kubernetes-cloud-mysql-backup

kubernetes-cloud-mysql-backup is a container image based on Alpine Linux. This container is designed to run in Kubernetes as a cronjob to perform automatic backups of MySQL databases to Amazon S3 or Google Cloud Storage. It was created to meet my requirements for regular and automatic database backups. Having started with a relatively basic feature set, it is gradually growing to add more and more features.

Currently, kubernetes-cloud-mysql-backup supports the backing up of MySQL Databases. It can perform backups of multiple MySQL databases from a single database host. When triggered, a full database dump is performed using the mysqldump command for each configured database. The backup(s) are then uploaded to an Amazon S3 Bucket or a Google Cloud Storage Bucket. kubernetes-cloud-mysql-backup features Slack Integration, and can post messages into a channel detailing if the backup(s) were successful or not.

Over time, kubernetes-cloud-mysql-backup will be updated to support more features and functionality.

All changes are captured in the changelog, which adheres to Semantic Versioning.

Environment Variables

The below table lists all of the Environment Variables that are configurable for kubernetes-cloud-mysql-backup.

Environment Variable	Purpose
BACKUP_CREATE_DATABASE_STATEMENT	(Optional - default false) Adds the CREATE DATABASE and USE statements to the MySQL backup by explicitly specifying the --databases flag (see here).
BACKUP_ADDITIONAL_PARAMS	(Optional) Additional parameters to add to the mysqldump command.
BACKUP_PROVIDER	(Optional) The backend to use for storing the MySQL backups. Supported options are aws (default) or gcp
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID	(Required for AWS Backend) AWS IAM Access Key ID.
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY	(Required for AWS Backend) AWS IAM Secret Access Key. Should have very limited IAM permissions (see below for example) and should be configured using a Secret in Kubernetes.
AWS_DEFAULT_REGION	(Required for AWS Backend) Region of the S3 Bucket (e.g. eu-west-2).
AWS_BUCKET_NAME	(Required for AWS Backend) The name of the S3 bucket.
AWS_BUCKET_BACKUP_PATH	(Required for AWS Backend) Path the backup file should be saved to in S3. E.g. /database/myblog/backups. Do not put a trailing / or specify the filename.
AWS_S3_ENDPOINT	(Optional) The S3-compatible storage endpoint (for MinIO/other cloud storage) bucket.
GCP_GCLOUD_AUTH	(Required for GCP Backend) Base64 encoded service account key exported as JSON. Example of how to generate: base64 ~/service-key.json
GCP_BUCKET_NAME	(Required for GCP Backend) The name of GCP GCS bucket.
GCP_BUCKET_BACKUP_PATH	(Required for GCP Backend) Path the backup file should be saved to in GCS. E.g. /database/myblog/backups. Do not put a trailing / or specify the filename.
TARGET_DATABASE_HOST	(Required) Hostname or IP address of the MySQL Host.
TARGET_DATABASE_PORT	(Optional) Port MySQL is listening on (Default: 3306).
TARGET_DATABASE_NAMES	(Required unless TARGET_ALL_DATABASES is true) Name of the databases to dump. This should be comma seperated (e.g. database1,database2).
TARGET_ALL_DATABASES	(Optional - default false) Set to true to ignore TARGET_DATABASE_NAMES and dump all non-system databases.
TARGET_DATABASE_USER	(Required) Username to authenticate to the database with.
TARGET_DATABASE_PASSWORD	(Required) Password to authenticate to the database with. Should be configured using a Secret in Kubernetes.
BACKUP_TIMESTAMP	(Optional) Date string to append to the backup filename (date format). Leave unset if using S3 Versioning and date stamp is not required.
BACKUP_COMPRESS	(Optional) (true/false) Enable or disable gzip backup compression - (Default False).
BACKUP_COMPRESS_LEVEL	(Optional - default 9) Set the gzip level used for compression.
AGE_PUBLIC_KEY	(Optional) Public key used to encrypt backup with FiloSottile/age. Leave blank to disable backup encryption.
SLACK_ENABLED	(Optional) (true/false) Enable or disable the Slack Integration (Default False).
SLACK_USERNAME	(Optional) (true/false) Username to use for the Slack Integration (Default: kubernetes-cloud-mysql-backup).
SLACK_CHANNEL	(Required if Slack enabled) Slack Channel the WebHook is configured for.
SLACK_PROXY	(Optional) Proxy URL if Slack is behind proxy.
SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL	(Required if Slack enabled) What is the Slack WebHook URL to post to? Should be configured using a Secret in Kubernetes.

Slack Integration

kubernetes-cloud-mysql-backup supports posting into Slack after each backup job completes. The message posted into the Slack Channel varies as detailed below:

• If the backup job is SUCCESSFUL: A generic message will be posted into the Slack Channel detailing that all database backups successfully completed.
• If the backup job is UNSUCCESSFUL: A message will be posted into the Slack Channel with a detailed error message for each database that failed.

In order to configure kubernetes-cloud-mysql-backup to post messages into Slack, you need to create an Incoming WebHook. Once generated, you can configure kubernetes-cloud-mysql-backup using the environment variables detailed above.

S3 Backend Configuration

The below subheadings detail how to configure kubernetes-cloud-mysql-backup to backup to an Amazon S3 backend.

S3 - Configuring the S3 Bucket & AWS IAM User

By default, kubernetes-cloud-mysql-backup performs a backup to the same path, with the same filename each time it runs. It therefore assumes that you have Versioning enabled on your S3 Bucket. A typical setup would involve S3 Versioning, with a Lifecycle Policy.

If a timestamp is required on the backup file name, the BACKUP_TIMESTAMP Environment Variable can be set.

An IAM User should be created, with API Credentials. An example Policy to attach to the IAM User (for a minimal permissions set) is as follows:

{
    "Version": "2012-10-17",
    "Statement": [
        {
            "Sid": "VisualEditor0",
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Action": "s3:ListBucket",
            "Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::<BUCKET NAME>"
        },
        {
            "Sid": "VisualEditor1",
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Action": [
                "s3:PutObject"
            ],
            "Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::<BUCKET NAME>/*"
        }
    ]
}

S3 - Example Kubernetes Cronjob

An example of how to schedule this container in Kubernetes as a cronjob is below. This would configure a database backup to run each day at 01:00am. The AWS Secret Access Key, Target Database Password and Slack Webhook URL are stored in secrets.

apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: my-database-backup
type: Opaque
data:
  aws_secret_access_key: <AWS Secret Access Key>
  database_password: <Your Database Password>
  slack_webhook_url: <Your Slack WebHook URL>
---
apiVersion: batch/v1beta1
kind: CronJob
metadata:
  name: my-database-backup
spec:
  schedule: "0 01 * * *"
  jobTemplate:
    spec:
      template:
        spec:
          containers:
          - name: my-database-backup
            image: ghcr.io/benjamin-maynard/kubernetes-cloud-mysql-backup:v2.6.0
            imagePullPolicy: Always
            env:
              - name: AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID
                value: "<Your Access Key>"
              - name: AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY
                valueFrom:
                   secretKeyRef:
                     name: my-database-backup
                     key: aws_secret_access_key
              - name: AWS_DEFAULT_REGION
                value: "<Your S3 Bucket Region>"
              - name: AWS_BUCKET_NAME
                value: "<Your S3 Bucket Name>"
              - name: AWS_BUCKET_BACKUP_PATH
                value: "<Your S3 Bucket Backup Path>"
              - name: TARGET_DATABASE_HOST
                value: "<Your Target Database Host>"
              - name: TARGET_DATABASE_PORT
                value: "<Your Target Database Port>"
              - name: TARGET_DATABASE_NAMES
                value: "<Your Target Database Name(s)>"
              - name: TARGET_DATABASE_USER
                value: "<Your Target Database Username>"
              - name: TARGET_DATABASE_PASSWORD
                valueFrom:
                   secretKeyRef:
                     name: my-database-backup
                     key: database_password
              - name: BACKUP_TIMESTAMP
                value: "_%Y_%m_%d"
              - name: SLACK_ENABLED
                value: "<true/false>"
              - name: SLACK_CHANNEL
                value: "#chatops"
              - name: SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL
                valueFrom:
                   secretKeyRef:
                     name: my-database-backup
                     key: slack_webhook_url
          restartPolicy: Never

GCS Backend Configuration

The below subheadings detail how to configure kubernetes-cloud-mysql-backup to backup to a Google GCS backend.

GCS - Configuring the Service Account

By default, kubernetes-cloud-mysql-backup performs a backup to the same path, with the same filename each time it runs. It therefore assumes that you have Object Versioning enabled on your GCS Bucket. A typical setup would involve GCS Object Versioning, with Object Lifecycle Management configured.

If a timestamp is required on the backup file name, the BACKUP_TIMESTAMP Environment Variable can be set.

In order to backup to a GCS Bucket, you must create a Service Account in Google Cloud Platform that contains the necessary permissions to write to the destination bucket (for example the Storage Object Creator role).

Once created, you must create a key for the Service Account in JSON format. This key should then be base64 encoded and set in the GCP_GCLOUD_AUTH environment variable. For example, to encode service_account.json you would use the command base64 ~/service-key.json in your terminal and set the output as the GCP_GCLOUD_AUTH environment variable.

GCS - Example Kubernetes Cronjob

An example of how to schedule this container in Kubernetes as a cronjob is below. This would configure a database backup to run each day at 01:00am. The GCP Service Account Key, Target Database Password and Slack Webhook URL are stored in secrets.

apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: my-database-backup
type: Opaque
data:
  gcp_gcloud_auth: <Base64 encoded Service Account Key>
  database_password: <Your Database Password>
  slack_webhook_url: <Your Slack WebHook URL>
---
apiVersion: batch/v1beta1
kind: CronJob
metadata:
  name: my-database-backup
spec:
  schedule: "0 01 * * *"
  jobTemplate:
    spec:
      template:
        spec:
          containers:
          - name: my-database-backup
            image: ghcr.io/benjamin-maynard/kubernetes-cloud-mysql-backup:v2.6.0
            imagePullPolicy: Always
            env:
              - name: GCP_GCLOUD_AUTH
                valueFrom:
                   secretKeyRef:
                     name: my-database-backup
                     key: gcp_gcloud_auth
              - name: BACKUP_PROVIDER
                value: "gcp"
              - name: GCP_BUCKET_NAME
                value: "<Your GCS Bucket Name>"                
              - name: GCP_BUCKET_BACKUP_PATH
                value: "<Your GCS Bucket Backup Path>"
              - name: TARGET_DATABASE_HOST
                value: "<Your Target Database Host>"
              - name: TARGET_DATABASE_PORT
                value: "<Your Target Database Port>"
              - name: TARGET_DATABASE_NAMES
                value: "<Your Target Database Name(s)>"
              - name: TARGET_DATABASE_USER
                value: "<Your Target Database Username>"
              - name: TARGET_DATABASE_PASSWORD
                valueFrom:
                   secretKeyRef:
                     name: my-database-backup
                     key: database_password
              - name: BACKUP_TIMESTAMP
                value: "_%Y_%m_%d"
              - name: SLACK_ENABLED
                value: "<true/false>"
              - name: SLACK_CHANNEL
                value: "#chatops"
              - name: SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL
                valueFrom:
                   secretKeyRef:
                     name: my-database-backup
                     key: slack_webhook_url
          restartPolicy: Never