GitLab Database Incident – Live Report
This is painful to read. It&#x27;s easy to say that they they should have tested their backups better, and so on, but there is another lesson here, one that&#x27;s far more important and easily missed.<p>When doing something really critical (such as playing with the master database late at night) ALWAYS work with a checklist. Write down WHAT you are going to do, and if possible, talk to a coworker about it so you can vocalize the steps. If there is no coworker, talk to your rubber ducky or stapler on your desk. This will help you catch mistakes. Then when the entire plan looks sensible, go through the steps one by one. Don&#x27;t deviate from the plan. Don&#x27;t get distracted and start switching between terminal windows. While making the checklist ask yourself if what you&#x27;re doing is A) absolutely necessary and B) risks making things worse. Even when the angry emails are piling up you can&#x27;t allow that pressure to cloud your judgment.<p>Every startup has moments when last-minute panic-patching of a critical part of the server infrastructure is needed, but if you use a checklist you&#x27;re not likely to mess up badly, even when tired.