mariadb-backup

A lightweight Docker container for automated MariaDB database backups. The container runs a cron job to create periodic database dumps.

Features

• Automated backups using cron
• Configurable backup schedule
• Compatible with MariaDB 11.8.2 (LTS)
• Built-in health monitoring
• Daily backups organized in date-based folders
• Simple integration with existing MariaDB containers

Environment Variables

Variable	Description	Default
MYSQL_HOST	MariaDB host	database
MYSQL_DATABASE	Database name to backup	-
MYSQL_USER	Database user	-
MYSQL_PASSWORD	Database password	-
CRON_INTERVAL	Backup schedule in cron format	00 23 * * *

Example Usage

Install from the command line

$ docker pull ghcr.io/uniwue-zpd/mariadb-backup:11.8.2

Use as base image in Dockerfile:

FROM ghcr.io/uniwue-zpd/mariadb-backup:11.8.2

Use in Docker Compose setup:

services:
    database:
      image: mariadb:11.8.2
      environment:
        MYSQL_DATABASE: "${DB_NAME}"
        MYSQL_USER: "${DB_USER}"
        MYSQL_PASSWORD: "${DB_PASSWORD}"
        MYSQL_RANDOM_ROOT_PASSWORD: 'yes'
      volumes:
        - ./db_data:/var/lib/mysql

    backup:
      image: uniwuezpd/mariadb-backup:11.8.2
      environment:
        MYSQL_HOST: "database"
        MYSQL_DATABASE: "${DB_NAME}"
        MYSQL_USER: "${DB_USER}"
        MYSQL_PASSWORD: "${DB_PASSWORD}"
        CRON_INTERVAL: "0 23 * * *"  # Run every day at 23:00
      volumes:
        - ./backup:/backup
      depends_on:
        - database

Backup Structure

Backups are organized in date-based folders under the /backup directory:

/backup/
└── 2025-06-25/
    └── backup-230000.sql

Restoring Backups

To restore a backup, mount it to the MariaDB container's init directory:

  services:
    database:
      image: mariadb:11.8.2
    volumes:
      - ./backup/2025-06-25/backup-230000.sql:/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/datadump.sql

Health Monitoring

The container includes a health check that monitors the cron service:

• Interval: 1 minute
• Timeout: 10 seconds
• Retries: 3

Notes

• Backups are created using mariadb-dump with table locking enabled
• Each backup is stored in an individual file named with timestamp
• Logs are written to /mysql_backup.log inside the container
• Container requires write access to the backup volume