GKE Backup & Disaster Recovery
Configure Backup for GKE policies and restore workflows for stateful workloads.
The skill explicitly states that backups include Kubernetes resources, configurations, and secrets, and recommends CMEK, narrower namespace scope, and pausing writes, showing partial data-protection awareness. However, the commands default to --quiet, the example uses --all-namespaces, and there is no required user confirmation, permission guidance, data-flow disclosure, sensitive-data handling, failure rollback, or restore isolation, so points are deducted.
The command flow is broadly coherent across enablement, plan creation, manual backup, restore, and status inspection. However, prerequisites, invalid-input handling, dependency availability, and diagnostic failure feedback are absent; the instruction to write backup-plan configurations immediately while addon enablement proceeds may also create ordering failures. Static calibration caps this score at 10, so it is conservative.
The target scenario and a non-fit boundary are reasonably clear: Backup for GKE, disaster recovery, and GKE cluster restores, excluding database backups. Input constraints, trigger boundaries, cluster/region limitations, restore-conflict cases, and Chinese-language support are not adequately specified, and reachability of the target environment is not evidenced, so points are deducted.
The document is readable and layered into CLI reference, best practices, and pitfalls. The repository README supplies installation, skill indexing, Apache-2.0 licensing, issue and contribution paths, and an active-development note. The skill lacks versioning, changelog, explicit maintenance ownership, dependency notes, sample outputs, and comprehensive limitations, so points are deducted.
It supplies core commands for enabling Backup for GKE, creating plans, triggering backups, restoring, and checking status, plus useful recommendations on CMEK, namespace scope, application consistency, and CSI snapshots. There are no verified result examples, preflight checks, post-restore integrity checks, or comparison with alternatives; substantial manual judgment may remain, so the score is conservative.
The supplied evidence consists primarily of the skill Markdown, README, and license. No key-path test suite, CI execution evidence, third-party validation, or reproducible experiment is included. Only the documentation itself is auditable, so command executability cannot be established from static review and the score is very low.
- The example uses --all-namespaces and --quiet, which may capture secrets and broaden impact; production use should confirm scope, permissions, encryption keys, and user authorization first.
- Do not assume the backup plan can be created immediately after addon enablement; check control-plane readiness and provide clear failure diagnostics.
- The restore workflow lacks documented pre-restore isolation, conflict-policy validation, and post-restore application/data-integrity verification.
- The files do not establish reachability, Chinese-language support, or reproducibility for mainland-China environments or specific GKE configurations.
What does this skill do, and when should you use it?
This skill guides configuration of Backup for GKE backup plans, manual backups, restore plans, and cluster restores. It covers Kubernetes resource metadata as well as persistent volume data. It supplies gcloud CLI commands for enabling the GKE Backup addon and carrying out these operations. It is intended for stateful GKE workloads and explicitly excludes database backups.
Guides users through gcloud CLI commands to enable the GKE Backup addon, create backup plans with retention, cron scheduling, and namespace scope, trigger manual backups, create restore plans, execute restores, and inspect restore status. It also recommends customer-managed encryption keys, narrower namespace scope, paused application writes, and GKE CSI volume snapshots.
- A GKE platform administrator needs scheduled protection for stateful workloads.
- A disaster-recovery team needs to restore a backup into a target GKE cluster.
- An operator needs to trigger an ad hoc backup and inspect restore status.
- A team needs to protect Kubernetes configurations, secrets, and persistent volume data.
What are this skill's strengths and limitations?
- Covers backup plans, manual backups, restore plans, restore execution, and status inspection.
- Addresses both Kubernetes resource metadata and persistent volume data.
- Includes concrete guidance for CMEK, namespace scope, application consistency, and CSI snapshots.
- Explicitly not intended for database backups.
- Enabling the GKE Backup addon causes a cluster-level control-plane update that can take several minutes.
- The source provides no test results, IAM permission requirements, or cost information.
How do you install this skill?
Run npx skills add google/skills and select skills/cloud/gke-backup-dr during installation. The README does not document a non-interactive selector or a specific installation directory.
How do you use this skill?
Use a prompt such as “Configure a Backup for GKE backup plan and restore workflow for my GKE cluster.” Then replace the cluster names, regions, plan names, backup names, and retention values in the commands from SKILL.md. Enabling the addon starts a cluster-level update that takes several minutes and proceeds in the background; do not run a loop waiting for activation.
How does this skill compare with similar options?
The skill distinguishes Backup for GKE from the broader Google Cloud Backup and Disaster Recovery (DR) Service; it is specifically focused on Backup for GKE for GKE clusters.