A manual snapshot lets you save the current state of Stronghold integrated storage to a file and use it as a backup.

Before you start

  • Make sure Stronghold uses integrated Raft storage.
  • Make sure Raft is used as the primary storage backend, not only as ha_storage.
  • Confirm that you have administrative access to the cluster.
  • Prepare a secure location for storing the snapshot file outside the production environment.
  • Make sure you can contact the holders of the unseal or recovery keys if restore becomes necessary.

The stronghold operator raft snapshot save command applies only to clusters that use integrated Raft storage. If Stronghold uses etcd, postgresql, or another external backend, back up that storage system with its own native backup mechanism.

Save a snapshot with CLI

To create a snapshot, run:

d8 stronghold operator raft snapshot save backup.snap

Stronghold writes the snapshot to the local backup.snap file.

After creating the backup, it is recommended to run snapshot inspection to confirm that the file can be read and contains the expected data structure.

Save a snapshot with API

To create a snapshot through the API, use the GET /sys/storage/raft/snapshot endpoint:

curl \
  --request GET \
  --header "X-Vault-Token: ${VAULT_TOKEN}" \
  "${VAULT_ADDR}/v1/sys/storage/raft/snapshot" > backup.snap

Practical recommendations

  • Store snapshot files in a restricted and secure location.
  • After creating a snapshot, run stronghold operator raft snapshot inspect or follow Inspect a snapshot as a baseline backup validation step.
  • Use automated snapshots for scheduled backups.
  • If your environment uses replication, define a separate backup strategy for each cluster domain.