How do you monitor your backups?

Question

I've had automated backups fail for so many different reasons over the years. I usually end up realizing that something is wrong after a few days and fix the issue but I don't like how backups tend to fail silently.How do you make sure that you are alerted when your backups go wrong?

simonblack · Accepted Answer

My backup script produces quite a bit of logging detail. I keep the last 10 daily logs. And I tend to go through those daily logs every 3 or 4 days at least. Admittedly, that's not as good as checking daily, but it seems to work very well.
That backup script has been in continuous development over the years, so I have a good idea what errors will show up and why.
Then again, I tend to use those backups quite often in rebuilding my system, usually after a distro upgrade. I find a complete system rebuild usually works out better than an 'upgrade in place' so I am always aware of what is happening with the backups. Due to the daily backups, a complete system rebuild after a crash or in a distro upgrade takes at most an hour or an hour and a half.
The daily backups themselves get discarded in an 'reverse exponential' fashion, giving lots of recent backups and not so many older backups.

glynnforrest · Answer

Oh! I'm working on this exact problem at the moment: a dashboard to keep track of your different backups.
* Get notified when backups fail or take too long via email, slack, webhook, etc.
* Run your backup scripts and tools with our open source agent, which takes cares of reporting backup results to the dashboard.
* Alternatively, write your own integration with our API to report backup results and send logs yourself.
We'll launch privately soon at https://backupshq.com, I'd love to hear what you think of the idea. We haven't decided on pricing yet, but would like to offer free usage for personal use. Either way, I'll hook you up with some free credit.

GnarfGnarf · Answer

Good question. I back up many ways. One of them is Acronis, which can send an email in case of failure. I also back up to DVD, which has a verify cycle, so I know right away if it has failed (rarely does).I suggest you build in an email function that sends an message if it fails.

How do you monitor your backups?

I've had automated backups fail for so many different reasons over the years. I usually end up realizing that something is wrong after a few days and fix the issue but I don't like how backups tend to fail silently.
How do you make sure that you are alerted when your backups go wrong?

Good question. I back up many ways. One of them is Acronis, which can send an email in case of failure. I also back up to DVD, which has a verify cycle, so I know right away if it has failed (rarely does).
I suggest you build in an email function that sends an message if it fails.