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Version: Dev

Migrating from Built-in CloudNativePG Backup

The in-tree support for Barman Cloud in CloudNativePG is deprecated starting from version 1.26 and will be removed in a future release.

If you're currently relying on the built-in Barman Cloud integration, you can migrate seamlessly to the new plugin-based architecture using the Barman Cloud Plugin, with no downtime. Follow these steps:

  • Install the Barman Cloud Plugin
  • Create an ObjectStore resource by translating the contents of the .spec.backup.barmanObjectStore section from your existing Cluster definition
  • Modify the Cluster resource in a single atomic change to switch from in-tree backup to the plugin
  • Update any ScheduledBackup resources to use the plugin
  • Update the externalClusters configuration, where applicable
tip

For a working example, refer to this commit from the CloudNativePG Playground project, which demonstrates a full migration.

Step 1: Define the ObjectStore​

Begin by creating an ObjectStore resource in the same namespace as your PostgreSQL Cluster.

There is a direct mapping between the .spec.backup.barmanObjectStore section in CloudNativePG and the .spec.configuration field in the ObjectStore CR. The conversion is mostly mechanical, with one key difference:

warning

In the plugin architecture, retention policies are defined as part of the ObjectStore. In contrast, the in-tree implementation defined them at the Cluster level.

If your Cluster used .spec.backup.retentionPolicy, move that configuration to .spec.retentionPolicy in the ObjectStore.

Example​

Here’s an excerpt from a traditional in-tree CloudNativePG backup configuration taken from the CloudNativePG Playground project:

apiVersion: postgresql.cnpg.io/v1
kind: Cluster
metadata:
  name: pg-eu
spec:
  # [...]
  backup:
    barmanObjectStore:
      destinationPath: s3://backups/
      endpointURL: http://minio-eu:9000
      s3Credentials:
        accessKeyId:
          name: minio-eu
          key: ACCESS_KEY_ID
        secretAccessKey:
          name: minio-eu
          key: ACCESS_SECRET_KEY
      wal:
        compression: gzip

This configuration translates to the following ObjectStore resource for the plugin:

apiVersion: barmancloud.cnpg.io/v1
kind: ObjectStore
metadata:
  name: minio-eu
spec:
  configuration:
    destinationPath: s3://backups/
    endpointURL: http://minio-eu:9000
    s3Credentials:
      accessKeyId:
        name: minio-eu
        key: ACCESS_KEY_ID
      secretAccessKey:
        name: minio-eu
        key: ACCESS_SECRET_KEY
    wal:
      compression: gzip

As you can see, the contents of barmanObjectStore have been copied directly under the configuration field of the ObjectStore resource, using the same secret references.

Step 2: Update the Cluster for plugin WAL archiving​

Once the ObjectStore resource is in place, update the Cluster resource as follows in a single atomic change:

  • Remove the .spec.backup.barmanObjectStore section
  • Remove .spec.backup.retentionPolicy if it was defined (as it is now in the ObjectStore)
  • Remove the entire spec.backup section if it is now empty
  • Add barman-cloud.cloudnative-pg.io to the plugins list, as described in Configuring WAL archiving

This will trigger a rolling update of the Cluster, switching continuous backup from the in-tree implementation to the plugin-based approach.

Example​

The updated pg-eu cluster will have this configuration instead of the previous backup section:

  plugins:
  - name: barman-cloud.cloudnative-pg.io
    isWALArchiver: true
    parameters:
      barmanObjectName: minio-eu

Step 3: Update the ScheduledBackup​

After switching the Cluster to use the plugin, update your ScheduledBackup resources to match.

Set the backup method to plugin and reference the plugin name via pluginConfiguration, as shown in "Performing a base backup".

Example​

Original in-tree ScheduledBackup:

apiVersion: postgresql.cnpg.io/v1
kind: ScheduledBackup
metadata:
  name: pg-eu-backup
spec:
  cluster:
    name: pg-eu
  schedule: '0 0 0 * * *'
  backupOwnerReference: self

Updated version using the plugin:

apiVersion: postgresql.cnpg.io/v1
kind: ScheduledBackup
metadata:
  name: pg-eu-backup
spec:
  cluster:
    name: pg-eu
  schedule: '0 0 0 * * *'
  backupOwnerReference: self
  method: plugin
  pluginConfiguration:
    name: barman-cloud.cloudnative-pg.io

Step 4: Update the externalClusters configuration​

If your Cluster relies on one or more external clusters that use the in-tree Barman Cloud integration, you need to update those configurations to use the plugin-based architecture.

When a replica cluster fetches WAL files or base backups from an external source that used the built-in backup method, follow these steps:

  1. Create a corresponding ObjectStore resource for the external cluster, as shown in Step 1
  2. Update the externalClusters section of your replica cluster to use the plugin instead of the in-tree barmanObjectStore field

Example​

Consider the original configuration using in-tree Barman Cloud:

apiVersion: postgresql.cnpg.io/v1
kind: Cluster
metadata:
  name: pg-us
spec:
  # [...]
  externalClusters:
  - name: pg-eu
    barmanObjectStore:
      destinationPath: s3://backups/
      endpointURL: http://minio-eu:9000
      serverName: pg-eu
      s3Credentials:
        accessKeyId:
          name: minio-eu
          key: ACCESS_KEY_ID
        secretAccessKey:
          name: minio-eu
          key: ACCESS_SECRET_KEY
      wal:
        compression: gzip

Create the ObjectStore resource for the external cluster:

apiVersion: barmancloud.cnpg.io/v1
kind: ObjectStore
metadata:
  name: minio-eu
spec:
  configuration:
    destinationPath: s3://backups/
    endpointURL: http://minio-eu:9000
    s3Credentials:
    accessKeyId:
        name: minio-eu
        key: ACCESS_KEY_ID
    secretAccessKey:
        name: minio-eu
        key: ACCESS_SECRET_KEY
    wal:
      compression: gzip

Update the external cluster configuration to use the plugin:

apiVersion: postgresql.cnpg.io/v1
kind: Cluster
metadata:
  name: pg-us
spec:
  # [...]
  externalClusters:
  - name: pg-eu
    plugin:
      name: barman-cloud.cloudnative-pg.io
      parameters:
        barmanObjectName: minio-eu
        serverName: pg-eu