Overview

This Raspberry Pi (fairhavenRpi) runs Home Assistant and Mosquitto in Docker. Backups are performed by a host-level script that copies:

  • critical Docker bind-mount payload directories (the real Home Assistant + Mosquitto data)
  • key system configuration (systemd units, tailscale/docker hardening, etc.)
  • package inventory lists (to rebuild the host if required)

This is not a full disk image. It is a practical “rebuild + restore data” backup.

Backup location (Seagate drive)

Backups are written to the Seagate drive mounted at: 

/mnt/seagate_sync/syncthing_data/FairRoweSync/rpi_backups/fairhavenRpi/<DATESTAMP>/

Where:

<DATESTAMP> is created automatically as YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS (example: 20260222-193506).

The Seagate path is intended to be synced onward via an existing Seagate/Syncthing arrangement.

What is backed up

A) Critical payload (what must be in place to restore HA/MQTT)

These are the Docker bind-mounts used by the containers:

  • Home Assistant container:
  • host: /srv/homeassistant/
  • container: /config
  • Mosquitto container:
  • host: /srv/mosquitto/config/ -> container /mosquitto/config
  • host: /srv/mosquitto/data/ -> container /mosquitto/data
  • host: /srv/mosquitto/log/ -> container /mosquitto/log

These are backed up into the timestamp folder as: 

srv-homeassistant/
srv-mosquitto/

(Example confirmation files commonly present:)

  • srv-homeassistant/configuration.yaml
  • srv-homeassistant/secrets.yaml
  • srv-mosquitto/config/mosquitto.conf
  • srv-mosquitto/data/mosquitto.db (persistence DB)

B) Recovery hardening + boot config

These are backed up because they are important for “remote recoverability” after a bad reboot:

  • /usr/local/sbin/ (custom scripts, eg healthcheck tooling)
  • /boot/firmware/config.txt (or /boot/config.txt depending on layout)
  • /var/lib/jf_ha_healthcheck/ (persistent state to avoid reboot loops)

These are stored as: 

* usr-local-sbin/
* boot-firmware/
* var-lib/jf_ha_healthcheck/

C) Host configuration + user environment

These are “rebuild helpers”:

  • /etc
  • /etc/systemd/system
  • /etc/samba
  • /home/jimfalk

These are stored in the timestamp folder with “slash-to-dash” names, eg: 

etc/
etc-systemd-system/
etc-samba/
home-jimfalk/

D) Package inventory (rebuild helper)

Two files are generated per backup:

  • dpkg-selections.txt
  • apt-manual.txt

These help recreate the host package set on a new Pi.

How backups are run (automation)

The backup job is triggered by root cron: 

15 4 * * * /home/jimfalk/backup_fairhaven_config.sh >/var/log/backup_fairhaven_config.log 2>&1

So it runs daily at 04:15 (local time) and writes a log to: 

/var/log/backup_fairhaven_config.log

You can also run it manually any time: 

sudo /home/jimfalk/backup_fairhaven_config.sh

How the backup script works (important details)

The script writes into a new timestamp directory each run, eg: 

DEST_ROOT="/mnt/seagate_sync/syncthing_data/FairRoweSync/rpi_backups/fairhavenRpi"
DEST_DIR="${DEST_ROOT}/${DATE_STAMP}"

It uses rsync in a snapshot-friendly way:

symlinks are preserved as symlinks (no -L), so /etc broken symlinks do not cause rsync failure

it is a timestamped snapshot, so it does not rely on --delete

Core rsync pattern (conceptual): 

rsync -aHAX "${SRC}/" "${DEST_DIR}/${REL_NAME}/"

Plus explicit copies of the Docker payload: 

rsync -aHAX /srv/homeassistant/ "${DEST_DIR}/srv-homeassistant/"
rsync -aHAX /srv/mosquitto/ "${DEST_DIR}/srv-mosquitto/"

Restoring Home Assistant after an RPi failure

Key idea

To restore HA + Mosquitto on a replacement Pi (or rebuilt SSD), we mainly need:

  • /srv/homeassistant (HA config + state)
  • /srv/mosquitto (broker config + persistence DB)

Then recreate the Docker containers pointing at those directories.

Step 1 — Pick the backup set to restore

On the new/rebuilt Pi (after mounting the Seagate backup drive), choose the latest timestamp folder, eg: 

/mnt/seagate_sync/syncthing_data/FairRoweSync/rpi_backups/fairhavenRpi/20260222-193506

For clarity in commands: 

BACKUPROOT="/mnt/seagate_sync/syncthing_data/FairRoweSync/rpi_backups/fairhavenRpi/<DATESTAMP>"

Step 2 — Recreate the target directories

sudo mkdir -p /srv/homeassistant
sudo mkdir -p /srv/mosquitto/{config,data,log}

Step 3 — Restore the Docker payload directories

This is the critical restore: 

sudo rsync -aHAX "${BACKUPROOT}/srv-homeassistant/" /srv/homeassistant/
sudo rsync -aHAX "${BACKUPROOT}/srv-mosquitto/" /srv/mosquitto/

(If permissions look odd, fix owners after restore; Mosquitto commonly uses UID/GID 1883.)

Step 4 — Recreate Docker containers pointing at the restored bind mounts

The restore assumes we run containers with the same bind mounts we used before:

Home Assistant:

  • -v /srv/homeassistant:/config
  • -v /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro

Mosquitto:

  • -v /srv/mosquitto/config:/mosquitto/config
  • -v /srv/mosquitto/data:/mosquitto/data
  • -v /srv/mosquitto/log:/mosquitto/log

ports 1883 and 9001

If we already have a docker compose file or docker-run scripts, use them (best). If not, recreate containers in the same way they were originally created.

After creation, ensure restart policy is set: 

docker update --restart unless-stopped homeassistant mosquitto

Step 5 — Start and verify

sudo systemctl enable --now docker
docker ps

Check:

Home Assistant responds locally:

Mosquitto is listening:
  • :1883

Optional: confirm HA config files exist:

  • /srv/homeassistant/configuration.yaml
  • /srv/homeassistant/secrets.yaml

What this restore does / does not do

It does restore our HA configuration, integrations, history DB (whatever is in /srv/homeassistant), dashboards, etc.

It does restore Mosquitto configuration and retained/persistent data (via mosquitto.db).

It does not automatically rebuild the entire host OS exactly as it was (because this is not a full disk image).

However, the backup contains /etc, systemd units, /home/<user>, plus apt-manual.txt and dpkg-selections.txt to rebuild host functionality if needed.

Quick verification commands (post-restore)

findmnt / -o OPTIONS
systemctl is-active docker
docker ps
ls -la /srv/homeassistant | sed -n '1,40p'
ls -la /srv/mosquitto/data | sed -n '1,40p'

Notes / operational guidance

Keep an eye on Seagate free space; timestamped backups grow indefinitely unless you add retention.

The HA payload can be large (hundreds of MB) — that is normal.

Mosquitto persistence may be small (a few KB) if retained messages are minimal; presence of mosquitto.db is the key indicator persistence is active.

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Page last modified on February 23, 2026, at 12:24 pm