csm / backup-mastodon

backup-mastodon

A helper script and systemd files for backing up my own instance of mastodon to DreamObjects. Can be used with any S3-compatible storage, probably.

This is meant to be used on Ubuntu.

How to use:

0. Install awscli and toot on your system, if needed.
1. Run useradd --disabled-login mastodon-backup.
2. Run sudo -u mastodon-backup toot login. Log in to your instance with a bot account.
3. Add the following to the file /etc/backup-mastodon.env:
   • export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=xxx (your access key ID)
   • export AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=xxx (your secret access key)
   • export BUCKET=xxx (your bucket name)
   • Optional, export ENDPOINT_OVERRIDE=--endpoint https://xxx. If you are using DreamObjects, set this to https://objects-us-east-1.dream.io.
4. Copy backup-mastodon.sh to /usr/local/bin.
5. Copy backup-mastodon.service and backup-mastodon.timer to /etc/systemd/system.
6. Run sudo systemctl enable backup-mastodon.service backup-mastodon.timer.
7. Run sudo systemctl start backup-mastodon.timer.

As is, this will back up your mastodon database and config to an S3 or S3-compatible storage once nightly.