From 72b27b7fd258482f225d2b60b11cd149a479ddd4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Erich Blume <blume.erich@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 24 Apr 2026 19:04:28 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] =?UTF-8?q?C0:=20docs=20=E2=80=94=20add=20mealie=20borg=20?=
 =?UTF-8?q?restore=20how-to?=
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

Captures the procedure used to restore mealie's SQLite DB from a borgmatic
archive after the post-DR wipe: extract from borg, snapshot the wiped DB,
swap via a helper pod on the ReadWriteOnce PVC, fix UID 911 ownership.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 docs/how-to/mealie/restore-from-borg.md | 157 ++++++++++++++++++++++++
 docs/reference/services/mealie.md       |   2 +
 2 files changed, 159 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 docs/how-to/mealie/restore-from-borg.md

diff --git a/docs/how-to/mealie/restore-from-borg.md b/docs/how-to/mealie/restore-from-borg.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7ff3625
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/how-to/mealie/restore-from-borg.md
@@ -0,0 +1,157 @@
+---
+title: Restore Mealie from Borg
+modified: 2026-04-24
+last-reviewed: 2026-04-24
+tags:
+  - how-to
+  - mealie
+  - backup
+---
+
+# Restore Mealie from Borg
+
+How to restore [[mealie]]'s SQLite database from a [[borgmatic]] archive when data has been lost (e.g. PVC wiped, accidental deletion, post-DR rebuild).
+
+## Prerequisites
+
+- SSH access to [[indri]] (where borgmatic runs and stores k8s SQLite dumps)
+- Mealie deployment present in the cluster (the PVC `mealie-data` exists in namespace `mealie`)
+- Know which borg archive predates the data loss
+
+## Procedure
+
+### 1. Identify a Pre-Loss Archive
+
+List archives and pick one before the incident:
+
+```bash
+ssh indri 'BORG_PASSCOMMAND="cat /Users/erichblume/.borg/config.yaml" \
+  /opt/homebrew/bin/borg list /Volumes/backups/borg | tail -30'
+```
+
+Compare dump sizes across archives if you're unsure when the loss happened — the daily borgmatic run captures `/Users/erichblume/.local/share/borgmatic/k8s-dumps/mealie.db`. A sudden drop in size signals the wipe:
+
+```bash
+ssh indri 'bash -c "BORG_PASSCOMMAND=\"cat /Users/erichblume/.borg/config.yaml\" \
+  /opt/homebrew/bin/borg list /Volumes/backups/borg::<archive-name> \
+  --pattern=+Users/erichblume/.local/share/borgmatic/k8s-dumps/mealie.db"'
+```
+
+### 2. Extract the Pre-Loss Dump
+
+```bash
+ssh indri 'mkdir -p ~/tmp/mealie-restore && cd ~/tmp/mealie-restore && \
+  BORG_PASSCOMMAND="cat /Users/erichblume/.borg/config.yaml" \
+  /opt/homebrew/bin/borg extract /Volumes/backups/borg::<archive-name> \
+  Users/erichblume/.local/share/borgmatic/k8s-dumps/mealie.db'
+```
+
+The file lands at `~/tmp/mealie-restore/Users/erichblume/.local/share/borgmatic/k8s-dumps/mealie.db` (borg preserves the full path).
+
+### 3. Verify the Extracted DB
+
+```bash
+ssh indri 'sqlite3 ~/tmp/mealie-restore/Users/erichblume/.local/share/borgmatic/k8s-dumps/mealie.db \
+  "PRAGMA integrity_check; SELECT COUNT(*) FROM recipes; SELECT COUNT(*) FROM users;"'
+```
+
+Expect `ok` and non-zero recipe/user counts.
+
+### 4. Snapshot the Current (Wiped) DB
+
+Belt and suspenders — keep a copy of the live DB before overwriting, in case the restore goes wrong:
+
+```bash
+ssh indri 'bash -c "kubectl --context=minikube -n mealie exec deploy/mealie -- \
+  python3 -c \"import sqlite3; sqlite3.connect(\\\"/app/data/mealie.db\\\").backup(sqlite3.connect(\\\"/tmp/wiped-mealie.db\\\"))\" && \
+  POD=\$(kubectl --context=minikube -n mealie get pod -l app=mealie -o jsonpath=\"{.items[0].metadata.name}\") && \
+  kubectl --context=minikube cp mealie/\$POD:/tmp/wiped-mealie.db /Users/erichblume/tmp/mealie-restore/wiped-mealie.db"'
+```
+
+### 5. Scale Mealie Down
+
+The PVC is `ReadWriteOnce`, so the helper pod can't mount it while mealie is running:
+
+```bash
+ssh indri 'kubectl --context=minikube -n mealie scale deploy/mealie --replicas=0 && \
+  kubectl --context=minikube -n mealie wait --for=delete pod -l app=mealie --timeout=60s'
+```
+
+### 6. Start a Helper Pod on the PVC
+
+```bash
+ssh indri 'bash -c "cat > /tmp/mealie-helper.yaml <<EOF
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Pod
+metadata:
+  name: mealie-restore
+  namespace: mealie
+spec:
+  restartPolicy: Never
+  containers:
+    - name: helper
+      image: alpine:3.20
+      command: [\"sh\", \"-c\", \"sleep 3600\"]
+      volumeMounts:
+        - name: data
+          mountPath: /data
+  volumes:
+    - name: data
+      persistentVolumeClaim:
+        claimName: mealie-data
+EOF
+kubectl --context=minikube apply -f /tmp/mealie-helper.yaml && \
+  kubectl --context=minikube -n mealie wait --for=condition=Ready pod/mealie-restore --timeout=60s"'
+```
+
+### 7. Copy and Swap the DB
+
+```bash
+ssh indri 'bash -c "kubectl --context=minikube cp \
+  /Users/erichblume/tmp/mealie-restore/Users/erichblume/.local/share/borgmatic/k8s-dumps/mealie.db \
+  mealie/mealie-restore:/data/mealie.db.restored && \
+  kubectl --context=minikube -n mealie exec mealie-restore -- sh -c \
+  \"mv /data/mealie.db /data/mealie.db.wiped && mv /data/mealie.db.restored /data/mealie.db && chown 911:911 /data/mealie.db\""'
+```
+
+Mealie's container runs as UID 911. `kubectl cp` preserves the host UID (501 on indri), so the `chown` is required — without it, mealie may fail to write to the DB.
+
+### 8. Tear Down the Helper and Scale Back Up
+
+```bash
+ssh indri 'kubectl --context=minikube delete pod -n mealie mealie-restore --wait=true && \
+  kubectl --context=minikube -n mealie scale deploy/mealie --replicas=1 && \
+  kubectl --context=minikube -n mealie wait --for=condition=Available deploy/mealie --timeout=120s'
+```
+
+### 9. Verify the Restore is Live
+
+```bash
+ssh indri 'bash -c "kubectl --context=minikube -n mealie exec deploy/mealie -- \
+  python3 -c \"import sqlite3; c=sqlite3.connect(\\\"/app/data/mealie.db\\\"); \
+  print(\\\"recipes:\\\", c.execute(\\\"select count(*) from recipes\\\").fetchone()[0]); \
+  print(\\\"users:\\\", c.execute(\\\"select count(*) from users\\\").fetchone()[0])\""'
+```
+
+The counts should match what you saw in step 3.
+
+### 10. Clean Up
+
+Once mealie is working and you've confirmed the data, remove the in-PVC safety copy:
+
+```bash
+ssh indri 'kubectl --context=minikube -n mealie exec deploy/mealie -- rm -f /app/data/mealie.db.wiped'
+```
+
+Leave the host-side copy at `~/tmp/mealie-restore/wiped-mealie.db` until the next borgmatic run captures the restored state, in case you need to roll back.
+
+## Notes
+
+- The active kubectl context for mealie is `minikube` on [[indri]] until the [[ringtail]] migration completes. Update the `--context` flag if mealie has moved.
+- OIDC sign-ins after the wipe may have created new user rows; the restored DB will replace them. Affected users will sign in fresh and Authentik will re-link them on next login.
+
+## Related
+
+- [[mealie]] — Service reference
+- [[borgmatic]] — Backup tooling
+- [[restore-1password-backup]] — Similar restore pattern for 1Password
diff --git a/docs/reference/services/mealie.md b/docs/reference/services/mealie.md
index c658046..fdd0260 100644
--- a/docs/reference/services/mealie.md
+++ b/docs/reference/services/mealie.md
@@ -46,6 +46,8 @@ OIDC via [[authentik]] using a confidential client. Client secret stored in 1Pas
 
 SQLite database backed up via [[borgmatic]]'s `before_backup` hook. Borgmatic runs `kubectl exec` to create a safe `.backup` copy (via Python's `sqlite3` module), then `kubectl cp` to the host. The dump lands in `~/.local/share/borgmatic/k8s-dumps/mealie.db` and is included in both local (sifaka) and offsite (BorgBase) backups.
 
+To restore from a borg archive, see [[restore-from-borg]].
+
 ## Networking
 
 | Endpoint | Reachable from |