Backing up the panel

Back up and restore a FeatherPanel install with the installer's Backup Manager or database snapshots, and the files you must not lose.

On this page

This page covers the panel itself: its database, its configuration and uploaded files. Game server data lives on your nodes; see server backups and node backups.

What you must keep

Item	Where	Why
Database	`mariadb_data` volume	Users, servers, nodes, settings
Backend `.env`	`featherpanel_config` volume, `storage/config/.env`	Holds `DATABASE_ENCRYPTION_KEY`
Uploads and plugins	`featherpanel_attachments`, `featherpanel_addons` volumes	Files users and admins uploaded, installed plugins
Host `.env` and Compose file	`/var/www/featherpanel/`	Database passwords, updater token, Cloudflare settings

Backup Manager

Run the installer, pick [1] Panel, then Backup Manager:

Option	What it does
Create Backup	Archives every `featherpanel_*` volume and the host `docker-compose.yml` and `.env`
List Backups	Lists archives in `/var/www/featherpanel/backups`
Restore Backup	Stops the stack, restores the volumes, optionally restores the Compose file and `.env`, starts the stack
Delete Backup	Deletes an archive after you type `yes`
Export for Migration	Writes a migration package to `/var/www/featherpanel/migrations`
Import Migration	Restores a migration package on a new server

A backup is featherpanel_backup_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS.tar.gz, mode 600. Inside it are volumes/<volume>.tar.gz, a config/ folder and backup_info.txt. The containers must be running when you create one.

Database snapshots

The panel CLI can dump the database to a FeatherPanel Backup file (.fpb, plain SQL) in storage/backups, which is the featherpanel_snapshots volume:

featherpanel snapshots create
featherpanel snapshots list
featherpanel snapshots restore snapshot_<timestamp>.fpb

Restore asks for confirmation unless you add -y. See the Panel CLI for all subcommands.

A plain dump

docker exec featherpanel_mysql sh -c 'mariadb-dump -uroot -p"$MARIADB_ROOT_PASSWORD" featherpanel' > featherpanel.sql
docker cp featherpanel_backend:/var/www/html/storage/config/.env featherpanel-backend.env

Scheduled backups

The installer does not schedule backups. Add a cron job on the host, for example a nightly snapshot:

30 3 * * * /usr/local/bin/featherpanel snapshots create >/dev/null 2>&1

For automatic backups of servers and nodes managed by the panel, see admin backups.

Moving to a new server

Use Export for Migration on the old server, copy the package (the installer prints scp and rsync commands), install FeatherPanel on the new server and run Import Migration. The full procedure is in Migrating between hosts.

Frequently asked questions

Where are FeatherPanel backups stored?

The installer's Backup Manager writes featherpanel_backup_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS.tar.gz files to /var/www/featherpanel/backups. Database snapshots are .fpb files in the featherpanel_snapshots volume.

Does a panel backup include game server files?

No. Server files live on your Wings nodes. Use server backups and node backups for them.