Alpine local backup

Local backup utility (lbu) is the Alpine Linux tool to manage Diskless Mode installations. For these installations, lbu tool must be used to commit the changes whenever Alpine Package Keeper is used.

When Alpine Linux boots in diskless mode, it initially only loads a few required packages from the boot device. However, local adjustments to what-gets-loaded-into-RAM are possible, e.g. installing a package or adjusting the configuration files in /etc. The modifications can be saved with lbu tool to an overlay file i.e apkovl file that can be automatically loaded when booting, to restore the saved state.

By default, an lbu commit only stores modifications below /etc, with the exception of the /etc/init.d/ directory. If a user was created during the setup-alpine script, that user's home directory is also added to the paths that lbu will backup up. However, lbu include enables modifying that set of included files, and can be used to specify additional files or folders.

Overview

The lbu tool has several subcommands to manage the .apkovl:

lbu commit	lbu ci	Create a backup of config to writeable media
lbu package	lbu pkg	Create backup package
lbu status	lbu st	Check what files have been changed since last commit
lbu list	lbu ls	Lists files that would go to tar package. Same as: lbu package -v /dev/null
lbu diff		Run a diff against last commit
lbu include	lbu inc or lbu add	Add filename(s) to include list/etc/apk/protected_paths.d/lbu.list
lbu exclude	lbu ex or lbu delete	Add filename(s) to exclude list /etc/apk/protected_paths.d/lbu.list
lbu list-backup	lbu lb	Show old commits
lbu revert		Revert to older commit

In the examples below, you will find some characters with special meaning:

• | = or ('lbu commit|ci' means that you can type ether 'lbu commit' or 'lbu ci')
• [ ] = optional (In 'lbu commit|ci [-nv]' you can skip the '-n', '-v' or '-nv' part if you don't want it)

Committing changes

When you "commit" or save changes you've made to your system, lbu will generate a file named something like myboxname.apkovl.tar.gz ('myboxname' will be the same as the hostname). The file (which contains your modifications) is called your "apkovl". You will need to save your apkovl on suitable media (floppy, usb, cf, etc.).

usage: lbu commit|ci [-nv] [<media>]

Options:
  -d	Remove old apk overlay files.
  -e	Protect configuration with a password.
  -n	Don't commit, just show what would have been committed.
  -p <password>	Give encryption password on the command-line
  -v	Verbose mode.

The following values for <media> are supported: floppy usb
If <media> is not specified, the environment variable LBU_MEDIA will be used.

Password protection will use aes-256-cbc encryption. Other ciphers can be
used by setting the DEFAULT_CIPHER or ENCRYPTION environment variables.
For possible ciphers, try: openssl -v

The password used to encrypt the file, can be specified with the -p
option or by using the PASSWORD environment variable.

The environment variable can also be set in /etc/lbu/lbu.conf

Creating an .apkovl "package" elsewhere than on the configured media

To "commit" changes, but override the destination of the generated apkovl file, use lbu package instead of lbu commit:

usage: lbu package|pkg -v [<dirname>|<filename>]

Options:
  -v   Verbose mode.

If <dirname> is a directory, a package named <hostname>.apkovl.tar.gz will
be created in the specified directory.

If <filename> is specified, and is not a directory, a package with the
specified name will be created.

If neither <dirname> nor <filename> is specified, a package named
<hostname>.apkovl.tar.gz will be created in the current working directory.

To create an apkovl from a client on a remote server, it's possible to use lbu package via SSH with - as the apkovl name on the server:

ssh root@client "lbu package -" > client.apkovl.tar.gz

Checking what will be added to your apkovl

lbu status lists what will be saved the next time you run lbu commit. Its default output is incremental, that is, it shows only the files that have changed since the last commit.
This can be overridden with the -a flag:

usage: lbu status|st [-av]

Options:
  -a    Compare all files, not just since last commit.
  -v    show include and exclude lists.

Another option is lbu list. This works like lbu status -a but the format of the output is a bit different. (It's strictly equivalent to lbu package -v /dev/null).

usage: lbu list|ls

A third option is lbu diff. This shows the same incremental changes that lbu status (without -a) does, but in a different format.

 usage: lbu diff

Include special files/folders to the apkovl

Assume you have some files you want to save permanently, but they are not located in /etc.
e.g. /root/.ssh/authorized_keys (used by sshd to authenticate ssh-users). Such files/folders can be added to lbu's include list with the following command:

usage: lbu include|inc|add [-rv] <file> ...
       lbu include|inc|add [-v] -l

Options:
  -l	List contents of include list.
  -r	Remove specified file(s) from include list.
  -v	Verbose mode.

Note: This information used to be maintained in /etc/lbu/include. Now it's maintained together with the exclude list in /etc/apk/protected_paths.d/lbu.list. Either way, the command lbu include only modifies lbu's configuration. You will need to run lbu commit to actually create/modify your apkovl.

Exclude specific files/folders from the apkovl

Assume you have some files located in /etc or one of its subfolders you do not want to save. It could be a log file or status file that for some reason isn't in /var/log/ but in a location that would otherwise be tracked by lbu. Such files/folders can be added to lbu's exclude list by manually editing the file or using the following command:

usage: lbu exclude|ex|delete [-rv] <file> ...
       lbu exclude|ex|delete [-v] -l

Options:
  -l	List contents of exclude list.
  -r	Remove specified file(s) from exclude list.
  -v	Verbose mode.

Note: As stated above, this information is now maintained in /etc/apk/protected_paths.d/lbu.list. The command lbu exclude also only modifies lbu's configuration. You will need to run lbu commit to actually create/modify your apkovl.

Multiple backup versions

Lbu can keep multiple backups so you can revert back to older configurations. Set BACKUP_LIMIT in /etc/lbu/lbu.conf to the number of backups you want to keep. Based on BACKUP_LIMIT, the previously active .apkovl will be renamed before creating the new file.

You can list the currently available backups and revert to an older one with the following commands:

# lbu list-backup [<media>] # lbu revert <filename> [<media>]

Nothing is changed on your running system when "reverting", it only affects which apkovl is loaded at the next boot.

Saving and loading ISO image customizations

ISO boot images can save running states to system partitions and automatically loaded when booting the ISO boot image.

Execute a script as part of a backup

Sometimes it's necessary to run a script before or after a backup. Scripts in two optional directories enable that:

/etc/lbu/pre-package.d
/etc/lbu/post-package.d

Files in those directories are run using run-script rules (meaning they must have the executable bit set, they are run in alphabetical order, and cannot contain an extension. e.g. runme works, but runme.sh does not. Also the shebang line on the first line should be indicated, e.g. #!/bin/sh .)

The scripts in pre-package.d are run before apkovl is created. Scripts in post-package.d are run after apkovl is created.

Example

Rather than adding the raw database directories to /etc/lbu/include, you can do a "database dump". e.g. postgresql:

• Create /etc/lbu/pre-package.d/sqldump with the following contents:

  pg_dumpall -U postgres | gzip -c >/root/pgdatabases.gz

• Mark the file executable: chmod +x /etc/lbu/pre-package.d/sqldump
• Create /etc/lbu/post-package.d/sqldumpdelete with the following contents:

  rm -f /root/pgdatabases.gz

• Mark the file executable: chmod +x /etc/lbu/post-package.d/sqldumpdelete
• Finally, add the database dump file to the list of files to back up: lbu include root/pgdatabases.gz

Now when you do a lbu commit, the sql databases are dumped and gzipped to /root/pgdatabases.gz. The temporary file is deleted at the end of the lbu commit.

On a catastrophic restore, the databases are not automatically restored (that's not lbu's job), but you will find a complete database dump in the /root directory, where it can be restored manually.

P.s. These scripts are also launched when starting the commands: diff, list-backup, package, revert, status.

See also

• [Diskless Mode]]
• Back Up a Flash Memory Installation
• Manually editing a existing apkovl