docs: unwrap hand-wrapped prose repo-wide
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# Back up and restore
The configuration is the only state worth keeping. `nxdns export` writes it out
as a ZON file and `nxdns import` writes one back. The query log is deliberately
not part of a backup: it is expendable history, and if it is missing it gets
recreated empty.
The configuration is the only state worth keeping. `nxdns export` writes it out as a ZON file and `nxdns import` writes one back. The query log is deliberately not part of a backup: it is expendable history, and if it is missing it gets recreated empty.
**Which authority the service runs under decides what the backup *is*.** Check
the start log:
**Which authority the service runs under decides what the backup *is*.** Check the start log:
- `authority: database``config.db` holds the configuration. Back it up with
`nxdns export`, and restore with `nxdns import` or by replacing the database
file.
- `authority: file (<path>)` — that file holds the configuration, and it is
already a text file you can keep in git. **The file is the backup.** Restoring
means putting the file back and restarting; the database rebuilds itself from
it. `config.db` is a cache of the file in this mode, not the thing to preserve.
- `authority: database``config.db` holds the configuration. Back it up with `nxdns export`, and restore with `nxdns import` or by replacing the database file.
- `authority: file (<path>)` — that file holds the configuration, and it is already a text file you can keep in git. **The file is the backup.** Restoring means putting the file back and restarting; the database rebuilds itself from it. `config.db` is a cache of the file in this mode, not the thing to preserve.
The rest of this page covers database mode unless it says otherwise.
The commands below use the scratch lab from
[enable DoH and DoT](enable-doh-and-dot.md), data directory
`/tmp/nxdns-lab/data`. On a real install drop `--data-dir` and the default
`/var/lib/nxdns` applies.
The commands below use the scratch lab from [enable DoH and DoT](enable-doh-and-dot.md), data directory `/tmp/nxdns-lab/data`. On a real install drop `--data-dir` and the default `/var/lib/nxdns` applies.
## Back up
@@ -35,8 +23,7 @@ nxdns export --data-dir /tmp/nxdns-lab/data --out /tmp/nxdns-lab/backup.zon
wrote /tmp/nxdns-lab/backup.zon
```
The write is a temp file plus a rename, so an interrupted export leaves no
half-written backup, and the result is mode 0600:
The write is a temp file plus a rename, so an interrupted export leaves no half-written backup, and the result is mode 0600:
```sh
stat -c '%a %n' /tmp/nxdns-lab/backup.zon
@@ -57,15 +44,9 @@ grep password /tmp/nxdns-lab/backup.zon
.password_hash = "$argon2id$v=19$m=19456,t=2,p=1$hOjjnTrTZ6kU8XrwQuJ7ZFC3B5LumaB4hRe7kBbzJ6Q$YsC2rCTDKv96eEwPhs+D6vbDliLogEZph8EkagKSuy8",
```
Treat backups as secrets. `.password` is always exported as `null` — the
plaintext is never stored anywhere — so the file re-imports without anyone
knowing the password. `null` and `""` are different statements here: `null`
means the file says nothing about the password, while an empty `password_hash`
would disable authentication. See
[Password and hash](../reference/configuration.md#password-and-hash).
Treat backups as secrets. `.password` is always exported as `null` — the plaintext is never stored anywhere — so the file re-imports without anyone knowing the password. `null` and `""` are different statements here: `null` means the file says nothing about the password, while an empty `password_hash` would disable authentication. See [Password and hash](../reference/configuration.md#password-and-hash).
Without `--out` the export goes to stdout, where the file mode is your
redirect's problem:
Without `--out` the export goes to stdout, where the file mode is your redirect's problem:
```sh
nxdns export --data-dir /tmp/nxdns-lab/data | head -10
@@ -84,15 +65,11 @@ nxdns export --data-dir /tmp/nxdns-lab/data | head -10
.bind_ipv4 = "127.0.0.1",
```
Runtime facts are left out on purpose: client first-seen and last-seen times,
rule creation times, per-source domain counts and checksums. They are things a
running server produces, not configuration, and including them would make two
exports taken minutes apart differ.
Runtime facts are left out on purpose: client first-seen and last-seen times, rule creation times, per-source domain counts and checksums. They are things a running server produces, not configuration, and including them would make two exports taken minutes apart differ.
## Restore onto a fresh data directory
This is the normal restore: new machine, new disk, empty data directory.
Nothing to overwrite, so nothing to authorise.
This is the normal restore: new machine, new disk, empty data directory. Nothing to overwrite, so nothing to authorise.
```sh
nxdns import /tmp/nxdns-lab/backup.zon --data-dir /tmp/nxdns-lab/data-restored
@@ -103,15 +80,11 @@ info(migrations): config.db migrated from schema version 0 to 1
imported /tmp/nxdns-lab/backup.zon
```
The migration line is expected: `import` creates and migrates the database
before writing to it.
The migration line is expected: `import` creates and migrates the database before writing to it.
## Restore over an existing database
**Stop the server first.** `import` rewrites configuration underneath a process
that read it at startup, and a running server picks up only part of it —
filtering follows the new rows at the next reload, while upstreams, listeners
and settings stay at their boot values until a restart.
**Stop the server first.** `import` rewrites configuration underneath a process that read it at startup, and a running server picks up only part of it — filtering follows the new rows at the next reload, while upstreams, listeners and settings stay at their boot values until a restart.
```sh
systemctl stop nxdns
@@ -119,10 +92,7 @@ nxdns import /var/backups/nxdns-config.zon
systemctl start nxdns
```
`import` converges the database onto the file. Rows the file still names are
matched and updated in place; rows it no longer names are deleted. That last
part is what a restore of an old backup does to everything added since, so it
takes a flag:
`import` converges the database onto the file. Rows the file still names are matched and updated in place; rows it no longer names are deleted. That last part is what a restore of an old backup does to everything added since, so it takes a flag:
```sh
nxdns import /tmp/nxdns-lab/old-backup.zon --data-dir /tmp/nxdns-lab/data
@@ -133,10 +103,7 @@ FAIL import: this file would delete rows the database holds (upstreams 1); re-ru
import failed: DestructiveImport
```
That exits 2 and rolls the transaction back, so nothing is half-applied. The
message names every table that would lose rows, which is usually enough to tell
an intended restore from the wrong file. Say `--allow-delete` when deleting is
what you mean:
That exits 2 and rolls the transaction back, so nothing is half-applied. The message names every table that would lose rows, which is usually enough to tell an intended restore from the wrong file. Say `--allow-delete` when deleting is what you mean:
```sh
nxdns import /tmp/nxdns-lab/old-backup.zon --allow-delete --data-dir /tmp/nxdns-lab/data
@@ -146,20 +113,9 @@ nxdns import /tmp/nxdns-lab/old-backup.zon --allow-delete --data-dir /tmp/nxdns-
imported /tmp/nxdns-lab/old-backup.zon
```
A restore that only puts back what is already there needs no flag at all, and
neither does one that only adds rows. The flag is about deletion specifically —
including deletion in disguise: renaming a group, or correcting a typo in an
upstream URL, changes the row's identity, so the engine sees one row gone and
one arrived.
A restore that only puts back what is already there needs no flag at all, and neither does one that only adds rows. The flag is about deletion specifically — including deletion in disguise: renaming a group, or correcting a typo in an upstream URL, changes the row's identity, so the engine sees one row gone and one arrived.
What survives a restore is worth knowing before you take an old backup out of
the drawer. Blocklist download state is kept for every source whose URL the file
still names — checksum, counters, compiled files, and the row id they are keyed
by — so restoring does not cost a re-download. Devices the server discovered
from traffic are kept whole, and one the backup names keeps the first-seen and
last-seen the database already held, so a restore never restamps your network as
newly arrived. What does go is a client the backup does not name and that was
named by hand: that row is declarative, and it is deleted with the rest.
What survives a restore is worth knowing before you take an old backup out of the drawer. Blocklist download state is kept for every source whose URL the file still names — checksum, counters, compiled files, and the row id they are keyed by — so restoring does not cost a re-download. Devices the server discovered from traffic are kept whole, and one the backup names keeps the first-seen and last-seen the database already held, so a restore never restamps your network as newly arrived. What does go is a client the backup does not name and that was named by hand: that row is declarative, and it is deleted with the rest.
> The three `systemctl` lines are the only commands on this page that were not
> run: this machine has no installed nxdns unit (`systemctl status nxdns`
@@ -169,17 +125,10 @@ named by hand: that row is declarative, and it is deleted with the rest.
## Restoring the database file itself
Copying `config.db` back into place works too, and it is the fastest restore on
a machine that still has one. Two rules, and the second one is where restores go
wrong:
Copying `config.db` back into place works too, and it is the fastest restore on a machine that still has one. Two rules, and the second one is where restores go wrong:
1. **Take the copy from a stopped instance**, or use `nxdns export` instead. A
copy taken while nxdns is running catches the main file without the changes
sitting in its write-ahead log.
2. **Delete any stale `config.db-wal` and `config.db-shm` beside the file you
restore.** SQLite silently discards a write-ahead log that does not match the
database it sits next to. It does not warn, and it does not fail — it just
answers from the main file, so a restore quietly loses its own tail.
1. **Take the copy from a stopped instance**, or use `nxdns export` instead. A copy taken while nxdns is running catches the main file without the changes sitting in its write-ahead log.
2. **Delete any stale `config.db-wal` and `config.db-shm` beside the file you restore.** SQLite silently discards a write-ahead log that does not match the database it sits next to. It does not warn, and it does not fail — it just answers from the main file, so a restore quietly loses its own tail.
```sh
systemctl stop nxdns
@@ -193,15 +142,11 @@ systemctl start nxdns
> Not verified on this host: these need root, an installed unit and
> `/var/lib/nxdns`, none of which exist here.
None of this applies in file mode. There `config.db` is derived state — restore
the configuration file and start the service, and the first reconcile rebuilds
the database from it.
None of this applies in file mode. There `config.db` is derived state — restore the configuration file and start the service, and the first reconcile rebuilds the database from it.
## Verify a backup
The round trip is byte-stable: exporting, importing and exporting again gives
an identical file. That is the cheapest check that a backup is complete and
that it will load.
The round trip is byte-stable: exporting, importing and exporting again gives an identical file. That is the cheapest check that a backup is complete and that it will load.
```sh
nxdns export --data-dir /tmp/nxdns-lab/data --out /tmp/nxdns-lab/backup2.zon
@@ -214,8 +159,7 @@ wrote /tmp/nxdns-lab/backup2.zon
round trip is byte-identical
```
The same check works across data directories — export from the restored copy
and diff against the backup you restored from:
The same check works across data directories — export from the restored copy and diff against the backup you restored from:
```sh
nxdns export --data-dir /tmp/nxdns-lab/data-restored --out /tmp/nxdns-lab/backup3.zon
@@ -233,20 +177,12 @@ restored database exports identically
Everything under the data directory other than `config.db`:
- `querylog.db` — expendable history, recreated empty when absent.
- `blocklists/` — compiled snapshots. They are rebuilt from the sources named in
the configuration, so restoring the configuration is enough; the first refresh
after a restore downloads them again.
- `blocklists/` — compiled snapshots. They are rebuilt from the sources named in the configuration, so restoring the configuration is enough; the first refresh after a restore downloads them again.
The data directory layout is in
[files and directories](../reference/files-and-directories.md).
The data directory layout is in [files and directories](../reference/files-and-directories.md).
## A backup before every upgrade
There is no downgrade path. Schema migrations run forward automatically at
startup and before `export` and `import`; nothing walks them back, and `nxdns
check` does not run them at all. Take an export before installing a new binary —
see [upgrade](upgrade.md).
There is no downgrade path. Schema migrations run forward automatically at startup and before `export` and `import`; nothing walks them back, and `nxdns check` does not run them at all. Take an export before installing a new binary — see [upgrade](upgrade.md).
Every `nxdns` command on this page was executed on this host as written. The
`systemctl`, `cp`, `chown` and `chmod` lines were not: they need root and an
installed unit, and both blocks holding them say so.
Every `nxdns` command on this page was executed on this host as written. The `systemctl`, `cp`, `chown` and `chmod` lines were not: they need root and an installed unit, and both blocks holding them say so.