Local storage

Store backups on the local filesystem.

Local storage writes backups to a directory on disk. It’s the fastest option and requires no cloud account.

Configuration

{
  "storage": {
    "provider": "local",
    "local": {
      "path": "./backups"
    }
  }
}

Or via environment:

STORAGE_PROVIDER=local
STORAGE_LOCAL_PATH=./backups

File layout

./backups/
  dbdock_backups/
    backup-2026-04-16-08-00-00-abc123.sql
    backup-2026-04-16-08-00-00-abc123.meta.json
    ...

Recommended practices

Directory permissions

Owner-only access:

chmod 700 ./backups

Use an absolute path in production

Relative paths resolve from wherever DBdock is invoked, which gets confusing fast:

{
  "storage": {
    "provider": "local",
    "local": { "path": "/var/backups/myapp" }
  }
}

Enable filesystem encryption

Local backups are not encrypted by DBdock if the encryption config is off. Rely on disk encryption (LUKS, FileVault, BitLocker) or enable DBdock’s encryption layer for defense in depth.

Watch disk space

Local backups accumulate. Set a retention policy:

{
  "backup": {
    "retention": {
      "enabled": true,
      "maxBackups": 14,
      "maxAgeDays": 14,
      "minBackups": 3,
      "runAfterBackup": true
    }
  }
}

When local is the right choice

• Single-server setup with dedicated backup disk
• Development and testing
• Staging databases you don’t mind losing in a host failure
• A first hop before syncing to cloud (e.g., rsync to another host)

When local is the wrong choice

• Production data you can’t afford to lose. If the server dies, the backups die with it.
• Multi-server deployments. Backups get fragmented across hosts.
• Compliance environments. Audit trails are usually easier with object storage.

Pair local with a cloud provider for disaster recovery — take backups locally for speed, then sync to S3/R2 on a schedule.

See also

AWS S3

Offsite backup destination.

Cloudflare R2

Cheaper cloud alternative.