Backups

backup

The backup window: a way to copy the board's settings, accounts and screens off it as one zip file, and to put a copy back, from a computer on your network.

• Port (backup_port): The web port the window opens on. It cannot be the port callers use, which is 6400 as shipped. Takes 1 to 65535; as shipped, 8080.
• Open for (backup_window_minutes): How long one press of the button keeps the window open. Takes 1 to 60 minutes; as shipped, 5.
• Button (backup_button_gpio): The pin of the button that opens it. 0 is the BOOT button on a dev board. Takes 0 to 39; as shipped, 0.

To use it, log in as the sysop, then press BOOT on the board. While the window is open, from a computer on the same network:

curl -o backup.zip http://<board>:8080/backup.zip
curl -T backup.zip http://<board>:8080/restore

On Windows, type curl.exe rather than curl. The first line downloads a copy, with no question asked. The second sends one back: the board shows what arrived on the sysop's screen and asks Accept upload (Y/N)?, and nothing changes unless you answer Y within two minutes.

A backup holds the staff passwords only as three asterisks and account passwords only as salted hashes, but it holds the Wi-Fi password as typed. That is why the board only hands one to an address on your own network. Keep backups somewhere private.

The window closes when its minutes are up or when the sysop logs off.

Backups on the card

A board with an SD card can also back itself up onto the card every night: the Nightly setting, on the SD card's settings.

Back to Set up your BBS.