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Backup incident troubleshooting guide

This guide walks you through the steps to identify and resolve backup issues reported via email. The goal is to help you fix the problem quickly, or gather the right information before reaching out to our support team.

Step 1: Spot services with errors​

  1. Log in to your Datashelter dashboard.
  2. Click on Servers, then select the server in question.
  3. You’ll see a list of your services, each showing the date of the last snapshot.
  4. If a service has no date, or the date looks outdated, it’s likely where the issue is.

Tip: Keeping an eye on snapshot dates helps catch problems early.

Services list

Step 2: Check the backup logs​

  • Backup logs are stored locally on your server in /tmp/snaper. For example, for the crimson-surf backup, your logs are available in the file /tmp/snaper/crimson-surf.log.

    tail -n 100 /tmp/snaper/crimson-surf.log

  • List the backups configured on your server (and their corresponding paths) with the following command :

    snaper list files

    Example output:

    BACKUP NAME    PATH
    -----------    ----
    crimson-surf   /etc/nginx/sites-available
    summer-sea     /etc/letsencrypt
    damp-cloud     /var/www/blog
    spring-fog     /var/www/blog-fr
    purple-tree    /var/www/datashelter.tech
    ``

Step 3: Try a manual backup​

Once you’ve identified the service, you can re-run its backup manually using:

snaper backup <files/database> --name <servicename>

Example:

snaper backup files --name crimson-surf

If the backup completes successfully, you’re all set. If it fails again, move on to the next step.

Step 4: Get in touch with support​

Still stuck? We’re here to help.

You can contact us:

To help us assist you quickly, please provide:

  • The name of your server
  • The name of the affected service
  • And if possible, the error message you’re seeing

🤝 Our support team is always happy to give you a hand.