Hosting Operations

Read-only

Read the Backup Manifest

You need to confirm the backup id, timestamp, archive name, and completion status before drilling a restore.

Command

cd restore-dr && cat backups/2026-06-25/MANIFEST.txt

Before you run this

System impact: Read-only. Low when scoped to the shown target.

When not to use it: Do not rely on a manifest alone; validate the archive and restored files afterward.

Expected output

Manifest keys including backup_id, created_at, archive, status, and total_files.

System impact

Read-only. Nothing changes. The command prints the manifest.

Recovery / rollback: no state is changed.

When to use it

Use before extracting an archive so the selected restore point is explicit.

When not to use it

Do not rely on a manifest alone; validate the archive and restored files afterward.

Watch this command run

Command transcript

This sanitized transcript shows the commands and output shape without exposing host details.

demo@lab:~$

$ cd restore-dr && cat backups/2026-06-25/MANIFEST.txt

backup_id=2026-06-25
created_at=2026-06-25T12:00:00Z
archive=site.tar
status=complete
total_files=7

$ cd restore-dr && grep -E 'backup_id=|created_at=|status=' backups/2026-06-25/MANIFEST.txt

backup_id=2026-06-25
created_at=2026-06-25T12:00:00Z
status=complete

View commands shown

These are the commands shown in the sanitized transcript.

Commands shown

cd restore-dr && cat backups/2026-06-25/MANIFEST.txt
cd restore-dr && grep -E 'backup_id=|created_at=|status=' backups/2026-06-25/MANIFEST.txt

next steps

Related commands

Hosting Operations Can be slow

List Restore Points Before a Drill

A restore drill starts by proving which backups actually exist.

cd restore-dr && find backups -maxdepth 2 -type f -name MANIFEST.txt -printf '%TY-%Tm-%Td %TH:%TM %h\n' | sort -r

Hosting Operations Read-only

List Archive Contents Before Extracting

You can inspect a tar backup before it writes a single file.

cd restore-dr && tar -tf backups/2026-06-25/site.tar | sed 's#^./##' | sort

Hosting Operations Deletes data

Check Required Files After Restore

A successful extraction still needs a required-file check.

cd restore-dr && rm -rf restore-sandbox/full && mkdir -p restore-sandbox/full && tar -xf backups/2026-06-25/site.tar -C restore-sandbox/full && find restore-sandbox/full -type f | sed 's#^restore-sandbox/full/##' | sort | comm -23 required-files.txt -

Hosting Operations Deletes data

Extract a Backup Into a Restore Sandbox

A restore drill should write to a sandbox, not production.

cd restore-dr && rm -rf restore-sandbox/full && mkdir -p restore-sandbox/full && tar -xf backups/2026-06-25/site.tar -C restore-sandbox/full