zerobyte

#### Join the community > [!WARNING] > Zerobyte is still in version 0.x.x and is subject to major changes from version to version. I am developing the core features and collecting feedback. Please open issues for bugs or feature requests.

## Introduction Zerobyte is a backup automation tool that helps you save your data across multiple storage backends. Built on top of Restic, it provides an modern web interface to schedule, manage, and monitor encrypted backups of your remote storage. ## Documentation The official documentation website is available at [zerobyte.app](https://zerobyte.app). It contains up-to-date setup guides, configuration reference, and usage documentation for running Zerobyte in production. ### Features - **Automated backups** with encryption, compression, and retention policies, powered by Restic - **Flexible scheduling** for automated backup jobs with fine-grained retention policies - **End-to-end encryption** will ensure your data is always protected - **Multi-protocol support** for backup from NFS, SMB, WebDAV, SFTP, or local directories ## Installation In order to run Zerobyte, you need to have Docker and Docker Compose installed on your server. Then, you can use the provided `compose.yaml` file to start the application. ```yaml services: zerobyte: image: ghcr.io/nicotsx/zerobyte:v0.42 container_name: zerobyte restart: unless-stopped cap_add: - SYS_ADMIN ports: - "4096:4096" devices: - /dev/fuse:/dev/fuse environment: - TZ=Europe/Zurich # Set your timezone here - BASE_URL=http://localhost:4096 # URL you will use to access Zerobyte - APP_SECRET=94bad46...c66e25d5c2b # Generate your own secret with `openssl rand -hex 32` volumes: - /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro - /var/lib/zerobyte:/var/lib/zerobyte ``` > [!WARNING] > It is highly discouraged to run Zerobyte on a server that is accessible from the internet (VPS or home server with port forwarding). If you do, make sure to change the port mapping to "127.0.0.1:4096:4096" and use a secure tunnel (SSH tunnel, Cloudflare Tunnel, etc.) with authentication. > [!WARNING] > Do not try to point `/var/lib/zerobyte` to a network share. You will face permission issues and strong performance degradation. > [!NOTE] > **TrueNAS Users:** The host path `/var/lib` is ephemeral on TrueNAS and will be reset during system upgrades. Instead of using `/var/lib/zerobyte:/var/lib/zerobyte`, create a dedicated ZFS dataset (e.g., `tank/docker/zerobyte`) and mount it instead: > > ```yaml > volumes: > - /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro > - /mnt/tank/docker/zerobyte:/var/lib/zerobyte > ``` > > This ensures your configuration, encryption keys, and database persist across TrueNAS upgrades. Then, run the following command to start Zerobyte: ```bash docker compose up -d ``` Once the container is running, you can access the web interface at `http://:4096`. ## Configuration Zerobyte can be customized using environment variables. Below are the available options: ### Environment variables | Variable | Description | Default | | :------------------------ | :---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | :--------------------- | | `BASE_URL` | **Required.** The base URL of your Zerobyte instance (e.g., `https://zerobyte.example.com`). See [Authentication](#authentication) below. | (none) | | `APP_SECRET` | **Required.** A random secret key (32+ chars) used to encrypt sensitive data in the database. Generate with `openssl rand -hex 32`. | (none) | | `APP_SECRET_FILE` | Path to a file containing `APP_SECRET`, useful with Docker or Kubernetes secrets. Mutually exclusive with `APP_SECRET`. | (none) | | `PORT` | The port the web interface and API will listen on. | `4096` | | `RESTIC_HOSTNAME` | The hostname used by Restic when creating snapshots. Automatically detected if a custom hostname is set in Docker. | `zerobyte` | | `GOMAXPROCS` | Optional positive integer passed to Restic processes to limit CPU scheduler threads. Useful for reducing CPU pressure during backups. | Restic default | | `TZ` | Timezone for the container (e.g., `Europe/Zurich`). **Crucial for accurate backup scheduling.** | `UTC` | | `TRUST_PROXY` | When `true`, trust an existing `X-Forwarded-For` header from your reverse proxy. Leave `false` for direct deployments. | `false` | | `TRUSTED_ORIGINS` | Comma-separated list of extra trusted origins for CORS (e.g., `http://localhost:3000,http://example.com`). | (none) | | `WEBHOOK_ALLOWED_ORIGINS` | Comma-separated list of HTTP origins allowed for backup webhooks and outbound HTTP notification destinations. | (none) | | `WEBHOOK_TIMEOUT` | Timeout for backup webhook requests in seconds. | `60` | | `LOG_LEVEL` | Logging verbosity. Options: `debug`, `info`, `warn`, `error`. | `info` | | `RCLONE_CONFIG_DIR` | Path to the directory containing `rclone.conf` inside the container. Change this if running as a non-root user. | `/root/.config/rclone` | | `PROVISIONING_PATH` | Path to a JSON file with operator-managed repositories and volumes to sync at startup. | (none) | ### Performance tuning If backups use too much CPU, set `GOMAXPROCS` on the Zerobyte container and restart it: ```yaml environment: - GOMAXPROCS=2 ``` This limits the Go scheduler used by Restic child processes. Existing operations are not changed; the new value applies to Restic processes started after the container restart. Other useful Restic tuning options: - Set repository compression to `off` to reduce CPU usage, or `auto` for the usual balance. `max` can save more space but uses more CPU. - Use repository upload/download limits to avoid saturating network links. - Use backup schedule **Custom restic parameters** for advanced per-job flags such as `--read-concurrency 1`, `--exclude-larger-than 10G`, or `--no-scan`. See the full guide: [Performance tuning](https://zerobyte.app/docs/guides/performance-tuning). ### Webhook and notification network policy Backup webhooks and outbound notification destinations that can target arbitrary network hosts are restricted by `WEBHOOK_ALLOWED_ORIGINS`. The allowlist matches exact origins only: scheme, host, and port must match. Paths are ignored, so `https://hooks.example.com/backups` allows any path on `https://hooks.example.com`, but it does not allow `http://hooks.example.com`, `https://hooks.example.com:8443`, or `https://other.example.com`. This policy applies to: - backup pre/post webhook URLs - Generic HTTP notification URLs - Gotify server URLs - self-hosted ntfy server URLs - custom Shoutrrr URLs that point at generic HTTP or SMTP network targets The public ntfy.sh service and fixed-provider notification services such as Slack, Discord, Pushover, and Telegram do not need `WEBHOOK_ALLOWED_ORIGINS`. Backup webhooks do not follow redirects. Add the final destination origin to `WEBHOOK_ALLOWED_ORIGINS` and configure that final URL directly. Webhook headers are stored as plain text and must use one `Key: Value` header per line. `WEBHOOK_TIMEOUT` controls backup pre/post webhook request timeouts; notification delivery uses the underlying provider sender behavior. ### Provisioned resources Zerobyte can sync operator-managed repositories and volumes from a JSON file at startup. This is useful when you want credentials or connection details to live in deployment-time configuration instead of being entered through the UI. Provisioned resources: - appear in the normal repositories and volumes screens - can resolve credential fields from environment variables or `/run/secrets/*` during startup sync The complete provisioning documentation is available at [zerobyte.app/docs/guides/provisioning](https://zerobyte.app/docs/guides/provisioning). See `examples/provisioned-resources/README.md` for a full example. ### Simplified setup (no remote mounts) If you only need to back up locally-mounted folders and don't require remote share mounting capabilities, you can remove the `SYS_ADMIN` capability and FUSE device from your `compose.yaml`: ```yaml services: zerobyte: image: ghcr.io/nicotsx/zerobyte:v0.42 container_name: zerobyte restart: unless-stopped ports: - "4096:4096" environment: - TZ=Europe/Zurich # Set your timezone here - BASE_URL=http://localhost:4096 # Change this to your actual URL (use https:// for secure cookies) - APP_SECRET=94bad46...c66e25d5c2b # Generate your own secret with `openssl rand -hex 32` volumes: - /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro - /var/lib/zerobyte:/var/lib/zerobyte - /path/to/your/directory:/mydata ``` **Trade-offs:** - ✅ Improved security by reducing container capabilities - ✅ Support for local directories as backup sources - ✅ Support all repository types, local and remote (S3, GCS, Azure, rclone) - ❌ Cannot mount NFS, SMB, WebDAV, or SFTP shares directly from Zerobyte If you need remote mount capabilities, keep the original configuration with `cap_add: SYS_ADMIN` and `devices: /dev/fuse:/dev/fuse`. ## Examples See [examples/README.md](examples/README.md) for runnable, copy/paste-friendly examples. ## Adding your first volume Zerobyte supports multiple volume backends including NFS, SMB, WebDAV, SFTP, and local directories. A volume represents the source data you want to back up and monitor. To add your first volume, navigate to the "Volumes" section in the web interface and click on "Create volume". Fill in the required details such as volume name, type, and connection settings. If you want to backup a local directory on the same host where Zerobyte is running, you'll first need to mount that directory into the Zerobyte container. You can do this by adding a volume mapping in your `compose.yaml` file. For example, to mount `/path/to/your/directory` from the host to `/mydata` in the container, you would add the following line under the `volumes` section: ```diff services: zerobyte: image: ghcr.io/nicotsx/zerobyte:v0.42 container_name: zerobyte restart: unless-stopped cap_add: - SYS_ADMIN ports: - "4096:4096" devices: - /dev/fuse:/dev/fuse environment: - TZ=Europe/Zurich - BASE_URL=http://localhost:4096 # URL you will use to access Zerobyte - APP_SECRET=94bad46...c66e25d5c2b # Generate your own secret with `openssl rand -hex 32` volumes: - /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro - /var/lib/zerobyte:/var/lib/zerobyte + - /path/to/your/directory:/mydata ``` After updating the `compose.yaml` file, restart the Zerobyte container to apply the changes: ```bash docker compose down docker compose up -d ``` Now, when adding a new volume in the Zerobyte web interface, you can select "Directory" as the volume type and search for your mounted path