Backup to FTP Remote Server

To store your backups on an FTP remote server, you can configure the backup process to use the --storage ftp option.

This section explains how to set up and configure FTP-based backups.

Configuration Steps

  1. Specify the Storage Type
    Add the --storage ftp flag to your backup command.

  2. Set the Remote Path
    Define the full remote path where backups will be stored using the --path flag or the REMOTE_PATH environment variable.
    Example: --path /home/jkaninda/backups.

  3. Required Environment Variables
    The following environment variables are mandatory for FTP-based backups:

    • FTP_HOST: The hostname or IP address of the FTP server.
    • FTP_PORT: The FTP port (default is 21).
    • FTP_USER: The username for FTP authentication.
    • FTP_PASSWORD: The password for FTP authentication.
    • REMOTE_PATH: The directory on the FTP server where backups will be stored.

Example Configuration

Below is an example docker-compose.yml configuration for backing up to an FTP remote server:

services:
  mysql-bkup:
    # In production, lock your image tag to a specific release version
    # instead of using `latest`. Check https://github.com/jkaninda/mysql-bkup/releases
    # for available releases.
    image: jkaninda/mysql-bkup
    container_name: mysql-bkup
    command: backup --storage ftp -d database
    environment:
      - DB_PORT=3306
      - DB_HOST=mysql
      - DB_NAME=database
      - DB_USERNAME=username
      - DB_PASSWORD=password
      ## FTP Configuration
      - FTP_HOST="hostname"
      - FTP_PORT=21
      - FTP_USER=user
      - FTP_PASSWORD=password
      - REMOTE_PATH=/home/jkaninda/backups

    # Ensure the mysql-bkup container is connected to the same network as your database
    networks:
      - web

networks:
  web:

Key Notes

  • Security: FTP transmits data, including passwords, in plaintext. For better security, consider using SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol) or FTPS (FTP Secure) if supported by your server.
  • Remote Path: Ensure the REMOTE_PATH directory exists on the FTP server and is writable by the specified FTP_USER.