Alike Backup

This is is an attempt to reforge the final Alike Backup (A3) into the newer, unreleased Alike v7.5.
The Alike software is now completely open-sourced, and this project intends to carry the project forward. Older A3 installs should be completely compatible, and existing ADS datastores can be imported.

Quick Start

Please use our bootable ISO installer to create your A3. For a USB installer, you can use Rufus, Etcher, or similar tools.

System Recommendations

• At least 2GB Ram is needed for the A3. Additional memory can help with performance, but has diminishing returns over ~12GB
• 16GB+ is needed for the A3 OS and software installation. More space is good for future-proofing.
• Sufficient backup storage for your environment
  • Please Note: Storing backups on local disks, or in the same environment you are protecting is not recommended!
  • A NAS or CIFS share is a very wise choice
  • S3-compatible storage is only supported for the ODS (Offsite Vaults)

Project Goals

We want to simplify the Alike solution, and make it simple to configure an manage however you like. Additionally, we hope to replace any functionality lost when the Quadric services were removed, such as email notifications, user management, etc.

• Undockered: The Alike software now runs directly on the Linux OS.
• AlikeSR (NFS SR)removed: This drastically reduces complexity, and greatly improves stability at the cost of the "InstaBoot" feature.
• Full (root) access to your appliance: You can manage all aspects of the Alike system.

Building from source

At present, this project has only been tested on Debian 12.x, but it will likely work on other (modern) Debian based systems. To create the new A3, you can use the Debian "preseed" process, by using the URL below, which will follow an automated install. This will provide the base OS and all required packages for Alike to run. If you wish to install Alike on an existing system, you can skip the "preseed" install step, but please be sure to have all required packages installed.

Build Steps

1. Boot your system with a Debian 12.x ISO. Please be sure the sytem has at least 32GB of disk, and 2GB ram minimum. All disks will be overwritten during this process! Use the preseed config:

   https://raw.githubusercontent.com/alikebackup/a3/main/build/a3.cfg

2. Once the base OS install is complete, login as root with the user "alike" (Please change ASAP)

3. Then follow the steps presented on screen, which at present are:

   curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/alikebackup/a3/main/build/a3_install.sh | bash

4. This will install the Alike software and services, followed by a reboot or two.

5. Once the system is up, and you can see the console menu, add/configure your backup storage (ADS)

6. This can be a local disk, an NFS share, or any locally mounted storage at the mount point: /mnt/ads

7. You may now start the Alike services (from the menu), and proceed to the Web UI

Final Thoughts

If you are looking for the final update to the A3 product line, you can find a preserved docker image and the required docker-compose.yml file in the docker folder. This is here for archive purposes only, and will not be supported in this project.

Lastly, a very big shout-out to the Quadric Software team for creating such a wonderful backup solution, and of course, for deciding to make it open source at the end. Additionally, a heartfelt thank you to the whole Quadric team for their assistance with the code migration and many questions.