Backup and recovery

UniHomelabDash stores services, settings, users, and provider configuration in SQLite. Docker Compose keeps the database in the unihomelabdash-data volume at /app/data/unihomelabdash.sqlite.

Back up the Compose volume

Stop the application briefly for a consistent file-level copy:

docker compose stop unihomelabdash
docker run --rm \
  -v unihomelabdash-data:/source:ro \
  -v "$PWD":/backup \
  alpine \
  cp /source/unihomelabdash.sqlite /backup/unihomelabdash.sqlite
docker compose start unihomelabdash

Store the backup alongside the matching SESSION_SECRET in a secure location. Encrypted provider credentials cannot be recovered with a different secret.

Restore

1. Stop the application.
2. Preserve the current database before replacing it.
3. Copy the reviewed backup into the named volume as /app/data/unihomelabdash.sqlite.
4. Restore the matching SESSION_SECRET.
5. Start the application and test sign-in and each provider.

Do not restore an untrusted database file.

Reset the administrator password

For Docker Compose:

RESET_ADMIN_PASSWORD='choose-a-new-strong-password' \
  docker compose exec unihomelabdash \
  node scripts/reset-admin.mjs --username admin --confirm

For local development:

npm run reset-admin -- --username admin --confirm

The script requires --confirm, never prints the password, updates the single administrator (or creates it if missing), and marks setup complete.