Files
truenas-stacks/automation

Automation helpers

This directory includes repo-side helpers for homelab operational tasks.

KitchenOwl recipe import helper

  • bin/kitchenowl_recipe_import.py — Doris-managed KitchenOwl recipe importer
    • tries KitchenOwl's own scrape endpoint first
    • falls back to direct page fetch + schema.org Recipe JSON-LD parsing
    • normalizes ingredients/tags/timings into KitchenOwl's create-recipe payload
    • supports dry-run by default and live create with --create

See docs/operations/KITCHENOWL_RECIPE_IMPORT.md for setup and usage.

Backup scripts

  • bin/pd_backup_postgres.sh — creates gzipped pg_dump exports for the configured Postgres DB list (quote space-separated DB names in .env, e.g. POSTGRES_DB_LIST="n8n paperless")
  • bin/pd_backup_sync_to_serenity.shrsyncs configured backup/config roots to Serenity
  • bin/run_pd_backups.sh — wrapper that runs both steps in order

These scripts are staged repo-side only. They still need:

  1. real values in .env
  2. a writable dump destination on PD
  3. SSH trust / key path for Serenity (root@10.5.1.5 by default)
    • recommended known_hosts path on PD: /home/truenas_admin/.ssh/known_hosts
  4. a real scheduler (cron/systemd timer/n8n) on the live host

PD / TrueNAS deployment recommendation

Use a plain cron job on PD, not n8n and not a custom systemd timer.

Reasons:

  • survives n8n outages
  • keeps the backup runner close to the compose/data host
  • avoids extra appliance fights on TrueNAS SCALE
  • matches the existing shell-first operational style on PD

Preferred mode on PD: root cron.

Why: the dump path under /mnt/tank/... and Docker access are typically cleaner from root on TrueNAS than from a limited operator account.

TrueNAS-specific notes:

  • scripts use /usr/bin/bash explicitly
  • default Docker path is /usr/bin/docker
  • if run as root, scripts call Docker directly
  • if run as a non-root user, default behavior is sudo -n /usr/bin/docker ...
  • keep all live paths under /mnt/...; never rely on rootfs write locations

Example live flow

cd /mnt/docker-ssd/docker/compose/automation
cp .env.example .env
chmod 600 .env
mkdir -p /mnt/tank/docker/backups/db-dumps
bin/run_pd_backups.sh

Install in root's crontab on PD:

# BEGIN PD BACKUPS
15 2 * * * cd /mnt/docker-ssd/docker/compose/automation && /usr/bin/bash bin/run_pd_backups.sh >> /mnt/tank/docker/backups/pd-backups.log 2>&1
# END PD BACKUPS

Recommended first-run checklist:

cd /mnt/docker-ssd/docker/compose/automation
cp .env.example .env   # if not already present
chmod 600 .env
mkdir -p /mnt/tank/docker/backups/db-dumps
/usr/bin/bash bin/run_pd_backups.sh
tail -100 /mnt/tank/docker/backups/pd-backups.log

Safety notes

  • DB dumps are the priority restore artifacts; do not rely only on raw volume copies.
  • The sync script uses rsync --delete inside the destination backup root, so point it at a dedicated backup path.
  • Keep .env and SSH material out of git.
  • If cron runs under a non-root PD account, sudo -n /usr/bin/docker must work or the DB dump step will fail.