what to backup

[turboc1208]

I am thinking about how to backup my frigate install from a "get things running again" perspective. I'm not particularly worried about past events, old recordings, or anything like that. I just want to get my docker container back up and running with my cameras and config files. Other than the config file, what do I need to backup. Im especially curious about the database since I don't have any images or recordings, does it have anything I need to keep in it?

[inkeep-ai-assistant[bot]]

For getting your Frigate Docker container back up and running, you need to backup the entire /config directory(1). This directory contains your configuration file and the SQLite database(1).

The database is actually important even if you don't have recordings or events. The documentation specifically states: "Tracked object and recording information is managed in a sqlite database at /config/frigate.db. If that database is deleted, recordings will be orphaned and will need to be cleaned up manually. They also won't show up in the Media Browser within Home Assistant"(2).

The /config directory is used to store both the Frigate config file and the SQLite database, and you'll also see a few files alongside the database file while Frigate is running(1).

For your Docker setup, you should backup:

• The entire /config directory (which maps to your host path specified in your docker-compose.yml)
• Your docker-compose.yml file itself

The documentation emphasizes the importance of backing up your configuration: "Always back up your /config directory (e.g., config.yml and frigate.db, the SQLite database) before updating"(3).

Since you're not concerned about past events or recordings, you don't need to backup the /media/frigate/recordings or /media/frigate/clips directories(1).

📚 Sources:

1. Installation
2. Advanced Options
3. Updating Frigate

[turboc1208]

“The database is actually important even if you don't have recordings or events. The documentation specifically states: "Tracked object and recording information is managed in a sqlite database at /config/frigate.db. “

so if i don’t have recordings or any media, what’s the database holding? Seems like if i have it without media i would have orphaned records to clean up.

[hawkeye217]

You're correct, the AI wasn't entirely accurate. The database does store other things like users, roles, and passwords, and will likely be the repository for other data unrelated to tracked objects and recordings in future versions. If you have a single-user setup and are running Frigate 0.15 or earlier, a database backup is not necessarily required.

[turboc1208]

Thanks for the clarification. I’ll probably grab it anyway or make some scripts to export non-event driven data for safe keeping.
thanks again.

[UnoSD]

quick follow up question to the one from OP; where is the trained model data stored if I want to back it up? thanks

[hawkeye217]

If you're talking about custom classification models, these are stored in /config/model_cache after they are trained. But the training data is stored in /media/frigate/clips/<model_name>.

[UnoSD]

thank you, @hawkeye217. yes, that is exactly what I meant. would you recommend also backing up training data?

[hawkeye217]

Yes, I'd say training data is actually more important because you can regenerate a model from the training data.

[UnoSD]

awesome, thank you for the help @hawkeye217