InterWorx Remote SFTP Backups with Rotation

Introduction

Far too often, we forget about backups until we need them, like in the case of a drive failure or the accidental deletion of a file or database. Taking frequent backups is a good policy to follow. Whether you choose to use one of your servers, an online backup service that provides SFTP access, or another method, having a cost-effective and reliable backup provides peace of mind.

This article talks about remote backups on InterWorx, the pros and cons of different methods, and the custom wrapper script to manage those remote backups on an SFTP server, and will provide a custom-coded solution to solving the backup rotation issue using scripts.

What is SFTP?

The Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP), sometimes referred to as SSH File Transfer Protocol, is both a protocol (defined standard of communication over a specific port) and the name of the Linux file transfer tool that supports the protocol.

SFTP allows for sending files over an encrypted SSH transport included in the SSH server service as part of the core abilities on a Linux system. It is widely used and supported by many other operating system varieties such as Microsoft Windows Server edition for the SFTP server portion.

Most modern file transfer tools support SFTP, such as FileZilla and WinSCP, amongst many others. In addition to most recent mid-range and high-end home internet routers that have a USB connection allow attaching an external USB drive for SFTP storage. Most modern routers run some variation of Linux for the core operating system regardless of the web interface.

In the early days of the internet, security was less of a concern, and File Transfer Protocol (FTP) was the standard for efficient file transfers over the internet. As more businesses and consumers began having an internet presence, adding security features became a more relevant and pressing concern.

While later versions of the FTP extensions incorporated Explicit FTP (FTPS), not all servers or clients support it. FTPS uses the non-standard port 990, while the standard port used for SFTP is port 21. This port is the same one that is used by the SSH service on most servers. 

InterWorx has two SFTP ports: one for the default SSH service and another served by the ProFTP daemon on port 24. The distinction between the two is that the ProFTP daemon via the mod_SFTP module allows the SFTP service on port 24 to manage (add/delete) the SFTP users via the SiteWorx control panel. 

A cPanel server prevents you from adding additional SFTP users to a cPanel account. On InterWorx, a new FTP user in your SiteWorx FTP account will automatically work as an SFTP user.

Prerequisites

This tutorial will require the following prerequisites:

• Interworx server
• SFTP server credentials
• Basic knowledge of bash scripts, variables, SSH, and troubleshooting

Pros and Cons of Available Backups for InterWorx

By default, InterWorx has a few different backup solutions currently available.

Each has its pros and cons.

Wrapper Scripts

A wrapper script is a script where all the command-line options are defined for a particular program when run. In this case, it calls a script to mount and unmount the remote SFTP server as a local directory, run the backups, and process the backup retention.

Use a wrapper script to rotate backups created from the built-in NodeWorx CLI tool /home/interworx/bin/backup.pex and an associated cron. An example cron will be provided later in the article.

Global Backups

Global backups for all SiteWorx accounts can be configured using the NodeWorx CLI tool /home/interworx/bin/backup.pex directly and scheduled via a cron.

SiteWorx Backups

Account backups can be scheduled within each SiteWorx account.

NodeWorx Backup Plugin

The new NodeWorx Backup plugin can be enabled via NodeWorx > Plugins and selecting Siteworx-Backup-Cron.

New Backup Method Using SFTP

To utilize the remote SFTP server backup wrapper, we have two software requirements:

• Expect: This tool is handy for scripting. It is most commonly used when you need to respond to a question from a program with a script. In this case, it is used to respond to the login request for the SFTP server with the password.
• SSHFS (SSH File System): This tool uses FUSE to mount the remote SFTP server to the local file system to treat the backups as if they are on a local drive.

Implementing Backups

Installation

Verify whether the Expect tool is pre-installed on your InterWorx server and then install SSHFS.

On any Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) CentOS-based server that InterWorx runs on, we can use either yum or rpm to verify the packages are installed.
To determine whether the Expect package is on the server, run the rpm command with the package named expect. The output below indicates the Expect package is not installed on the server.

$ rpm -q expect 
package expect is not installed

Run the same rpm command as before, but use fuse-sshfs instead of expect. Per the output, SSHFS is not installed on the server either.

$ rpm -q fuse-sshfs 
package fuse-sshfs is not installed

You should see something similar to the following but most likely with different version numbers if both packages are installed. The versions won’t matter in this case.

$ rpm -q expect
expect-5.45-14.el7_1.x86_64

$ rpm -q fuse-sshfs
fuse-sshfs-2.10-1.el7.x86_64

Most likely, you will need to install at least SSHFS. But you’ll likely want to try to install both packages mentioned. This will also install some additional packages for sshfs.

$ yum install fuse-sshfs expect

When installing SSFHS, you should see something similar to the output below. As long as it’s not trying to remove any packages, generally, it is safe to proceed with the installation.

Application

After Expect and SSHFS are installed, create the file /root/backup_mount_sshfs.sh with the following content.

#!/usr/bin/expect
# If you need to debug this login change the above to end with expect -d
# Also worth mentioning if you add -d for debugging it WILL log the credentials. So please don't leave it enabled.
 
set env(LC_ALL) "C"
set env(PS1) "shell:"
 
# Set the login timeout
set timeout 30
 
# Set the login credentials for the remote SFTP server, hostname or IP, port, local and remote directories.
 
set user "$USERNAME"
set password "$PASSWORD"
set host "$HOSTNAME"
set port "22"
set local_dir "/backup/"
set remote_dir "backups/"
 
# The is to start a shell process and make sure it has a command prompt
spawn /bin/sh
 
expect "shell:"
 
# Next step is to call sshfs using the information we put above to mount the local "backup" directory. Currently I don't have it validate that but it's easy to add in.
# Also local_dir needs to match in /root/interworx-backup-wrapper.sh as well
 
# Send our login info above using expect and sshfs
 
send -- "sshfs $user@$host:$remote_dir $local_dir -p $port -o reconnect -o ServerAliveInterval=15 -o idmap=none -o nonempty -o StrictHostKeyChecking=No\r"
 
# Check for a password prompt and respond by entering the password
 
expect "password:"
 
send -- "$password\r"
 
# Delay one second for the login to complete and return to the shell prompt
sleep 1
# This checks to make sure we returned to the shell and that the sshfs mount completed basically
expect "shell:"

From here, do the following:

1. Set the $USERNAME, $PASSWORD, and $HOSTNAME values to the SFTP server information.
2. Change the port if it is not port 22.
3. Change remote_dir if applicable. A relative path is expected for the location.

Next, make the script executable.

chmod 700 /root/backup_mount_sshfs.sh

Test the SFTP login and mount process to make sure it is working.

BKDIR=/backup

mountpoint -q $BKDIR || /root/backup_mount_sshfs.sh ; [[ $? -eq 0 ]] && echo -e "\n\nSFTP server login completed."|| echo -e "\n\nSFTP server login failed <<<<<<<<"

The above code indicates both successful and failed login messages. If the output ends with SFTP server login completed, then the login was successful. If it said SFTP server login failed, please see the troubleshooting section.

Verify that the backup directory mounts.

mount|grep $BKDIR

If that looks good, then unmount it.

umount $BKDIR

Create the file /root/interworx-backup-wrapper.sh with the following content.

#!/bin/bash
# InterWorx backup wrapper script
#
# Add to root crontab at preferred time.  Packaged compressed, local backups only at this time.  NFS or something like CBS for remote backups only.
#
# Configurations are required to use this script!
 
# How many Daily copies to keep.
# Daily Backups are currently Needed for this Script
DC=4
# How many Weekly copies to keep. 0 is disabled.
WC=0
# How many Monthly copies to keep. 0 is disabled.
MC=0
# Which Day to run Weekly Backups  (0..6); 0 is Sunday
DAY_WEEKLY="0"
# Which Day to run Monthly Backups  (1..31) 1 or 15 is best
DAY_MONTHLY="1"
 
# Local Backup directory. This is where SSHFS is mounting the remote location to
BKDIR=/backup/
 
#Ensure /backup folder exists before running the script
mkdir -p $BKDIR
 
#Backup Reporting - Pull the current Server Admin Email, replace $ADEMAIL needed.
ADEMAIL="$(nodeworx -u -n --controller Users --action listMasterUser | grep email | awk '{print $2}')"
 
# Just setting the date format here which will look like 20210310
date=`date +'%Y%m%d'`
 
# Create a file stub about this too about the SSHFS mount so people don't get confused
touch $BKDIR/"This is FUSE mounted as needed-See the MOTD"
 
# Set a variable for the full path and name of this script when run. This is used to update the MOTD dynamically below
_self="$(realpath $0)"
 
# Add an MOTD pointing to this script. Check if the MOTD already has something. If not add it in
if [ -f /etc/motd ]; then echo; else touch /etc/motd; fi; if grep -q FUSE /etc/motd; then echo; else echo -e "\nThis server is using a custom FUSE script for Interworx backups that mounts SSHFS from the backup script $_self\n\n" >> /etc/motd ; fi
 
# Mount the remote SFTP directory via # Mount the remote SFTP directory via FUSE using sshfs so we can treat it like a local directory. This requires sshfs be installed via YUM
 
echo "Running login to SFTP server standby"
mountpoint -q $BKDIR || /root/backup_mount_sshfs.sh ; [[ $? -eq 0 ]] && echo -e "\\n\nSFTP server login completed. Starting backup run"|| echo -e "\n\nSFTP server login failed <<<<<<<<"
 
function daily {
    # Ensure Daily Folder Exists
    mkdir -p $BKDIR/daily/
           
    # Check if Daily Backups are Enabled
    if [ $DC -gt "0" ]
    then
        # Ensure Backup Retention is kept
        while [ $(\ls -p $BKDIR/daily/ | grep '^Daily_[0-9]\{8\}/$' | wc -l) -ge $DC ]
            do ionice -c3 rm -rf $BKDIR/daily/Daily$(\ls -p $BKDIR/daily/ | grep 'Daily_[0-9]\{8\}/$' | head -n1 | sed 's/.*_/_/')
        done
         
        # Create New Backup's Folder
        mkdir -p $BKDIR/daily/Daily_$date
        # Create New Backup
        /home/interworx/bin/backup.pex --backup-options all --domains all --output-dir $BKDIR/daily/Daily_$date/ --email $ADEMAIL --filename-format %D > $BKDIR/daily/Daily_$date/backup.log
         
    fi
}
 
function weekly {
    # Ensure Weekly Folder Exists
    mkdir -p $BKDIR/weekly/
       
    # Check if Weekly Backups are Enabled
    if [ $WC -gt "0" ]
    then
        # Check if the current day is a Weekly Backup Day
        if [ $(date '+%u') -eq $DAY_WEEKLY ]
        then
            # Cleanup all old Weekly backups over the set Weekly Count and create weekly snapshot.
            while [ $(\ls -p $BKDIR/weekly/ | grep '^Weekly_[0-9]\{8\}/$' | wc -l) -ge $WC ]
                do ionice -c3 rm -rf $BKDIR/weekly/Weekly$(\ls -p $BKDIR/weekly/ | grep 'Weekly_[0-9]\{8\}/$' | head -n1 | sed 's/.*_/_/')
            done
           
            # Copy Daily backup to the Weekly Folder
            ionice -c3 rsync -aH --delete --link-dest=$BKDIR/daily/Daily_$date/ $BKDIR/daily/Daily_$date/ $BKDIR/weekly/Weekly_$date/
           
        fi
    fi
}
 
function monthly {
    # Ensure Monthly Folder Exists
    mkdir -p $BKDIR/monthly/
       
    # Check if Monthly disabled
    if [ $MC -gt "0" ]
    then
        # Check if the current day is a Monthly Backup Day
        if [ $(date '+%d') -eq $DAY_MONTHLY ]
        then
            # Cleanup all old Monthly backups over the set Monthly Count and create Monthly snapshot.
            while [ $(\ls -p $BKDIR/monthly/ | grep '^Monthly_[0-9]\{8\}/$' | wc -l) -ge $MC ]
                do ionice -c3 rm -rf $BKDIR/monthly/Monthly$(\ls -p $BKDIR/monthly/ | grep 'Monthly_[0-9]\{8\}/$' | head -n1 | sed 's/.*_/_/')
            done
             
            # Copy Daily backup to the Monthly Folder
            ionice -c3 rsync -aH --delete --link-dest=$BKDIR/daily/Daily_$date/ $BKDIR/daily/Daily_$date/ $BKDIR/monthly/Monthly_$date/
           
        fi
    fi
}
 
daily
weekly
monthly
 
# Backups are done by this point or should be. Unmount the remote backup directory
echo "running umount $BKDIR"
umount $BKDIR ; [[ $? -eq 0 ]] || echo "Warning umount $BKDIR failed"
echo "Backup script finished"

Set the daily, weekly, and monthly desired retention values as shown below.

# Daily Backups are currently Needed for this Script
DC=4
# How many Weekly copies to keep. 0 is disabled.
WC=0
# How many Monthly copies to keep. 0 is disabled.
MC=0
# Which Day to run Weekly Backups  (0..6); 0 is Sunday
DAY_WEEKLY="0"
# Which Day to run Monthly Backups  (1..31) 1 or 15 is best
DAY_MONTHLY="1"

Verify your email address is configured correctly to receive backup notifications.

nodeworx -u -n --controller Users --action listMasterUser | grep email | awk '{print $2}'

If not, it will need to be set in NodeWorx, or you can manually configure an email address by modifying the following line.

ADEMAIL="$(nodeworx -u -n --controller Users --action listMasterUser | grep email | awk '{print $2}')"

An example would be backup-notifcations@example.com, as shown below.

ADEMAIL="backup-notifcations@example.com"

Make the backup wrapper script executable by running the chmod command.

chmod 700 /root/interworx-backup-wrapper.sh

Test the backup script. You may want to run this in a screen session as it will take some time to run.

/root/interworx-backup-wrapper.sh

If everything looks good and the backup is completed, set up the desired cron job.

For example, we want the backup to run on Sundays and Wednesdays at 1:00 a.m. server time and output a log with a timestamp.

First, we have to make that directory for the backup logs.

mkdir -p /var/log/backup

The root cron entry will look similar to this.

# Remote backup cron
0 1 * * 0,3 /root/interworx-backup-wrapper.sh > /var/log/backup/backup_$(date +\%F).log 2>&

Troubleshooting

You may run into problems during the backup process. Look through the below tips to help you troubleshoot any errors.

Unable to Log Into the SFTP Server

Things to check:

• Is the SSH port correct?
• Is the SSH port in TCP_OUT in /etc/csf/csf.conf?
• Are you able to use SFTP to log in manually?
• Does the password have a character that needs to be escaped?

The Backups Are Not Running/Working

Things to check:

• Verify that the cron was added as the root user.
• What does the backup log in /var/log/backup/ show? There can be several causes as to why the backups are having issues.

If you are still not sure, please reach out to us in a ticket, and we will be happy to help. 

Conclusion

Having regular backups provides peace of mind in case something happens on your server. There are multiple methods for obtaining backups, but each has its own pros and cons. To learn more about InterWorx and to get started visit our InterWorx product page. We also offer a variety of other managed hosting services, including dedicated server hosting, VPS hosting, and private cloud VMware hosting.