Warning

Ironmount is still in version 0.x.x and is subject to major changes from version to version. I am developing the core features and collecting feedbacks. Expect bugs! Please open issues or feature requests

Intro

Ironmount is a backup automation tool that helps you save your data across multiple storage backends. Built on top of Restic, it provides an modern web interface to schedule, manage, and monitor encrypted backups of your remote storage.

Features

Automated backups with encryption, compression and retention policies powered by Restic
Flexible scheduling For automated backup jobs with fine-grained retention policies
End-to-end encryption ensuring your data is always protected
Multi-protocol support: Backup from NFS, SMB, WebDAV, or local directories

Installation

In order to run Ironmount, you need to have Docker and Docker Compose installed on your server. Then, you can use the provided docker-compose.yml file to start the application.

services:
  ironmount:
    image: ghcr.io/nicotsx/ironmount:v0.6
    container_name: ironmount
    restart: unless-stopped
    privileged: true
    ports:
      - "4096:4096"
    devices:
      - /dev/fuse:/dev/fuse
    volumes:
      - /var/lib/ironmount:/var/lib/ironmount

Then, run the following command to start Ironmount:

docker compose up -d

Once the container is running, you can access the web interface at http://<your-server-ip>:4096.

Adding your first volume

Ironmount supports multiple volume backends including NFS, SMB, WebDAV, and local directories. A volume represents the source data you want to back up and monitor.

To add your first volume, navigate to the "Volumes" section in the web interface and click on "Create volume". Fill in the required details such as volume name, type, and connection settings.

If you want to track a local directory on the same server where Ironmount is running, you'll first need to mount that directory into the Ironmount container. You can do this by adding a volume mapping in your docker-compose.yml file. For example, to mount /path/to/your/directory from the host to /mydata in the container, you would add the following line under the volumes section:

services:
  ironmount:
    image: ghcr.io/nicotsx/ironmount:v0.6
    container_name: ironmount
    restart: unless-stopped
    cap_add:
      - SYS_ADMIN
    ports:
      - "4096:4096"
    devices:
      - /dev/fuse:/dev/fuse
    volumes:
      - /var/lib/ironmount:/var/lib/ironmount
+     - /path/to/your/directory:/mydata

After updating the docker-compose.yml file, restart the Ironmount container to apply the changes:

docker compose down
docker compose up -d

Now, when adding a new volume in the Ironmount web interface, you can select "Directory" as the volume type and search for your mounted path (e.g., /mydata) as the source path.

Creating a repository

A repository is where your backups will be securely stored encrypted. Ironmount currently supports S3-compatible storage backends and local directories for storing your backup repositories.

Repositories are optimized for storage efficiency and data integrity, leveraging Restic's deduplication and encryption features.

To create a repository, navigate to the "Repositories" section in the web interface and click on "Create repository". Fill in the required details such as repository name, type, and connection settings. If you choose a local directory as the repository type, your backups will be stored at /var/lib/ironmount/repositories/<repository-name>.

Your first backup job

Once you have added a volume and created a repository, you can create your first backup job. A backup job defines the schedule and parameters for backing up a specific volume to a designated repository.

When creating a backup job, you can specify the following settings:

Schedule: Define how often the backup should run (e.g., daily, weekly)
Retention Policy: Set rules for how long backups should be retained (e.g., keep daily backups for 7 days, weekly backups for 4 weeks)
Paths: Specify which files or directories to include in the backup

After configuring the backup job, save it and Ironmount will automatically execute the backup according to the defined schedule. You can monitor the progress and status of your backup jobs in the "Backups" section of the web interface.

Restoring data

Ironmount allows you to easily restore your data from backups. To restore data, navigate to the "Backups" section and select the backup job from which you want to restore data. You can then choose a specific backup snapshot and select the files or directories you wish to restore. The data you select will be restored to their original location.

Propagating mounts to host

Ironmount is capable of propagating mounted volumes from within the container to the host system. This is particularly useful when you want to access the mounted data directly from the host to use it with other applications or services.

In order to enable this feature, you need to change your bind mount /var/lib/ironmount to use the :rshared flag. Here is an example of how to set this up in your docker-compose.yml file:

services:
  ironmount:
    image: ghcr.io/nicotsx/ironmount:v0.6
    container_name: ironmount
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "4096:4096"
    devices:
      - /dev/fuse:/dev/fuse
    volumes:
-     - /var/lib/ironmount:/var/lib/ironmount
+     - /var/lib/ironmount:/var/lib/ironmount:rshared

Restart the Ironmount container to apply the changes:

docker compose down
docker compose up -d

Docker plugin

Ironmount can also be used as a Docker volume plugin, allowing you to mount your volumes directly into other Docker containers. This enables seamless integration with your containerized applications.

In order to enable this feature, you need to run Ironmount with several items shared from the host. Here is an example of how to set this up in your docker-compose.yml file:

services:
  ironmount:
    image: ghcr.io/nicotsx/ironmount:v0.6
    container_name: ironmount
    restart: unless-stopped
    cap_add:
      - SYS_ADMIN
    ports:
      - "4096:4096"
    devices:
      - /dev/fuse:/dev/fuse
    volumes:
-     - /var/lib/ironmount:/var/lib/ironmount
+     - /var/lib/ironmount:/var/lib/ironmount:rshared
+     - /run/docker/plugins:/run/docker/plugins
+     - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock

Restart the Ironmount container to apply the changes:

docker compose down
docker compose up -d

Your Ironmount volumes will now be available as Docker volumes that you can mount into other containers using the --volume flag:

docker run -v im-nfs:/path/in/container nginx:latest

Or using Docker Compose:

services:
  myservice:
    image: nginx:latest
    volumes:
      - im-nfs:/path/in/container
volumes:
  im-nfs:
    external: true

The volume name format is im-<volume-name> where <volume-name> is the name you assigned to the volume in Ironmount. You can verify that the volume is available by running:

docker volume ls

Third-Party Software

This project includes the following third-party software components:

Restic

Ironmount includes Restic for backup functionality.

License: BSD 2-Clause License
Status: Included unchanged
License Text: See LICENSES/BSD-2-Clause-Restic.txt

For a complete list of third-party software licenses and attributions, please refer to the NOTICES.md file.

README.md

Ironmount

Powerful backup automation for your remote storageEncrypt, compress, and protect your data with ease