Backup Restore Workflow Example

Backup and Restore Workflow Example

This example demonstrates a complete backup and restore workflow for a Hiero network using Solo’s config ops backup and config ops restore commands. It shows how to:

1. Deploy a complete network infrastructure (consensus + block + mirror + relay + explorer)
2. Generate transactions to create network state
3. Freeze the network and create a comprehensive backup
4. Destroy the entire cluster
5. Redeploy a fresh network
6. Restore from backup (ConfigMaps, Secrets, Logs, and State)
7. Verify the restored network is fully operational

Prerequisites

• Task installed (brew install go-task/tap/go-task on macOS)
• Kind installed (brew install kind on macOS)
• kubectl installed
• Node.js 22+ and npm installed
• Docker Desktop running with sufficient resources (8GB+ RAM recommended)

Quick Start

Run Complete Workflow

Execute the entire backup/restore workflow with a single command:

task

This will:

• ✅ Create a Kind cluster and deploy the complete network
• ✅ Generate test transactions
• ✅ Backup the entire network (ConfigMaps, Secrets, Logs, State)
• ✅ Destroy the cluster completely
• ✅ Redeploy a fresh network from scratch
• ✅ Restore all components from backup
• ✅ Verify the network is operational with new transactions

Clean Up

Remove the cluster and all backup files:

task destroy

Available Tasks

Main Workflow Tasks

Component Tasks

Step-by-Step Workflow

1. Deploy Initial Network

task setup

This deploys:

• 2 consensus nodes (node1, node2)
• 1 block node
• 1 mirror node
• Relay nodes for each consensus node
• 1 explorer node

2. Generate Network State

task generate-transactions

Creates 3 test accounts with 100 HBAR each to generate network state.

3. Create Backup

task backup

This will:

• Destroy the mirror node (required before freeze)
• Freeze the network
• Backup ConfigMaps, Secrets, Logs, and State files using solo config ops backup

Backup Location:

• All backup files: ./solo-backup/

4. Destroy and Redeploy

# Destroy cluster
task destroy-cluster

# Redeploy fresh network
task redeploy

This simulates a complete disaster recovery scenario.

5. Restore from Backup

task restore

This will:

• Stop consensus nodes
• Restore ConfigMaps, Secrets, Logs, and State files using solo config ops restore
• Restart consensus nodes

6. Verify Restored Network

task verify

Verifies:

• All pods are running
• Previously created accounts exist (e.g., account 0.0.3)
• Network can process new transactions

Configuration

Edit variables in Taskfile.yml to customize:

vars:
  NETWORK_SIZE: "2"              # Number of consensus nodes
  NODE_ALIASES: "node1,node2"    # Node identifiers
  DEPLOYMENT: "backup-restore-deployment"
  NAMESPACE: "backup-restore-namespace"
  CLUSTER_NAME: "backup-restore-cluster"
  BACKUP_DIR: "./solo-backup"    # All backup files location

What Gets Backed Up?

The solo config ops backup command backs up:

ConfigMaps

• Network configuration (network-node-data-config-cm)
• Bootstrap properties
• Application properties
• Genesis network configuration
• Address book

Secrets

• Node keys (TLS, signing, agreement)
• Consensus keys
• All Opaque secrets in the namespace

Logs (from each pod)

• Account balances
• Record streams
• Statistics
• Application logs
• Network logs

State Files (from each consensus node)

• Consensus state
• Merkle tree state
• Platform state
• Swirlds state

Backup Directory Structure

solo-backup/
└── kind-backup-restore-cluster/
    ├── configmaps/
    │   ├── network-node-data-config-cm.yaml
    │   └── ...
    ├── secrets/
    │   ├── node1-keys.yaml
    │   └── ...
    └── logs/
        ├── network-node1-0.zip  (includes state files)
        └── network-node2-0.zip  (includes state files)

Troubleshooting

View Cluster Status

kubectl cluster-info --context kind-backup-restore-cluster
kubectl get pods -n backup-restore-namespace -o wide

View Pod Logs

kubectl logs -n backup-restore-namespace network-node1-0 -c root-container --tail=100

Open Shell in Pod

kubectl exec -it -n backup-restore-namespace network-node1-0 -c root-container -- /bin/bash

Manual Cleanup

# Delete cluster
kind delete cluster -n backup-restore-cluster

# Remove backup files
rm -rf ./solo-backup

# Clean Solo cache
rm -rf ~/.solo/*

Advanced Usage

Run Individual Steps

# Deploy network only
task setup

# Generate test data
task generate-transactions

# Create backup
task backup

# Manually inspect backup
ls -lh ./solo-backup/

# Restore whenever ready (nodes must be running first)
task restore

# Verify
task verify

Use Released Version of Solo

By default, the Taskfile uses the development version (npm run solo-test --). To use the released version:

USE_RELEASED_VERSION=true task

Key Commands Used

This example demonstrates the following Solo commands:

• solo config ops backup - Backs up ConfigMaps, Secrets, Logs, and State files
• solo config ops restore - Restores ConfigMaps, Secrets, Logs, and State files
• solo consensus network freeze - Freezes the network before backup
• solo consensus node stop/start - Controls node lifecycle during restore

Important Notes

• The network must be frozen before backup to ensure consistent state
• Mirror node must be destroyed before freezing the network
• Backup process can take several minutes depending on state size
• Restore requires nodes to be stopped to prevent conflicts
• Backup files can be large - ensure sufficient disk space (1GB+ per node)

Related Examples

• state-save-and-restore - State file management with external database
• network-with-block-node - Basic network with block node

Support

For issues or questions:

• Solo Documentation: https://github.com/hashgraph/solo
• Task Documentation: https://taskfile.dev/