pgCellar documentation

pgCellar is a control room for physical PostgreSQL backups with point-in-time recovery. It runs on top of Barman: one Go binary with a web console and a JSON API, shipped as a Docker image that also contains Barman. It tells you the truth about every backup, runs the schedules, restores to a point in time, and restores your backups on its own every week to prove they work.

This manual follows the order in which you meet things: install it, understand the few concepts behind it, prepare PostgreSQL, then use each part. The last chapters are reference, and fixes for the traps people actually fall into.

Three words you will see everywhere. A server is one PostgreSQL instance that Barman backs up. A drill is an automatic restore test. Files are the truth: Barman's own files stay Barman's, everything else is one pgcellar.yaml, and git keeps the history.

1. 1Getting startedDocker Compose in five minutes: first admin, first server, first backup.
2. 2ConceptsBarman, base backups and WAL, streaming or archive_command, slots, point-in-time recovery.
3. 3Preparing a PostgreSQL serverRoles, pg_hba.conf and the settings that Server setup checks, with the exact commands.
4. 4Servers and WAL methodsThe server form, barman.d, the three WAL methods and the SSH companion.
5. 5Backups, schedules and retentionSchedule syntax, the built-in scheduler, Barman retention, deleting a backup.
6. 6Restores and point-in-time recoveryThe Restore page, targets, mapped folder, tar.gz, limits.
7. 7Restore drills and reportsWhat a drill does step by step, the image requirements, the PDF report and its fingerprint.
8. 8AlertsTelegram, mail, webhook, anti-noise rules, daily summary, sample messages.
9. 9Users, roles, API keys and the APIRoles, API keys, Bearer authentication, the main routes.
10. 10Configuration referenceEvery key of pgcellar.yaml with its default.
11. 11OperationsUpdating, backing up pgCellar itself, metrics, logs, audit, storage and projection.
12. 12Security modelRoles, sessions, CSRF, login limiter, secrets, restricted SSH, non-root container, demo mode.
13. 13TroubleshootingThe real traps, with the symptom, the cause and the fix.
14. 14Licensing and editionsFSL-1.1, what a licence blocks and what it never blocks.
15. 15CLI referenceserve, check, apikey, hash-password, license, version.