Backup
Every File Is Backed Up, but I Still Can't Rebuild the Server
The database dump is complete, the code tar is complete, and all the secrets are there, but put them on a blank machine and the site will not come up, because the things that actually make the server work were never in the backup files. This article lists what disappears with the machine and the recovery sequence I wrote for my future self.
Backups Succeeded Nightly, but Offsite Uploads Failed for 3 Weeks
cron ran every night, local files were complete every day, and the log said done, but offsite storage had not changed for 3 weeks. The first 8 nights of backups were already gone for good because local rotation had deleted them first. This article examines the two gaps that let the failure stay silent for so long.
Recovering Old Website Images with Wayback Machine CDX API + Python
A website over a decade old had broken images throughout because it hotlinked to a dead CDN — I wrote a Python script to list images from the Wayback Machine CDX API and restore them to their original paths without touching a single character of HTML, with the full script I actually used.
Off-Site Backups with Pull Architecture + rclone/rsync
Add off-site Layer 3 to complete 3-2-1 with pull architecture (the destination host fetches the data), rclone + rsync, and lessons from real pitfalls involving NAT, RSA host keys, cwRsync, and PID recycling.
Rebuilding DirectAdmin Backups with NFS and POSIX ACL in Production
A record of rebuilding backups on a DirectAdmin server after migrating to a new machine — from FTP push that broke at three layers to an NFSv4 hard mount + POSIX ACL, with kernel-level lessons learned along the way.