What it is

Plakar is an open-source backup engine written in Go for the infrastructure and operations ecosystem. It is powered by Kloset, an immutable data store, and it uses the ptar format for self-contained archives. Plakar creates snapshots of data, stores them in encrypted and deduplicated repositories, and lets users inspect, verify, and restore the snapshots later.

The project solves the problem of backups that are hard to search, compare, restore selectively, and trust without a full restore. It targets users who need encrypted backups that cover data and metadata, reduce storage growth through deduplication and compression, and work with files, databases, Kubernetes workloads, and object stores through integrations.

Key capabilities

• Plakar creates snapshots of files and integrated sources, stores them in encrypted, deduplicated Kloset repositories, and supports command-line and built-in web UI workflows.
• Users can browse snapshot contents, diff two snapshots, and restore a single file without touching the rest of the snapshot.
• Every snapshot can be verified independently without restoring anything.
• Encryption covers both data and metadata, and the README points to an audited cryptography implementation.
• Snapshots can be exported as .ptar archives, which are self-contained, deduplicated, compressed, and encrypted.
• Integrations add sources and storage backends, including PostgreSQL, MySQL, etcd, Kubernetes, and S3-compatible object stores.
• Kloset stores can be synchronized across locations for 3-2-1 strategies and push, pull, and sync workflows.

Who uses it and how

• Engineers back up local directories, such as /etc, to a local repository and use commands to list, restore, or open the web UI.
• Teams protect databases and infrastructure sources by installing integrations for PostgreSQL, MySQL, etcd, Kubernetes, or S3-compatible object stores.
• Operators verify snapshot integrity and compare snapshots before restoring individual files or integrated sources.
• Administrators implement distributed backup strategies by synchronizing Kloset stores across locations.
• Users export snapshots as .ptar archives for encrypted, self-contained storage.

Getting started

Users can install Plakar with go install github.com/PlakarKorp/plakar@latest or download prebuilt binaries from https://www.plakar.io/download. A typical first workflow creates a local repository, backs up a directory, lists snapshots, restores to a target path, and opens the built-in web UI.

When to use it — and when not to

Plakar suits users who want an open-source backup engine with encrypted, deduplicated, verifiable snapshots and extensible integrations. It may be less suitable for teams that need a long track record or strong evidence of community maintenance, because the repository is listed as zero years old, with zero contributors and 123 open issues. Self-hosters must operate the backup repository and any storage backend or integrated source, such as a database, Kubernetes cluster, or S3-compatible object store.

# Install
go install github.com/PlakarKorp/plakar@latest

# Create a local repository
plakar at /var/backups create

# Back up a directory
plakar at /var/backups backup /etc

# List snapshots
plakar at /var/backups ls

# Restore a snapshot
plakar at /var/backups restore -to /tmp/restore <snapshot-id>

# Open the web UI
plakar at /var/backups ui

go install github.com/PlakarKorp/plakar@latest

plakar pkg add <integration>

plakar at /var/backups sync to @s3