How to backup?

[bertmelis]

What is currently the best way to reliably create backups?

I now stop the entire Immich stack and backup the volumes and database. (Database is separate and keeps online but I could also backup the db volume). This however isn't always reliable because I use Podman instead of Docker and the backup user can only manage other users' containers in some hacky way.

I could also only stop the proxy container but I understand there are some things running in the background. I have no clue whether or not these tasks could potentially render the backup unusable.

• So, how do you create backups?
• Is it safe to just backup a running instance and will Immich be able to handle a recovery?

[nep2ner]

I was thinking about using rclone/rsync to backup the database and volumes. Does Immich need stopped for this? I would think not?

[bo0tzz]

You should be aware that rclone/rsync are not backup tools. I recommend taking a look at this list of backup software.

[bo0tzz]

The postgres database will keep its files open as long as it is running. A backup taken of those files -might- restore properly (postgres is pretty resilient), but to be certain you really should stop the database container. So, simply said:

1. Stop the stack (including database)
2. Point your usual backup tool at the library and database volumes
3. Done :)