Velero Backup Bug: Kubernetes Tool Silently Omitted PVC Data for Weeks
A homelab operator discovered on June 19, 2026, that Velero had been reporting successful daily backups while never actually capturing any PersistentVolumeClaim data. The tool defaulted to snapshot-based backups, which require a CSI snapshot provider — something NFS and local-path storage classes do not support. Without a snapshot provider, Velero silently backed up only Kubernetes manifests, omitting all application data including Postgres databases, Vaultwarden passwords, and Nextcloud files. The issue was fixed by adding a single line — defaultVolumesToFsBackup: true — to the backup schedule, switching Velero to filesystem-based backup via Kopia, after which backup size jumped from roughly 2 MB to 4 GB. The operator noted that running 'velero backup describe --details' and checking the 'Pod Volume Backups' field is the only reliable way to confirm actual PVC data was captured.
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