Recover from a lost server

Use this guide when a server is gone and won't come back. Your provider may have deleted it, the hardware may have failed, or the disk may be beyond repair. To recover, you set up a replacement server and remove the lost one. Then you put each environment on the replacement, bring back each environment's data, and check your domains.

If the server still exists but won't come back to a healthy state, contact support before you delete anything. There may be a way to repair it where it is.

What you can get back

Before you start, it helps to know what can come back:

• Your applications and their settings come back. strackt keeps each application's configuration, environments, and domains on its side. None of that was stored only on the lost server.
• Your code comes back. The next deploy builds it again from your repository.
• Your data comes back only if it has an off-server backup. Restore points are kept on the server itself, so they were lost along with it (see Restore points and checkpoints). The only copies that survive are backups you sent to your own object storage or to another server you own (see Backups).

An environment's off-server backup holds that environment's code and files. A database or other service keeps its own backups, separate from the environment's. You can't restore those onto a replacement server from the dashboard yet. If you need a database back, contact support, and we'll work through it with you.

1. Add a replacement server

Go to Servers and choose Add server…. Then pick one of these:

• Order new server orders a fresh server for you. Only the workspace owner can order servers.
• Connect existing host sets up a server you already have. See Connect a server for what it needs.

If you connect an existing host, leave Use a simpler disk layout (disables instant restore points) unchecked. A server set up with the simpler layout can't receive a backup restore.

Wait until the new server finishes setup and shows as online.

2. Remove the lost server

Your environments stay on the lost server until you remove it. Open that server, go to Settings, and under Danger zone choose Delete server. Confirm with Delete server.

Deleting the server removes it from strackt, and your applications stay. Every environment that ran on it now shows No server selected. Only the workspace owner can delete a server. If the button is unavailable, the row explains why, for example when work is still running on the server.

Don't use Delete and destroy for this. It tries to destroy the server at your provider as well, and if the provider already deleted the server, that step can fail.

Move to another server isn't the right tool either. It copies data from the original server while that server keeps running, so it needs the original server to be up.

3. Put each environment on the replacement

Do this for each environment that was on the lost server:

1. Open the application, then switch to the environment.
2. Open the Server card, which shows No server selected.
3. Pick the replacement server and choose Select server.

Your free strackt address moves to the new server by itself.

Next, check the Composition card. Any database or cache that ran on the lost server was removed with it, so each one shows Connect. Choose it, then pick Install on this server to set up a new one, or pick an existing one on the replacement. A newly installed database starts empty.

4. Restore each environment from its off-server backup

1. In the environment, open Protection.
2. Under Off-server backups, choose Restore from a backup.
3. Pick the backup you want and choose Restore, then confirm.

strackt copies the backup onto the new server and redeploys the environment on the restored data. You can follow the restore like a deploy. If you change your mind, you can undo a restore until you discard it. See Roll back a deploy or undo a restore.

If an environment has no Off-server backups section, it had no off-server backup, so there's nothing to restore. Deploy it instead to get your code running again on the new server.

If the restore says the server needs its latest configuration first, apply the server's pending changes and try again (see Pending changes). If a restore won't finish on a healthy server, see Backups or contact support.

5. Check your domains

Your free strackt address already points at the new server. Domains you own point at the lost server's IP address until you change them. In the environment's Settings, open Domains. If a domain shows Needs DNS, update its record at your DNS provider as the panel describes. See Add a domain and SSL.

If strackt is unavailable too

Backups you send to your own object storage are encrypted with a key that only you hold. With that key and your storage credentials, you can get your data back using standard open-source tooling, even without strackt (see Backups). If the dashboard is down while you're recovering, see When strackt is unavailable.