Velero 1.6: Enhanced Backup and Restore Capabilities

Introduction

Velero 1.6 — Enhanced Backup and Restore Capabilities — was released on May 11, 2021.

Day‑2 operations is where clusters earn their keep — backups, restores, upgrades, and performance under real workload churn.

In this release: Velero 1.6 introduces improved CSI snapshot support, enhanced backup hooks, and better multi-cloud compatibility for Kubernetes disaster recovery.

CSI Snapshot Improvements

• Volume snapshot support expands to additional CSI drivers with better error handling and retry logic.
• Snapshot scheduling enables automated volume snapshots with configurable retention policies.
• Cross-cloud restore improvements simplify volume restoration across different cloud providers.
• Snapshot validation ensures data integrity before and after backup operations.

Enhanced Backup Hooks

1. Pre-backup hooks enable application quiescing before backup creation, ensuring data consistency.
2. Post-backup hooks support application-specific operations after backup completion.
3. Hook execution improvements provide better error handling and timeout management.
4. Custom hooks support enables integration with external backup tools and workflows.

Multi-Cloud & Storage

• Plugin ecosystem expansion adds support for additional cloud providers and storage backends.
• S3 compatibility improvements enhance support for MinIO, Ceph, and other S3-compatible storage systems.
• Azure enhancements improve integration with Azure Blob Storage and managed disks.
• GCP improvements expand support for Google Cloud Storage and persistent disks.

Performance & Reliability

• Backup speed optimizations reduce time required for large cluster backups with parallel processing.
• Restore performance improvements accelerate disaster recovery with optimized resource creation.
• Error recovery enhancements provide automatic retry for transient failures during backup/restore.
• Resource filtering improvements enable more efficient backup of specific namespaces or resources.

Operational Enhancements

• CLI improvements provide better user experience with enhanced command output and error messages.
• Metrics expansion exposes detailed backup/restore metrics for Prometheus integration.
• Logging enhancements provide structured logs for better troubleshooting and audit trails.
• Documentation expansion includes comprehensive guides for common backup scenarios and best practices.

Getting Started

velero install \
  --provider aws \
  --plugins velero/velero-plugin-for-aws:v1.2.0 \
  --bucket my-backup-bucket \
  --secret-file ./credentials-velero \
  --use-restic \
  --features=EnableCSI

Create a backup:

velero backup create nightly-backup \
  --include-namespaces production \
  --snapshot-volumes \
  --ttl 720h0m0s

Summary

Velero 1.6 continues to evolve as the standard for Kubernetes backup and restore, providing teams with the confidence to protect their workloads across any cloud environment.