Dev Log #6: The Restore Wizard — Recovery Made Visual
Restoring files is the entire point of backups. And yet, in bconsole, a restore involves memorizing a sequence of commands, navigating a text-based file browser, and hoping you picked the right options.
Onesimus now has a Restore Wizard that makes the entire process visual and safe.
The Workflow
The wizard guides you through five steps:
- Select Client — pick the client to restore from
- Select Backup — choose the point in time (BVFS-powered)
- Browse & Select Files — navigate the backup file tree, check the files you need
- Configure Options — set the restore destination, replace policy, and where-ACL
- Review & Execute — see a summary of everything before you commit
Each step has a progress indicator at the top, so you always know where you are.
ACL-Aware Permissions
Not every bconsole user has permission to restore every client. The wizard checks your ACL permissions upfront using .help all — if you can’t restore a client, you won’t see it in the list. No more “Access denied” surprises at step 5.
The new My Permissions dialog (under Tools) shows exactly what your console user can do — which commands are allowed, which clients you can access, which storage devices you can use.
Size Estimates and Progress
Before you execute the restore, the wizard estimates the total restore size from the catalog data. During execution, a progress bar shows real-time status from the Director.
Checkbox Propagation
A subtle but important UX detail: checking a directory in the file browser automatically checks all its children. Unchecking a parent unchecks its descendants. Mixed states show as partial checkmarks. The same behavior you’d expect from any modern file manager — but implemented on top of BVFS lazy loading.