Back up Modoboa and its underlying mail services
Recover panel metadata, extension state, mailbox storage, and generated service configuration together before upgrading the platform.
Reviewed
A Modoboa database backup preserves administration metadata, not necessarily every mailbox, signing key, or external service. Inventory the topology created by the installer or your manual integration.
Capture coordinated state
- Review maintenance/upgrade instructions for the deployed release in Modoboa’s documentation.
- Preserve the Django database, settings/secrets, enabled extensions, and the versions/configuration that interpret them.
- Back up the actual mailbox stores and relevant Postfix/Dovecot/filtering configuration and keys consistently.
- Keep encrypted off-host copies and an independent credential recovery path.
Account metadata and delivered mail must agree after restoration. A successful panel login does not prove old mailbox contents or password/authentication integration survived.
Test migrations before production
Read the supported upgrade path for Modoboa and its extensions. Restore a compatible copy on an isolated host, apply the planned migrations there, and test administration, account login, aliases, receipt, retrieval, and submission.
Do not independently upgrade one extension/database schema without its compatibility requirements. Keep rollback tied to a compatible full backup, and prevent recovered queue data from sending duplicates alongside production. After the upgrade, inspect underlying service logs and one controlled account’s mail flow rather than relying only on the panel health page.