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Disaster Recovery

Disaster recovery (DR) is about getting back online fast. Whether your server crashed, got hacked, or a bad deployment broke everything — rsync-based backups let you restore your services in minutes, not hours.

Recovery Scenarios​

ScenarioWhat FailedRecovery Method
Server crashHardware/OS failureRestore files + DB to new server
Bad deploymentCode broke the siteRestore from last known-good backup
Security breachSite hacked/malwareRestore from pre-compromise backup
Accidental deletionFiles/DB deleted by mistakeRestore specific files from snapshot
Data center failureEntire facility downFailover to standby or rebuild from offsite

Restoring from Backups​

Restore Full Site (Files + Database)​

# Step 1: Restore files from backup
rsync -av /backup/2024-01-15/files/ /var/www/html/

# Step 2: Restore database
gunzip < /backup/2024-01-15/databases.sql.gz | mysql -u root -p

# Step 3: Fix permissions
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html

# Step 4: Restart web server
sudo systemctl restart nginx # or apache2, openlitespeed, etc.

Restore from Incremental Snapshot​

With --link-dest backups, every snapshot is a complete copy:

# List available snapshots
ls -la /backup/
# 2024-01-13/
# 2024-01-14/
# 2024-01-15/
# latest -> 2024-01-15

# Restore from any date
rsync -av /backup/2024-01-14/files/ /var/www/html/

Restore Specific Files Only​

# Restore a single config file
cp /backup/latest/files/wp-config.php /var/www/html/

# Restore an entire directory
rsync -av /backup/latest/files/wp-content/plugins/ /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/

# Restore from a specific date
rsync -av /backup/2024-01-10/files/wp-content/uploads/2024/ \
 /var/www/html/wp-content/uploads/2024/

Restoring to a New Server​

When the original server is unrecoverable:

# On the new server:

# Step 1: Install prerequisites
sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y nginx mariadb-server php-fpm rsync

# Step 2: Pull backup from remote storage
rsync -avzP user@backup-server:/backups/latest/ /restore/

# Step 3: Restore files
rsync -av /restore/files/ /var/www/html/

# Step 4: Restore database
gunzip < /restore/databases.sql.gz | mysql -u root -p

# Step 5: Update DNS to point to new server IP
echo "Update DNS A record to: $(curl -s ifconfig.me)"

Hot Standby Server​

Keep a secondary server permanently synced and ready to take over:

# Hourly sync to standby (via cron)
0 * * * * rsync -avz --delete \
 /var/www/html/ standby@dr-server:/var/www/html/

# Hourly database sync
0 * * * * mysqldump --defaults-file=/root/.my.cnf \
 --single-transaction --all-databases | \
 ssh standby@dr-server "mysql"

Failover Process​

  1. Detect primary server failure
  2. Verify standby is current
  3. Update DNS to point to standby IP
  4. Monitor until primary is rebuilt

Automated Recovery Script​

#!/bin/bash
# disaster-recovery.sh — Restore a server from backup
set -euo pipefail

BACKUP_SOURCE="user@backup-server:/backups/latest"
WEB_ROOT="/var/www/html"
LOG="/var/log/disaster-recovery.log"

echo "=== DR started: $(date) ===" | tee -a "$LOG"

# Restore files
echo "Restoring files..." | tee -a "$LOG"
rsync -avz --stats "$BACKUP_SOURCE/files/" "$WEB_ROOT/" >> "$LOG" 2>&1

# Restore database
echo "Restoring database..." | tee -a "$LOG"
ssh user@backup-server "cat /backups/latest/databases.sql.gz" | \
 gunzip | mysql -u root >> "$LOG" 2>&1

# Fix permissions
echo "Fixing permissions..." | tee -a "$LOG"
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data "$WEB_ROOT"
sudo find "$WEB_ROOT" -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;
sudo find "$WEB_ROOT" -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;

# Restart services
sudo systemctl restart nginx php*-fpm mariadb

echo "=== DR complete: $(date) ===" | tee -a "$LOG"
echo " Site should be live. Verify at: https://your-domain.com"

DR Drills (Testing Your Recovery)​

warning

A recovery plan you've never tested is not a plan — it's a wish.

Monthly Restore Test​

# Restore to a staging server
rsync -av /backup/latest/files/ /var/www/staging/
gunzip < /backup/latest/databases.sql.gz | mysql staging_db

# Verify the restored site works
curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" http://staging.example.com
# Should return 200

DR Checklist​

  • Can you locate your most recent backup?
  • Do you know which server/path holds offsite copies?
  • Can you restore both files and database?
  • Do you have SSH access to backup storage?
  • Have you tested a full restore in the last 30 days?
  • Is your recovery time acceptable for your SLA?

Common Pitfalls​

PitfallConsequencePrevention
Restoring without fixing permissionsSite errors (403, 500)chown and chmod after restore
Restoring files but forgetting databaseSite looks broken, missing contentAlways restore both
Restoring a compromised backupMalware comes backIdentify compromise date, restore from before it
No offsite backupServer room fire = total lossAlways keep 1+ offsite copy
Never testing recoveryDiscover backup is incomplete during crisisMonthly DR drills
DNS propagation delayUsers still hitting old serverUse low TTL on DNS records

Quick Reference​

# Restore files from latest backup
rsync -av /backup/latest/files/ /var/www/html/

# Restore database
gunzip < /backup/latest/databases.sql.gz | mysql -u root -p

# Restore from specific date
rsync -av /backup/2024-01-14/files/ /var/www/html/

# Restore from remote backup
rsync -avzP user@backup:/backups/latest/files/ /var/www/html/

# Fix permissions after restore
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html

What's Next​