Migrating Drone CI Database to Preserve Build History

When migrating Drone CI to a new server, you’ll want to preserve your build history. Here’s how to migrate the Drone PostgreSQL database volume.

Prerequisites

SSH access to both source and destination servers
Docker installed on both servers
Drone already set up on destination (or you’ll set it up after migration)

Step 1: Find the Drone Database Volume

On your source server, identify the Drone database container and volume:

# Find the database container
docker ps | grep drone | grep db

# Get the volume name
docker inspect drone-ci-db-1 | grep -A 10 Mounts

Look for the volume name in the output. It’s typically something like drone-ci_drone-db-data or drone_drone-db-data.

Step 2: Stop Drone on Destination

Stop Drone on the destination server to allow database migration:

ssh destination-server "cd ~/drone-ci && docker compose down"

Step 3: Backup the Database Volume

Create a backup of the database volume on the source server:

VOLUME_NAME="drone-ci_drone-db-data"  # Use your actual volume name
BACKUP_FILE="drone-db-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S).tar.gz"

ssh source-server "docker run --rm -v ${VOLUME_NAME}:/data -v \$(pwd):/backup alpine tar czf /backup/${BACKUP_FILE} -C /data ."

Step 4: Transfer Backup to Destination

Transfer the backup file:

scp source-server:~/${BACKUP_FILE} destination-server:~/${BACKUP_FILE}

Step 5: Check PostgreSQL Version Compatibility

Critical: Check PostgreSQL versions match. Drone databases are version-specific.

# On source server
ssh source-server "docker exec drone-ci-db-1 psql --version"

# On destination server (check docker-compose.yml)
ssh destination-server "grep 'postgres:' ~/drone-ci/drone-docker-compose.yml"

If versions don’t match, update your drone-docker-compose.yml on the destination to match the source version.

Step 6: Restore Database on Destination

Remove the existing volume (if it exists) and restore:

# Remove existing volume
ssh destination-server "docker volume rm drone-ci_drone-db-data 2>/dev/null || echo 'Volume does not exist'"

# Create new volume
ssh destination-server "docker volume create drone-ci_drone-db-data"

# Restore data
ssh destination-server "docker run --rm -v drone-ci_drone-db-data:/data -v \$(pwd):/backup alpine tar xzf /backup/${BACKUP_FILE} -C /data"

Note: The volume name must match what’s in your docker-compose.yml. Docker Compose prefixes volumes with the project name (e.g., drone-ci_drone-db-data).

Step 7: Restart Drone

Start Drone on the destination server:

ssh destination-server "cd ~/drone-ci && docker compose up -d"

Wait a few seconds for the database to initialize, then verify:

ssh destination-server "docker exec drone-ci-db-1 psql -U drone -d drone -c 'SELECT COUNT(*) as build_count FROM builds;'"

You should see your build count matching the source server.

Common Issues

PostgreSQL Version Mismatch

Error: database files are incompatible with server

Solution: Update docker-compose.yml to use the same PostgreSQL version as the source. For example, change postgres:16 to postgres:17.

Volume Name Mismatch

Error: Database appears empty after migration

Solution: Ensure the volume name matches exactly what Docker Compose expects. Check with:

docker inspect drone-ci-db-1 | grep -A 5 Mounts

The volume name includes the compose project name prefix (e.g., drone-ci_drone-db-data).

Collation Version Warning

Warning: database has a collation version mismatch

This is harmless and won’t affect functionality. You can ignore it or run:

docker exec drone-ci-db-1 psql -U drone -d drone -c "ALTER DATABASE drone REFRESH COLLATION VERSION;"

Verification Checklist

[ ] Build count matches source server
[ ] Drone web UI accessible
[ ] Previous builds visible in UI
[ ] Repositories still configured
[ ] Database container healthy

Quick One-Liner Migration

If you’re comfortable with the process, here’s a condensed version:

VOLUME="drone-ci_drone-db-data"
BACKUP="drone-db-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S).tar.gz"

# Backup
ssh source "docker run --rm -v ${VOLUME}:/data -v \$(pwd):/backup alpine tar czf /backup/${BACKUP} -C /data ."

# Transfer
scp source:~/${BACKUP} dest:~/${BACKUP}

# Restore
ssh dest "docker compose -f ~/drone-ci/drone-docker-compose.yml down && \
          docker volume rm drone-ci_drone-db-data 2>/dev/null; \
          docker volume create drone-ci_drone-db-data && \
          docker run --rm -v drone-ci_drone-db-data:/data -v \$(pwd):/backup alpine tar xzf /backup/${BACKUP} -C /data && \
          docker compose -f ~/drone-ci/drone-docker-compose.yml up -d"

Summary

Migrating Drone’s database volume is straightforward:

Backup the volume
Transfer it
Ensure PostgreSQL versions match
Restore to the correct volume name
Restart Drone

The key gotcha is PostgreSQL version compatibility – always verify versions match before restoring.