Automating periodic backup of Kubernetes cluster with Ark schedules

Question

Pulumi · Accepted Answer

Velero, formerly known as Ark, is an open-source tool designed to back up and restore Kubernetes cluster resources and persistent volumes. It can be used to help you safely backup and restore, perform disaster recovery, and migrate Kubernetes cluster resources and persistent volumes.

To automate periodic backups of a Kubernetes cluster using Velero schedules, you will need to:

1. Install Velero in your Kubernetes cluster.
2. Set up a cloud storage bucket where the backups will be stored.
3. Create a backup schedule using Velero.

Below is a Pulumi program in TypeScript that sets up a Velero schedule for periodic backups of a Kubernetes cluster. Before you run this code, it is assumed that you have Velero installed in your cluster and a storage location that Velero can use to store the backups.

The following example demonstrates how to create a Velero schedule using the Pulumi Kubernetes provider. This schedule will create daily backups of your entire Kubernetes cluster with the label selector `backup=true`.

```typescript
import * as k8s from "@pulumi/kubernetes";

const veleroNamespace = "velero"; // Velero namespace may vary based on your setup

// Create a Velero schedule for daily backups at midnight.
const dailyBackupSchedule = new k8s.apiextensions.CustomResource("daily-backup-schedule", {
    apiVersion: "velero.io/v1",
    kind: "Schedule",
    metadata: { 
        namespace: veleroNamespace,
        name: "daily-backup",
        labels: {
            "backup": "true"
        }
    },
    spec: {
        schedule: "0 0 * * *", // This follows cron job syntax, 0 0 * * * is midnight daily
        template: { // Define what the backup should contain
            includedNamespaces: ["*"], // Backup all namespaces
            // Optional: Exclude specific resources
            // excludedResources: ["nodes", "events"],
            // Optional: Include specific label selector
            // labelSelector: {
            //     matchLabels: {
            //         "backup": "true"
            //     }
            // },
            snapshotVolumes: true, // Backup persistent volumes if you have any
            ttl: "720h", // Time to live for this backup. After this time, the backup is eligible for garbage collection.
        },
    },
}, { dependsOn: [/* Insert dependencies here, like the Velero installation */]});

// Export the name of the schedule
export const scheduleName = dailyBackupSchedule.metadata.name;
```

This program sets up a custom resource for Velero, specifying the desired backup schedule with a cron expression (in this case, `0 0 * * *` to run the job daily at midnight). The `includedNamespaces: ["*"]` line ensures that all namespaces will be backed up. The `snapshotVolumes: true` flag tells Velero to also backup the persistent volumes associated with the workloads.

Make sure to replace the `dependsOn` section with the actual dependencies required for your setup, such as the cloud provider or the specific storage configuration.

You should also ensure that the storage location for Velero has been properly set up beforehand, and the Kubernetes cluster has the necessary permissions to access it.

Once this program is run with Pulumi, it will create a new schedule in the specified Velero namespace, which Velero will use to trigger backups according to the cron schedule provided.

**Remember to carefully review and test this program in a non-production environment before using it in your production Kubernetes clusters.**