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Backup and Restore Redis database using KubeStash

KubeStash allows you to backup and restore Redis databases. It supports backups for Redis instances running in Standalone, Cluster and Sentinel mode. KubeStash makes managing your Redis backups and restorations more straightforward and efficient.

This guide will give you an overview how you can take backup and restore your Redis databases using Kubestash.

Before You Begin

  • At first, you need to have a Kubernetes cluster, and the kubectl command-line tool must be configured to communicate with your cluster. If you do not already have a cluster, you can create one by using Minikube or Kind.
  • Install KubeDB in your cluster following the steps here.
  • Install KubeStash in your cluster following the steps here.
  • Install KubeStash kubectl plugin following the steps here.
  • If you are not familiar with how KubeStash backup and restore Redis databases, please check the following guide here.

You should be familiar with the following KubeStash concepts:

To keep everything isolated, we are going to use a separate namespace called demo throughout this tutorial.

$ kubectl create ns demo
namespace/demo created

Note: YAML files used in this tutorial are stored in docs/guides/redis/backup/kubestash/logical/examples directory of kubedb/docs repository.

Backup Redis

KubeStash supports backups for Redis instances across different configurations, including Standalone, Cluster and Sentinel mode setups. In this demonstration, we’ll focus on a Redis database in Cluster mode. The backup and restore process is similar for Standalone and Sentinel mode.

This section will demonstrate how to backup a Redis database. Here, we are going to deploy a Redis database using KubeDB. Then, we are going to backup this database into a GCS bucket. Finally, we are going to restore the backup up data into another Redis database.

Deploy Sample Redis Database

Let’s deploy a sample Redis database and insert some data into it.

Create Redis CR:

Below is the YAML of a sample Redis CR that we are going to create for this tutorial:

apiVersion: kubedb.com/v1
kind: Redis
metadata:
  name: redis-cluster
  namespace: demo
spec:
  version: 7.4.0
  mode: Cluster
  cluster:
    shards: 3
    replicas: 2
  storageType: Durable
  storage:
    storageClassName: "standard"
    resources:
      requests:
        storage: 1Gi
    accessModes:
      - ReadWriteOnce
  deletionPolicy: Delete

Create the above Redis CR,

$ kubectl apply -f https://github.com/kubedb/docs/raw/v2024.11.18/docs/guides/redis/backup/kubestash/logical/examples/redis-cluster.yaml
redis.kubedb.com/redis-cluster created

KubeDB will deploy a Redis database according to the above specification. It will also create the necessary Secrets and Services to access the database.

Let’s check if the database is ready to use,

$ kubectl get rd -n demo redis-cluster
NAME            VERSION   STATUS   AGE
redis-cluster   7.4.0     Ready    5m2s

The database is Ready. Verify that KubeDB has created a Secret and a Service for this database using the following commands,

$ kubectl get secret -n demo 
NAME                   TYPE                       DATA   AGE
redis-cluster-auth     kubernetes.io/basic-auth   2      6m16s
redis-cluster-config   Opaque                     1      6m16s


$ kubectl get service -n demo -l=app.kubernetes.io/instance=redis-cluster
NAME                 TYPE        CLUSTER-IP      EXTERNAL-IP   PORT(S)    AGE
redis-cluster        ClusterIP   10.96.185.242   <none>        6379/TCP   7m25s
redis-cluster-pods   ClusterIP   None            <none>        6379/TCP   7m25s

Here, we have to use service redis-cluster and secret redis-cluster-auth to connect with the database. KubeDB creates an AppBinding CR that holds the necessary information to connect with the database.

Verify AppBinding:

Verify that the AppBinding has been created successfully using the following command,

$ kubectl get appbindings -n demo
NAME            TYPE               VERSION   AGE
redis-cluster   kubedb.com/redis   7.4.0     7m14s

Let’s check the YAML of the above AppBinding,

$ kubectl get appbindings -n demo redis-cluster -o yaml
apiVersion: appcatalog.appscode.com/v1alpha1
kind: AppBinding
metadata:
  annotations:
    kubectl.kubernetes.io/last-applied-configuration: |
      {"apiVersion":"kubedb.com/v1","kind":"Redis","metadata":{"annotations":{},"name":"redis-cluster","namespace":"demo"},"spec":{"cluster":{"replicas":2,"shards":3},"deletionPolicy":"Delete","mode":"Cluster","storage":{"accessModes":["ReadWriteOnce"],"resources":{"requests":{"storage":"1Gi"}},"storageClassName":"standard"},"storageType":"Durable","version":"7.4.0"}}      
  creationTimestamp: "2024-09-18T05:29:09Z"
  generation: 1
  labels:
    app.kubernetes.io/component: database
    app.kubernetes.io/instance: redis-cluster
    app.kubernetes.io/managed-by: kubedb.com
    app.kubernetes.io/name: redises.kubedb.com
  name: redis-cluster
  namespace: demo
  ownerReferences:
    - apiVersion: kubedb.com/v1
      blockOwnerDeletion: true
      controller: true
      kind: Redis
      name: redis-cluster
      uid: 089eff8d-81ec-4933-8121-87d5e21d137d
  resourceVersion: "1139825"
  uid: d985a52a-00ef-4857-b597-0ccec62cf838
spec:
  appRef:
    apiGroup: kubedb.com
    kind: Redis
    name: redis-cluster
    namespace: demo
  clientConfig:
    service:
      name: redis-cluster
      port: 6379
      scheme: redis
  parameters:
    apiVersion: config.kubedb.com/v1alpha1
    kind: RedisConfiguration
    stash:
      addon:
        backupTask:
          name: redis-backup-7.0.5
        restoreTask:
          name: redis-restore-7.0.5
  secret:
    name: redis-cluster-auth
  type: kubedb.com/redis
  version: 7.4.0

KubeStash uses the AppBinding CR to connect with the target database. It requires the following two fields to set in AppBinding’s .spec section.

Here,

  • .spec.clientConfig.service.name specifies the name of the Service that connects to the database.
  • .spec.secret specifies the name of the Secret that holds necessary credentials to access the database.
  • .spec.type specifies the types of the app that this AppBinding is pointing to. KubeDB generated AppBinding follows the following format: <app group>/<app resource type>.

Insert Sample Data:

Now, we are going to exec into one of the database pod and create some sample data. At first, find out the database Pod using the following command,

$ kubectl get pods -n demo --selector="app.kubernetes.io/instance=redis-cluster" 
NAME                     READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
redis-cluster-shard0-0   1/1     Running   0          11m
redis-cluster-shard0-1   1/1     Running   0          11m
redis-cluster-shard1-0   1/1     Running   0          11m
redis-cluster-shard1-1   1/1     Running   0          11m
redis-cluster-shard2-0   1/1     Running   0          10m
redis-cluster-shard2-1   1/1     Running   0          10m

Connection Information

  • Hostname/address: you can use any of these

    • Service: redis-cluster.demo
    • Pod IP: ($ kubectl get pod -n demo -l app.kubernetes.io/name=redises.kubedb.com -o yaml | grep podIP)
  • Port: 6379

  • Username: Run following command to get username,

    $ kubectl get secrets -n demo redis-cluster-auth -o jsonpath='{.data.\username}' | base64 -d
    default
    
  • Password: Run the following command to get password,

    $ kubectl get secrets -n demo redis-cluster-auth -o jsonpath='{.data.\password}' | base64 -d
    8UnSPM;(~cXWWs60
    

Now, let’s exec into the pod and insert some data,

$ kubectl exec -it -n demo redis-cluster-shard0-0 -c redis -- bash
redis@redis-cluster-shard0-0:/data$ redis-cli -c
127.0.0.1:6379> auth default 8UnSPM;(~cXWWs60
OK
127.0.0.1:6379> set db redis
OK
127.0.0.1:6379> set name batman
-> Redirected to slot [5798] located at 10.244.0.48:6379
OK
10.244.0.48:6379> set key value
-> Redirected to slot [12539] located at 10.244.0.52:6379
OK
10.244.0.52:6379> exit
redis@redis-cluster-shard0-0:/data$ exit
exit

Now, we are ready to backup the database.

Prepare Backend

We are going to store our backed up data into a GCS bucket. We have to create a Secret with necessary credentials and a BackupStorage CR to use this backend. If you want to use a different backend, please read the respective backend configuration doc from here.

Create Secret:

Let’s create a secret called gcs-secret with access credentials to our desired GCS bucket,

$ echo -n '<your-project-id>' > GOOGLE_PROJECT_ID
$ cat /path/to/downloaded-sa-key.json > GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_JSON_KEY
$ kubectl create secret generic -n demo gcs-secret \
    --from-file=./GOOGLE_PROJECT_ID \
    --from-file=./GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_JSON_KEY
secret/gcs-secret created

Create BackupStorage:

Now, create a BackupStorage using this secret. Below is the YAML of BackupStorage CR we are going to create,

apiVersion: storage.kubestash.com/v1alpha1
kind: BackupStorage
metadata:
  name: gcs-storage
  namespace: demo
spec:
  storage:
    provider: gcs
    gcs:
      bucket: kubestash-qa
      prefix: demo
      secretName: gcs-secret
  usagePolicy:
    allowedNamespaces:
      from: All
  deletionPolicy: Delete

Let’s create the BackupStorage we have shown above,

$ kubectl apply -f https://github.com/kubedb/docs/raw/v2024.11.18/docs/guides/redis/backup/kubestash/logical/examples/backupstorage.yaml
backupstorage.storage.kubestash.com/gcs-storage created

Now, we are ready to backup our database to our desired backend.

Create RetentionPolicy:

Now, let’s create a RetentionPolicy to specify how the old Snapshots should be cleaned up.

Below is the YAML of the RetentionPolicy object that we are going to create,

apiVersion: storage.kubestash.com/v1alpha1
kind: RetentionPolicy
metadata:
  name: demo-retention
  namespace: demo
spec:
  default: true
  failedSnapshots:
    last: 2
  maxRetentionPeriod: 2mo
  successfulSnapshots:
    last: 5
  usagePolicy:
    allowedNamespaces:
      from: All

Let’s create the above RetentionPolicy,

$ kubectl apply -f https://github.com/kubedb/docs/raw/v2024.11.18/docs/guides/redis/backup/kubestash/logical/examples/retentionpolicy.yaml
retentionpolicy.storage.kubestash.com/demo-retention created

Backup

We have to create a BackupConfiguration targeting respective redis-cluster Redis database. Then, KubeStash will create a CronJob for each session to take periodic backup of that database.

At first, we need to create a secret with a Restic password for backup data encryption.

Create Secret:

Let’s create a secret called encrypt-secret with the Restic password,

$ echo -n 'changeit' > RESTIC_PASSWORD
$ kubectl create secret generic -n demo encrypt-secret \
    --from-file=./RESTIC_PASSWORD
secret "encrypt-secret" created

Below is the YAML for BackupConfiguration CR to backup the redis-cluster database that we have deployed earlier,

apiVersion: core.kubestash.com/v1alpha1
kind: BackupConfiguration
metadata:
  name: redis-cluster-backup
  namespace: demo
spec:
  target:
    apiGroup: kubedb.com
    kind: Redis
    namespace: demo
    name: redis-cluster
  backends:
    - name: gcs-backend
      storageRef:
        namespace: demo
        name: gcs-storage
      retentionPolicy:
        name: demo-retention
        namespace: demo
  sessions:
    - name: frequent-backup
      scheduler:
        schedule: "*/5 * * * *"
        jobTemplate:
          backoffLimit: 1
      repositories:
        - name: gcs-redis-repo
          backend: gcs-backend
          directory: /redis
          encryptionSecret:
            name: encrypt-secret
            namespace: demo
      addon:
        name: redis-addon
        tasks:
          - name: logical-backup
  • .spec.sessions[*].schedule specifies that we want to backup the database at 5 minutes interval.
  • .spec.target refers to the targeted redis-cluster Redis database that we created earlier.

Let’s create the BackupConfiguration CR that we have shown above,

$ kubectl apply -f https://github.com/kubedb/docs/raw/v2024.11.18/docs/guides/redis/kubestash/logical/examples/backupconfiguration.yaml
backupconfiguration.core.kubestash.com/redis-cluster-backup created

Verify Backup Setup Successful

If everything goes well, the phase of the BackupConfiguration should be Ready. The Ready phase indicates that the backup setup is successful. Let’s verify the Phase of the BackupConfiguration,

$ kubectl get backupconfiguration -n demo
NAME                   PHASE   PAUSED   AGE
redis-cluster-backup   Ready            71s

Additionally, we can verify that the Repository specified in the BackupConfiguration has been created using the following command,

$ kubectl get repo -n demo
NAME              INTEGRITY   SNAPSHOT-COUNT   SIZE        PHASE   LAST-SUCCESSFUL-BACKUP   AGE
gcs-redis-repo                0                0 B         Ready                            2m30s

KubeStash keeps the backup for Repository YAMLs. If we navigate to the GCS bucket, we will see the Repository YAML stored in the demo/redis directory.

Verify CronJob:

It will also create a CronJob with the schedule specified in spec.sessions[*].scheduler.schedule field of BackupConfiguration CR.

Verify that the CronJob has been created using the following command,

$ kubectl get cronjob -n demo
NAME                                           SCHEDULE      SUSPEND   ACTIVE   LAST SCHEDULE   AGE
trigger-redis-cluster-backup-frequent-backup   */5 * * * *   False     0        45s             2m38s

Verify BackupSession:

KubeStash triggers an instant backup as soon as the BackupConfiguration is ready. After that, backups are scheduled according to the specified schedule.

$ kubectl get backupsession -n demo -w
NAME                                              INVOKER-TYPE          INVOKER-NAME           PHASE       DURATION   AGE
redis-cluster-backup-frequent-backup-1726651666   BackupConfiguration   redis-cluster-backup   Succeeded   2m25s      2m56s

We can see from the above output that the backup session has succeeded. Now, we are going to verify whether the backed up data has been stored in the backend.

Verify Backup:

Once a backup is complete, KubeStash will update the respective Repository CR to reflect the backup. Check that the repository gcs-redis-repo has been updated by the following command,

$ kubectl get repository -n demo gcs-redis-repo
NAME             INTEGRITY   SNAPSHOT-COUNT   SIZE    PHASE   LAST-SUCCESSFUL-BACKUP   AGE
gcs-redis-repo   true        1                416 B   Ready   4m40s                    5m

At this moment we have one Snapshot. Run the following command to check the respective Snapshot which represents the state of a backup run for an application.

$ kubectl get snapshots -n demo -l=kubestash.com/repo-name=gcs-redis-repo
NAME                                                             REPOSITORY       SESSION           SNAPSHOT-TIME          DELETION-POLICY   PHASE       AGE
gcs-redis-repo-redis-cluster-backup-frequent-backup-1726651666   gcs-redis-repo   frequent-backup   2024-09-18T09:28:07Z   Delete            Succeeded   5m14s

Note: KubeStash creates a Snapshot with the following labels:

  • kubestash.com/app-ref-kind: <target-kind>
  • kubestash.com/app-ref-name: <target-name>
  • kubestash.com/app-ref-namespace: <target-namespace>
  • kubestash.com/repo-name: <repository-name>

These labels can be used to watch only the Snapshots related to our target Database or Repository.

If we check the YAML of the Snapshot, we can find the information about the backed up components of the Database.

$ kubectl get snapshots -n demo gcs-redis-repo-redis-cluster-backup-frequent-backup-1726651666 -oyaml
apiVersion: storage.kubestash.com/v1alpha1
kind: Snapshot
metadata:
  creationTimestamp: "2024-09-18T09:28:07Z"
  finalizers:
    - kubestash.com/cleanup
  generation: 1
  labels:
    kubedb.com/db-version: 7.4.0
    kubestash.com/app-ref-kind: Redis
    kubestash.com/app-ref-name: redis-cluster
    kubestash.com/app-ref-namespace: demo
    kubestash.com/repo-name: gcs-redis-repo
  name: gcs-redis-repo-redis-cluster-backup-frequent-backup-1726651666
  namespace: demo
  ownerReferences:
    - apiVersion: storage.kubestash.com/v1alpha1
      blockOwnerDeletion: true
      controller: true
      kind: Repository
      name: gcs-redis-repo
      uid: 6b4439c8-5c79-443d-af14-a8efd47eb43c
  resourceVersion: "1161141"
  uid: 04110ce9-a015-4d50-a66f-dbc685a4fdff
spec:
  appRef:
    apiGroup: kubedb.com
    kind: Redis
    name: redis-cluster
    namespace: demo
  backupSession: redis-cluster-backup-frequent-backup-1726651666
  deletionPolicy: Delete
  repository: gcs-redis-repo
  session: frequent-backup
  snapshotID: 01J827BRDW8PT3TS9T8QR6KS2S
  type: FullBackup
  version: v1
status:
  components:
    dump:
      driver: Restic
      duration: 30.177171779s
      integrity: true
      path: repository/v1/frequent-backup/dump
      phase: Succeeded
      resticStats:
        - hostPath: dumpfile.resp
          id: dc0c7e16ffea238d80f2f0e23b94d5eee1a598a4b5b9bc3f9edc2e9059e1d9e2
          size: 381 B
          uploaded: 680 B
      size: 416 B
  conditions:
    - lastTransitionTime: "2024-09-18T09:28:07Z"
      message: Recent snapshot list updated successfully
      reason: SuccessfullyUpdatedRecentSnapshotList
      status: "True"
      type: RecentSnapshotListUpdated
    - lastTransitionTime: "2024-09-18T09:30:29Z"
      message: Metadata uploaded to backend successfully
      reason: SuccessfullyUploadedSnapshotMetadata
      status: "True"
      type: SnapshotMetadataUploaded
  integrity: true
  phase: Succeeded
  size: 416 B
  snapshotTime: "2024-09-18T09:28:07Z"
  totalComponents: 1

KubeStash uses redis-dump-go to perform backups of target Redis databases. Therefore, the component name for logical backups is set as dump.

Now, if we navigate to the GCS bucket, we will see the backed up data stored in the demo/redis/repository/v1/frequent-backup/dump directory. KubeStash also keeps the backup for Snapshot YAMLs, which can be found in the demo/redis/snapshots directory.

Note: KubeStash stores all dumped data encrypted in the backup directory, meaning it remains unreadable until decrypted.

Restore

In this section, we are going to restore the database from the backup we have taken in the previous section. We are going to deploy a new database and initialize it from the backup.

Now, we have to deploy the restored database similarly as we have deployed the original redis-cluster database. However, this time there will be the following differences:

  • We are going to specify .spec.init.waitForInitialRestore field that tells KubeDB to wait for first restore to complete before marking this database is ready to use.

Below is the YAML for Redis CR we are going deploy to initialize from backup,

apiVersion: kubedb.com/v1
kind: Redis
metadata:
  name: restored-redis-cluster
  namespace: demo
spec:
  init:
    waitForInitialRestore: true
  version: 7.4.0
  mode: Cluster
  cluster:
    shards: 3
    replicas: 2
  storageType: Durable
  storage:
    storageClassName: "standard"
    resources:
      requests:
        storage: 1Gi
    accessModes:
      - ReadWriteOnce
  deletionPolicy: Delete

Let’s create the above database,

$ kubectl apply -f https://github.com/kubedb/docs/raw/v2024.11.18/docs/guides/redis/backup/kubestash/logical/examples/restored-redis-cluster.yaml
redis.kubedb.com/restore-redis-cluster created

If you check the database status, you will see it is stuck in Provisioning state.

$ kubectl get redis -n demo restored-redis-cluster
NAME                     VERSION   STATUS         AGE
restored-redis-cluster   7.4.0     Provisioning   2m35s

Create RestoreSession:

Now, we need to create a RestoreSession CR pointing to targeted Redis database.

Below, is the contents of YAML file of the RestoreSession object that we are going to create to restore backed up data into the newly created Redis database named restored-redis-cluster.

apiVersion: core.kubestash.com/v1alpha1
kind: RestoreSession
metadata:
  name: redis-cluster-restore
  namespace: demo
spec:
  target:
    apiGroup: kubedb.com
    kind: Redis
    namespace: demo
    name: restored-redis-cluster
  dataSource:
    repository: gcs-redis-repo
    snapshot: latest
    encryptionSecret:
      name: encrypt-secret
      namespace: demo
  addon:
    name: redis-addon
    tasks:
      - name: logical-backup-restore

Here,

  • .spec.target refers to the newly created restored-redis-cluster Redis object to where we want to restore backup data.
  • .spec.dataSource.repository specifies the Repository object that holds the backed up data.
  • .spec.dataSource.snapshot specifies to restore from latest Snapshot.

Let’s create the RestoreSession CRD object we have shown above,

$ kubectl apply -f https://github.com/kubedb/docs/raw/v2024.11.18/docs/guides/redis/backup/kubestash/logical/examples/restoresession.yaml
restoresession.core.kubestash.com/redis-cluster-restore created

Once, you have created the RestoreSession object, KubeStash will create restore Job. Run the following command to watch the phase of the RestoreSession object,

$ watch kubectl get restoresession -n demo
Every 2.0s: kubectl get restoresession -n demo                                                  batman-desktop: Wed Sep 18 15:53:42 2024
NAME                    REPOSITORY       FAILURE-POLICY   PHASE       DURATION   AGE
redis-cluster-restore   gcs-redis-repo                    Succeeded   1m26s      4m49s

The Succeeded phase means that the restore process has been completed successfully.

Verify Restored Data:

In this section, we are going to verify whether the desired data has been restored successfully. We are going to connect to the database and check whether the data we inserted earlier in the original database are restored.

At first, check if the database has gone into Ready state by the following command,

$ kubectl get redis -n demo restored-redis-cluster
NAME                     VERSION   STATUS   AGE
restored-redis-cluster   7.4.0     Ready    8m42s

Now, find out the database Pods by the following command,

$ kubectl get pods -n demo --selector="app.kubernetes.io/instance=restored-redis-cluster"
NAME                              READY   STATUS      RESTARTS   AGE
restored-redis-cluster-shard0-0   1/1     Running     0          5m53s
restored-redis-cluster-shard0-1   1/1     Running     0          5m47s
restored-redis-cluster-shard1-0   1/1     Running     0          5m31s
restored-redis-cluster-shard1-1   1/1     Running     0          5m24s
restored-redis-cluster-shard2-0   1/1     Running     0          5m9s
restored-redis-cluster-shard2-1   1/1     Running     0          5m2s

Now, lets exec one of the Pod and verify restored data.

$ kubectl exec -it -n demo restored-redis-cluster-shard0-0 -c redis -- bash
redis@restored-redis-cluster-shard0-0:/data$ redis-cli -c
127.0.0.1:6379> auth default lm~;mv7H~eahvZCc
OK
127.0.0.1:6379> get db 
"redis"
127.0.0.1:6379> get name 
-> Redirected to slot [5798] located at 10.244.0.66:6379
"batman"
10.244.0.66:6379> get key
-> Redirected to slot [12539] located at 10.244.0.70:6379
"value"
10.244.0.70:6379> exit
redis@restored-redis-cluster-shard0-0:/data$ exit
exit

So, from the above output, we can see the redis-cluster database we had created earlier has been restored in the restored-redis-cluster database successfully.

Cleanup

To cleanup the Kubernetes resources created by this tutorial, run:

kubectl delete backupconfigurations.core.kubestash.com  -n demo redis-cluster-backup
kubectl delete restoresessions.core.kubestash.com -n demo redis-cluster-restore
kubectl delete retentionpolicies.storage.kubestash.com -n demo demo-retention
kubectl delete backupstorage -n demo gcs-storage
kubectl delete secret -n demo gcs-secret
kubectl delete secret -n demo encrypt-secret
kubectl delete redis -n demo restored-redis-cluster
kubectl delete redis -n demo redis-cluster