Backup and Restore

FileRise stores all persistent data on disk. Back up these paths:

• /var/www/uploads (file data)
• /var/www/users (users, ACLs, admin config, Pro license)
• /var/www/metadata (indexes, tags, logs)

Notes:

• Logs live in /var/www/metadata/log and can be rotated/pruned.
• Sessions are ephemeral and do not need backups.

Recommended backup steps

1. Stop the container or web server (best for consistency).
2. Back up the three directories above.
3. Store your PERSISTENT_TOKENS_KEY securely (needed to decrypt admin config and tokens).

Restore steps

1. Restore the three directories to the same paths.
2. Ensure ownership/permissions are correct:

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/uploads /var/www/users /var/www/metadata
sudo chmod -R 775 /var/www/uploads /var/www/users /var/www/metadata

1. Use the same PERSISTENT_TOKENS_KEY as the original instance.
2. Start FileRise.

Encryption at rest

If encryption at rest is enabled:

• /var/www/uploads and /var/www/metadata must be backed up together.
• Keep your master key (FR_ENCRYPTION_MASTER_KEY or metadata/encryption_master.key).
• Losing the key makes encrypted data unrecoverable.

Pro notes

Pro bundle and license files live under /var/www/users by default. Restoring that directory restores Pro settings as well.