--- title: "ABS configuration file examples" description: "Examples and parameter guides for configuring the Aerospike Backup Service (ABS) using YAML." --- # ABS configuration file examples > For the complete documentation index see: [llms.txt](https://aerospike.com/docs/llms.txt) > > All documentation pages available in markdown. This page explains the sections of an example Aerospike Backup Service (ABS) configuration file, illustrating the basic requirements for a backup configuration. Aerospike publishes a [JSON schema for this configuration file](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/aerospike/aerospike-backup-service/refs/tags/v3.1.0/docs/config.schema.json) that enables autocomplete and validation in the VSCode and IntelliJ editors. ABS performs strict validation of the configuration file at startup. Invalid configurations prevent the service from starting. All configuration parameters use kebab-case, including `min-part-size` and `max-async-connections`. View full configuration file ```yaml # yaml-language-server: $schema=https://raw.githubusercontent.com/aerospike/aerospike-backup-service/refs/tags/v3.1.0/docs/config.schema.json aerospike-clusters: abs-cluster: # <--- Custom user-defined cluster name seed-nodes: - host-name: localhost port: 3000 credentials: user: tester password: secrets:cluster-creds:password # Secret Agent path secret-agent-name: secret-agent # <--- Refers to the secret agent name under secret-agents secret-agents: secret-agent: # <--- Custom user-defined secret agent name address: localhost port: 5000 connection-type: tcp storage: s3: # <--- Custom user-defined storage name s3-storage: # Storage type; can be one of "local-storage", "s3-storage", "azure-storage", "gcp-storage" path: backups bucket: as-backup-bucket s3-region: eu-central-1 min-part-size: 5_242_880 # Minimum S3 upload chunk size in bytes backup-policies: dailyBackupPolicy: # <--- Custom user-defined policy name parallel: 8 # Parallelism level (May affect performance) file-limit: 1000 # Max backup file size in MB (May affect performance) compression: # Backup files will be compressed before uploading (May affect performance) mode: ZSTD level: 3 concurrent-incremental: false with-cluster-configuration: false retention: full: 10 # Retain 10 full backups incremental: 5 # Retain incremental backups for the 5 latest full backups backup-routines: dailyLocalBackupRoutine: # <--- Custom routine name interval-cron: "@daily" # Full backup will be triggered daily at midnight incr-interval-cron: "0 */2 * * * *" # Incremental backups every 2 hours source-cluster: abs-cluster # <--- Refers to the cluster name under aerospike-clusters storage: s3 # <--- Refers to the storage name under storage backup-policy: dailyBackupPolicy # <--- Refers to the policy name under backup-policies namespaces: ["test"] # <--- Optional; omit or use [] to back up all namespaces ``` ## Configuration file components ### `aerospike-clusters` This example configuration connects to the Aerospike Database cluster named `abs-cluster`. The `seed-nodes` parameter defines the host and port for the Aerospike cluster on the network. The `credentials` parameter passes a plaintext username and a reference to a password stored in the Secret Agent. You can also use a plaintext username and password without the Secret Agent reference for testing purposes. If a credential value starts with `secrets:`, ABS treats it as a Secret Agent reference in the format `secrets:RESOURCE_LABEL:KEY`. Configure Secret Agent connections for ABS in the [`secret-agents`](#secret-agents) section. The middle segment is a Secret Agent resource label you define when storing secrets in the agent. ::: note ABS does not support directly passing a Kubernetes Secret. ::: #### `max-parallel-scans` `max-parallel-scans` sets a per-cluster limit on the number of concurrent scans across all routines. ```yaml aerospike-clusters: abs-cluster: max-parallel-scans: 4 ``` ### `secret-agents` The `secret-agents` section defines one or more connections to the [Aerospike Secret Agent](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/manage/security/secrets/#connecting-to-aerospike-secret-agent). ```yaml secret-agents: secret-agent: # <--- Custom user-defined secret agent name address: localhost port: 5000 connection-type: tcp ``` To configure TLS, use `ca-file` alone for server verification, or add `cert-file`, `key-file`, and `name` together for mutual TLS authentication: ```yaml secret-agents: secure-agent: address: secret-agent.example.com port: 3005 connection-type: tcp ca-file: /etc/ssl/certs/ca.pem # CA certificate to verify the server cert-file: /etc/ssl/certs/client-cert.pem # Client certificate for mutual TLS key-file: /etc/ssl/private/client-key.pem # Client private key for mutual TLS name: secret-agent.example.com # Required for mutual TLS (SNI) ``` ### `storage` The `storage` section sets up four different storage destinations: local, S3, Azure, and GCP. Each one has a separate label, here `storage1`, `storage2`, and so on. You can set up as many or as few destinations as you want in your own configuration. Note the specific authentication requirements for the different cloud storage providers. You can set an object storage class on S3, Azure, and GCP destinations. Use `storage-class.data` (and `storage-class.metadata` for S3 and Azure) to choose the durability and availability tier. Supported values depend on the provider, and for S3 and Azure, the allowed values differ between `data` and `metadata`: - S3: `data` accepts any of `STANDARD`, `GLACIER`, `STANDARD_IA`, `ONEZONE_IA`, `INTELLIGENT_TIERING`, `DEEP_ARCHIVE`, `OUTPOSTS`, `GLACIER_IR`, `SNOW`, or `EXPRESS_ONEZONE`. `metadata` only accepts fast-retrieval classes: `STANDARD`, `STANDARD_IA`, `INTELLIGENT_TIERING`, `EXPRESS_ONEZONE`, `ONEZONE_IA`, or `OUTPOSTS`. - Azure Blob Storage: `data` accepts `Hot`, `Cool`, `Cold`, or `Archive`. `metadata` accepts `Hot`, `Cool`, or `Cold`, but not `Archive`. - Google Cloud Storage: `data` accepts `STANDARD`, `NEARLINE`, `COLDLINE`, or `ARCHIVE`. GCP has no configurable `metadata` tier; ABS always stores metadata objects using `STANDARD`. ```yaml storage: s3: # <--- Custom user-defined storage name s3-storage: # Storage type; can be one of "local-storage", "s3-storage", "azure-storage", "gcp-storage" path: backups bucket: as-backup-bucket s3-region: eu-central-1 min-part-size: 5_242_880 # Minimum S3 upload chunk size in bytes ``` Additional storage examples: ```yaml storage: # Example 1: Local Storage storage1: local-storage: path: /local/backups # Example 2: S3 Storage storage2: s3-storage: bucket: my-backup-bucket path: backups s3-profile: default s3-region: eu-central-1 storage-class: data: STANDARD metadata: STANDARD # Example 3: Azure Storage storage3: azure-storage: account-name: my-storage-account account-key: my-secret-key container-name: my-container endpoint: 'https://my-storage-account.blob.core.windows.net' path: backups storage-class: data: Hot metadata: Hot # Example 4: GCP Storage storage4: gcp-storage: bucket-name: my-gcp-bucket key-file-path: /path/to/service-account-key.json endpoint: 'https://storage.googleapis.com' path: backups storage-class: data: STANDARD ``` ### `backup-policies` A backup policy is a set of parameters that define how to perform a backup. You can create many different policies, then schedule each to run at different times or under different circumstances. The following example defines a policy called `dailyBackupPolicy`, which is later scheduled to run daily in the `backup-routines` section. With `parallel`, it specifies the number of parallel reader threads that read Aerospike partitions. You can also specify the size of each backup file with `file-limit` in MB, as well as a compression algorithm and compression level with `compression`. Set `concurrent-incremental: true` to allow incremental backups to run alongside a full backup of the same routine. The default is `false`, which skips incremental backups while another backup for that routine is in progress. Set `with-cluster-configuration: true` to include cluster configuration in the backup. The default is `false`. In the `retention` section, this example specifies that the previous 10 full backups are retained in storage, in addition to any incremental backups made during the last 5 full backups. ```yaml backup-policies: dailyBackupPolicy: # <--- Custom user-defined policy name parallel: 8 # Parallelism level (May affect performance) file-limit: 1000 # Max backup file size in MB (May affect performance) compression: # Backup files will be compressed before uploading (May affect performance) mode: ZSTD level: 3 concurrent-incremental: false with-cluster-configuration: false retention: full: 10 # Retain 10 full backups incremental: 5 # Retain incremental backups for the 5 latest full backups ``` ### `backup-routines` The `backup-routines` section schedules one or more routines to run from specified sources at specified intervals. In this example, the routine `dailyLocalBackupRoutine` backs up the `test` namespace from source cluster `abs-cluster` to the storage destination `s3`, following the rules defined in `dailyBackupPolicy`. This routine performs full and incremental backups based on cron intervals. It performs an incremental backup every two hours and a full backup each day at midnight (UTC+0). ::: note All cron times are in the UTC+0 time zone. ABS does not support converting between time zones. ::: ```yaml backup-routines: dailyLocalBackupRoutine: # <--- Custom routine name interval-cron: "@daily" # Full backup will be triggered daily at midnight incr-interval-cron: "0 */2 * * * *" # Incremental backups every 2 hours source-cluster: abs-cluster # <--- Refers to the cluster name under aerospike-clusters storage: s3 # <--- Refers to the storage name under storage backup-policy: dailyBackupPolicy # <--- Refers to the policy name under backup-policies namespaces: ["test"] # <--- Optional; omit or use [] to back up all namespaces ``` #### `prefer-racks` `prefer-racks` takes a list of Aerospike rack IDs on a backup routine. :::caution Not implemented in this version ABS 3.1.0 accepts `prefer-racks` in a routine’s configuration, but does not act on it. Backups run identically whether or not `prefer-racks` is set, with no rack-based read preference applied. Rack-preferred reads were implemented starting in ABS 3.4.0, under `aerospike-clusters.CLUSTER_NAME.prefer-racks` rather than under the routine. ::: For parallel backup sliced by host or partition, use [`node-list`](#node-list) or [`partition-list`](#partition-list) on separate ABS instances instead. See [Rack awareness](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/manage/namespace/rack-aware) for more information on masters, replicas, and racks. ```yaml backup-routines: dailyLocalBackupRoutine: interval-cron: "@daily" incr-interval-cron: "0 */2 * * * *" source-cluster: abs-cluster storage: s3 backup-policy: dailyBackupPolicy namespaces: ["test"] prefer-racks: [100, 101] # Accepted but has no effect in ABS 3.1.0 ``` #### `node-list` Set `node-list` on a routine to back up only the listed cluster nodes. Each node can be an IP address and port (`IP:PORT`), a hostname and port (`HOSTNAME:PORT`), or a node ID. See [`node-list`](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/tools/backup-and-restore/backup-service/config#backup-routines.ROUTINE_NAME.node-list) in the configuration reference. If you omit `node-list`, ABS backs up all nodes in the cluster. `node-list` is mutually exclusive with [`partition-list`](#partition-list). Each routine with `node-list` is potentially partial: assign non-overlapping node slices across parallel ABS instances so together they cover every node you intend to back up. See [Parallel backups](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/tools/backup-and-restore/backup-service/3.1.0/parallel-backup). :::caution Topology changes during backup When the job starts, ABS scans the listed nodes. If partition ownership changes during a long backup, scans can read from the current master for a selected partition, which may be on a different node than when the job started. If a partition’s master migrates onto a listed node after the job starts, that partition was not in the initial slice and is not included in that routine’s backup. ::: ```yaml backup-routines: nodeABackup: interval-cron: "@daily" source-cluster: abs-cluster storage: s3 backup-policy: dailyBackupPolicy namespaces: ["test"] node-list: - 10.0.48.7:4333 - 10.0.48.8:4333 ``` #### `partition-list` Set `partition-list` on a routine to back up only specific partitions. By default, ABS backs up all partitions (0 to 4095). The format supports individual partitions or ranges: - Specify a single partition as a number, such as `"0"`. - Specify a range as `start-count`, where the first number is the starting partition (inclusive) and the second is how many partitions to include. `"100-50"` backs up 50 partitions starting from 100. - Specify a list of partitions or ranges as a comma-separated string, such as `"0,100,200,300,400,500"`. `partition-list` is mutually exclusive with [`node-list`](#node-list). Use `partition-list` to parallelize backups across multiple ABS instances. Assign each instance a non-overlapping subset of partitions. See [Parallel backups](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/tools/backup-and-restore/backup-service/3.1.0/parallel-backup). ```yaml backup-routines: partitionABackup: interval-cron: "@daily" source-cluster: abs-cluster storage: s3 backup-policy: dailyBackupPolicy namespaces: ["test"] partition-list: "0-2048" ``` ## GitHub repository example files This section explains the two sample configuration files included in the [ABS GitHub repository](https://github.com/aerospike/aerospike-backup-service/). Default Docker Compose ABS Configuration: The following sample backup service configuration supplied with the Docker Compose stack for ABS consists of four sections: - `aerospike-clusters` defines the location and access credentials for ABS to communicate with Aerospike Database, calling that cluster `absCluster1`. Since this is a Docker Compose stack, it uses the Aerospike Database Docker container name `"aerospike-cluster"` as the hostname instead of an IP address. - `storage` defines the location of the storage for database backups. Here, it creates a storage type called `minioStorage` that uses the `s3-endpoint-override` parameter to send backed up data to MinIO instead of Amazon S3. You can define multiple storage types that can later be used in multiple backup policies. - In `backup-policies`, a new policy called `keepFilesPolicy` is defined with simple instructions to run in a single thread and keep all previous backups. A policy is a set of instructions defining how to do a specific type of backup. You can define multiple policies that can be used in various backup routines. ::: note Backup policies are defined in the configuration file. In contrast, restore policies are not defined beforehand; they are sent in the body of each restore request. ::: - `backup-routines` specifies a routine called `minioKeepFilesRoutine` that runs the `keepFilesPolicy` policy daily for full backups and hourly for incremental backups. Routines specify the source cluster to back up data from, a storage type as defined under the `storage` section, and a namespace from the source cluster to back up. You can define multiple routines that can be run according to different schedules or on demand. ```yaml aerospike-clusters: absCluster1: seed-nodes: - host-name: "aerospike-cluster" port: 3000 credentials: user: admin password: admin storage: minioStorage: s3-storage: bucket: my-backup-bucket path: backups s3-profile: default s3-region: eu-central-1 s3-endpoint-override: http://minio:9000 backup-policies: keepFilesPolicy: # Run backup operations in a single thread. parallel: 1 backup-routines: minioKeepFilesRoutine: # 24 hours interval for full backups. interval-cron: "@daily" # 1 hour interval for incremental backups. incr-interval-cron: "@hourly" source-cluster: absCluster1 storage: minioStorage namespaces: ["test"] backup-policy: keepFilesPolicy ``` Default Linux ABS Configuration: The default configuration file supplied with Linux distributions is smaller and simpler than the configuration in the Docker Compose setup. By default, it sets up a connection to a namespace called `"test"` in an Aerospike Database cluster accessible at `127.0.0.1:3000`. It stores backup files locally at `/var/lib/aerospike-backup-service`. ```yaml aerospike-clusters: cluster1: use-services-alternate: false seed-nodes: - host-name: "127.0.0.1" port: 3000 credentials: user: "admin" password: "admin" storage: local: local-storage: path: /var/lib/aerospike-backup-service backup-policies: policy1: parallel: 1 backup-routines: routine1: interval-cron: "@weekly" incr-interval-cron: "@daily" backup-policy: "policy1" source-cluster: "cluster1" storage: "local" namespaces: ["test"] ```