GameAP Respawn is a powerful and reliable incremental backup system with data encryption and deduplication to save space.

The key feature of incremental backups is that only changed data is stored. This makes efficient use of disk space and keeps backups fast: only the first backup takes a while, every subsequent one completes in a matter of seconds.

Features #

The plugin includes a wide range of useful features for working with snapshots and the files stored in them.

Creating and restoring snapshots #

A snapshot can be created at any time, preferably while the server is stopped. The plugin also lets you take snapshots of a running server, but without extra configuration this is not recommended: the data in the snapshot may end up inconsistent. For a consistent snapshot, pre/post hooks are available — for example, you can back up from an LVM snapshot instead of the live directory.

Creating a snapshot from the panel

Restoration works in two modes: merging with the current files or an exact copy of the snapshot. A dry-run preview is available before restoring, and a snapshot can also be restored into a separate subdirectory. All long-running operations run in the background, and their progress is shown in the panel.

Automatic scheduled backups #

A schedule can be configured for each server: by interval, daily, or weekly. The scheduler runs backups without user involvement, and the run history with task output is available in the panel.

Configuring a backup schedule

Browsing files and changes in snapshots #

The file tree of any snapshot can be browsed directly in the panel by navigating through directories. The plugin lets you view the changes between snapshots.

Browsing files and changes in snapshots

Downloading a snapshot as an archive #

The plugin can build an archive of a snapshot and download it to your computer. The archive is assembled on the dedicated server in the background; tar.gz, zip, and tar formats are available.

Restoring specific files from snapshots #

The plugin lets you restore not only an entire backup, but also an individual file or directory from a selected snapshot.

Comparing configs and text files #

The built-in diff tool lets you compare different versions of game server configuration files and restore individual lines in them.

Comparing configs and text files

Configurable retention periods #

Each server can have its own snapshot retention policy. Old snapshots are deleted automatically and only within their own server — backups of other servers are not affected.

Access permissions #

Backup access is configured granularly for each server: viewing snapshots, creating them, managing them (schedule, retention periods, deletion), and restoring are separate permissions (backup-view, backup-create, backup-manage, backup-restore).

Configuring backup access permissions

Snapshots of deleted servers and restoring to another server #

Administrators can see the list of snapshots for all servers. Backups of a server that has been deleted from the panel are not lost. A snapshot from one server can be restored to another — this is available to administrators only.

Installation #

The plugin is available in the GameAP plugin catalog: GameAP Respawn.

It is installed directly from the control panel: open the Plugins section in the left menu, switch to the Store tab, find Respawn in the plugin list, and click Install. After that, the gameap-respawn utility can be installed on your dedicated servers in one click — more on that below.

How it works #

The system consists of two components: a plugin for the GameAP panel and the gameap-respawn utility, which runs on each dedicated server. The utility is installed in one click from the panel and already includes the backup engine — nothing else needs to be installed.

Passwords and tokens are stored in the panel’s encrypted storage (AES-256-GCM). They are sent to dedicated servers only for the duration of an operation and are never persisted there.

Backup storage #

GameAP Cloud is used as the backup storage, with a free disk space allowance. It is connected through a dialog in the admin panel: just enter your email and confirm it. A dedicated storage access is created automatically for the panel and can be reissued at any time.