Monitor database backups and catch missing backup jobs

When you need this

A successful pg_dump or mysqldump does not prove the backup reached storage or can be restored. Monitor the whole chain: file creation, validation, transfer and retention checks. Send success only after the final required step.

How to connect

1. 1

   Combine the dump, file validation and storage upload in a script that returns nonzero if any required step fails.

2. 2

   Wrap that script and set a monitor matching the backup schedule, allowing for its normal runtime.

3. 3

   Create a separate scheduled restore test and give it a separate monitor.

Ready-to-use example

Install Bash, curl and uuidgen on the job server. Save the code as /opt/tickwatch-run.sh, replace the ping URL with your own and use the absolute path to your job. Keep the ping key private. The wrapper preserves the job exit code; a failed monitoring request does not interrupt it. backup-and-verify.sh is your existing backup and validation script, not a command supplied by Tickwatch.

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# Save as tickwatch-run.sh; run: bash tickwatch-run.sh /path/to/job.sh
if [ "$#" -eq 0 ]; then echo "Usage: $0 command [args...]" >&2; exit 2; fi
PING='https://ping.tickwatch.dev/YOUR_PING_KEY'
RID=$(uuidgen) || exit 1
ping() {
  curl -fsS --connect-timeout 3 --max-time 5 --retry 2 --retry-max-time 12 \
    -X POST "$PING/$1?rid=$RID" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
}
finish() {
  code=$?
  trap - EXIT
  if [ "$code" -eq 0 ]; then ping ""; else ping fail; fi
  exit "$code"
}
trap finish EXIT
trap 'exit 130' INT
trap 'exit 143' TERM
ping start
"$@"

0 3 * * * /usr/bin/bash /opt/tickwatch-run.sh /usr/local/bin/backup-and-verify.sh

Check before going live

• If using pg_dump | gzip, enable pipefail in your Bash backup script: a successful gzip must not mask a pg_dump failure.

• An empty or old file is not a new backup. Check its size, creation time and successful upload to remote storage.

• The wrapper sends status signals only. Do not send database dumps, connection strings or passwords in ping bodies.

Common questions