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Enterprise

Backups

NetBox Enterprise integrates with Velero for Kubernetes-native backup and restore. The nbe-operator automatically propagates disaster recovery labels to every managed resource, so Velero can capture the complete deployment state using label selectors.

info

Velero backup integration requires an Enterprise license tier.

Embedded Cluster deployments

For Embedded Cluster (KOTS) deployments, Velero is pre-installed and backup/restore resources are managed automatically. Use the admin console Backup tab instead of the steps below.

Prerequisites​

  • A running NetBox Enterprise Helm deployment
  • Enterprise license
  • S3-compatible object storage (AWS S3, MinIO, etc.) for the backup target
  • velero CLI installed locally (installation guide)

Install Velero​

Install Velero with the node-agent enabled for filesystem-level volume backups. The example below uses the AWS S3 provider — see Velero supported providers for other options.

  1. Create a credentials file for your S3 bucket:
credentials-velero
[default]
aws_access_key_id=<YOUR_ACCESS_KEY>
aws_secret_access_key=<YOUR_SECRET_KEY>
  1. Install Velero into the cluster:
velero install \
  --provider aws \
  --plugins velero/velero-plugin-for-aws:v1.11.1 \
  --bucket <BUCKET_NAME> \
  --secret-file ./credentials-velero \
  --backup-location-config \
    region=<REGION>,s3ForcePathStyle="true",s3Url=<S3_ENDPOINT> \
  --use-node-agent

For MinIO or other S3-compatible stores, set s3Url to the endpoint (e.g., https://minio.example.com). For AWS S3, omit s3Url and s3ForcePathStyle.

  1. Verify Velero is ready:
velero version
kubectl -n velero get pods

How Label Selection Works​

The nbe-operator labels every Kubernetes resource it manages. Velero uses these labels with OR semantics to select what to back up:

LabelWhat it covers
app.kubernetes.io/managed-by: netbox-operatorOperator-managed resources (deployments, services, PVCs, jobs)
netboxlabs.com/managed-by: netbox-operatorSub-operator CRs, chart template resources (Redis, PGO, ingress)
app.kubernetes.io/part-of: netbox-enterpriseHelm subchart resources whose charts hardcode managed-by: Helm
postgres-operator.crunchydata.com/control-plane: pgoCrunchyData PGO operator control plane

Pods with persistent volumes are annotated with backup.velero.io/backup-volumes so Velero knows which volumes to capture via filesystem backup.

Create Backup Resources​

Apply the following resources to your cluster. Replace netbox with your namespace if different.

Volume policy filter​

This ConfigMap tells Velero to skip ephemeral volume types that contain no persistent data:

apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: netbox-enterprise-backup-resource-filters
  namespace: velero
  labels:
    velero.io/resource-filter-policies: "true"
data:
  backup-resource-filters.yaml: |
    version: v1
    volumePolicies:
      - conditions:
          volumeTypes:
            - emptyDir
            - configmap
        action:
          type: skip

Create a Backup​

On-demand backup​

velero backup create netbox-backup \
  --or-selector "app.kubernetes.io/managed-by=netbox-operator or netboxlabs.com/managed-by=netbox-operator or app.kubernetes.io/part-of=netbox-enterprise or postgres-operator.crunchydata.com/control-plane=pgo" \
  --include-namespaces netbox,velero \
  --include-cluster-resources=true \
  --default-volumes-to-fs-backup \
  --wait

If you set up a schedule (below), you can also trigger an immediate backup from it:

velero backup create --from-schedule netbox-enterprise-daily --wait

Scheduled backup​

Create a Schedule to run backups automatically. This example runs daily at 02:00 UTC with 30-day retention:

apiVersion: velero.io/v1
kind: Schedule
metadata:
  name: netbox-enterprise-daily
  namespace: velero
spec:
  schedule: "0 2 * * *"
  template:
    includeClusterResources: true
    includedNamespaces:
      - netbox
      - velero
    defaultVolumesToFsBackup: true
    ttl: 720h
    resourcePolicy:
      kind: ConfigMap
      name: netbox-enterprise-backup-resource-filters
    orLabelSelectors:
      - matchLabels:
          app.kubernetes.io/managed-by: netbox-operator
      - matchLabels:
          netboxlabs.com/managed-by: netbox-operator
      - matchLabels:
          app.kubernetes.io/part-of: netbox-enterprise
      - matchLabels:
          postgres-operator.crunchydata.com/control-plane: pgo

Check backup status​

velero backup get
velero backup describe netbox-backup --details
velero backup logs netbox-backup

Restore from Backup​

  1. Enable maintenance mode to stop the application:
kubectl -n netbox patch netboxenterprise netbox \
  --type merge \
  -p '{"spec":{"maintenanceMode":true}}'
  1. Restore the backup:
velero restore create --from-backup netbox-backup --wait
  1. Check restore status:
velero restore describe netbox-backup --details
  1. Disable maintenance mode to resume:
kubectl -n netbox patch netboxenterprise netbox \
  --type merge \
  -p '{"spec":{"maintenanceMode":false}}'

Data Preservation​

When a NetBoxEnterprise resource is deleted, PersistentVolumeClaims are preserved (not deleted) to prevent accidental data loss. This allows re-creating the cluster and reattaching existing data volumes.

Next Steps​

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