tar-based backups

This procedure covers how to to create a tar file from a directory tree called /srv/xxxx-xxxx preserving ownership & permissions and to restore to an existing empty directory with the same name in another machine.

For more information see: https://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/noble/man1/tar.1.html

Prerequisites

• The directory /srv/xxxx-xxxx must not have an application conneted updating data. If this is the case, stop the application or make an snapshot.
• Destination directory with enough capacity for backup tar file.
• Sudo privileges to access the tree and preserve ownership and permissions.

Backup procedure (Source machine)

• Go to a safe location to store the archive (e.g., /tmp or your home):

# Temp directory
cd /tmp
# Home directory
cd ${HOME}

• Create a tar archive preserving ownership & permissions:

sudo tar -cvpzf xxxx-xxxx.tar.gz /srv/xxxx-xxxx

• Transfer the archive to the target machine (example with scp):

scp /tmp/xxxx-xxxx.tar.gz user@target.domain.com:/tmp/

Restore procedure (Target machine)

• Make sure the target directory exists and is empty:

sudo ls -lah /srv/xxxx-xxxx

• Move into root directory / to avoid nesting issues:

sudo tar -xvpzf /tmp/xxxx-xxxx.tar.gz -C /

• Verify contents:

sudo ls -lah /srv/xxxx-xxxx