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How to export gitlab backup in Gitlab Docker container

GitLab provides an integrated feature to export a TAR file containing all data from the current GitLab instance.

How to make a GitLab backup?

In order to run this for a GitLab instance running on docker-compose use

gitlab_backup_docker_compose.sh
docker-compose exec gitlab gitlab-backup create STRATEGY=copy

where gitlab is the container running the gitlab image, e.g. gitlab/gitlab-ce:latest.

In case you are running a docker-based setup without docker-compose, run

gitlab_backup_docker.sh
docker exec my-gitlab-container gitlab-backup create STRATEGY=copy

where my-gitlab-container is the ID or name of the container

Where to find the backups?

By default, gitlab stores the backups in /var/opt/gitlab/backups. In case you need to change this, look for the following line in /etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb:

gitlab.rb
gitlab_rails['backup_path'] = "/var/opt/gitlab/backups"

In my docker-compose configuration, I map out the entire /var/opt/gitlab directory:

docker_compose_volumes.yml
volumes:
    - './data:/var/opt/gitlab'

hence I can find the backups in ./data/backups:

list_gitlab_backups.sh
$ ls data/backups/
1607642274_2020_12_10_13.6.3_gitlab_backup.tar
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