Files
esh-pfi-infrastructure/docs/runbooks/nh3-dev-development-backup.md
T
vh de11e00dfb fix(dev-backup): chmod before prune so retention actually deletes; fail the unit on a bad prune
rsync -a copies a read-only source dir (0555) as read-only, so the hourly
prune's rm -rf could not unlink inside it. From 2026-07-18 every pruned
snapshot was left as a 22-entry husk while the run still logged OK. The
1,740 husks on nh3-nas were removed (0 errors; 48 full snapshots kept).

The prune now runs chmod -R u+w before rm -rf, logs its error count and
the number of snapshots kept, and exits 3 on a failed prune (exit 1 on a
failed rsync) so the systemd unit shows failed instead of passing.
2026-10-01 05:59:07 -07:00

3.2 KiB

nh3-dev ~/development — hourly off-box backup

Why this exists: nh3-dev is the dev box where agents do uncommitted work under ~/development/<project>/. That tree had no off-box backup, so a destructive mistake (a stray rm -rf on a working dir on 2026-07-12) had no safety net. This job closes that gap: an hourly, versioned, off-box snapshot of ~/development.

What it does

  • Source: nh3-dev:~/development/ (lkraven's working dirs).
  • Destination (off-box): nh3-nas:/volume1/Backup/nh3-dev-development/<YYYY-MM-DD_HHMM>/ — a timestamped dir per snapshot, over rsync-over-ssh (syncuser).
  • Versioning: rsync --link-dest against the previous snapshot → unchanged files hardlink (share inodes, ~0 bytes); only changed files consume new space. latest symlink points at the newest snapshot.
  • Retention: newest 48 hourly snapshots (older pruned each run). The prune runs chmod -R u+w before rm -rf: rsync copies a read-only source dir as read-only, and rm cannot unlink inside it. Each run logs retention prune: <errors> error lines, <N> snapshots on the NAS; a non-zero error count or N > 48 exits 3, and a failed rsync exits 1, so either one leaves the unit failed (systemctl --user --failed). ⚠ Before 2026-10-01 the prune had no chmod and the run logged OK whatever happened: it failed silently from 2026-07-18 and left 1,740 husk dirs (each holding only the one 0555 dir), all removed 2026-10-01.
  • Excludes: heavy reconstructable dirs (node_modules, .venv, venv, __pycache__, .pytest_cache, .mypy_cache, .ruff_cache, .cache, dist, build, .next, target, *.pyc) and secrets (.env, .env.*, *.pem, *.key, id_*, *.sqlite*). .git is kept (local commits/stashes = the uncommitted work that matters). Seed snapshot ≈ 11G; hourly deltas are MB-scale.

Where it lives (on nh3-dev)

  • Script: ~/.config/dev-backup/dev-backup.sh (mirror committed at scripts/nh3-dev-development-backup.sh).
  • systemd --user units: ~/.config/systemd/user/dev-backup.{service,timer} (OnCalendar=hourly, Persistent=true, linger on → fires without a login).
  • Log: ~/.config/dev-backup/dev-backup.log.
systemctl --user list-timers dev-backup.timer   # next run
systemctl --user start dev-backup.service        # run now
tail -f ~/.config/dev-backup/dev-backup.log

Restore

Snapshots are plain dir trees — no special tool needed:

# list snapshots
ssh nh3-nas 'ls -1 /volume1/Backup/nh3-dev-development/'
# restore one file/dir from a chosen snapshot
rsync -a nh3-nas:/volume1/Backup/nh3-dev-development/<STAMP>/<proj>/<path> /tmp/restore/
# or pull a whole project back
rsync -a nh3-nas:/volume1/Backup/nh3-dev-development/latest/<proj>/ ~/development/<proj>/

Notes / future

  • Not encrypted at rest (plaintext on the trusted internal NAS; secrets are excluded). Upgrade path: migrate to restic once a repo can be created on rest-server-nh3 (currently returns 404 on repo-create — likely append-only) or the Synology sftp subsystem is enabled (currently disabled → restic sftp fails).
  • Off-box = off the nh3-dev VM (lands on nh3-nas, same NH3 site). Cross-site mirroring of this repo is a separate future layer.