Backup Manager

A self-hosted web UI for scheduling and managing database backups in Docker environments.

Connect your Docker hosts, discover running databases automatically, and set up scheduled backups - without touching a config file.

Tech stack: Java 21 · Spring Boot 3 · H2 · React + TypeScript · shadcn/ui · Docker

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Features

• 🐳 Docker-native - local socket or SSH tunnel to remote hosts
• 🔍 Auto-discovery - detects PostgreSQL/MySQL/MariaDB in running containers
• 🗓 Flexible scheduling - cron expressions or fixed-delay intervals (1h step)
• 🗂 Retention policy - keep the last N backups, old files deleted automatically
• 💾 Disk space pre-flight - checks free space before dump; fails fast if insufficient
• ☁️ S3 upload - optional upload to S3-compatible storage after each backup
• 📧 Email notifications - SMTP alerts on success and/or failure
• 🔁 Container resurrection - re-resolves container IDs by names after docker-compose down/up
• 💓 Heartbeat - periodic pings to UptimeRobot, Betterstack, etc.
• 📜 Backup history - full log with status, duration, and file size
• 🔐 Authentication - built-in login with session-based auth and remember me (30 days)

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Quick Start

# docker-compose.yml
services:
  backup-manager:
    image: nomad4tech/backup-manager:latest
    container_name: backup-manager
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
    volumes:
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
      - ./data:/app/data       # settings & task config (required)
      - ./backups:/app/backups  # backup files (required)
    environment:
      - SPRING_PROFILES_ACTIVE=docker
    restart: unless-stopped

docker compose up -d

Open http://localhost:8080 - the local Docker socket is detected automatically.

Default credentials: admin/admin - change them immediately in Settings -> Account.

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Remote Docker Hosts (SSH)

Go to Docker Sockets → Add Socket, enter the host and SSH credentials. Backup Manager establishes an SSH tunnel and proxies the Docker socket transparently.

socat is managed automatically: if port 2375 is free on the remote host, Backup Manager starts socat via SSH and stops it on disconnect. If Docker is already exposed on that port by other means, no setup is needed. Install socat on the remote host only if Backup Manager needs to start it itself.

Note: SSH password is stored in plain text. For production, prefer private key authentication - specify the key path instead of a password.

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How It Works

Backup Manager runs pg_dump / mysqldump inside the database container via Docker exec API. Output streams directly to disk - never buffered in memory, so large databases don't cause memory pressure.

No credentials are stored in config files. PostgreSQL uses $POSTGRES_USER, MySQL uses $MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD - both resolved inside the container at runtime.

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Supported Databases

Database	Backup tool
PostgreSQL	pg_dump
MySQL	mysqldump
MariaDB	mysqldump / mariadb-dump

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Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Description
BACKUP_MANAGER_BACKUP_BASE_DIRECTORY	./backups	Backup storage root
BACKUP_MANAGER_BACKUP_MAX_CONCURRENT	3	Max parallel backup jobs
BACKUP_MANAGER_BACKUP_MIN_FREE_SPACE_BYTES	536870912	Min free space before dump (bytes)
BACKUP_MANAGER_BACKUP_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT	3600	Max seconds per dump before it's interrupted
BACKUP_MANAGER_CORS_ALLOWED_ORIGINS	*	Restrict CORS origins in production
APP_SECURITY_REMEMBER_ME_KEY	bkpmgr-default-key-change-in-production	Secret key for remember-me cookie signing; change in production

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Known Limitations

• Early stage - actively developed and tested by single maintainer; edge cases and environment-specific bugs may exist; feedback and bug reports are welcome
• No HTTPS - run behind reverse proxy (Nginx + Let's Encrypt, Caddy, or Cloudflare Tunnel) in production; don't expose application port directly to the internet
• No progress indicator - large backups show RUNNING until complete
• SSH transfers are slow - all dump data travels through the tunnel; schedule large remote backups off-peak
• Windows not tested - socket path is hardcoded to /var/run/docker.sock

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Roadmap

No specific priority or timeline. Features are added as time and interest allow

• Restore from backup via UI
• Progress indicator for running backups
• Notification webhooks
• Telegram notifications
• Slack notifications
• MongoDB support
• Backup encryption

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Contributing

# Backend
./mvnw spring-boot:run -Dspring-boot.run.profiles=dev

# Frontend
cd frontend && npm install && npm run dev

Issues and PRs are welcome. Please open an issue before submitting a PR.

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MIT License