Backup and restore

What to back up so that you can restore the plugin and your Zigbee network without pairing everything again, and how to reinstall the plugin while keeping its data.

Where the plugin keeps its data

The plugin data is in two places:

1. In the plugin folder (domoticz/plugins/Domoticz-Zigbee):
   • Data/DeviceList-<hardware id>.txt: the device database (everything the plugin knows about each device);
   • Data/GroupsList-<hardware id>.json: the groups;
   • Data/Coordinator-<hardware id>.backup: the backup of the coordinator network (zigpy coordinators, see below);
   • Conf/PluginConf-<hardware id>.json: the plugin settings;
   • Reports/: the topology and interference reports (optional).

   <hardware id> is the Domoticz hardware ID of the plugin, on two digits.

2. In the Domoticz database (domoticz.db): since plugin 9.1, the plugin also stores its settings, its device database, its groups and the coordinator backup in Domoticz, with the plugin hardware (settings useDomoticzDb and storeDomoticzDb, on by default).

Each copy is time-stamped, and at start-up the plugin loads the most recent one. So:

• Back up domoticz.db and the plugin folder at the same time, so that both copies match, and the Domoticz widgets match the plugin devices.
• A copy of domoticz.db alone already holds the plugin data: it can bring the plugin back even if the plugin files are lost.
• The data stored in Domoticz belongs to the plugin hardware: if you delete the plugin hardware in Domoticz, that copy is lost.

Coordinator backup

With a zigpy coordinator (Texas Instruments, Silicon Labs, ConBee/RaspBee…), the plugin regularly saves the coordinator network (network keys, PAN ID, channel, devices) when the autoBackup setting is on (default). The backup goes to Data/Coordinator-<hardware id>.backup (older versions are kept) and to the Domoticz database.

When the plugin starts with a blank coordinator of the same family, for example after replacing a broken dongle, it restores this backup when the autoRestore setting is on (default): the devices don’t need to be paired again.

See Backup a zigpy coordinator.

Backup with the plugin scripts

The plugin comes with two scripts, in its Tools folder:

• backup_z4d.sh creates a dated tar.gz archive with a consistent copy of domoticz.db (made with sqlite3 when available) and the plugin key files (Data/DeviceList-*.txt, Data/Coordinator-*.backup, the zigpy database Data/zigpy_persistent_*.db if any, Conf/PluginConf-*.json). In plugin 9.1.007 it doesn’t pick up the groups file Data/GroupsList-*.json (it looks for .txt): the groups are still saved in the copy of domoticz.db, or use --full-plugin-copy;
• restore_z4d.sh restores such an archive.

cd /home/pi/domoticz/plugins/Domoticz-Zigbee
./Tools/backup_z4d.sh --domoticz-db /home/pi/domoticz/domoticz.db \
                      --plugin-target-path /home/pi/domoticz/plugins/Domoticz-Zigbee \
                      --dest /home/pi/backups/domoticz

Options of backup_z4d.sh:

Without --domoticz-db and --plugin-target-path, the script looks in the usual locations.

To restore:

./Tools/restore_z4d.sh --archive /home/pi/backups/domoticz/<archive>.tar.gz \
                       --plugin-target-path /home/pi/domoticz/plugins/Domoticz-Zigbee \
                       --domoticz-db-target /home/pi/domoticz/domoticz.db --stop-service

Run ./Tools/backup_z4d.sh --help and ./Tools/restore_z4d.sh --help for all the options. You can run the backup every night with cron. The other scripts of the plugin are described in The scripts of the Tools folder.

With Docker, the paths are usually /opt/domoticz/userdata/domoticz.db and /opt/domoticz/userdata/plugins/Domoticz-Zigbee.

Manual backup

Stop Domoticz, then copy together:

• domoticz.db (or use the Domoticz backup: Setup > Settings > Backup);
• the plugin Data folder and Conf/PluginConf-*.json;
• if you want, the Reports folder.

Reinstall the plugin and keep its data

The paths below assume the plugin is in /home/pi/domoticz/plugins/Domoticz-Zigbee; adapt them to your installation.

1. Stop Domoticz.

2. Keep a copy of the plugin folder:

   cp -r /home/pi/domoticz/plugins/Domoticz-Zigbee /home/pi/Domoticz-Zigbee.old
   

3. Install the plugin again (see Plugin installation).

4. Copy the plugin data and settings into the new installation:

   cp /home/pi/Domoticz-Zigbee.old/Data/* /home/pi/domoticz/plugins/Domoticz-Zigbee/Data/
   cp /home/pi/Domoticz-Zigbee.old/Conf/PluginConf-*.json /home/pi/domoticz/plugins/Domoticz-Zigbee/Conf/
   cp /home/pi/Domoticz-Zigbee.old/Reports/* /home/pi/domoticz/plugins/Domoticz-Zigbee/Reports/   # optional
   

5. Start Domoticz. Keep the same plugin hardware in Domoticz: its data in the Domoticz database is kept too.