6. Backup and Restore

6.1. Backup

To back up Homegear, just copy the directories /etc/homegear and /var/lib/homegear (see Directories). You can exclude the binary module files (ending with “.so”). This is mandatory if restoring to a system with a different CPU architecture or to a different distribution or distribution version:

tar -zcpf homegear-backup.tar.gz --exclude="*.so" /etc/homegear /var/lib/homegear /data/homegear-data

Note

When the backup is meant to be restored on exactly the same system (same distribution, same distribution version, same CPU architecture), omit --exclude="*.so". This has the advantage that all manually installed additional Node-BLUE nodes are backed up as well.

6.2. Restore

1. Install Homegear with all modules previously installed. The Homegear version can be newer than the backed up one.

2. Restore your backup:

   tar -zxf homegear-backup.tar.gz
   cp -a etc/homegear /etc
   cp -a var/lib/homegear /var/lib
   cp -a data/homegear-data /data
   

3. If the Homegear version installed now is newer than the backed up one, reinstall Homegear with all modules. On Debian-like systems with:

   apt install --reinstall homegear homegear-module1 homegear-module2 ...
   

4. Reinstall all Node-BLUE nodes previously installed. For the core and extra nodes on Debian-like systems run:

   apt install --reinstall homegear-nodes-core homegear-nodes-extra
   

5. If you previously installed additional nodes, restore them as well.