Save backup files to a dedicated directory?

General Discussion
9

There are some things to consider and understand when discussing a backup strategy:

Klipper ecosystem

  • “Klipper” consists of different software products that are developed by different people
  • Klipper Architecture / Ecosystem gives you an idea about it
  • Depending on what you installed and how you installed it, there might be different files in different locations that could be worth backing up
  • This can even include files in, e.g. /etc/nginx/ (although typical users will only seldom customize this) or the Moonraker lmdb database or even again 3rd party databases like spoolman

“Core Klipper” backups

  • Klipper itself is creating “backups” of the printer.cfg file
  • This is not really a backup (because of the limitation discussed in my posts above) but a very light “version control”, i.e. allowing you to return to a previous printer.cfg in case you messed it up
  • External cfg that are included via [include bla.cfg] are not subject to this “backup”
  • As such, it does not make a practical difference where they are, and an option to customize this path does not really change the game in any way.

Having the above in mind, a proper backup strategy is somewhat complex and highly depending on the individual setup and personal preferences.

Personally, I only keep backups of my cfgs and do not care for the rest, since I do not mind loosing my Moonraker stored print history or any customization done in the web-UIs.
And since I do not modify the cfgs like 20 times a day, I’m also quite relaxed about this topic.

Again, your personal preferences and workflows may vary, so I’d consider a proper backup strategy to be the individual users’ responsibility (as it is the case in virtually every software product I know).

Edit:
Just to be on the same page: In my definition, a “backup” is a copy of a file or data that is NOT stored on the same system and / or medium as the original file. This is even more true on systems running on a SD card.
Everything else is just a “nice to have” in the best case and in no way a protection against loss or disaster.

1 Like