Setup Real-time Backup on Ubuntu

Why it is Important to Run a Backup on Ubuntu?

You will never feel the importance of the backup on Ubuntu unless you lose important content. Do you know that before developing our exclusive method to create a robust backup on Ubuntu, we lost an important data by mistake! Therefore, we learned a lesson not to miss a real-time backup for anything important on your server. We developed a robust automated methods to backup data as a result of that sudden loss. In addition, the method we expose here is 100% guaranteed to protect your data from being lost.

What Will We Cover?

In this section, we will make a robust backup environment. Then, we will show you our best practice sync backup folders in real-time.

Backup Infrastructure

In the first place, we will create a backup infrastructure. That is to say, to make it easy to have a separate backup for every instance on your server. For example, you can run a backup for website A, website B or even the mail server files.

Generate Backup on Ubuntu

Once the backup infrastructure is ready, we can generate the backup zip files for the site files, mail server files and the database.

Real-time Syncing

Before staring real-time syncing with a destination, we should get and prepare the destination backup server. Once the backup server is ready, we will start the real-time sync process between the source and destination. For this purpose, we will use Rsync utility.

Sync Backup Directories with Remote Server

Real time syncing between two servers can be done when using Rsync on Linux and iNotifyWait utilities together. We will show you how it’s easy to sync website folders and emails. Also, we will sync the master backup folder.

Sync Backup Directories with Local Computer

It’s very important to keep a copy of your files on your local machine. For this purpose, we will download the WinSCP. Then, we will create a Rsync Linux user. After that, we will show you the sync settings and start the sync process.

Real-time Database Syncing

The previous two sync methods can keep a copy of all your important files on two destinations but this is not enough. We will implement a full MySQL master slave replication system in order to keep the database synced in real-time. Before starting the sync process, we will configure the master and slave. Then, we will secure the connection via SSL. After that, will export the databases from the master to slave. Finally, we will start the sync process.

Detailed Table of content

1. Backup Infrastructure Setup
   1. Manual Creation (9 steps)
   2. Automatic Creation (4 steps)
2. Backup MySQL and Site Files on Source Server (7 steps)
3. Real Time Sync for Master Backup Directory Between Servers via Rsync and iNotifyWait
   1. Linux Backup Server Setup (4 steps)
   2. Rsync Linux User Creation and Test (7 steps)
      • Sync Backup Directory Between Source and Destination Servers
   3. Real Time Sync via iNotifyWait (8 steps)
   4. Restore MySQL on Destination Server from Backup (8 steps)
      1. Create Restore Script
      2. Restore All MySQL Databases via restore_db.sh Bash Script
      3. Single Database Restoration via restore_db.sh Bash Script
4. Real Time Sync for Master Backup Directory with Local Computer
   • Sync Local Computer with Ubuntu via WinSCP
     1. Download and Install WinSCP (8 steps)
     2. Create WinSCP User (4 steps)
        • Ignore Permission Errors
     3. Save Remote and Local Sessions (6 steps)
        • Run WinSCP Sync Between Ubuntu and PC
5. Real Time Sync for Database via MySQL Replication
   • MySQL Master Slave Replication Setup
     1. Configure Master (8 steps)
        • List All Databases
        • Open 50-server.cnf File
        • Enable Binary Log and Replication
        • Enable Error Log
        • Create Replication User
     2. Configure Slave (5 steps)
        • Enable Binary Log and Replication
        • Enable Error Log
        • Prevent from Duplication Error
     3. Secure Connection with SSL (3 steps)
        • Check if SSL Connection is Enabled
        • Convert Certificate’s Private Key from PKCS8 to PKCS1
     4. Test SSL Connection (3 steps)
        • SSL Login from Slave to Master
     5. Export All Databases from Master and Import Into Slave  (4 steps)
        • Lock Master’s Database
        • Generate Backup ZIP Files on Master via backup.sh Script
        • Sync master_backup Directory to Send Backup to Slave
        • Import the Zipped Backup File
        • Lock Slave’s Database
     6. Connect Slave to Master (5 steps)
        • Establish Replication Connection
        • Start Slave
        • Check Replication Status
        • Find gtid on Master
        • Find gtid on Slave
        • Unlock Master’s Database
        • Stop Slave
        • Reset Replication Connection
   • Add New Database to Replication
     1. Update the Backup Environment for the New Website (3 steps)
        • Create Backup Folders and CNF File via automatic_backup_environment.sh Script
        • Add the New Website to backup.sh Script
        • Create Test Table Inside the New Database
     2. Create New Database and User on Master (3 steps)
     3. Create New Database and User on Slave (1 steps)
     4. Add the New Database to Replication in 50-server.cn File (2 steps)
     5. Export New Database to Slave (3 steps)
        • Lock Master’s Database
        • Generate Backup ZIP Files on Master via backup.sh Script
        • Sync master_backup Directory to Send Backup to Slave
     6. Import New Database into Slave (5 steps)
        • Unlock Slave’s Database
        • Import the Zipped Backup File
        • Lock Slave’s Database
     7. Resume Replication (2 steps)
        • Restart MariaDB Server on Master and Unlock Database
        • Start Replication Process
        • Show Replication Status
   • Update TLS Certificate During MySQL Replication