Disconnect or delete a server or storage

Disconnecting and deleting are different actions. Disconnecting stops the work but keeps everything. Deleting removes it from the panel and, if you choose, also the backups in the storages, with no way back.

Server

Disconnect

Server → “Protection settings” → “Danger zone” → “Disconnect”.

The agent keys stop working immediately. On its next request the agent gets refused: it stops contacting the panel and making backups. History and backups stay; in the server list it is “disconnected”, at the end of the list.

The S3 key stays on the server, in /etc/arcula/repos/. After disconnecting, the panel tells you which key to rotate: the storage key, if it's one for all servers, or the server key. If the server may have been compromised or is no longer yours, rotate this key at the provider. Set the new storage key in the panel: storage → “Connection” → “Replace”.

To connect the same machine again:

sudo arcula logout
sudo arcula login

It will be a new server. The old one keeps its history and backups.

Delete

Server → “Protection settings” → “Danger zone” → “Delete”. A disconnected server also has a “Remove…” button in the list.

1. Read in the dialog what will be gone: the server's history, list of backups, log and plan.
2. Decide on the “Also delete the backups in …” checkbox. With it, the panel deletes this server's repository arcula/<server id>/ in all its storages. Nothing else in the bucket is touched.
3. Enter the server name.
4. Enter the panel password and click “Delete server”. Or click “Delete server — with a passkey”.

Deletion starts right after confirmation, with no waiting period. It can't be undone. With the checkbox, the whole server repository is deleted, including the pinned points. Progress is in the log of each storage.

Without the checkbox, the backups stay in the storages, but the panel no longer shows them. They can be brought up with a recovery kit issued before the deletion: a new kit won't include the deleted server. So save the kit in advance.

The password confirmation is valid for 5 minutes: the next dangerous action within that time won't ask for the password.

Storage

Storage → the “Connection” tab → “Danger zone”. First remove the storage from the plans of all servers: while it's in at least one plan, it can't be disconnected.

• “Disconnect storage” — the storage disappears from the panel; the data in the bucket stays.
• “Disconnect and delete data” — also deletes the backups: the repositories of this panel's servers arcula/<server>/ and the test .arcula-check/. Data that isn't ours and the arcula/ directories of other panels stay. Confirmation — the storage name and the panel password or a passkey.

Data deletion starts immediately, with no waiting period, runs in the background and may take a few minutes. It can't be undone.

The bucket access key at the provider keeps working after disconnecting. If you don't need it, revoke it in the provider's console.

Remove the agent from a server

sudo arcula uninstall

The command unlinks the server, like arcula logout, and tells the panel — the server becomes “disconnected” in the panel. Then it removes the arcula-agent service, the binary and /var/lib/arcula. Without flags it also removes /etc/arcula: repository passwords, agent keys, the Vault login. It asks for confirmation; in scripts — --yes.

• --keep-config — keep /etc/arcula with the repository passwords: with them you can look into the repositories with plain restic.
• arcula uninstall never deletes the backups in the storages.
• If the panel is unavailable, the server is unlinked only on the machine itself. Disconnect it in the panel by hand.

After that the server stays in the panel with its history. To remove it — “Delete” in the panel, as above.