TrueNAS - SCALE Create a local Backup and Send to S3 Buckets

To automate backing up your TrueNAS configuration directly to Amazon S3 or any S3-compatible cloud storage, you need to create a local backup script and pair it with a TrueNAS Cloud Sync task

TrueNAS automatically saves daily configuration databases locally to your system dataset, but exporting it safely off-site requires grabbing the full archive (with the secret seed) via a middleware command (midclt).

Step 1: Create a Local Dataset and Script

1. Navigate to Storage > Datasets and click Add Dataset. Name it something distinct like system-backups.
2. Open a shell or connection to your TrueNAS system. Create a script named backup_config.sh inside that dataset folder:
   bash

   nano /mnt/YOUR_POOL/system-backups/backup_config.sh

3. Paste the following script, which requests the configuration archive from the TrueNAS API engine (midclt), saves it with a timestamp, and purges backups older than 30 days to avoid clutter:
   bash

   #!/bin/bash
   BACKUP_DIR="/mnt/volume1/system-backups"
   DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)
   FILENAME="truenas-config-${DATE}.tar"
   
   # 1. Request the configuration download job from the SCALE API
   JOB_DATA=$(midclt call core.download "config.save" '[{"secretseed": true}]' "${FILENAME}")
   
   # 2. Extract the download path cleanly using jq (returns: /_download/JOB_ID?auth_token=TOKEN)
   DOWNLOAD_PATH=$(echo "$JOB_DATA" | jq -r '.[1]')
   
   # 3. Pull the actual file directly using the exact path provided by the API
   curl -s -k --output "${BACKUP_DIR}/${FILENAME}" "http://127.0.0.1${DOWNLOAD_PATH}"
   
   # 4. Delete backups older than 30 days
   find "${BACKUP_DIR}" -name "truenas-config-*.tar" -type f -mtime +30 -delete
   

4. Make the script executable:
   bash

   chmod +x /mnt/YOUR_POOL/system-backups/backup_config.sh

Step 2: Automate the Script via Cron Job

1. Navigate to System > Advanced Settings >Cron Jobs and click Add.
2. Description: Generate Daily Config Backup Archive
3. Command: /mnt/YOUR_POOL/system-backups/backup_config.sh
4. Run As User: root
5. Schedule: Set it to run daily (e.g., Every day at 02:00 AM).
6. Click Save.

Step 3: Link Your S3 Bucket Credentials

1. Go to Credentials > Backup Credentials > Cloud Credentials and click Add.
2. Name the credential (e.g., AWS-S3-Backup).
3. Under Provider, select Amazon S3 (or generic S3 if using Wasabi, Backblaze B2, or MinIO).
4. Paste your cloud account's Access Key ID and Secret Access Key.
5. Click Verify to confirm the handshake with AWS is successful, then click Save

Step 4: Configure the Offsite S3 Cloud Sync Task

1. Navigate to Data Protection > Cloud Sync Tasks and click Add.
2. Description: Sync Config Backups to S3
3. Direction: Select PUSH (this uploads data to the cloud).
4. Transfer Mode: Select SYNC (mirrors your local folder; automatically handles remote file deletion when files age out locally).
5. Directory/Files: Choose your local path: /mnt/YOUR_POOL/system-backups.
6. Credential: Select the AWS-S3-Backup credential you created in Step 3.
7. Bucket: Select your designated target S3 bucket from the auto-populated drop-down menu.
8. Schedule: Set this to run daily, at least one hour after the local Cron Job (e.g., Every day at 03:00 AM).
9. Click Save.