gsbt - Gameserver Backup Tool

CLI tool to back up gameserver files via pluggable connectors (FTP, SFTP, Nitrado → FTP) into timestamped .tar.gz archives.

Features (current state)

• Connectors: FTP, SFTP, Nitrado (fetches FTP creds via API)
• Backup command downloads matched files, archives them, and stores per-server backups with timestamps
• Output modes:
  • text (default): Plain text
  • json: Structured JSON for programmatic consumption
• Metadata: Optional structured context data (shown in verbose mode or JSON)
• Config discovery: --config > $GSBT_CONFIG > ./.gsbt-config.yml > ~/.config/gsbt/config.yml

Note: Prune/list/restore commands are stubbed; only backup is functional right now.

Install

From release (recommended)

Download binaries from GitHub Releases (published via GoReleaser when tagging v*.*.*). Place gsbt on your $PATH.

From source

go install github.com/devtheops/gsbt/cmd/gsbt@latest

Or build locally:

go build ./cmd/gsbt

Usage

Sample config (~/.config/gsbt/config.yml)

defaults:
  backup_location: /srv/gameserver_backups
  prune_age: 30
  retry_attempts: 3
  retry_delay: 5
  retry_backoff: true
  nitrado_api_key: ${NITRADO_API_KEY}

servers:
  - name: my-ftp
    connection:
      type: ftp
      host: ftp.example.com
      port: 21
      username: user
      password: ${FTP_PASS}
      remote_path: /game/saves
      include: ["*"]
      exclude: ["*.log", "Logs/"]

  - name: nitrado-ark
    connection:
      type: nitrado
      service_id: 18341077
      api_key: ${NITRADO_ARK_KEY}   # falls back to defaults.nitrado_api_key
      remote_path: /games/ark/saves

Run a backup

# Basic usage
gsbt backup

# Backup single server
gsbt backup --server my-ftp

# JSON output for scripts
gsbt backup --output json

# Verbose mode (shows debug logs and metadata)
gsbt backup --verbose

# Quiet mode (errors only)
gsbt backup --quiet

Options:

• --server name – Target a single server
• --output <mode> – Output format: text (default), json (structured)
• --verbose / -v – Enable debug logging and show metadata
• --quiet / -q – Only show errors
• --sequential – Run backups one server at a time (default is parallel)

Archives are stored at {backup_location}/{timestamp}.tar.gz with temp files under {backup_location}/.tmp/.

Output Modes

Text mode (default):

[server-name] starting backup
Files: 5, Total: 2.3 MB
- saves/world.dat (1.2 MB)
- config/server.ini (0.1 MB)
[server-name] saved /backups/2026-01-15_154500.tar.gz (5 files, 2.3 MB, 3.2s)

JSON mode (--output json):

{"timestamp":"2026-01-15T15:45:00Z","level":"info","message":"starting backup","prefix":"server-name"}
{"timestamp":"2026-01-15T15:45:03Z","level":"info","message":"saved /backups/2026-01-15_154500.tar.gz","prefix":"server-name","metadata":{"archive_path":"/backups/2026-01-15_154500.tar.gz","files":5,"bytes":2400000,"duration_sec":3.2}}

Notes on Nitrado

• Provide service_id and an API key (connection.api_key or defaults.nitrado_api_key).
• Connector fetches FTP creds then reuses the FTP pipeline.

Development

Quick Start

• Tests: go test ./...
• Taskfile: task build, task test, task run -- --help
• Release: tag vX.Y.Z; GitHub Actions will build/publish via GoReleaser

Architecture

Packages:

• internal/log - Standardized logging with markup support (stripped for text/json)
  • Two modes: text (plain), json (structured)
  • Metadata support for structured context
• internal/progress - Progress reporting interface
  • nullProgress (quiet/json), simpleProgress (text)
  • Integrates with logger for consistency
• internal/connector - Pluggable connector interface
  • FTP, SFTP, Nitrado implementations
  • Pattern matching for include/exclude
• internal/backup - Backup orchestration
  • Archive creation, download management
  • Progress reporting integration
• internal/config - Configuration loading
  • YAML parsing, env var substitution
  • Config file discovery

Adding a new connector:

1. Implement connector.Connector interface
2. Add factory case in connector.NewConnector()
3. Follow existing patterns (FTP, SFTP examples)

Adding markup to logs:

The logger supports markup tags like [green], but they are currently stripped in all output modes.

logger.Info("[green]Success![/green] Operation completed") // Output: Success! Operation completed

Roadmap

• Implement prune/list/restore commands
• Retry/backoff polish and integration tests