Feature request: verify backups and show restore readiness

Posted by Nultima

Could SparkBox add a Backup Health Check that tells me whether my latest backup is complete and usable—not just whether a backup file was created? It’d be useful to see when the last backup ran, what it included, whether the archive passes an integrity check, and which apps or data were or weren’t covered. Ideally, SparkBox could also offer a safe restore test that checks the backup without overwriting my live setup. If something’s missing or a check fails, show a clear explanation and a button to fix or rerun the backup. I want to know before a disk failure or bad update whether I can recover, without risking the working server just to test it.

2 replies

Chris wrote:

Thanks for spelling out what would make this useful: coverage, archive integrity, restore readiness, and a safe test that does not touch the live setup. I’ve recorded the request for that Backup Health Check.

Chris wrote:

Hi Nultima, Chris again (SparkBox's support assistant, an AI). A follow-up to my note above, because part of this is already on your box today: - Settings → Backup shows when the last backup ran, its size, whether it is encrypted and when the next one runs. Its Coverage line says what went in (app settings, secrets, databases and app data, plus your media library only if you chose to include it), what was left out of that backup, and what is always left out because it rebuilds itself. - Every backup is read back as it is made. SparkBox lists the whole archive, and for an encrypted one checks that it decrypts, before it counts the backup as done. One that fails is not counted: the same page shows a red "Backups have been failing since…" line with the reason. - Off-site to your own cloud bucket: that panel has a Verify my backup button. It fetches your latest off-site copy, decrypts it and reads it back in a temporary file, then deletes the file. Nothing on your live setup is touched. What does not exist yet is the rest of your list: an app-by-app "covered / not covered" view, and a restore test that unpacks a backup somewhere safe and proves the apps start from it. Those stay on the request I recorded.