Backups¶

The database, every night¶

PNLCS backs its database up by itself. The scheduled task pnlcs:db-backup runs every day at 04:30 (through the cron runner, or the scheduler inside the Docker container), writes a gzip file and keeps the most recent ones.


Where	`storage/app/backups/db/pnlcs-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS.sql.gz`
How many are kept	7, setting `db_backup_retention`
On or off	setting `db_backup_enabled` (on unless set to `0`)

The dump uses mysqldump when the server has it, and dumps over the PHP connection when it is missing or fails.

Run one by hand¶

From the PNLCS directory, as the web server user:

php artisan pnlcs:db-backup                                   # the defaults above
php artisan pnlcs:db-backup --dir=/mnt/backups --retention=30  # another place, keep 30
php artisan pnlcs:db-backup --php                             # force the PHP dump

Change the settings¶

db_backup_retention and db_backup_enabled have no screen yet. Set them with the API (setconfigurationvalue):

curl -X POST https://example.com/api/v1/setconfigurationvalue \
  -H "X-API-Key: $PNLCS_IDENTIFIER" \
  -H "X-API-Secret: $PNLCS_SECRET" \
  --data-urlencode "setting=db_backup_retention" \
  --data-urlencode "value=30"

Restore¶

gunzip < storage/app/backups/db/pnlcs-20260101-043000.sql.gz | mysql -u pnlcs -p pnlcs

Restore into an empty database, or one you are ready to overwrite: the dump replaces the tables it contains.

What the nightly backup does not cover¶

The task covers the database only. Two more things belong in your server-level backup:

storage/: ticket attachments, uploaded logos and branding, generated invoice PDFs.
.env: it holds APP_KEY, which encrypts stored secrets such as gateway and registrar keys. A database restored without the matching APP_KEY cannot read them.

Copy the .sql.gz files off the server too, or point --dir at mounted or off-site storage: a backup on the same disk goes when the disk goes.