Git Repository Backup Techniques

As you know, backup is something necessary in the IT world. Lots of data, documents, and thousands of lines of code - this is a modern value and we must guard it. Let's focus on the code. The most popular version control system today, Git, offers several ways to back up your repositories. Is that enough for us? Let's check these methods!

Keeping your code in a remote repository is not a backup. Ok, maybe there is a greater chance that our computers or servers will crash rather than the entire GitHub infrastructure, but it does not change the fact that the remote repository does not meet the definition of a backup. So what to do here? We can use the built-in tools in Git to do such a backup ourselves.

Git clone

This is one of the basic functions and as the name suggests, it allows you to clone an entire repository. Git is a distributed version control system, so each local clone is a full copy of the entire repo. In theory, on the basis of this copy, we can restore the entire repository in the event of any failure. In theory, because in practice it is a bit different. The important thing is that we can parameterize the function. Therefore, depending on the given parameters, our local copy does not have to correspond 1 to 1 with what is on the external server.

Git bundle

Another function that we can use to create a manual backup is a bundle function. Like cloning, it downloads a copy of the repository to our local disk, but there is a fundamental difference between these functions. The bundle function downloads a single archive-file that contains all the necessary data to restore the repository. This function is not useful in everyday work, because we cannot work with the repository downloaded in this way. However, based on this archive, we can easily recreate our repo.

Knowing how the clone and bundle functions work, we can build our own script on this basis, which will periodically make copies. If we want to, we can also add some Git pull calls to keep files up-to-date. However, this is very problematic as the script needs to be maintained and updated on a regular basis. Besides, the script itself is not enough, we still need to have some disk space or server. In practice, the biggest problem with such scripts appears after a long time of using it. It seems quick and easy at first, but it turns into a nightmare over time. And it's an expensive nightmare.

Git backup software

Popular hosting services such as GitLab or Github can provide an API to create a repository backup, but their official documentation also encourages the use of Third-party tools to do so. So using such tools - like https://gitprotect.io/gitlab.html - seems to be a good solution. Certainly a much better solution than fighting with your own scripts, which may not provide a number of things that a good backup should have.

The cost of using such services may seem problematic but in the long run, it will be a much more beneficial solution. Third-party backup tools provide us with encryption, versioning, remote access, has its own infrastructure and does not accumulate costs over time. We can focus on our own business and not worry about possible failures - the backup will always be waiting for us.