feat(backup): a backup holds settings and keys only, for recovery (#5822)

#5822 "Backup contents: settings and keys only". The operator's ruling
(System 180, 2026-10-15) overturns 2026-10-12's "Config + audit + alerts":
a backup is for system recovery and carries what would otherwise have to
be set up again, with no logs or history.

- contents.py: audit_events, alert_events, alert_states, metric_anomalies,
  metric_anomaly_spans and user_invites move to EXCLUDED.
- Alert state is no longer restored, and evaluation skips a rule with no
  state row. ensure_rule_states (alerts/service.py) gives every
  single-resource rule lacking one an inactive row; alert_reconcile runs
  it each minute.
- Docs, the Backups page and the CLI help say what a backup holds now.
  CI's image check also finds the audit log empty after a restore.
- tests/integration/test_backup_restore_fixes.py is removed: its case (an
  alert event naming a left-out Ansible run) no longer arises. The SET NULL
  fix-up is covered by a unit test on synthetic tables.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

steward/alerts/service.py

@@ -744,6 +744,25 @@ async def reconcile_covering_rules(app) -> None:
                                 ", ".join(added) or "none", ", ".join(removed) or "none")
 
 
+async def ensure_rule_states(app) -> int:
+    """A state row, inactive, for every rule watching one resource that has
+    none. Evaluation skips a rule without one, and a backup leaves alert state
+    out (System 180, 2026-10-15), so a restored rule comes back without it.
+    Run each minute by the core scheduler (alert_reconcile): a restored rule is
+    watched again within a minute. Returns how many rows were added."""
+    async with app.db_sessionmaker() as db:
+        async with db.begin():
+            has_state = select(AlertState.id).where(AlertState.rule_id == AlertRule.id).exists()
+            missing = (await db.execute(select(AlertRule.id).where(
+                AlertRule.covers == "resource", ~has_state))).scalars().all()
+            now = datetime.now(timezone.utc)
+            db.add_all([AlertState(rule_id=rule_id, state=AlertStateEnum.inactive,
+                                   last_transition_at=now) for rule_id in missing])
+    if missing:
+        logger.info("Alert rules without a state row: added %d", len(missing))
+    return len(missing)
+
+
 def part_of(rule: AlertRule, rules) -> AlertRule | None:
     """The covering rule a child belongs to, from a list of rules; None for a
     rule that stands alone."""

steward/app.py

@@ -429,9 +429,10 @@ def _register_core_tasks(app: Quart) -> None:
         await record_cleanup_secs(app, done["secs"])
 
     async def run_alert_reconcile():
-        from .alerts.service import reconcile_covering_rules
+        from .alerts.service import ensure_rule_states, reconcile_covering_rules
         from .core.alerts import check_silence, notify_after_maintenance
-        for step in (reconcile_covering_rules, check_silence, notify_after_maintenance):
+        for step in (reconcile_covering_rules, ensure_rule_states, check_silence,
+                     notify_after_maintenance):
             try:
                 await step(app)
             except Exception:

steward/backup/contents.py

@@ -2,38 +2,43 @@
 or left out, and tests/core/test_backup_contents.py fails on one that is
 neither, so a new table is a decision someone makes in this file.
 
-The operator's ruling (System 180 "Backup & Restore", 2026-10-12): a backup
-carries configuration, the audit log and alert history. Metrics, check
-results and the Docker, Traefik and UniFi history are left out: their tables
-come back with their structure and no rows, and fill again as Steward runs.
+The operator's ruling (System 180 "Backup & Restore", 2026-10-15): a backup
+is for system recovery. It carries settings and keys, what would otherwise
+have to be set up again, and no logs or history: not the audit log, not
+alert history, not metrics. Left-out tables come back with their structure
+and no rows, and fill again as Steward runs.
 
 A table that is in neither list (an external plugin's) is backed up whole:
 a table nobody thought about is kept, never lost.
 """
 from __future__ import annotations
 
-# Configuration, and the history the operator chose to keep.
+# What would otherwise have to be set up again.
 KEPT: frozenset[str] = frozenset({
-    "app_settings", "users", "user_invites", "api_tokens",
+    "app_settings", "users", "api_tokens",
     "hosts", "host_agent_registrations",
     # A group's maintenance cadence (#5768): configuration.
     "host_maintenance_plans",
     "monitors",
-    "alert_rules", "alert_states", "maintenance_windows",
+    "alert_rules", "maintenance_windows",
     "ansible_targets", "ansible_groups", "ansible_target_groups", "ansible_schedules",
     "dashboards", "dashboard_widgets", "dashboard_share_tokens",
     "snmp_devices", "prometheus_targets", "prometheus_widget_templates",
     # Names given to network clients by hand (UniFi's alias column).
     "unifi_known_clients",
-    # History kept by the ruling.
-    "audit_events", "alert_events",
-    # Metric anomalies and their reviews (#5740): what someone marked normal
-    # or real is a decision, kept like alert history.
-    "metric_anomalies", "metric_anomaly_spans",
 })
 
-# Rows that are measurements, logs or in-flight work: left out.
+# Rows that are measurements, logs, history or in-flight work: left out.
 EXCLUDED: frozenset[str] = frozenset({
+    # Logs and history (the 2026-10-15 ruling): a recovery doesn't need them.
+    "audit_events", "alert_events",
+    # Live state: each rule starts inactive, and alert_reconcile gives a
+    # restored rule its state row within a minute (ensure_rule_states).
+    "alert_states",
+    # Metric anomalies and their reviews (#5740): history of the metrics.
+    "metric_anomalies", "metric_anomaly_spans",
+    # A pending invite is in flight, not setup; it can be sent again.
+    "user_invites",
     "plugin_metrics", "plugin_metric_latest", "plugin_metrics_hourly",
     # Learned from the metrics above, so relearned once they fill again.
     "metric_norms",

steward/cli.py

@@ -65,8 +65,8 @@ def main(ctx: click.Context, config: str, host: str, port: int, debug: bool) ->
               help="The folder to write the backup file into.")
 @click.pass_context
 def backup_command(ctx: click.Context, out_dir: Path) -> None:
-    """Write a backup file of this Steward (configuration, audit log, alert
-    history and the secret key) into a folder, without sending it anywhere."""
+    """Write a backup file of this Steward (settings and the secret key: what
+    recovery needs, no logs or history) into a folder, without sending it anywhere."""
     from .backup.dump import BackupError, make_backup
     from .backup.job import migration_heads
     from .config import load_bootstrap

steward/core/alerts.py

@@ -352,7 +352,8 @@ async def record_metrics(session: AsyncSession, rows: list[PluginMetric], phases
     for rule in rules:
         alert_state = states.get(rule.id)
         if alert_state is None:
-            logger.warning("No alert_state row for rule %s, skipping", rule.id)
+            # A restored rule (backups leave state out); alert_reconcile adds it.
+            logger.warning("No alert_state row for rule %s yet, skipping", rule.id)
             continue
         samples = sorted(by_key[(rule.source_module, rule.resource_name, rule.metric_name)],
                          key=lambda r: r.recorded_at)

steward/templates/settings/backups.html

@@ -30,8 +30,9 @@
   <div class="card" style="margin-bottom:1.25rem;">
     <h2 class="section-title" style="margin-bottom:0.5rem;">Bucket</h2>
     <p class="field-hint" style="margin-bottom:1rem;">
-      Each backup is one file, <code>steward-&lt;time&gt;.tar</code>: Steward's configuration, its audit log
-      and alert history, and its secret key. Metrics and check results are left out. Anyone holding a
+      Each backup is one file, <code>steward-&lt;time&gt;.tar</code>, for getting Steward running again:
+      its settings, users, hosts, monitors, alert rules and dashboards, and its secret key. Logs and
+      history are left out: the audit log, alert history, metrics and check results. Anyone holding a
       copy can read every password and key Steward keeps, so keep the bucket private.
     </p>