11 · Operating itLab 55 / 59
ChallengesreDestructive
Backup & Disaster Recovery Drill — Challenge
Lose the database on purpose, restore it, and write down the RTO and RPO you actually achieved.
- Time
- 27 min
- Level
- Advanced
- Objectives
- 4 objectives
- Cost
- Free
Where this fits in the platform
Already built
This lab adds
- A restore you have performed, not a backup you assume works
Before you start
You will need
- Docker
- Docker Compose
- psql
You do not need these already — the lab environment below provides them.
You will be able to
- Verify a backup by restoring it, not by checking it exists
- Measure RTO and RPO rather than asserting them
- Write a runbook someone else can follow
The goal#
Achieve the same outcome as Backup & Disaster Recovery Drill, from an empty starting point, without the steps.
The backup job has reported success every night for eight months. Nobody has restored one.
Today you find out whether it works — on a database you can afford to lose.
Hands-on environment
Run this lab in a real terminal, free and in your browser. The environment is temporary and yours alone — break it as much as you like.
Start the challengeOpens in Killercoda, in a new tab — keep this page open for the steps.
This is the guided lab's environment — the same machine, with its walkthrough on the left. Work from the task above and leave those steps alone until you are done, or you are reading the answers.
Run it on your own machine
Run this lab on your own machine. One command starts the environment, with everything the lab needs already installed:
You will need:
- docker
git clone https://github.com/EgyKode/EgyKode-lab.git
cd EgyKode-lab
./egykode start
./egykode shellYou need Docker and Git installed. Everything else runs inside the environment. The first start downloads it and takes a few minutes; later starts are seconds.
Not sure what you already have? Run: npm run doctor — it checks and changes nothing.
Anything you tick here is your own record. EgyKode cannot see inside that terminal, so the success criteria stay self-assessed even when the environment checks your work for you.
What must be true when you are done
Step 1 of 3
What must be true when you are done#
- A backup is taken, verified, and restored into a clean database.
- You can state the RTO you measured and the RPO your schedule implies.
- The restore is driven by a written runbook, not by memory.
- A deliberately corrupted backup is detected before it is trusted.
Rules#
- Do not open the guided lab until you are finished, or until the same problem has held you up for 20 minutes.
- Documentation is allowed and encouraged.
- Verify every criterion with a command whose output you can read.
If you get stuck#
- What did you expect, exactly?
- What happened instead — the error text, not a paraphrase?
- Which layer is that error from?
- What is the smallest command that proves the layer below is fine?
You are done when
0 of 4
The concept behind it
Next up
Lab 55 of 59 on the project path