How to clean up old differential backups on an NFS server

Description

NFS server disk usage can increase unexpectedly when old differential backup directories accumulate over time. This issue occurs when outdated backup data is not removed regularly, resulting in excessive disk space usage and potential storage issues.

Solução

To address the issue, identify and remove outdated differential backup directories:

1. Go to the differential backup directory path, as shown in the following example:

   cd NFS_MOUNT/objectstore/backup/s3/diff

2. List directories older than a specific epoch timestamp:

   epoch=<timestamp-from-last-backup-you-want-to-keep>; for i in $(ls -1); do if [[ $i -lt $epoch ]]; then echo $i; fi; done

   Replace <timestamp-from-last-backup-you-want-to-keep> with the epoch timestamp of the last backup you want to keep.

   This command lists all directories older than that timestamp.

3. After verifying the output, delete the old directories:

   epoch=<timestamp-from-last-backup-you-want-to-keep>; for i in $(ls -1); do if [[ $i -lt $epoch ]]; then rm -rf $i; fi; done

Important: Verify the timestamp before deleting any directories. Deleted directories cannot be recovered.