Borgbase for GLPI: A backup integration

Why Borgbase for GLPI?

One element not covered by GLPI is device backups. We believe this is a valuable addition to their management, especially for equipment working with sensitive information that needs to be backed up periodically. Which is almost every computing asset, isn’t it?

We have chosen Borgbase, a backup service that works with excellent open-source tools like Borg. We use it. We wanted to have the repo status and if the backups were running OK without login into an external platform. So, we have built a plugin, we are using it, we love it, and we are sharing it with the community.

How does it sound?

Note: Installing and configuring Borg, Borgmatic, Vorta, or Borgbase is out of the scope of this post.

What is Borg

From borgbackup website:

Deduplicating archiver with compression and encryption

BorgBackup (short: Borg) gives you:

Space-efficient storage of backups.
Secure, authenticated encryption.
Compression: LZ4, zlib, LZMA, zstd (since borg 1.1.4).
Mountable backups with FUSE.
Easy installation on multiple platforms: Linux, macOS, BSD, (Windows using CYGWIN)
Free software (BSD license).
Backed by a large and active open-source community.

For us mortals, a fantastic backup tool.

What is borgmatic

From borgmatic website:

borgmatic is simple, configuration-driven backup software for servers and workstations. Protect your files with client-side encryption. Backup your databases too. Monitor it all with integrated third-party services.

What is Borgbase

Borgbase is an off-site backup service based on Borg and Restic. It can back up any sensitive data with both encrypted transport and storage, and will only charge for your

There’s even a free trial, so what do you have to lose? Secure Off-site GLPI Backup? Yes, please!

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What Borgbase for GLPI does

Our plugin for GLPI adds a tab where you can check the status of the repositories and the data of the backups made by Borgbase. The relationship between the GLPI computer and the Borgbase repository is done automatically if the names match. We advise you to rename the Borgbase repositories with the name of the related computer.

Setup

After installing the plugin, we will have to go to the configuration panel in Configuration > General > Borgbase tab and add your read-only API key. After adding the API key, the repositories that meet the conditions will be automatically linked. This action can be repeated using the reload button.

In addition to the API key, the plugin works under GLPI permissions; profiles using Borgbase will have the following permissions:

Read: Allows access to the Borgbase tab on each computer and other functionalities.
Create: Allows to link the computer with a Borgbase repository manually.
Update: Allows to renew the data provided by Borgbase individually for each computer.
Purge: Allows to remove of the links between the computer and the repository.

If a link is deleted while the automation is enabled, it will be re-established if the names match. This automation can be disabled in the configuration panel.

Link repositories

The Borgbase tab will check the computer name and if there is a repository with the same name. If so, the link will be created, and the page will be reloaded with the retrieved information. If the words do not match, or this feature has been disabled in the configuration panel, a drop-down will be displayed with the list of available repositories that have not been linked in GLPI.

Update information

The data of the linked repositories in GLPI are updated daily through an automatic action. From the Borgbase tab, you can force this update for each computer individually.

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Also, widgets for the native Dashboard

For a more general view, the plugin has graphics for the Dashboard where you can review data, such as the storage quota in Borgbase and the number of linked repositories, among others.