# Gitea Backup Strategy

This document outlines the backup strategy for your Gitea installation, focusing on ensuring your database is always backed up in at least one place.

## Backup Methods

This setup provides two complementary backup methods:

### 1. PostgreSQL Database Dumps

Database dumps are SQL files containing all your database data. These are the most reliable way to back up a PostgreSQL database.

- **Script**: `backup-gitea-db.ps1`
- **Output**: SQL dumps in the `backups` directory, compressed as ZIP files
- **Retention**: Keeps the last 10 backups by default

### 2. Docker Volume Backups

This method backs up the entire PostgreSQL data volume, which includes all database files.

- **Script**: `backup-volume.ps1`
- **Output**: TAR archives in the `backups` directory, compressed as ZIP files
- **Retention**: Keeps the last 5 volume backups by default

## Automated Backups

You can set up automated daily backups using the included script:

```powershell
.\schedule-backup.ps1
```

This creates a Windows Scheduled Task that runs the database backup script daily at 3 AM.

## Restoring from Backups

### Restoring from a Database Dump

```powershell
.\restore-gitea-db.ps1 -BackupFile "backups\gitea-db-backup-2025-03-01_10-30-00.sql.zip"
```

### Restoring from a Volume Backup

```powershell
.\restore-volume.ps1 -BackupFile "backups\postgres-volume-backup-2025-03-01_10-30-00.tar.zip"
```

## Best Practices

1. **Regular Backups**: Run backups at least daily
2. **Multiple Backup Methods**: Use both database dumps and volume backups
3. **Off-site Storage**: Copy your backups to an external drive or cloud storage
4. **Test Restores**: Periodically test restoring from your backups
5. **Version Control**: Keep your Gitea configuration files in version control

## Important Notes

- **Never** run `docker-compose down -v` unless you have a recent backup
- When upgrading Gitea, always create a backup first
- The database volume (`postgres-data`) persists even when containers are stopped or removed, but can be lost if explicitly deleted

## Manual Backup Commands

If you need to create a backup manually:

```powershell
# Database dump
.\backup-gitea-db.ps1

# Volume backup
.\backup-volume.ps1
```