Encrypted Backup and Restore

Security Center creates encrypted, hotel-scoped recovery archives. Each archive includes database records, referenced private files, and a checksum used before restore.

Daily workflow

1. Let the scheduler run hotel:backup --type=full every day.
2. Download completed archives from Security Center and copy them to encrypted off-server storage.
3. Watch failed runs and never treat a log row as a valid backup unless its status is completed.
4. Run a restore drill on staging after major upgrades and at least once per quarter.

Manual verification

php artisan hotel:backup --type=full
php artisan schedule:list

Restore requires Owner access and the exact confirmation word RESTORE. The app validates the archive checksum, encryption envelope, format version, and hotel identity before writing anything. Restore is intentionally non-destructive to unrelated hotels.

Operational safeguards

• Archives remain on the private local disk and are served only by an authenticated permission-checked download route.
• The application encryption key is required to decrypt archives. Store the production APP_KEY in a separate secret manager.
• Do not copy .hotelbak.enc files into public or public object-storage buckets.
• Database-provider snapshots remain a recommended second layer for disaster recovery.