Backup storage

A backup is a virtual machine (VM) disk image that is used to restore it. You can use external storage to record your backups. A physical or virtual server with SSH access can be used as storage.

The storage server should use bash as interpreter.

How to prepare a storage

When you connect a storage, you can:

specify a SSH user password. VMmanager will connect to the server with this data and add the platform's public SSH key to the list of authorized keys. Next time to connect to the storage, VMmanager will use only the SSH-key;
choose to connect using an SSH key. In this case you need to manually add the platform's public SSH key to the ~/.ssh/authorized_keys file on the storage server. To see the contents of the key, click I want to use a public SSH-key in the storage connection form or run the command on the server with VMmanager:
```
docker exec -it vm_box bash -c 'cat /opt/ispsystem/vm/etc/.ssh/vmmgr.1.pub'
```

The current version of the platform does not support connecting a Storage box in the Hetzner data center.

How to connect a storage

To connect the storage to VMmanager, enter Backups section → Storages tab → Connect storage button:

Specify the Storage name or click generate to create a random name.
Specify the server IP address or domain.
Specify the SSH configuration:
1. SSH-port;
2. SSH-login;
3. SSH-password or click I want to use a public SSH-key to configure the key connection.
Specify the Storage path — the directory on the server where your backups will be stored. E.g., /backup/.
Specify the Storage volume — the disk space you plan to use to store your backups.
Specify the configuration of Access to storage in clusters — set storage permissions for each cluster.
Specify the discretionary Note for the storage.
Select Schedule for saving copies to the storage.
Press Connect storage.

How to manage storages

You can manage connected storages through the menu in the section Backups → Storages. Available actions:

Edit — change the connection configuration;
If you changed the username (SSH-login) for connecting the storage, copy the platform's public SSH key to that user's home directory — the /home/<user_name>/.ssh/authorized_keys file on the server with the storage.
Note — specify the discretionary comment;
Delete — delete the storage. The function is available if the storage does not contain backups and is not specified in the schedule settings.