Backups
Danger
No managed backup or disaster recovery systems exist for cluster storage. Users must independently back up critical data.
Recommended Tool: Duplicity
Duplicity is an encrypted backup client supporting multiple cloud vendors including Google, Amazon S3, Backblaze B2, and Azure.
Setup Guide
1. AWS Configuration
Create IAM user with programmatic access in AWS Console
Generate S3 bucket in US-WEST-2 (Oregon region)
Save your Access Key ID and Secret Access Key
2. GPG Encryption Setup
gpg2 --gen-key
Accept defaults, provide name, email, and passphrase.
Note the public key ID from output (e.g., pub 2048R/AE776EB5).
3. Install Backup Scripts
git clone https://github.com/zertrin/duplicity-backup.sh.git
cd duplicity-backup.sh
cp duplicity-backup.conf.example duplicity-backup.conf
4. Configure
Edit duplicity-backup.conf with:
ROOT- Directory to backupDEST- S3 bucket path (e.g.,s3://my-bucket/backups)AWS credentials
GPG encryption keys and passphrase
Email notification settings
5. Create Scratch Directory
mkdir -p /resnick/scratch/$USER/duplicity-temp
6. Test Backup
./duplicity-backup.sh --backup
7. Automate with Cron
crontab -e
Add (runs daily at 3:41 AM):
41 3 * * * /path/to/duplicity-backup.sh --backup
Verification
Periodically test recovery:
./duplicity-backup.sh --restore /path/to/restore
Alternative: Rclone
See Rclone Backups to AWS for a simpler alternative.