VictoriaMetrics

This guide connects VictoriaMetrics — the Prometheus-compatible time-series database — to RustFS through vmbackup and vmrestore. You will run a single-node instance, import metrics, create an instant snapshot, back it up to a RustFS bucket, and restore the data into a fresh directory. The workflow was verified with victoria-metrics, vmbackup, and vmrestore v1.x images against rustfs/rustfs-x86-musl:v2.3.1.

You need Docker. This deployment is intended for local integration testing, not production.

Architecture

vmbackup uploads a consistent point-in-time snapshot of the storage directory to any S3-compatible endpoint. vmrestore reverses the process, producing a data directory a VictoriaMetrics instance can open directly.

Run VictoriaMetrics

Create the bucket and start a single-node instance:

rc mb rustfs/vm-backups

docker run -d --name vm --network oo-rustfs_default -p 8428:8428 \
  -v vm-data:/storage \
  victoriametrics/victoria-metrics:latest \
  -storageDataPath=/storage -retentionPeriod=100y

Import metrics

Write a couple of samples through the Prometheus import API:

echo "vm_demo_metric 123" | curl -s --data-binary @- http://localhost:8428/api/v1/import/prometheus
echo "vm_demo_metric 456" | curl -s --data-binary @- http://localhost:8428/api/v1/import/prometheus

The endpoint answers 204 No Content. Confirm the data is queryable:

curl -s "http://localhost:8428/api/v1/export?match[]=vm_demo_metric"

{"metric":{"__name__":"vm_demo_metric"},"values":[123,456],"timestamps":[1790680894604,1790680894619]}

Create a snapshot

Ask VictoriaMetrics for a consistent snapshot:

curl -s http://localhost:8428/snapshot/create

{"status":"ok","snapshot":"20260929112134-18D9C6C76704F913"}

Back the snapshot up to RustFS

Run vmbackup against the same storage volume, replacing the credential placeholders. The snapshot name comes from step 3:

docker run --rm --network oo-rustfs_default \
  -e AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=<your-access-key> \
  -e AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=<your-secret-key> \
  --volumes-from vm \
  victoriametrics/vmbackup:latest \
  -storageDataPath=/storage \
  -snapshotName=20260929112134-18D9C6C76704F913 \
  -dst=s3://vm-backups/demo \
  -customS3Endpoint=http://<your-rustfs-endpoint>:9000

backup ... to S3{bucket: "vm-backups", dir: "demo/"} is complete; uploaded 760 bytes

-customS3Endpoint redirects the AWS SDK to RustFS; custom endpoints are addressed with path-style requests automatically. Set AWS_EC2_METADATA_DISABLED=true on hosts without an EC2 metadata service to skip credential lookup delays.

Verify and restore

List the bucket prefix:

rc ls rustfs/vm-backups/demo/

backup_complete.ignore
backup_metadata.ignore
data/
metadata/

backup_complete.ignore marks a complete backup. Restore it into a fresh directory:

docker run --rm --network oo-rustfs_default \
  -e AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=<your-access-key> \
  -e AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=<your-secret-key> \
  -v /opt/vm-restore:/restore \
  victoriametrics/vmrestore:latest \
  -src=s3://vm-backups/demo \
  -storageDataPath=/restore \
  -customS3Endpoint=http://<your-rustfs-endpoint>:9000

restored 760 bytes from backup in 0.055 seconds

The restored directory contains data/, metadata/, and a lock file — exactly what a VictoriaMetrics instance expects at -storageDataPath.

VictoriaMetrics backup stored in the RustFS Console

Stop or reset

To tear down the demo while keeping the bucket objects:

docker rm -f vm
docker volume rm vm-data

To delete the stored backups:

rc rm rustfs/vm-backups/ --recursive --force

Review S3 compatibility notes before adopting additional VictoriaMetrics components.
Create dedicated production credentials with Access Key Management.
Follow the vmbackup documentation to schedule backups and prune old snapshots.

VictoriaMetrics

Architecture

Run VictoriaMetrics

Import metrics

Create a snapshot

Back the snapshot up to RustFS

Verify and restore

Stop or reset

Troubleshooting

`vmbackup` hangs at startup or fails to find credentials

Backup parts re-upload on every run

Query returns nothing right after import

Next steps

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