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Back up Data to S3-Compatible Storage Using BR

This document describes how to back up the data of a TiDB cluster on AWS Kubernetes to the AWS storage.

The backup method described in this document is implemented based on CustomResourceDefinition (CRD) in TiDB Operator. For the underlying implementation, BR is used to get the backup data of the TiDB cluster, and then send the data to the AWS storage. BR stands for Backup & Restore, which is a command-line tool for distributed backup and recovery of the TiDB cluster data.

Usage scenarios

If you have the following backup needs, you can use BR to make an ad-hoc backup or scheduled full backup of the TiDB cluster data to S3-compatible storages.

To back up a large volume of data (more than 1 TB) at a fast speed
To get a direct backup of data as SST files (key-value pairs)

For other backup needs, refer to Backup and Restore Overview to choose an appropriate backup method.

Note

BR is only applicable to TiDB v3.1 or later releases.
Data that is backed up using BR can only be restored to TiDB instead of other databases.

Ad-hoc backup

Ad-hoc backup supports both full backup and incremental backup.

To get an Ad-hoc backup, you need to create a Backup Custom Resource (CR) object to describe the backup details. Then, TiDB Operator performs the specific backup operation based on this Backup object. If an error occurs during the backup process, TiDB Operator does not retry, and you need to handle this error manually.

This document provides an example about how to back up the data of the demo1 TiDB cluster in the test1 Kubernetes namespace to the AWS storage. The following are the detailed steps.

Step 1: Prepare for an ad-hoc backup

Download backup-rbac.yaml, and execute the following command to create the role-based access control (RBAC) resources in the test1 namespace:
```
kubectl apply -f backup-rbac.yaml -n test1
```
Grant permissions to the remote storage.
- If you are using Amazon S3 to backup your cluster, you can grant permissions in three methods. For more information, refer to AWS account permissions.
- If you are using other S3-compatible storage (such as Ceph and MinIO) to backup your cluster, you can grant permissions by using AccessKey and SecretKey.
For a TiDB version earlier than v4.0.8, you also need to complete the following preparation steps. For TiDB v4.0.8 or a later version, skip these preparation steps.
1. Make sure that you have the SELECT and UPDATE privileges on the mysql.tidb table of the backup database so that the Backup CR can adjust the GC time before and after the backup.
2. Create the backup-demo1-tidb-secret secret to store the account and password to access the TiDB cluster:
```
kubectl create secret generic backup-demo1-tidb-secret --from-literal=password=${password} --namespace=test1
```

Step 2: Perform an ad-hoc backup

Depending on which method you choose to grant permissions to the remote storage when preparing for the ad-hoc backup, export your data to the S3-compatible storage by doing one of the following:

Method 1: If you grant permissions by importing AccessKey and SecretKey, create the Backup CR to back up cluster data as described below:

kubectl apply -f backup-aws-s3.yaml

The content of backup-aws-s3.yaml is as follows:

---
apiVersion: pingcap.com/v1alpha1
kind: Backup
metadata:
  name: demo1-backup-s3
  namespace: test1
spec:
  backupType: full
  br:
    cluster: demo1
    clusterNamespace: test1
    # logLevel: info
    # statusAddr: ${status_addr}
    # concurrency: 4
    # rateLimit: 0
    # timeAgo: ${time}
    # checksum: true
    # sendCredToTikv: true
    # options:
    # - --lastbackupts=420134118382108673
  # Only needed for TiDB Operator < v1.1.10 or TiDB < v4.0.8
  from:
    host: ${tidb_host}
    port: ${tidb_port}
    user: ${tidb_user}
    secretName: backup-demo1-tidb-secret
  s3:
    provider: aws
    secretName: s3-secret
    region: us-west-1
    bucket: my-bucket
    prefix: my-folder

Method 2: If you grant permissions by associating IAM with Pod, create the Backup CR to back up cluster data as described below:

kubectl apply -f backup-aws-s3.yaml

The content of backup-aws-s3.yaml is as follows:

---
apiVersion: pingcap.com/v1alpha1
kind: Backup
metadata:
  name: demo1-backup-s3
  namespace: test1
  annotations:
    iam.amazonaws.com/role: arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/user
spec:
  backupType: full
  br:
    cluster: demo1
    sendCredToTikv: false
    clusterNamespace: test1
    # logLevel: info
    # statusAddr: ${status_addr}
    # concurrency: 4
    # rateLimit: 0
    # timeAgo: ${time}
    # checksum: true
    # options:
    # - --lastbackupts=420134118382108673
  # Only needed for TiDB Operator < v1.1.10 or TiDB < v4.0.8
  from:
    host: ${tidb_host}
    port: ${tidb_port}
    user: ${tidb_user}
    secretName: backup-demo1-tidb-secret
  s3:
    provider: aws
    region: us-west-1
    bucket: my-bucket
    prefix: my-folder

Method 3: If you grant permissions by associating IAM with ServiceAccount, create the Backup CR to back up cluster data as described below:

kubectl apply -f backup-aws-s3.yaml

The content of backup-aws-s3.yaml is as follows:

---
apiVersion: pingcap.com/v1alpha1
kind: Backup
metadata:
  name: demo1-backup-s3
  namespace: test1
spec:
  backupType: full
  serviceAccount: tidb-backup-manager
  br:
    cluster: demo1
    sendCredToTikv: false
    clusterNamespace: test1
    # logLevel: info
    # statusAddr: ${status_addr}
    # concurrency: 4
    # rateLimit: 0
    # timeAgo: ${time}
    # checksum: true
    # options:
    # - --lastbackupts=420134118382108673
  # Only needed for TiDB Operator < v1.1.10 or TiDB < v4.0.8
  from:
    host: ${tidb_host}
    port: ${tidb_port}
    user: ${tidb_user}
    secretName: backup-demo1-tidb-secret
  s3:
    provider: aws
    region: us-west-1
    bucket: my-bucket
    prefix: my-folder

When configuring backup-aws-s3.yaml, note the following:

Since TiDB Operator v1.1.6, if you want to back up data incrementally, you only need to specify the last backup timestamp --lastbackupts in spec.br.options. For the limitations of incremental backup, refer to Use BR to Back up and Restore Data.
You can ignore the acl, endpoint, storageClass configuration items of Amazon S3. For more information about S3-compatible storage configuration, refer to S3 storage fields.
Some parameters in .spec.br are optional, such as logLevel and statusAddr. For more information about BR configuration, refer to BR fields.
For v4.0.8 or a later version, BR can automatically adjust tikv_gc_life_time. You do not need to configure spec.tikvGCLifeTime and spec.from fields in the Backup CR.
For more information about the Backup CR fields, refer to Backup CR fields.

After you create the Backup CR, TiDB Operator starts the backup automatically. You can view the backup status by running the following command:

kubectl get bk -n test1 -o wide

Backup CR examples

Back up data of all clusters

---
apiVersion: pingcap.com/v1alpha1
kind: Backup
metadata:
  name: demo1-backup-s3
  namespace: test1
spec:
  backupType: full
  serviceAccount: tidb-backup-manager
  br:
    cluster: demo1
    sendCredToTikv: false
    clusterNamespace: test1
  # Only needed for TiDB Operator < v1.1.10 or TiDB < v4.0.8
  # from:
    # host: ${tidb_host}
    # port: ${tidb_port}
    # user: ${tidb_user}
    # secretName: backup-demo1-tidb-secret
  s3:
    provider: aws
    region: us-west-1
    bucket: my-bucket
    prefix: my-folder

Back up data of a single database

The following example backs up data of the db1 database.

---
apiVersion: pingcap.com/v1alpha1
kind: Backup
metadata:
  name: demo1-backup-s3
  namespace: test1
spec:
  backupType: full
  serviceAccount: tidb-backup-manager
  tableFilter:
  - "db1.*"
  br:
    cluster: demo1
    sendCredToTikv: false
    clusterNamespace: test1
  # Only needed for TiDB Operator < v1.1.10 or TiDB < v4.0.8
  # from:
    # host: ${tidb_host}
    # port: ${tidb_port}
    # user: ${tidb_user}
    # secretName: backup-demo1-tidb-secret
  s3:
    provider: aws
    region: us-west-1
    bucket: my-bucket
    prefix: my-folder

Back up data of a single table

The following example backs up data of the db1.table1 table.

---
apiVersion: pingcap.com/v1alpha1
kind: Backup
metadata:
  name: demo1-backup-s3
  namespace: test1
spec:
  backupType: full
  serviceAccount: tidb-backup-manager
  tableFilter:
  - "db1.table1"
  br:
    cluster: demo1
    sendCredToTikv: false
    clusterNamespace: test1
  # Only needed for TiDB Operator < v1.1.10 or TiDB < v4.0.8
  # from:
    # host: ${tidb_host}
    # port: ${tidb_port}
    # user: ${tidb_user}
    # secretName: backup-demo1-tidb-secret
  s3:
    provider: aws
    region: us-west-1
    bucket: my-bucket
    prefix: my-folder

Back up data of multiple tables using the table filter

The following example backs up data of the db1.table1 table and db1.table2 table.

---
apiVersion: pingcap.com/v1alpha1
kind: Backup
metadata:
  name: demo1-backup-s3
  namespace: test1
spec:
  backupType: full
  serviceAccount: tidb-backup-manager
  tableFilter:
  - "db1.table1"
  - "db1.table2"
  # ...
  br:
    cluster: demo1
    sendCredToTikv: false
    clusterNamespace: test1
  # Only needed for TiDB Operator < v1.1.10 or TiDB < v4.0.8
  # from:
    # host: ${tidb_host}
    # port: ${tidb_port}
    # user: ${tidb_user}
    # secretName: backup-demo1-tidb-secret
  s3:
    provider: aws
    region: us-west-1
    bucket: my-bucket
    prefix: my-folder

Scheduled full backup

You can set a backup policy to perform scheduled backups of the TiDB cluster, and set a backup retention policy to avoid excessive backup items. A scheduled full backup is described by a custom BackupSchedule CR object. A full backup is triggered at each backup time point. Its underlying implementation is the ad-hoc full backup.

Step 1: Prepare for a scheduled full backup

The steps to prepare for a scheduled full backup are the same as that of Prepare for an ad-hoc backup.

Step 2: Perform a scheduled full backup

Depending on which method you choose to grant permissions to the remote storage, perform a scheduled full backup by doing one of the following:

Method 1: If you grant permissions by importing AccessKey and SecretKey, create the BackupSchedule CR, and back up cluster data as described below:

kubectl apply -f backup-scheduler-aws-s3.yaml

The content of backup-scheduler-aws-s3.yaml is as follows:

---
apiVersion: pingcap.com/v1alpha1
kind: BackupSchedule
metadata:
  name: demo1-backup-schedule-s3
  namespace: test1
spec:
  #maxBackups: 5
  #pause: true
  maxReservedTime: "3h"
  schedule: "*/2 * * * *"
  backupTemplate:
    backupType: full
    # Clean outdated backup data based on maxBackups or maxReservedTime. If not configured, the default policy is Retain
    # cleanPolicy: Delete
    br:
      cluster: demo1
      clusterNamespace: test1
      # logLevel: info
      # statusAddr: ${status_addr}
      # concurrency: 4
      # rateLimit: 0
      # timeAgo: ${time}
      # checksum: true
      # sendCredToTikv: true
    # Only needed for TiDB Operator < v1.1.10 or TiDB < v4.0.8
    from:
      host: ${tidb_host}
      port: ${tidb_port}
      user: ${tidb_user}
      secretName: backup-demo1-tidb-secret
    s3:
      provider: aws
      secretName: s3-secret
      region: us-west-1
      bucket: my-bucket
      prefix: my-folder

Method 2: If you grant permissions by associating IAM with the Pod, create the BackupSchedule CR, and back up cluster data as described below:

kubectl apply -f backup-scheduler-aws-s3.yaml

The content of backup-scheduler-aws-s3.yaml is as follows:

---
apiVersion: pingcap.com/v1alpha1
kind: BackupSchedule
metadata:
  name: demo1-backup-schedule-s3
  namespace: test1
  annotations:
    iam.amazonaws.com/role: arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/user
spec:
  #maxBackups: 5
  #pause: true
  maxReservedTime: "3h"
  schedule: "*/2 * * * *"
  backupTemplate:
    backupType: full
    # Clean outdated backup data based on maxBackups or maxReservedTime. If not configured, the default policy is Retain
    # cleanPolicy: Delete
    br:
      cluster: demo1
      sendCredToTikv: false
      clusterNamespace: test1
      # logLevel: info
      # statusAddr: ${status_addr}
      # concurrency: 4
      # rateLimit: 0
      # timeAgo: ${time}
      # checksum: true
    # Only needed for TiDB Operator < v1.1.10 or TiDB < v4.0.8
    from:
      host: ${tidb_host}
      port: ${tidb_port}
      user: ${tidb_user}
      secretName: backup-demo1-tidb-secret
    s3:
      provider: aws
      region: us-west-1
      bucket: my-bucket
      prefix: my-folder

Method 3: If you grant permissions by associating IAM with ServiceAccount, create the BackupSchedule CR, and back up cluster data as described below:

kubectl apply -f backup-scheduler-aws-s3.yaml

The content of backup-scheduler-aws-s3.yaml is as follows:

---
apiVersion: pingcap.com/v1alpha1
kind: BackupSchedule
metadata:
  name: demo1-backup-schedule-s3
  namespace: test1
spec:
  #maxBackups: 5
  #pause: true
  maxReservedTime: "3h"
  schedule: "*/2 * * * *"
  backupTemplate:
    backupType: full
    serviceAccount: tidb-backup-manager
    # Clean outdated backup data based on maxBackups or maxReservedTime. If not configured, the default policy is Retain
    # cleanPolicy: Delete
    br:
      cluster: demo1
      sendCredToTikv: false
      clusterNamespace: test1
      # logLevel: info
      # statusAddr: ${status_addr}
      # concurrency: 4
      # rateLimit: 0
      # timeAgo: ${time}
      # checksum: true
    # Only needed for TiDB Operator < v1.1.10 or TiDB < v4.0.8
    from:
      host: ${tidb_host}
      port: ${tidb_port}
      user: ${tidb_user}
      secretName: backup-demo1-tidb-secret
    s3:
      provider: aws
      region: us-west-1
      bucket: my-bucket
      prefix: my-folder

From the above content in backup-scheduler-aws-s3.yaml, you can see that the backupSchedule configuration consists of two parts. One is the unique configuration of backupSchedule, and the other is backupTemplate.

For the unique configuration of backupSchedule, refer to BackupSchedule CR fields.
backupTemplate specifies the configuration related to the cluster and remote storage, which is the same as the spec configuration of the Backup CR.

After creating the scheduled full backup, use the following command to check the backup status:

kubectl get bks -n test1 -o wide

During cluster recovery, you need to specify the backup path. You can use the following command to check all the backup items. The names of these backups are prefixed with the scheduled snapshot backup name:

kubectl get bk -l tidb.pingcap.com/backup-schedule=demo1-backup-schedule-s3 -n test1

Delete the backup CR

If you no longer need the backup CR, refer to Delete the Backup CR.

Troubleshooting

If you encounter any problem during the backup process, refer to Common Deployment Failures.

Back up Data to S3-Compatible Storage Using BR

Usage scenarios

Ad-hoc backup

Step 1: Prepare for an ad-hoc backup

Step 2: Perform an ad-hoc backup

Backup CR examples

Scheduled full backup

Step 1: Prepare for a scheduled full backup

Step 2: Perform a scheduled full backup

Delete the backup CR

Troubleshooting

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