Backups

The following page details the process and files stored for ZWE MOH machines:

Backup Files and Process

The different databases/files for the e-Learning, VMMC and Analytic systems are backed up every 24hrs, at 1am local time. Resulting files are stored in the folder root/backups. Details about what is backed up is detailed on the table below.

Each server contains their own backups stored in the following folder:

/opt/backups/

The process to backup files are triggered by multiple bash files inside the /opt/backups/ path of each app/service. The following table details the order that each script file is triggered in order to be backed up:

System	What is backup	Backup procedure
VMMC DB	Mongo DB	Mongo dump → compressed file
eLearning	Resource files	MISSING
eLearning	Postgres SQL database	Dump postgres database. Extract database dumped from docker container. Transfer dump file to backup machine.
Superset	Config files	Extract configuration file from docker container. Transfer configuration file to backup machine.
	Dashboard	Rename existing backup files Remove previous backup files. Create new dashboards backup. Extract dashboards backup. Transfer dashboard to backup machine.
	Database	Dump postgres database. Extract database dumped from docker container. Transfer dump file to backup machine.
NiFi	Configuration folder (includes nifi flows, user credentials, etc)	Compress configuration directory. Extract configuration directory from docker container. Transfer configuration directory to backup machine.
Datawarehouse	Postgres SQL Database	Dump postgres database. Extract database dumped from docker container. Transfer dump file to backup machine.
Docker analytics volume	Volumes folder	Compress volume directory Transfer compressed directory to backup machine.
Docker elearning volume	Volumes folder	Compress volume directory Transfer compressed directory to backup machine.

File Naming Conventions

We use the following convention:

YYYY-MM-DD - the date that the backup was completed, local time
HH-MM: the time that the backup was completed, local time
“MOH_ZWE”+system: the name of the system backed up
.X.X - The version of the associated product, to ensure “restorability”
.XXX the file extension

Resulting file names for MOH ZWE:

Moodle db: yyyy-mm-dd-hh-mm-moh-zwe-moodle-4.5.sql.giz
Moodle files: yyyy-mm-dd-hh-mm-moh-zwe-moodle-files.giz
VMMC db: yyyy-mm-dd-hh-mm-moh-zwe-mongo.7.giz
Superset: yyyy-mm-dd-hh-mm-moh-zwe-superset.3.giz

Retention Policies

In the absence of any mandate on backup frequency and retention, the following backup procedure was implemented for the various systems' databases, as of December 2024:

Daily backups, kept for 31 days
Weekly backups (Sunday), kept for 1 year
Monthly backups (last day of the month), kept for 7 years

For the Moodle folder, we implemented the following backup policy:

Daily backups, 31 days
Weekly backups, kept for 6 months
Monthly backups, kept for 7 years

The moodle files folder contains:

Language customizations
Files & images uploaded to Moodle
Cache storage
User session’s data

Storage needs

Average backup size & transmisison time

Mooodle DB
Moodle files

Backup	Year-to-date	Year 2-7
Retention for databases remote disk (PSH) local disk (MOH)	Last 30 days Last 52 weeks (Sunday) Last 12 month (Last day of month) = 94 backups	Last day of the month Year 2-7 = 12 backups per year = 72 backups
Retention for Moodle files Local disk (MOH)	Last 7 days	n/a
Retention for Moodle files Remote disk	Daily backups, 14 days Weekly backups, 6 months Monthly backup for 6 month	Monthly backups, kept for 7 years
Moodle/ SQL	avg backup size: 1.0 Mb Transmission time: 5s	+ 20% annual increase
Moodle files
VMMC Mongo	avg backup 1.0 Mb
Superset backup	avg backup 1.0 Mb