How to implement secured and encrypted backup in MariaDB?

Performing an encrypted backup in MariaDB involves several steps, including creating the backup, transferring it to the target server, and restoring it. Here is a run-book to perform an encrypted MariaDB backup in which restore will happen only if the target MariaDB server has keys/SSL related things of the source MariaDB server:

  1. Configure SSL on the source MariaDB server:
    • Generate a certificate and key pair for SSL encryption.
    • Edit the my.cnf file to enable SSL by setting the ssl-cert and ssl-key options to the appropriate paths for the certificate and key files.
    • Restart the MariaDB server to apply the changes.
  2. Configure SSL on the target MariaDB server:
    • Repeat the same steps as for the source MariaDB server.
  3. Create the encrypted backup on the source MariaDB server:
    • Use the mysqldump command to create a backup of the database(s) you want to backup.
    • Use the –ssl-ca, –ssl-cert, and –ssl-key options to specify the paths to the CA certificate, client certificate, and client key files, respectively. This will ensure that the backup is encrypted with SSL.
    • Save the backup file to a secure location.
  4. Transfer the encrypted backup to the target server:
    • Use a secure transfer method such as SCP, SFTP, or HTTPS to transfer the backup file to the target server.
    • Ensure that the transfer method also uses SSL encryption to protect the backup file during transit.
  5. Restore the encrypted backup on the target server:
    • Use the mysql command to restore the backup file on the target server.
    • Use the –ssl-ca, –ssl-cert, and –ssl-key options to specify the paths to the CA certificate, client certificate, and client key files, respectively. This will ensure that the restore operation is encrypted with SSL.
    • If the SSL connection fails due to missing or incorrect SSL keys or certificates, the restore operation should not proceed.
    • Verify the data in the restored database to ensure that the backup was successful.

By following this run-book, you can ensure that the encrypted backup can only be restored on a server that has the necessary SSL keys and certificates, providing an additional layer of security for your data.