools or database administration tools like phpMyAdmin. This is a good option for small wikis or if you have limited server access, but it can be time-consuming and error-prone.

   *   **Database Backup (MySQL/MariaDB):** `mysqldump -u [username] -p[password] [database_name] > backup.sql`
   *   **Database Backup (PostgreSQL):** `pg_dump -U [username] -d [database_name] > backup.sql`
   *   **File Backup:** Use `tar`, `zip`, or `rsync` to archive the wiki files.  Example: `tar -czvf backup.tar.gz images/ LocalSettings.php`

• **Automated Backups (Scripts):** You can create scripts (e.g., Bash, Python, PHP) to automate the backup process. This is a more efficient and reliable option than manual backups. These scripts can be scheduled to run automatically using cron jobs or task schedulers. Cron jobs are particularly useful for regular, unattended backups.
• **Database-Level Backups:** Many hosting providers offer automated database backups as part of their hosting package. This is a convenient option, but make sure the backups are stored offsite.
• **Server Snapshots:** Some cloud providers (e.g., AWS, Google Cloud, Azure) offer server snapshots, which create a point-in-time copy of your entire server. This is a very fast and efficient way to back up your wiki, but it can be expensive.
• **MediaWiki Extensions:** Several Extensions are available to simplify the backup process directly within the MediaWiki interface. These extensions often provide features like scheduled backups, backup retention policies, and remote storage options. Some popular options include:

   *   **BackupTool:** A comprehensive backup and restore tool.
   *   **Maintenance:** Provides various maintenance tasks, including backup and restore.

• **Third-Party Backup Services:** Numerous third-party backup services specialize in backing up websites and databases. These services often offer features like offsite storage, versioning, and disaster recovery.

Backup Strategies

Choosing the right backup strategy is crucial. Here are some common strategies:

• **Full Backups:** A full backup copies all data to a backup location. This is the simplest strategy, but it can be time-consuming and require a lot of storage space.
• **Incremental Backups:** An incremental backup copies only the data that has changed since the last *full* backup. This is faster and requires less storage space than full backups, but restoring from incremental backups can be more complex.
• **Differential Backups:** A differential backup copies only the data that has changed since the last *full* backup. This is faster than full backups but slower than incremental backups. Restoring from differential backups is simpler than restoring from incremental backups.
• **Versioning:** Storing multiple versions of your backups allows you to restore to a specific point in time. This is particularly useful if you need to recover from an error that occurred several days or weeks ago. Many backup solutions offer built-in versioning features.

• • Recommended Strategy:** A common and effective strategy is a combination of full and incremental backups. For example, you could perform a full backup weekly and incremental backups daily. This provides a good balance between backup speed, storage space, and restore complexity. Consider the **Grandfather-Father-Son** backup scheme for long-term archiving. This involves daily (Son), weekly (Father), and monthly (Grandfather) backups for increased redundancy.

Where to Store Backups (Offsite vs. Onsite)

• **Onsite Backups:** Storing backups on the same server as your wiki is convenient, but it’s not a reliable disaster recovery solution. If the server fails, your backups will be lost along with your wiki.
• **Offsite Backups:** Storing backups in a different physical location (e.g., a different data center, a cloud storage service) is essential for disaster recovery. This ensures that your backups survive even if your primary server is destroyed.

• • Recommended:** Always store at least one copy of your backups offsite. Consider using a combination of onsite and offsite backups for redundancy. Cloud storage services like Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage, and Azure Blob Storage are popular options for offsite backups. A NAS (Network Attached Storage) device in a separate location can also be a good solution.

Testing Your Backups

Creating backups is only half the battle. You must *regularly test* your backups to ensure they are working correctly.

• **Restore Test:** Periodically restore your wiki from a backup to a test environment. This verifies that the backup is complete and that you can successfully restore your data.
• **File Integrity Check:** Use checksums (e.g., MD5, SHA-256) to verify the integrity of your backup files. This ensures that the files haven’t been corrupted during storage or transfer.
• **Database Integrity Check:** Run database integrity checks to ensure that the database is consistent and free of errors.

• • Frequency:** Test your backups at least quarterly, or more frequently if you make significant changes to your wiki.

Security Considerations

• **Encryption:** Encrypt your backups to protect sensitive data from unauthorized access.
• **Access Control:** Restrict access to your backups to authorized personnel only.
• **Secure Storage:** Store your backups in a secure location with appropriate physical and logical security measures.
• **Backup Credentials:** Protect the credentials used to access your backups. Do not store them in plain text.
• **Regular Security Audits:** Periodically audit your backup procedures to identify and address any security vulnerabilities.

Advanced Backup Topics

• **Database Replication:** Setting up database replication provides a real-time copy of your database, which can be used for failover and disaster recovery. This is a more advanced technique that requires significant technical expertise. Understand the concepts of Master-slave replication and Clustering.
• **Continuous Data Protection (CDP):** CDP provides continuous, automated backups of your data, minimizing data loss in the event of a failure.
• **Bare Metal Restore:** A bare metal restore involves restoring your entire server from a backup, including the operating system, applications, and data.
• **Backup Monitoring:** Implement backup monitoring to receive alerts when backups fail or are incomplete.

Troubleshooting Common Backup Issues

• **Backup Fails:** Check the backup logs for errors. Ensure you have sufficient disk space and that the backup process has the necessary permissions.
• **Restore Fails:** Verify that the backup file is not corrupted and that you are using the correct restore procedure. Check database user permissions.
• **Data Corruption:** Run database integrity checks and file integrity checks to identify and repair data corruption. Consider restoring from an earlier backup.

Backups are not a “set it and forget it” task. They require ongoing maintenance, testing, and monitoring to ensure they are effective. Investing the time and effort to create a robust backup strategy is one of the most important things you can do to protect your MediaWiki installation. Ignoring backups is a gamble you cannot afford to take. Remember to review and update your backup strategy regularly as your wiki grows and evolves. Consider researching tools like Veeam, Duplicati, or BorgBackup for more advanced options.

Backup Strategies Explained Data Backup Guide VMware Backup Definition Backup Strategy Guide 3-2-1 Backup Rule The Grandfather-Father-Son Scheme Data Backup Strategy Backup Strategies for Business Backup Strategies Overview Backup Strategies You Need To Know 5 Best Practices for Backup Strategies Best Practices for Backup Strategies Backup Strategies for Data Protection Data Protection Addendum Backup and Restore Solutions Backup and Disaster Recovery Azure Backup Veeam Backup & Replication Duplicati Backup Software BorgBackup Bareos Open Source Backup Acronis Cyber Protect Carbonite Backup Backblaze Online Backup IDrive Backup CrashPlan Backup

Database backups Disaster recovery Data restoration Security System administration Maintenance Database software Extension management Cron jobs Data management

Start Trading Now

Sign up at IQ Option (Minimum deposit $10) Open an account at Pocket Option (Minimum deposit $5)

Join Our Community

Subscribe to our Telegram channel @strategybin to receive: ✓ Daily trading signals ✓ Exclusive strategy analysis ✓ Market trend alerts ✓ Educational materials for beginners