Backup / encryption concept and recommendations

NextBox
1

I would like to encrypt my nextbox data, as well as my backup drives, just in case a disk or the nextbox itself, no one can access my files.

  • Is the builtin data disk/ssd encrypted? @nitrokey?
  • I cannot use a encrypted harddrive (yet) for backups (with the Nextbox App). So, I would need to encrypt data somewhen before, typically with the “Default encryption module” of Nextcloud - any hints on this?
  • “Default encryption module” enabled, how could I restore/access my data, if the nextbox gets stolen? Would I need another nextbox, or nextcloud instance, to decrypt my files?
  • Bonus: How about the database (on the nextbox) and the SQL dumps (on the backups), they are probably not encrypted at all?
  • Bonus2: Has anyone used the builtin “Backup” app (not nextbox, but nextcloud one: Backup - Apps - App Store - Nextcloud )?

This is probably the way to go - just checking with all of you, if I’m making some big conceptual mistakes? :wink:

2

I do this almost monthly, on a large external HD (externally powered).
An ongoing backup will overwrite an earlier target if asked for (indeed you also can just create an extra backup each time, but I think this’d waste space in the end).
Because of that choice I’m using a couple of separate backup targets in alternance on the ext. HD (but none ever failed, for a couple years now)
No special issue till now.
It seems there is no GUI to purge old packups, but plugging the ext. HD to my computer shows a very explicit structure, where I just can delete useless old folders if need be.
I don’t encrypt.

1 Like
3

thank you Herve! how do you mount the HD? As external storage in nextcloud (I only see networked storages/protocols [ftp, S3, whatever] to mount, there?), or with the nextbox mount thing (probably not?). Maybe I’m just blind :wink:

Have you ever tried a restore, with this system?

What I like, is that one can compress and encrypt the backups, so I would not need to encrypt everything on the nextbox itself…hm…

4

I did it by the book, i. e.

  • plug externally powered HD in the Nextbox
  • restart it, maybe
  • select Nextbox app (the little gear icon)
  • select “storage management”, the disk appears in “available media”, add it (“+”), now it is in “mounted storages”
  • still within the Nextbox app, switch to “backup/restore”, “select backup device”, choose it, give a name to the backup (or, later on, select an existing archive to update it), run. There is a progress bar, the first time it may be long if you have lots of data stored.

I did run a restore successfully, long ago, after an update of the ‘mail’ app that broke a couple of things (a bug long gone now)

5

Ah. That’s how I’m doing it right now as well. Sorry for the confusion, and thanks again.

There is this: Backup - Apps - App Store - Nextcloud - it looks interesting, but I was not able to use it with a local hard disk…