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A robust backup and restore strategy is essential for protecting your Prisme.ai platform data and ensuring business continuity. This guide provides detailed instructions for backing up and restoring all components of your self-hosted Prisme.ai environment.

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Backup Strategy

Your Prisme.ai platform requires backing up several components:

Client-Managed Databases

  • PostgreSQL or MongoDB
  • Elasticsearch or OpenSearch
  • Redis

Object Storage

  • S3 or compatible object storage
  • Document files and attachments

Configuration

  • Kubernetes manifests
  • Helm values
  • Terraform state files

Secrets

  • Kubernetes secrets
  • Certificate files
  • API keys and credentials

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Database Backup Procedures

Per-engine backup commands and managed-service options live on the dedicated database pages:

MongoDB

mongodump / mongorestore, Atlas continuous backups.

Elasticsearch or OpenSearch

Snapshot API, S3 / Azure Blob / GCS snapshot repositories.

Redis

RDB / AOF persistence, managed snapshot schedules.

PostgreSQL

pg_dump / pg_restore, RDS / Azure / Cloud SQL point-in-time recovery.

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Object Storage (S3 / Azure Blob / GCS)

Use the provider’s tooling to mirror or version your buckets: 
# AWS S3 — sync to a backup bucket (cross-region for DR)
aws s3 sync s3://your-prisme-bucket s3://your-backup-bucket

# Enable versioning (built-in restore safety)
aws s3api put-bucket-versioning --bucket your-prisme-bucket \
  --versioning-configuration Status=Enabled
Apply lifecycle policies to manage backup retention and storage tier. Equivalents exist on Azure Blob (snapshots / soft delete) and GCS (object versioning).

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Configuration Backup

1

Back Up Kubernetes Resources

Save your Kubernetes configuration resources:
# Back up all resources in the Prisme namespace
mkdir -p /path/to/backup/kubernetes/$(date +%Y-%m-%d)

# Export deployments, services, configmaps, secrets, etc.
kubectl get all,pvc,cm,secret -n prisme-system -o yaml > \
  /path/to/backup/kubernetes/$(date +%Y-%m-%d)/prisme-resources.yaml
2

Back Up Helm Values

Save your Helm chart values for each release:
# Get values for each Helm release
helm get values prisme-core -n prisme-system -o yaml > \
  /path/to/backup/helm/$(date +%Y-%m-%d)/prisme-core-values.yaml

helm get values prisme-securechat -n prisme-system -o yaml > \
  /path/to/backup/helm/$(date +%Y-%m-%d)/prisme-securechat-values.yaml

# Repeat for each product module
3

Back Up Terraform State

If using Terraform, back up your state files:
# If using local state
cp terraform.tfstate terraform.tfstate.backup
cp -r terraform.tfstate.d /path/to/backup/terraform/$(date +%Y-%m-%d)

# If using remote state (recommended), ensure your remote backend has proper backup
Using remote state in Terraform (like S3 with versioning or Terraform Cloud) provides built-in backup capabilities.

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Restore Procedures

Per-engine restore commands live on the dedicated database pages — see the Backup & restore section of each:

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Object Storage restore

# Restore from a backup bucket
aws s3 sync s3://your-backup-bucket s3://your-prisme-bucket --delete

# Restore a specific object version (when versioning is enabled)
aws s3api get-object --bucket your-prisme-bucket --key path/to/file \
  --version-id <VERSION_ID> /tmp/restored

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Configuration Restore

1

Restore Kubernetes Resources

Apply your backed-up Kubernetes configurations:
# First, clean up the namespace if necessary
# WARNING: This will delete all resources! Use with caution.
# kubectl delete namespace prisme-system
# kubectl create namespace prisme-system

# Apply backed-up resources
kubectl apply -f /path/to/backup/kubernetes/YYYY-MM-DD/prisme-resources.yaml
Be cautious when restoring resources. Consider restoring specific resource types instead of everything at once:
# Restore only ConfigMaps and Secrets first
kubectl apply -f /path/to/backup/kubernetes/YYYY-MM-DD/configmaps.yaml
kubectl apply -f /path/to/backup/kubernetes/YYYY-MM-DD/secrets.yaml

# Then restore other resources
kubectl apply -f /path/to/backup/kubernetes/YYYY-MM-DD/deployments.yaml
2

Restore Helm Releases

Use your backed-up values to reinstall or upgrade Helm releases:
# Reinstall core
helm upgrade --install prisme-core prisme/prisme-core \
  -f /path/to/backup/helm/YYYY-MM-DD/prisme-core-values.yaml \
  --namespace prisme-system

# Reinstall product modules
helm upgrade --install prisme-securechat prisme/prisme-securechat \
  -f /path/to/backup/helm/YYYY-MM-DD/prisme-securechat-values.yaml \
  --namespace prisme-system

# Repeat for other product modules
3

Restore Terraform State

If you need to restore Terraform state:
# For local state
cp /path/to/backup/terraform/YYYY-MM-DD/terraform.tfstate .
cp -r /path/to/backup/terraform/YYYY-MM-DD/terraform.tfstate.d .

# Verify state
terraform state list
For remote state, follow your backend provider’s restoration process.

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Disaster Recovery Planning

Define your recovery objectives to guide your backup strategy:

RPO (Recovery Point Objective)

Maximum acceptable data loss in time:
  • Critical data: RPO < 1 hour
  • Important data: RPO < 24 hours
  • Regular data: RPO < 1 week

RTO (Recovery Time Objective)

Maximum acceptable time to restore service:
  • Critical services: RTO < 4 hours
  • Important services: RTO < 24 hours
  • Regular services: RTO < 3 days

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Testing and Validation

1

Verify Backup Integrity

Regularly test your backups to ensure they can be restored:
# For MongoDB
mongorestore --uri="mongodb://username:password@hostname:port/test_db" \
  --nsFrom="database.*" --nsTo="test_db.*" \
  --dryRun /path/to/backup/mongo/YYYY-MM-DD

# For S3
aws s3 cp s3://your-backup-bucket/sample-file.pdf /tmp/test-restore.pdf
2

Validation Checkpoints

Establish validation points for successful restoration:

Data Validation

  • Record counts match pre-backup state
  • Sample record content is intact
  • Relationships between data are preserved
  • Application-specific data tests pass

Functionality Validation

  • Core services start successfully
  • API endpoints respond correctly
  • Authentication and authorization work
  • Data processing functions operate properly
  • UI elements display and function as expected
3

Document Restoration Procedures

Maintain detailed, tested restoration runbooks:
  • Step-by-step instructions
  • Required credentials and access
  • Validation checkpoints
  • Troubleshooting guidance
  • Contact information for support

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Next Steps

Updates

Keep your platform current with the latest updates

Scaling

Scale your platform to meet growing demands