This guide covers routine maintenance for a self-hosted OpenScan.AI explorer: software updates, backups, certificate renewal, and database housekeeping. Hosted EaaS instances are maintained by the OpenScan.AI team.
Routine Update Procedure
- Check release notes for migrations or reindex requirements.
- Back up the database:
docker compose exec postgres pg_dump -U explorer explorer_db > backup-$(date +%F).sql- Pull and restart:
docker compose pulldocker compose up -d- Run migrations if the release includes them:
docker compose run --rm indexer ./bin/migrate- Verify with the Explorer Verification checklist.
A complete walkthrough of a versioned upgrade is in the Explorer v2.1 Upgrade guide.
Backup Strategy
- Database dumps — daily
pg_dump, retained for at least two weeks, stored off-host. - Volume snapshots — weekly snapshots of the database volume for fast recovery.
- Configuration — keep
.envand deployment config in version control (without secrets).
Remember: the explorer database is derived data. In the worst case it can be rebuilt by reindexing — backups buy you recovery time, not irreplaceable data. The chain node’s data follows the same logic but takes far longer to rebuild, so snapshot it too.
Certificate Renewal
If you terminate TLS yourself, automate certificate renewal (for example with Certbot or acme.sh) and reload the reverse proxy on renewal:
certbot renew --deploy-hook "nginx -s reload"See TLS / HTTPS Setup for the full setup.
Database Housekeeping
- PostgreSQL autovacuum handles most maintenance; watch for table bloat on high-write tables.
- Monitor disk growth — alert at 70% and 85% full.
- Test restores periodically: a backup you haven’t restored is a hope, not a plan.
Chain Node Maintenance
Your explorer inherits the health of its chain node:
- Apply chain client upgrades before hard forks (see Network Upgrades).
- Watch node disk usage and sync lag alongside the explorer’s own metrics.