From 287c904e7c6ee7b2eaa6102bb2b43996d6c17bcb Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: catborise <catborise@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 3 Nov 2026 09:57:14 +0300
Subject: [PATCH] docs(readme): a daily backup moves the panel to a new machine

The Backups section said only which files to put back on a new
machine. Now Restore and rollback has the steps, for Docker and for
installer and manual installations: restore the database, put back the
secret key, the worker's id and the SSH keys, and start. Users stay
signed in, the worker knows its old jobs and the computes accept the
panel again; the configuration outside the backup is brought over by
hand.
---
 README.md | 34 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-
 1 file changed, 33 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 555931f8..96bcf468 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -457,7 +457,7 @@ docker compose exec webvirtcloud /sbin/setuser www-data venv/bin/python3 manage.
 systemctl start webvirt-backup && journalctl -u webvirt-backup -n 3                          # otherwise
 ```
 
-To restore one, follow [Restore and rollback](#restore-and-rollback) with `b` set to its directory. In Docker, copy it out of the volume first (`docker compose cp webvirtcloud:/srv/webvirtcloud/backups/webvirtcloud-backup-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS ..`) and leave out the `git checkout` and `build` lines: the backup has no commit. On a new machine, also put back `secret_key` and `node_id` into `data/` and `ssh/` into the panel user's `~/.ssh`.
+To restore one, follow [Restore and rollback](#restore-and-rollback) with `b` set to its directory. In Docker, copy it out of the volume first (`docker compose cp webvirtcloud:/srv/webvirtcloud/backups/webvirtcloud-backup-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS ..`) and leave out the `git checkout` and `build` lines: the backup has no commit. To move the panel to a new machine, see [Moving to a new machine](#moving-to-a-new-machine).
 
 ## Updating
 
@@ -614,6 +614,38 @@ nginx -t && systemctl reload nginx && systemctl start webvirt-cloud webvirt-novn
 
 A version from before v3.0.0 has no worker: `systemctl disable --now webvirt-worker`. A rollback keeps the systemd units. A rollback leaves the clone on a detached HEAD at the restored commit; the update steps record that commit before they switch back to `master`.
 
+### Moving to a new machine
+
+A [backup](#backups) moves the panel to a new machine, or back onto lost volumes: the database, the secret key (signed-in users stay signed in), the worker's id and the SSH keys the computes accept. Install the panel there first, the same version or a newer one, then copy the backup directory over and set `b` to it. The backup does not hold `docker-compose.override.yml`, the nginx config or `/etc/default/webvirtcloud`: bring your own lines over yourself. Users sign in with their passwords from the backup; the new installation's `data/admin_password` no longer applies.
+
+Docker, in the directory you installed from:
+
+```bash
+b=../webvirtcloud-backup-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS &&
+docker compose stop -t 95 &&
+docker compose run --rm --no-deps -T --entrypoint /srv/webvirtcloud/venv/bin/python3 webvirtcloud \
+  -c "import os,sqlite3,sys,tempfile; t=tempfile.mktemp(); open(t,'wb').write(sys.stdin.buffer.read()); [os.remove(p) for p in ('data/db.sqlite3-journal','data/db.sqlite3-wal','data/db.sqlite3-shm') if os.path.exists(p)]; sqlite3.connect(t).backup(sqlite3.connect('data/db.sqlite3'))" < "$b/db.sqlite3" &&
+docker compose cp "$b/secret_key" webvirtcloud:/srv/webvirtcloud/data/ &&
+docker compose cp "$b/node_id" webvirtcloud:/srv/webvirtcloud/data/ &&
+docker compose cp "$b/ssh/." webvirtcloud:/var/www/.ssh/ &&
+docker compose up -d    # the container migrates and fixes ownership and modes at start
+```
+
+Installer and manual installation, from a root shell (`nginx` instead of `www-data` on RHEL / openSUSE). Compare `$b/settings.py` with `webvirtcloud/settings.py` and carry your own values over:
+
+```bash
+b=/root/webvirtcloud-backup-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS
+systemctl stop webvirt-cloud webvirt-novncd webvirt-socketiod webvirt-worker
+cd /srv/webvirtcloud &&
+venv/bin/python3 -c "import os,sqlite3,sys; [os.remove(p) for p in ('db.sqlite3-journal','db.sqlite3-wal','db.sqlite3-shm') if os.path.exists(p)]; sqlite3.connect(sys.argv[1]).backup(sqlite3.connect('db.sqlite3'))" "$b/db.sqlite3" &&
+cp "$b/secret_key" "$b/node_id" data/ &&
+mkdir -p ~www-data/.ssh && cp "$b"/ssh/* ~www-data/.ssh/ &&
+venv/bin/python3 manage.py migrate &&
+chown -R www-data:www-data data ~www-data/.ssh &&
+chmod 700 data ~www-data/.ssh && chmod 600 db.sqlite3 &&
+systemctl start webvirt-cloud webvirt-novncd webvirt-socketiod webvirt-worker
+```
+
 ### Behavior changes
 
 - Requests for a host not in `ALLOWED_HOSTS` get 400. The installer writes the server's names and IPs; add more with the `ALLOWED_HOSTS` env var. The cloud-init datasource host must be allowed too.