Seeking Guidance on Backup Verification and Site Mirroring

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BrianC is seeking guidance on verifying backup restoration and testing site mirroring for their Discourse instance. They are using daily Google backups but are hesitant to test restoration due to lack of experience with manual file and database recovery, especially after a first-time Docker deployment on a mid-level dedicated server. They also ask if they can mirror their live site on a hosted Discourse instance to test backups and risky changes. pfaffman suggests setting up another server, restoring the backup (or configuring it to access the same S3 bucket), and deleting it after confirming the backup works. BrianC thanks for the advice, finding the solution simple.

1

I have my site doing daily backups to Google which is working without issue. I am yet to attempt restoring to validate this works correctly fearing it goes awry. I do not have skills with saving my site database and files like other WordPress and other software which is a breeze to manually restore files if needed. If I mess up my site which for me was a considerably effort to figure out how to setup, i am dead in water. Also first docker deployment I’ve done. I’m on mid level dedicated server.

2 things I could use guidance for is how to safely check the restore process. If this is even possible.

2nd thought is if I obtain a hosted instance from Discourse can I mirror my live site there and test backups and risky stuff. Not sure how that would work.

Ideally, I would like another disk for snapshots but not possible with server deal I have.

Thanks for any tips

2

Just set up another server, upload the backup (or configure your yml so that it access the same S3 bucket) and restore.

You can delete the server after your see that the backup works as expected

3

Thanks Jay. Seems simple.