Backup Procedure

Complete backup procedures for Chatty AI deployment.

Overview

Chatty AI backup includes:

PostgreSQL database - User data, conversations, settings
Qdrant vector database - Document embeddings, RAG data
File uploads - User-uploaded documents
Configuration files - .env, docker-compose.yaml

Quick Backup Script

Download Backup Script

Save this script as backup-chatty.sh:

#!/bin/bash
#=================================================================
# Chatty AI Backup Script
# Creates full backup of all Chatty AI data
#=================================================================

set -e  # Exit on error

# Configuration
BACKUP_DIR="${BACKUP_DIR:-/root/chatty-backups}"
TIMESTAMP=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)
BACKUP_NAME="chatty-backup-${TIMESTAMP}"
BACKUP_PATH="${BACKUP_DIR}/${BACKUP_NAME}"
COMPOSE_DIR="${COMPOSE_DIR:-/root/chatty-app-deploy/deploy}"

# Colors for output
RED='\033[0;31m'
GREEN='\033[0;32m'
YELLOW='\033[1;33m'
NC='\033[0m' # No Color

echo -e "${GREEN}==================================================================${NC}"
echo -e "${GREEN}Chatty AI Backup Script${NC}"
echo -e "${GREEN}==================================================================${NC}"
echo ""
echo "Backup directory: ${BACKUP_PATH}"
echo "Timestamp: ${TIMESTAMP}"
echo ""

# Create backup directory
mkdir -p "${BACKUP_PATH}"

# Navigate to compose directory
cd "${COMPOSE_DIR}"

echo -e "${YELLOW}[1/5] Backing up PostgreSQL database...${NC}"
docker compose exec -T db pg_dump -U chattyAdmin chattydb | gzip > "${BACKUP_PATH}/postgres-${TIMESTAMP}.sql.gz"
echo -e "${GREEN}✓ PostgreSQL backup complete${NC}"

echo -e "${YELLOW}[2/5] Backing up Qdrant vector database...${NC}"
docker compose stop qdrant
docker run --rm \
  -v chatty-app_qdrant:/data \
  -v "${BACKUP_PATH}":/backup \
  ubuntu tar czf /backup/qdrant-${TIMESTAMP}.tar.gz /data
docker compose start qdrant
echo -e "${GREEN}✓ Qdrant backup complete${NC}"

echo -e "${YELLOW}[3/5] Backing up file uploads...${NC}"
docker run --rm \
  -v chatty-app_chattyai:/data \
  -v "${BACKUP_PATH}":/backup \
  ubuntu tar czf /backup/uploads-${TIMESTAMP}.tar.gz /data/uploads
echo -e "${GREEN}✓ File uploads backup complete${NC}"

echo -e "${YELLOW}[4/5] Backing up configuration files...${NC}"
mkdir -p "${BACKUP_PATH}/config"
cp .env "${BACKUP_PATH}/config/.env" 2>/dev/null || echo "No .env file found"
cp docker-compose.yaml "${BACKUP_PATH}/config/docker-compose.yaml"
cp -r certs "${BACKUP_PATH}/config/" 2>/dev/null || echo "No certs directory found"
echo -e "${GREEN}✓ Configuration backup complete${NC}"

echo -e "${YELLOW}[5/5] Creating backup manifest...${NC}"
cat > "${BACKUP_PATH}/MANIFEST.txt" <<EOF
Chatty AI Backup
================
Backup Date: $(date)
Backup Name: ${BACKUP_NAME}
Hostname: $(hostname)

Contents:
- postgres-${TIMESTAMP}.sql.gz (PostgreSQL database)
- qdrant-${TIMESTAMP}.tar.gz (Qdrant vector database)
- uploads-${TIMESTAMP}.tar.gz (File uploads)
- config/.env (Environment variables)
- config/docker-compose.yaml (Compose configuration)
- config/certs/ (SSL certificates)

Restore Instructions:
See restore-chatty.sh script or documentation at:
https://docs.chatty-ai.ai/backup-restore/restore-procedure
EOF
echo -e "${GREEN}✓ Manifest created${NC}"

# Calculate backup size
BACKUP_SIZE=$(du -sh "${BACKUP_PATH}" | cut -f1)

echo ""
echo -e "${GREEN}==================================================================${NC}"
echo -e "${GREEN}Backup Complete!${NC}"
echo -e "${GREEN}==================================================================${NC}"
echo ""
echo "Backup location: ${BACKUP_PATH}"
echo "Backup size: ${BACKUP_SIZE}"
echo ""
echo "Files created:"
ls -lh "${BACKUP_PATH}"
echo ""
echo -e "${YELLOW}Next steps:${NC}"
echo "1. Verify backup integrity"
echo "2. Copy backup to secure off-site location"
echo "3. Test restore procedure periodically"
echo ""

Make Script Executable

chmod +x backup-chatty.sh

Run Backup

# Default backup location (/root/chatty-backups)
./backup-chatty.sh

# Custom backup location
BACKUP_DIR=/mnt/backups ./backup-chatty.sh

# Custom compose directory
COMPOSE_DIR=/path/to/deploy ./backup-chatty.sh

Manual Backup Steps

If you prefer manual backup:

1. Backup PostgreSQL Database

# Navigate to deploy directory
cd /root/chatty-app-deploy/deploy

# Create backup directory
mkdir -p ~/chatty-backups

# Backup database
docker compose exec db pg_dump -U chattyAdmin chattydb | gzip > ~/chatty-backups/postgres-$(date +%Y%m%d).sql.gz

# Verify backup
gunzip -c ~/chatty-backups/postgres-$(date +%Y%m%d).sql.gz | head -n 20

2. Backup Qdrant Vector Database

# Stop Qdrant
docker compose stop qdrant

# Backup Qdrant data
docker run --rm \
  -v chatty-app_qdrant:/data \
  -v ~/chatty-backups:/backup \
  ubuntu tar czf /backup/qdrant-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz /data

# Start Qdrant
docker compose start qdrant

# Verify backup
ls -lh ~/chatty-backups/qdrant-*.tar.gz

3. Backup File Uploads

# Backup uploads
docker run --rm \
  -v chatty-app_chattyai:/data \
  -v ~/chatty-backups:/backup \
  ubuntu tar czf /backup/uploads-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz /data/uploads

# Verify backup
ls -lh ~/chatty-backups/uploads-*.tar.gz

4. Backup Configuration

# Create config backup directory
mkdir -p ~/chatty-backups/config

# Backup .env file
cp .env ~/chatty-backups/config/.env

# Backup docker-compose
cp docker-compose.yaml ~/chatty-backups/config/

# Backup SSL certificates
cp -r certs ~/chatty-backups/config/

# Verify
ls -la ~/chatty-backups/config/

Automated Backup with Cron

Create Cron Job

# Edit crontab
crontab -e

# Add daily backup at 2 AM
0 2 * * * /root/backup-chatty.sh >> /var/log/chatty-backup.log 2>&1

# Add weekly backup on Sunday at 3 AM
0 3 * * 0 /root/backup-chatty.sh >> /var/log/chatty-backup-weekly.log 2>&1

Backup Rotation Script

Save as rotate-backups.sh:

#!/bin/bash
# Keep last 7 daily backups, 4 weekly backups, 12 monthly backups

BACKUP_DIR="/root/chatty-backups"

# Keep last 7 days
find "${BACKUP_DIR}" -name "chatty-backup-*" -mtime +7 -type d -exec rm -rf {} \;

echo "Backup rotation complete"

Backup Verification

Verify Backup Integrity

#!/bin/bash
# verify-backup.sh

BACKUP_PATH="/root/chatty-backups/chatty-backup-20260409_140000"

echo "Verifying backup: ${BACKUP_PATH}"

# Check PostgreSQL backup
echo "Checking PostgreSQL backup..."
gunzip -t "${BACKUP_PATH}"/postgres-*.sql.gz && echo "✓ PostgreSQL backup OK" || echo "✗ PostgreSQL backup FAILED"

# Check Qdrant backup
echo "Checking Qdrant backup..."
tar tzf "${BACKUP_PATH}"/qdrant-*.tar.gz > /dev/null && echo "✓ Qdrant backup OK" || echo "✗ Qdrant backup FAILED"

# Check uploads backup
echo "Checking uploads backup..."
tar tzf "${BACKUP_PATH}"/uploads-*.tar.gz > /dev/null && echo "✓ Uploads backup OK" || echo "✗ Uploads backup FAILED"

# Check config files
echo "Checking configuration files..."
[ -f "${BACKUP_PATH}/config/.env" ] && echo "✓ .env file OK" || echo "✗ .env file missing"
[ -f "${BACKUP_PATH}/config/docker-compose.yaml" ] && echo "✓ docker-compose.yaml OK" || echo "✗ docker-compose.yaml missing"

echo "Verification complete"

Off-Site Backup

Copy to Remote Server

# Using rsync
rsync -avz --progress /root/chatty-backups/ user@backup-server:/backups/chatty-ai/

# Using scp
scp -r /root/chatty-backups/chatty-backup-20260409_140000 user@backup-server:/backups/

Upload to Cloud Storage

# AWS S3
aws s3 sync /root/chatty-backups/ s3://my-bucket/chatty-backups/

# Google Cloud Storage
gsutil -m rsync -r /root/chatty-backups/ gs://my-bucket/chatty-backups/

# Azure Blob Storage
az storage blob upload-batch -d chatty-backups -s /root/chatty-backups/

Backup Best Practices

1. Regular Schedule

Daily backups: Automated via cron
Weekly backups: Full backup every Sunday
Monthly backups: Archive first Sunday of month
Before updates: Always backup before upgrading

2. Retention Policy

Keep last 7 daily backups
Keep last 4 weekly backups
Keep last 12 monthly backups
Archive critical backups indefinitely

3. Storage Locations

Primary: Local server storage
Secondary: Network-attached storage (NAS)
Tertiary: Cloud storage (S3, GCS, Azure)
Archive: Offline/cold storage for compliance

4. Security

# Encrypt backups
tar czf - /root/chatty-backups/chatty-backup-20260409_140000 | \
  gpg --symmetric --cipher-algo AES256 > backup-encrypted.tar.gz.gpg

# Decrypt
gpg --decrypt backup-encrypted.tar.gz.gpg | tar xzf -

5. Testing

Test restore monthly
Document restore time
Verify data integrity
Update procedures as needed

Backup Checklist

Troubleshooting

Backup Fails - Disk Space

# Check available space
df -h

# Clean up old backups
find /root/chatty-backups -name "chatty-backup-*" -mtime +30 -exec rm -rf {} \;

# Clean up Docker
docker system prune -a

Database Backup Fails

# Check database is running
docker compose ps db

# Check database connectivity
docker compose exec db psql -U chattyAdmin -d chattydb -c "SELECT version();"

# Manual backup
docker compose exec db pg_dump -U chattyAdmin chattydb > backup.sql

Permission Denied

# Run as root or with sudo
sudo ./backup-chatty.sh

# Fix backup directory permissions
sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /root/chatty-backups

Restore Procedure - How to restore from backup
Database Variables - Database configuration
Service Management - Managing services

Overview​

Quick Backup Script​

Download Backup Script​

Make Script Executable​

Run Backup​

Manual Backup Steps​

1. Backup PostgreSQL Database​

2. Backup Qdrant Vector Database​

3. Backup File Uploads​

4. Backup Configuration​

Automated Backup with Cron​

Create Cron Job​

Backup Rotation Script​

Backup Verification​

Verify Backup Integrity​

Off-Site Backup​

Copy to Remote Server​

Upload to Cloud Storage​

Backup Best Practices​

1. Regular Schedule​

2. Retention Policy​

3. Storage Locations​

4. Security​

5. Testing​

Backup Checklist​

Troubleshooting​

Backup Fails - Disk Space​

Database Backup Fails​

Permission Denied​

Related Documentation​

Overview

Quick Backup Script

Download Backup Script

Make Script Executable

Run Backup

Manual Backup Steps

1. Backup PostgreSQL Database

2. Backup Qdrant Vector Database

3. Backup File Uploads

4. Backup Configuration

Automated Backup with Cron

Create Cron Job

Backup Rotation Script

Backup Verification

Verify Backup Integrity

Off-Site Backup

Copy to Remote Server

Upload to Cloud Storage

Backup Best Practices

1. Regular Schedule

2. Retention Policy

3. Storage Locations

4. Security

5. Testing

Backup Checklist

Troubleshooting

Backup Fails - Disk Space

Database Backup Fails

Permission Denied

Related Documentation