Postgres Backup and FTP Upload with Optional Encryption

This is an easy-to-use side-car container for backing up a PostgreSQL database and uploading the backup to a FTP server. The container is designed to run as a cron job, with configurable schedules and connection details provided via environment variables. Manual backups can also be triggered by running the backup script inside the container. Even restoring from the latest backup is possible.

• Github Repository: jannikhst/postgres-backup-ftp
• Docker Hub Image: jannikhst/postgres-backup-ftp

Features

• Backs up a PostgreSQL database daily by default, or according to a custom cron schedule.
• Uploads the backup to a specified FTP server.
• Easy configuration via environment variables.
• Simple integration with Docker Compose.

Using Encryption

To enhance the security of your backups, especially when the FTP server is not fully trusted, you can enable encryption. This will encrypt the backup file using AES-256-CBC encryption before uploading it to the FTP server.

Enabling Encryption

Set the following environment variables:

ENCRYPTION_ENABLED=true
ENCRYPTION_PASSWORD=your_encryption_password

Environment Variables

The following environment variables can be set to configure the behavior of the backup and upload processes:

• POSTGRES_USER: The PostgreSQL user (required).
• POSTGRES_PASSWORD: The PostgreSQL password (required).
• POSTGRES_DB: The PostgreSQL database name (required).
• POSTGRES_HOST: The PostgreSQL host (required).
• FTP_USER: The FTP user (required).
• FTP_PASS: The FTP password (required).
• FTP_HOST: The FTP server host (required).
• FTP_PATH: The FTP server path where backups will be uploaded (required).
• CRON_SCHEDULE: The cron schedule string (optional, defaults to "0 2 * * *" for daily at 2 AM).
• FTP_SSL: Enable FTP SSL (optional, defaults to false).
• BACKUP_RETENTION_DAYS: The number of days to keep backups on the FTP server (optional, defaults to 30).
• AUTO_DELETE_ENABLED: Enable/disable auto deletion of old backups (optional, defaults to true).
• ENCRYPTION_ENABLED: Enable encryption of the backup file before uploading (optional, defaults to false).
• ENCRYPTION_PASSWORD: The password used to encrypt/decrypt the backup file (required if ENCRYPTION_ENABLED is true).

Usage

You can use the Docker image available at Docker Hub:

docker pull jannikhst/postgres-backup-ftp

Running the Container

To run the Docker container with your configuration, create an env.list file with the required environment variables:

POSTGRES_USER=your_postgres_user
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=your_postgres_password
POSTGRES_DB=your_database_name
POSTGRES_HOST=your_postgres_host
FTP_USER=your_ftp_user
FTP_PASS=your_ftp_password
FTP_HOST=your_ftp_host
FTP_PATH=your_ftp_path
# Optional: CRON_SCHEDULE="0 2 * * *"
# Optional: FTP_SSL=true
# Optional: BACKUP_RETENTION_DAYS=30
# Optional: AUTO_DELETE_ENABLED=true

Then run the container with the following command:

docker run --env-file ./env.list jannikhst/postgres-backup-ftp

Using Docker Compose

You can also use Docker Compose to manage the container. Below is an example docker-compose.yml file:

services:
  db:
    image: postgres:latest
    container_name: postgres_db
    restart: always
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U ${POSTGRES_USER} -d ${POSTGRES_DB} || exit 1"]
      interval: 20s
      timeout: 7s
      retries: 3
    environment:
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
      POSTGRES_USER: ${POSTGRES_USER}
      POSTGRES_DB: ${POSTGRES_DB}
    volumes:
      - ./db_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    networks:
      - internal_network

  backup:
    image: jannikhst/postgres-backup-ftp
    container_name: postgres_backup
    depends_on:
      db:
        condition: service_healthy
    environment:
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
      POSTGRES_USER: ${POSTGRES_USER}
      POSTGRES_DB: ${POSTGRES_DB}
      POSTGRES_HOST: db
      FTP_USER: ${FTP_USER}
      FTP_PASS: ${FTP_PASS}
      FTP_HOST: ${FTP_HOST}
      FTP_PATH: ${FTP_PATH}
      CRON_SCHEDULE: ${CRON_SCHEDULE:-"0 2 * * *"} # Default schedule: daily at 2 AM
      FTP_SSL: ${FTP_SSL} # Optional: Enable FTP SSL
      BACKUP_RETENTION_DAYS: ${BACKUP_RETENTION_DAYS:-30} # Optional: Number of days to keep backups
      AUTO_DELETE_ENABLED: ${AUTO_DELETE_ENABLED:-true} # Optional: Enable/disable auto deletion of old backups
      ENCRYPTION_ENABLED: true
      ENCRYPTION_PASSWORD: ${ENCRYPTION_PASSWORD}
    volumes:
      - ./backups:/backups
    networks:
      - internal_network

networks:
  internal_network:
    driver: bridge

Customizing the Cron Schedule

The CRON_SCHEDULE environment variable allows you to specify a custom cron schedule. For example, to run the backup every day at 3 AM, set CRON_SCHEDULE to 0 3 * * *. If CRON_SCHEDULE is not set, the default schedule is daily at 2 AM (0 2 * * *).

Manual Backup

Ensure that ENCRYPTION_ENABLED and ENCRYPTION_PASSWORD are set correctly in the environment variables when performing manual operations.

You can log in to the container and manually run the backup script using the following command:

docker exec -it $(docker ps -q -f ancestor=jannikhst/postgres-backup-ftp) /scripts/backup.sh

or if you know the container id:

docker exec -it ed227abb8783 ./backup.sh

Restore from Backup

Warning: Restoring a database will overwrite the existing data. Make sure you know the consequences before proceeding.

Take a look at the restore script if you are not sure what it does.

To restore the database from the latest backup file found on the ftp server, you can use the following command:

docker exec -it $(docker ps -q -f ancestor=jannikhst/postgres-backup-ftp) /scripts/restore.sh

or if you know the container id:

docker exec -it ed227abb8783 ./restore.sh