Table of Contents
What do I need?
In order to use Backup Ninja, you should have the following things ready:
- A database node to be backed up (virtual, physical, cloud machine, container). See Supported Database Servers.
- An Internet connection from the backup host to Backup Ninja API endpoints.
- Backup Ninja agent is installed and running on the database node.
- An active account with Backup Ninja. Register or login here.
The database node must have an Internet connection (or is allowed) to connect to Backup Ninja API endpoints for server-agent communications. When creating a new account with Backup Ninja, you will be guided with the onboarding configuration wizard to install the agent and add a backup host under Servers. Once a backup host has been detected with the agent running, you can proceed to configure the schedule, cloud credentials, backups, and so on.
Further reading:
How does it work?
Backup Ninja relies on its agent called bartender to execute tasks on the database node. Agent periodically pulls the latest configuration from the API endpoints and performs the necessary actions to attempt completing the assigned task. The agent will then push the job’s state back to Backup Ninja API endpoints, allowing users to track every single job and monitor the status directly from a single place.
Once registered, a user can use the Backup Ninja dashboard to manage and configure backup-related tasks which will be picked up by the corresponding agent running on the database node.
Further reading:
What do I get?
Users will be able to perform database backup management directly from the Backup Ninja dashboard. It offers the following major features:
- Backup scheduling
- Backup monitoring
- Backup notification
- Backup encryption
- Backup compression
- Cloud storage
- Retention management
- File name formatting
We are constantly adding more features, tweaks, and enhancements to give our users the best backup automation tool in the market. Check out the product changelog for details.
The following backup methods and procedures are supported:
| Backup type | Database Technology | Backup methods/tools |
|---|---|---|
| Physical backup | MySQL/Percona Server | Percona Xtrabackup (xtrabackup) |
| MariaDB Server | MariaDB Backup (mariabackup) |
|
| PostgreSQL | pg_basebackup |
|
| Logical backup | MySQL/Percona/MariaDB | mysqldump |
| PostgreSQL | pg_dumpall, pg_dump |
|
| MongoDB | mongodump |
For restoration, the following restore methods and procedures are supported:
| Backup type | Database Technology | Backup methods/tools |
|---|---|---|
| Physical backup | MySQL/Percona Server | Percona Xtrabackup (xtrabackup) |
| MariaDB Server | MariaDB Backup (mariabackup) |
|
| Logical backup | MySQL/Percona/MariaDB | mysql |
| PostgreSQL | psql |
|
| MongoDB | mongorestore |
Every backup can be compressed and encrypted. Make the most of your backup storage by compressing data at the backup source. You can choose to compress your data when creating your backup schedule.
For encryption, Backup Ninja uses AES 256 OFB encryption mode with a random key. The key can be specified by the user or generated by our key generator tool. Decrypting a backup is simple and can be performed on the backup host directly using the bartender command line.
Further reading: