What is the best way to back up event data from /Stream while keeping the Seq server running?

[JosefPribbernow]

Hi! We would like to periodically back up all our Seq events, for example, every week.
From our testing, we've found that copying the files from /Stream works, but only if the Seq Server isn't running.
If the server is running while the files are being copied, all the files will be marked as .junk when imported into a fresh, clean Seq instance.
Is there an effective way to back up the /Stream directory without stopping the Seq server and losing events sent during that time?
If stopping the service is unavoidable, what is the fastest and most efficient way to do so, copy the files, and restart the service? We want to reduce the downtime to a minimum.

We're happy to hear your ideas!

[nblumhardt]

Hi Josef, thanks for your message.

Exporting the events as newline-delimited JSON, as they're ingested, is the usual approach, i.e. by installing and configuring the Seq.App.JsonArchive plug-in app.

Otherwise, there's no faster way than stopping the Seq server and using a file copy. This might be sped up by:

• Making a copy to the same disk/volume as Seq is running on, before moving it elsewhere, and/or
• Keeping the previous copy stored locally and using a sync tool to update it with only changed/removed files.

The Seq server definitely must be stopped for any local operations on the Stream/ folder to work, though. Be very careful not to modify the original :-)

Hope this helps, and keen to hear how you go!