Backup and restore

Mediarr makes encrypted backups of your database and originals with restic. Set them up under Admin → Settings.

Keep the backup password somewhere safe

Without it, a backup cannot be opened by anyone. If you lose the server, you need this password and the destination to get your library back.

Destinations

• A folder or disk. Add BACKUP_PATH=/path/to/backups to .env and run docker compose up -d. The user set by PUID must be allowed to write there.
• S3 or S3-compatible storage.
• Backblaze B2.

Old backups are thinned out by themselves. Test bringing it back really restores the newest backup into a temporary place and checks it, so it needs free disk space about the size of your library.

Restoring onto a new server

1. Install Mediarr as usual with Docker Compose, but do not create an account.

2. Stop the server and worker, leaving the database running:

   docker compose stop server worker

3. Bring the backup back. For a folder, use /backup as the repository after setting BACKUP_PATH in .env:

   docker compose run --rm --no-deps -e RESTIC_REPOSITORY=/backup -e RESTIC_PASSWORD=your-backup-password server restore-backup

   For S3, use s3:https://your-endpoint/your-bucket as the repository and also pass AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID and AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY.

4. Start everything again:

   docker compose up -d

Thumbnails are not part of a backup, and are made again by themselves.