It is critical that you have a backup procedure in place.
This module is used to backup your PBX phone system settings and configurations.
Backing up your PBX is a crucial step in the setup process. You have several ways to automate this process, or you can do an "on the fly" backup as needed.
This module will backup databases, stored settings, and specified files and directories. Note: your backup server and restore server should be on the same version
How Do I Get to the Backup and Restore Module?
From the top menu click Admin, In the drop down click Backup and Restore.
You'll see a list of the current backup jobs you have created, and any that were created by default.
Backup Settings - Click the New Backup button to create a new backup, or click an existing backup to edit its settings.
Backup Name - Give your backup job a name to easily identify it.
Description - Here you can optionally define a longer description or add notes.
Status Email - If defined, the system will send status updates to this e-mail address when the backup task is run.
Backup Items:
Items - This is where you choose what will actually be backed up. On the right side you will see a list of standard templates that are included with your PBX. The most standard template you would want to use for a normal daily backup is the Full Backup.
To include the full backup template, drag it from the Templates bin to the Items bin.
Note - Advanced users can also press the plus sign icon to add your own files or directory paths to be included in a backup.
Please see templates section on how to modify or create your own templates.
Once you add an item, you will see the items that will be backed up, as well as any exclusions:
Note - The Full Backup template does not include any voicemails, custom music on hold, or system prompt recordings. If you want these to be included, drag the “System Audio” and “Voicemail Templates” from the Templates bin to the Items bin.
Hooks - Hooks allow you to base the backup job on the following actions in order to execute a custom script at the location defined for each action. This is for advanced users who would like to customize the following actions.
Note - Make sure your script has execute permissions for the Asterisk user.
Pre-Backup Hook - Hook to run before starting the actual backup.
Post-Backup Hook - Hook to run after completing the backup.
Pre-Restore Hook - Hook to run before starting the actual restore of the backup.
Post-Restore Hook - Hook to run after completing the restore of the backup.
Backup Server
This is where you choose which server to back up. This can be the local PBX that the backup module is on, or it could be another PBX as defined in the servers section of the backup module. Please see the server section for more information on defining other servers. Most of the time you will pick “This Server,” since that is what we want to back up.
Storage Location - Storage locations are servers that have been set up to store the actual backup on. By default we include the local server as a storage location.
Local Storage: The backup tarball file is stored in "/var/spool/asterisk/backup/(backupjobname)/*.tgz" on the local machine
The Available Servers list shows servers that have been set up to store the backup as defined in the servers section of the backup module. Please see server section for more information on defining other servers.
The Storage Servers list defines where to store the backups. Drag one or more storage servers from the Available Servers bin to the Storage Servers bin.
Backup Schedule;
Never - Never run the backup
Hourly - Every hour at the top of the hour
Daily - Every day at midnight
Weekly - Every Sunday at midnight
Monthly - This first of each month at midnight
Annually - January 1st at midnight
Reboot - On a reboot command of the PBX an upgrade will be run.
Custom - Allows you to define your own schedule on when to run upgrades.
Maintenance
Here we can define how many copies of the backup we want to keep and when they should be deleted
Delete After Time Frame - Here you can define increments, for example delete after 3 months or 5 weeks.
Delete After Runs - Here you can define how many copies of the backup to delete versus deleting backups by time frame such as only keep fifteen. On the 16th backup the oldest backup will be deleted from the system. We recommend keeping 7-10 backups only to conserve hard drive space
Save - When you have things the way you want them, click the Save button.
Run - You can manually run your backup at any time by visiting the Backups section and clicking the run button ().
When you do this, a window will pop-up displaying the status of the backup. You should see "Backup successfully completed!"
Restore - In the Restore section, you can select a server to restore the backup from, or select a backup file on your local computer.
Restoring from a Server
Available servers are shown at the bottom of the list on the right side of the screen. Select a server.
Available backups will be displayed. Browse the folders to view available files.
Browse the folders and select a backup to restore from. More details will be shown to the right.
Click the Go! button. You will be taken to a page where you can select which items to restore.
Use the checkboxes to select which items you would like to restore, then click the Restore button.
A window will pop up showing the status of the restore.
The status window will say Done! when the restore is complete.
Restoring from a Local File
You can upload a backup file from your local computer if you have it stored on the same computer you are using to log into the Backup & Restore module.
In the Restore section of the Backup & Restore module, click the Browse button.
Select a file from your local computer.
Click the Restore button to begin the restore process. You will be taken to a page where you can select which items to restore.
Use the checkboxes to select which items you would like to restore, then click the Restore button.
A window will pop up showing the status of the restore.
The status window will say Done! when the restore is complete.
Servers
The Servers section shows the servers that have been created and allows you to create new servers.
Backup Server Types
Email - Sends a backup file as an email attachment.
FTP - Sends a backup file to an FTP server. The backup can be directly restored from the FTP server.
Local - This is the local PBX (server) that the backup is stored on. The backup job will be performed on this local server and can be restored from here as well.
MySQL Server - This is where we define where the MySQL server is located and how to log into it so we can back up the database.
SSH Server - This could be another PBX that you log into and perform the backup on. For example, if you have a warm spare backup box, you would set up the backup job on the warm spare to log into the production server, perform the backup on the production server, and then move the backup file to the backup server and restore it on a nightly basis.
Note - You can also define a SSH server for storing backups just like an FTP server, and using SCP to copy the files over to the SSH server. Any Linux box that supports SCP can be an SSH Server.
Templates
The Templates section shows the templates that have been created and allows you to create or edit templates.
Templates that were included at install cannot be modified. You can create your own templates, but there typically is no need for this unless you need to want to simplify the process of including custom files, directories, or databases in a backup. You can create a template for the custom files, then drag that template into a backup job instead of adding the custom files to the backup one-by-one.
Creating a Template
In the Templates section of the Backup & Restore module, click the New Template button.
When creating a template you will need to give it a name and optionally, a description.
Click the plus sign button () to select which files, directories or databases will be included. Select the item type and then fill in the appropriate fields. Repeat the process for each type of item you would like to add to the template.
The example below shows the four types of items that can be chosen from the drop-down menu.
