Table of contents
This should also work migrating from another OctoFarm instance to FarmPi or the other way around.
Creating a backup
For creating a backup, we are going to use the MongoDump tool. This tool is installed by default on your FarmPi.
To create a backup you first need to login to your Raspberry Pi using SSH. You’ll find the default credentials in the FAQ
Once logged in, you should stop OctoFarm. To do this, enter the OctoFarm and stop OctoFarm. Execute these commands:
cd ~/OctoFarm
npm run stop:delete
The table presented should only contain its headers, no instance of OctoFarm should be shown in the table.
We now can create the database dump and copy the images for your history. To create the backup, execute these commands:
mongodump --archive=/home/pi/octofarm.archive
tar -czvf /home/pi/images.tar.gz /home/pi/OctoFarm/images
This command creates an export of all the databases into the octofarm.archive file. This file contains all the data required to restore the database. Inside the file images.tar.gz any images that are created for your history.
Transter to your local machine
For transferring the backup files, we are going to use scp (Secure CoPy). This tool allows us to transfer files from and to another linux machine, like the FarmPi. There are also other tools available like WinSCP (Windows, Free) or Cyberduck (Windows / MacOS, Free)
I am assuming you have followed the directions shown in the SSH documentation. If you have done that correctly, these commands should work.
From a shell (Powershell, Terminal, CMD), enter a folder (using cd) where you want to store the file. For example your Desktop. If this is the target
scp pi@farmpi.local:octofarm.archive .
scp pi@farmpi.local:images.tar.gz .
You could replace farmpi.local in the command above to the IP of your FarmPi or the source machine.
If you get an message asking to confirm the host key and continue connecting, type yes and press enter.
You should enter your password in both commands. Wait until the transfer is complete
Transfer to the target
Make sure the target FarmPi machine is accessable. This would probable be by reflasing the image and booting it up, but can be different on your environment.
You’ll need to make sure that the installation wizard for OctoFarm shows in your browser.
To transfer the file back to your new image, execute the following command.
scp octofarm.archive pi@farmpi.local:
scp images.tar.gz pi@farmpi.local:
You could replace farmpi.local in the command above to the IP of your FarmPi or the source machine.
If you get an message asking to confirm the host key and continue connecting, type yes and press enter.
You should now enter your password. The transfer will now start.
If you have used the same hostname, you will most likely recieve an error message stating that the host key is changed. This is expected, there is no man in the middle attack or anything. The host keys on the FarmPi image are generated at first boot and therefore unique on each image.
If this happens for you, open the known_hosts file that is shown in the message in your favorite editor (Notepad++, vim, or any other tool) and remove the line thats shown in your error message, save the file and try again.
Restoring a backup
For restoring a backup, we are going to use the MongoRestore tool.
SSH into your new FarmPi image, using the same method when you created your backup before and stop OctoFarm again.
After stopping OctoFarm, you can restore your backup. To restore your backup, run the following commands:
mongorestore --archive=/home/pi/octofarm.archive
tar -czvf /home/pi/images.tar.gz /home/pi/OctoFarm/images
Depending on the size of your database and images, this can take a while.
Once the import is completed, you should make sure you are inside the OctoFarm folder and start OctoFarm again using these commands:
cd ~/OctoFarm/
npm run start
Optionally you could delete your backups from your local machine and Raspberry Pi. For the Raspberry Pi, run the following commands:
rm -f /home/pi/octofarm.archive
rm -f /home/pi/images.tar.gz