Automatically remove old HA config backups

Configuration
7

I just tried to set up a backup purge command using the Shell Command integration.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but the /backup dir is not mounted in the homeassistant container, so we can’t use that integration for this specific case?
From the docs:

If you are using Home Assistant Operating System, the commands are executed in the homeassistant container context. So if you test or debug your script, it might make sense to do this in the context of this container to get the same runtime environment.

1 Like
8

I tried to set it up and I managed to remove the files. The issue I have now is that HomeAssistant still keeps the references to the files in Settings->System->Backups list. The files don’t exist anymore so when trying to download a file it returns 0B file (so it’s expected) but I’d like also to clean up those references. I don’t see any service (only backup.create). Anyone solved it?

1 Like
9

I’ve just started using this integration hass auto backup and it adds a lot more capability around backups. I’ll report back once I have more experience with it but it seems to work well so far.

10

Just adding an update - this looks good but Home Assistant configuration.yaml now separates command_line stuff…

command_line:
  - switch:
      name: Purge Backups
      # go to backup direcotory, list files by date, filter result list to hide the first 7 results (show from nr.8) and remove remaining
      command_on: cd /config/backups/ && ls -A1t | tail -n +8 | xargs rm -v

Edit: removed trailing backslash.

1 Like
11

Once using this Auto Backup do we disable the built in backup or do they work together?

12

Shameless plug for my blog post about auto-backups ibizaman's Blog - Backup Home-Assistant with and without Nix

13

I tried this, but my main homeassistant core container does not have a /config/backups/ folder. Did this change?

14

Hi,

for those who prefer to do it on Bash I wrote myself a little script which does the handling and is started daily by cron.

  • it creates a lockfile in case the job run more often than only a single process
  • removes all backups older than 7 days (properly for HA, not only removing the files)
  • creates a new backup
    That’s it. Match the files and directories according to your need.
#!/bin/bash
#set -x

LOCKFILE=/var/lock/backup.run

# Einen lock mit FileDescriptor 958 erstellen
exec 958<>$LOCKFILE ||exit 1
flock -n 958 || exit 1 # Non-Blocking. Wenn das nicht geht, steigt er mit Fehlercode aus

# Löscht die Lock-Datei bei Erhalt von "EXIT" Signal
trap 'rm -f $LOCKFILE' EXIT

# Und los geht's
NAME="CRON_Vollbackup_am_`date +%d.%m.%y`"

pushd /usr/share/hassio/backup
find . -ctime "+7" > /tmp/filelist.$$
if [ ! -z /tmp/filelist.$$ ]; then
	for i in $(cat /tmp/filelist.$$) ; do
		FILE = $(basename -s .tar $i)
		ha backups rm $FILE
	done
fi
rm -f /tmp/filelist.$$
popd
ha backup new --name \"$NAME\"

rm -f $LOCKFILE
exit
3 Likes
15

Can this be used on Home Assistant OS or are you using a self-managed linux?

16

I can’t get this to work with Home Assistant OS either. The command gets executed in the ‘homeassistant’ docker’s environment. There is no backups there. I have not yet figured it out. :confused:

1 Like
17

It is on the supervised mode- Debian12 as OS running.

18

If you have the advanced ssh and web terminal addon installed, you could create a shell_command to run the code inside the ssh addon container, which does have the backup volume mapped:

shell_command:
  backup_purge: "ssh -i {{path to ssh keys}} -p {{port}} {{username}}@{{HAOSip}} ‘{{executable file path}}'"
2 Likes
19

This actually did help me to find the solution. Thank you very much!

For everyone else, here it is:

shell_command:
  delete_old_backups: "ssh -i /config/private.pem -p 22222 [email protected] 'find /mnt/data/supervisor/backup -type f -mtime +20 -name '*.tar' | xargs rm'"
1 Like
20

* ha backups remove

1 Like
21

Steps to Automatically Delete Old Backups in Home Assistant

Follow these steps to set up a system that automatically deletes backups older than 7 days.

Step 1: Generate SSH Keys

Generate a new SSH key pair. Open the terminal and execute:

ssh-keygen -t rsa

When prompted for the file location, change it to:

/config/shell_command_id_rsa

Step 2: Set Up SSH Key Authentication

Append the public key to the authorized keys and test the SSH connection:

cat /config/shell_command_id_rsa.pub >> /root/.ssh/authorized_keys
cd /config
ssh -i shell_command_id_rsa root@localhost

This should open a new SSH session. Type exit to close the session.

Step 3: Create a Directory for Shell Scripts

Create a directory to store your shell scripts:

mkdir /config/shell

Step 4: Create the Backup Removal Script

Create a shell script that deletes backups older than 7 days:

nano /config/shell/remove-old-backups.sh

Add the following content to the script:

#!/bin/bash

# Remove old backup files
# -mtime +7 corresponds to files older than 7 days
find /backup -name '*.tar' -mtime +7 -exec rm -f {} \;

Make the script executable:

chmod +x /config/shell/remove-old-backups.sh

Step 5: Edit the Home Assistant Configuration

Edit the configuration.yaml file to add a shell command that executes your script via SSH:

shell_command:
  delete_old_backups: 'ssh -i /config/shell_command_id_rsa -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no root@localhost bash /config/shell/remove-old-backups.sh'

Step 6: Create an Automation to Run the Script

Add an automation to run the shell command daily. Edit your automations.yaml or use the UI to create a new automation:

automation:
  - alias: Delete Old Backups
    description: Deletes backups older than 7 days every day at 3:30 AM
    trigger:
      - platform: time
        at: "03:30:00"
    action:
      - service: shell_command.delete_old_backups

Step 7: Restart Home Assistant

Restart Home Assistant to apply the changes:

ha core restart

Summary

You’ve now set up an automated system to delete backups older than 7 days using a custom shell script and Home Assistant automations.

Feel free to adapt the SSH setup to suit other types of commands if needed.

2 Likes
22

Just a quick update on this working on HA Core 2024.8.3 (Home Assistant OS)
Backups folder moved from /config/bakcups/ to backup/

command_line:
  - switch:
      name: Purge Backups
      # go to backup direcotory, list files by date, filter result list to hide the first 7 results (show from nr.8) and remove remaining
      command_on: cd backup/ && ls -A1t | tail -n +8 | xargs rm -v
2 Likes
23

Just wanted to pop in here and show yet another commandline that works. I was getting errors due to using Syncthing on that folder. This will check only for .tar files (I’m on Docker - change the folder name for Core): command_on: "cd /config/backups/ && ls *.tar -A1t | tail -n +8 | xargs rm -f"

24

Hi,

looks very promising.

Which path will I have to use for a remote backup location I added?

/KNEBB

25

I can delete past backups from GUI - there should be some way to automate this without shell scriping?

26

Hi @fberbert,
This reads like AI generated content. Did you actually implement this and test it?