OpenClaw Backup and Restore Playbook

Running OpenClaw without tested backups is not operations — it is luck.

This playbook gives you a minimal, production-safe backup and restore flow you can run weekly.

1) Define what must be recoverable

At minimum, back up:

1. Configuration (env files, runtime config, compose manifests)
2. Persistent data (databases, state volumes, uploaded artifacts)
3. Automation assets (scripts, cron jobs, runbooks)
4. Secrets references (not plaintext in Git; references + recovery path)
5. Operational docs (incident notes, deployment notes)

If you cannot rebuild from these five categories, your backup plan is incomplete.

2) Use the 3-2-1 rule

• 3 copies of critical data
• 2 different media/locations
• 1 off-site copy

For self-hosters, this usually means:

• local snapshot
• separate storage node/NAS
• encrypted off-site object storage

3) Backup frequency by data type

• Config + code: on every change (Git)
• DB/state: daily (or more if write-heavy)
• Full volume snapshot: daily/weekly
• Restore drill: weekly for critical paths, monthly for full stack

4) Minimum backup checklist

• Database dump succeeds and is non-empty
• Critical volumes archived with timestamp
• Checksums generated
• Backup copied off-host
• Retention policy enforced
• Alert on backup failure

5) Restore drill (non-negotiable)

A backup is valid only if restore is tested.

Run this drill:

1. Provision clean test environment
2. Restore config and data from latest backup
3. Start services
4. Validate core workflow end-to-end
5. Record recovery time + failures
6. Fix gaps and repeat

Track:

• RTO (Recovery Time Objective): how long recovery took
• RPO (Recovery Point Objective): how much data loss window exists

6) Common failure modes

• Backups succeed but restore scripts are broken
• Missing secrets block service startup
• Partial snapshots miss cross-service consistency
• No checksum/integrity validation
• Backups stored on same host (single point of failure)

7) Starter policy (copy/adapt)

• Daily DB backup at 02:00 UTC
• Daily volume snapshot at 03:00 UTC
• 30-day retention local, 90-day off-site
• Weekly restore test Sunday 06:00 UTC
• Pager/alert on any failed job

8) Security notes

• Encrypt backups at rest and in transit
• Restrict restore credentials (least privilege)
• Audit who can access backup storage
• Never store plaintext master secrets with backups

If you run OpenClaw in production-like conditions, schedule restore drills first, then optimize everything else.

For hardening context, read the Secure Deployment Guide.