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Velero

The Velero addon installs the backup and restore tool for Kubernetes resources and persistent volumes. It ensures the cluster's resilience in case of data loss or migration between environments.

In the console​

  1. At creation, Addons step, check Velero (disabled by default).
  2. On an existing cluster: Edit > Extensions & Addons, check Velero, then Save.

The cluster detail page shows Velero in the Extensions section when it is active.

Velero is installed in the cluster with the AWS plugin (velero-plugin-for-aws, for S3 storage) already installed. No backup location is configured by default.

Configure backup storage​

Velero needs an object storage location for its backups, for example a Hikube S3 bucket. This location is declared in the Helm Configuration (YAML) — optional field, which appears once the addon is checked. The value is passed to the Velero Helm chart, under the velero key.

velero-override.yaml
velero:
  configuration:
    backupStorageLocation:
      - name: default
        provider: aws
        bucket: velero-backups
        config:
          region: us-east-1
          s3ForcePathStyle: "true"
          s3Url: https://<s3-endpoint>
  credentials:
    secretContents:
      cloud: |
        [default]
        aws_access_key_id=<access-key>
        aws_secret_access_key=<secret-key>
  schedules:
    daily:
      schedule: "0 2 * * *"
      template:
        ttl: 240h

The available options are described in the Velero Helm chart.

warning

The access keys entered in the override are stored in the cluster configuration. Use a bucket user dedicated to Velero, limited to the backup bucket.

Usage in the cluster​

# Backup locations and their state
kubectl get backupstoragelocations -A

# Backups and restores
kubectl get backups -A
kubectl get restores -A

With the velero CLI (configured on the cluster kubeconfig). First tell it the namespace where the addon is installed:

velero client config set namespace=$(kubectl get deploy -A -l app.kubernetes.io/name=velero -o jsonpath='{.items[0].metadata.namespace}')

velero backup create my-backup --include-namespaces production
velero backup describe my-backup
velero restore create --from-backup my-backup

Best practices​

  • Schedule recurring backups (schedules) with an appropriate retention period (ttl).
  • Regularly test a full restore on a staging cluster.
  • Store backups in a bucket separate from your application data.