diff --git a/ansible/dr-bootstrap.yml b/ansible/dr-bootstrap.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..422d1cc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ansible/dr-bootstrap.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,179 @@
+---
+# dr-bootstrap.yml — minimum-viable cross-server disaster recovery.
+#
+# Provisions a target server into a working k3s node (checking the
+# environment first, installing only if missing — safe to re-run) and
+# restores one app from a captured backup-k8s-apps.sh archive onto it,
+# from scratch: creates the namespace, the PVC(s) (never captured by the
+# backup before this — see sanitize_k8s_manifest.py's header) and the
+# Deployments/Services/Secret, then hands off to the existing
+# restore-k8s-apps.sh for the actual data population (PVC contents + DB),
+# which already assumes namespace/PVC/Deployments exist — this playbook is
+# what makes that assumption true on a target that starts with nothing.
+#
+# Usage:
+#   ansible-playbook -i inventory.ini dr-bootstrap.yml \
+#     -e dr_app=n8n -e dr_backup_archive=/root/backups/myapps-k8s-backup-XXXXXXXX_XXXXXX.tar.gz
+#
+# NOT in scope (same cut as restore-k8s-apps.sh's own header): this
+# targets a server that already has network/DNS/SSH access sorted out —
+# it provisions the CLUSTER and the APP, not the surrounding
+# infrastructure.
+
+- name: DR Bootstrap
+  hosts: dr_target
+  gather_facts: yes
+  vars:
+    remote_work_dir: "/root/dr-bootstrap-{{ dr_app }}"
+    k3s_version: "v1.35.4+k3s1"
+
+  tasks:
+    - name: Fail fast if required vars are missing
+      ansible.builtin.assert:
+        that:
+          - dr_app is defined
+          - dr_backup_archive is defined
+        fail_msg: "Pass -e dr_app=<name> -e dr_backup_archive=<local path to a myapps-k8s-backup-*.tar.gz>"
+
+    # ── 1. Environment check — before touching anything ──────────────
+    - name: Check free disk space and memory
+      ansible.builtin.set_fact:
+        disk_free_gb: "{{ ((ansible_facts['mounts'] | selectattr('mount', 'equalto', '/') | first).size_available / (1024**3)) | round(1) }}"
+
+    - name: Assert environment meets k3s minimums
+      ansible.builtin.assert:
+        that:
+          - disk_free_gb | float > 5
+          - ansible_facts['memtotal_mb'] > 1500
+        fail_msg: >
+          Environment below k3s minimums on {{ inventory_hostname }}:
+          {{ disk_free_gb }}GB free disk / {{ ansible_facts['memtotal_mb'] }}MB RAM
+          (need >5GB / >1.5GB). Not proceeding.
+        success_msg: >
+          Environment OK on {{ inventory_hostname }}: {{ disk_free_gb }}GB free disk,
+          {{ ansible_facts['memtotal_mb'] }}MB RAM, {{ ansible_facts['processor_vcpus'] }} vCPUs.
+
+    # ── 2. k3s — install only if missing, never re-run blindly ───────
+    - name: Check if k3s is already installed
+      ansible.builtin.command: which k3s
+      register: k3s_check
+      ignore_errors: true
+      changed_when: false
+
+    - name: Install k3s (skipped if already present)
+      ansible.builtin.shell: >
+        curl -sfL https://get.k3s.io |
+        INSTALL_K3S_VERSION="{{ k3s_version }}" sh -s - --write-kubeconfig-mode 644
+      when: k3s_check.rc != 0
+
+    - name: Wait for the k3s node to report Ready
+      ansible.builtin.shell: k3s kubectl get nodes --no-headers | awk '{print $2}'
+      register: node_status
+      until: "'Ready' in node_status.stdout"
+      retries: 24
+      delay: 5
+      changed_when: false
+
+    # ── 3. Stage the backup + tooling on the target ───────────────────
+    - name: Create working directory
+      ansible.builtin.file:
+        path: "{{ remote_work_dir }}"
+        state: directory
+        mode: '0755'
+
+    - name: Copy backup archive to target
+      ansible.builtin.copy:
+        src: "{{ dr_backup_archive }}"
+        dest: "{{ remote_work_dir }}/backup.tar.gz"
+
+    - name: Extract backup archive
+      ansible.builtin.unarchive:
+        src: "{{ remote_work_dir }}/backup.tar.gz"
+        dest: "{{ remote_work_dir }}"
+        remote_src: true
+        extra_opts: ['--strip-components=1']
+
+    - name: Copy sanitizer script
+      ansible.builtin.copy:
+        src: sanitize_k8s_manifest.py
+        dest: "{{ remote_work_dir }}/sanitize_k8s_manifest.py"
+        mode: '0755'
+
+    - name: Copy restore-k8s-apps.sh
+      ansible.builtin.copy:
+        src: "{{ playbook_dir }}/../backup/restore-k8s-apps.sh"
+        dest: "{{ remote_work_dir }}/restore-k8s-apps.sh"
+        mode: '0755'
+
+    - name: Determine the app's namespace from the captured manifests
+      ansible.builtin.shell: >
+        python3 -c "import yaml; d=yaml.safe_load(open('{{ remote_work_dir }}/{{ dr_app }}/manifests.yaml'));
+        print(d['items'][0]['metadata']['namespace'])"
+      register: ns_result
+      changed_when: false
+
+    - name: Set dr_namespace fact
+      ansible.builtin.set_fact:
+        dr_namespace: "{{ ns_result.stdout }}"
+
+    # ── 4. Provision namespace + PVC + Secret + Deployments/Services ──
+    - name: Create namespace (idempotent)
+      ansible.builtin.shell: >
+        k3s kubectl get namespace {{ dr_namespace }} ||
+        k3s kubectl create namespace {{ dr_namespace }}
+      changed_when: false
+
+    - name: Check for a captured PVC spec
+      ansible.builtin.stat:
+        path: "{{ remote_work_dir }}/{{ dr_app }}/pvc.yaml"
+      register: pvc_file
+
+    - name: Sanitize + apply PVC spec
+      when: pvc_file.stat.exists
+      block:
+        - ansible.builtin.command: >
+            python3 {{ remote_work_dir }}/sanitize_k8s_manifest.py
+            {{ remote_work_dir }}/{{ dr_app }}/pvc.yaml
+            {{ remote_work_dir }}/{{ dr_app }}/pvc.clean.yaml
+        - ansible.builtin.command: k3s kubectl apply -f {{ remote_work_dir }}/{{ dr_app }}/pvc.clean.yaml
+
+    - name: Sanitize + apply Secret
+      block:
+        - ansible.builtin.command: >
+            python3 {{ remote_work_dir }}/sanitize_k8s_manifest.py
+            {{ remote_work_dir }}/{{ dr_app }}/secret.yaml
+            {{ remote_work_dir }}/{{ dr_app }}/secret.clean.yaml
+        - ansible.builtin.command: k3s kubectl apply -f {{ remote_work_dir }}/{{ dr_app }}/secret.clean.yaml
+
+    - name: Sanitize + apply Deployments/Services/Ingress
+      block:
+        - ansible.builtin.command: >
+            python3 {{ remote_work_dir }}/sanitize_k8s_manifest.py
+            {{ remote_work_dir }}/{{ dr_app }}/manifests.yaml
+            {{ remote_work_dir }}/{{ dr_app }}/manifests.clean.yaml
+        - ansible.builtin.command: k3s kubectl apply -f {{ remote_work_dir }}/{{ dr_app }}/manifests.clean.yaml
+
+    - name: Wait for PVC(s) to be Bound
+      when: pvc_file.stat.exists
+      ansible.builtin.shell: >
+        k3s kubectl get pvc -n {{ dr_namespace }} -o jsonpath='{.items[*].status.phase}'
+      register: pvc_status
+      until: "'Pending' not in pvc_status.stdout"
+      retries: 12
+      delay: 5
+      changed_when: false
+
+    # ── 5. Data population — reuse the existing, already-validated
+    #      restore pipeline. It handles PVC contents + DB restore; steps
+    #      1-4 above are only what's needed to make its own assumption
+    #      (namespace/PVC/Deployments already exist) true on a target
+    #      that started with nothing. ──────────────────────────────────
+    - name: Run restore-k8s-apps.sh to populate data
+      ansible.builtin.command: bash restore-k8s-apps.sh --apps {{ dr_app }}
+      args:
+        chdir: "{{ remote_work_dir }}"
+      register: restore_output
+
+    - name: Show restore output
+      ansible.builtin.debug:
+        var: restore_output.stdout_lines
diff --git a/ansible/inventory.ini b/ansible/inventory.ini
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f107546
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ansible/inventory.ini
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+[dr_target]
+178.18.243.51 ansible_user=root ansible_ssh_private_key_file=/root/.ssh/id_rsa ansible_ssh_common_args='-o StrictHostKeyChecking=no'
diff --git a/ansible/sanitize_k8s_manifest.py b/ansible/sanitize_k8s_manifest.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..952617b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ansible/sanitize_k8s_manifest.py
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""sanitize_k8s_manifest.py — strip source-cluster-specific fields from a
+captured `kubectl get ... -o yaml` dump so it can be applied fresh onto a
+different (DR/standby) cluster.
+
+backup-k8s-apps.sh's manifests.yaml/pvc.yaml/secret.yaml are raw `kubectl
+get -o yaml` output: server-assigned fields like resourceVersion/uid are
+always present, and PVCs additionally carry spec.volumeName + a Bound
+status pointing at a specific PersistentVolume that only exists on the
+ORIGINAL cluster. Applying any of that verbatim onto a fresh cluster either
+fails outright (a stale resourceVersion trips optimistic-concurrency
+checks — the exact bug fixed in restore-k8s-apps.sh's Secret handling) or
+silently tries to bind a PVC to a PV that was never created there.
+
+Usage: sanitize_k8s_manifest.py <in.yaml> <out.yaml>
+"""
+import sys
+import yaml
+
+DROP_METADATA_KEYS = (
+    'resourceVersion', 'uid', 'creationTimestamp', 'selfLink',
+    'generation', 'finalizers', 'managedFields', 'annotations',
+)
+
+
+def sanitize_item(item):
+    meta = item.get('metadata') or {}
+    for key in DROP_METADATA_KEYS:
+        meta.pop(key, None)
+
+    item.pop('status', None)
+
+    if item.get('kind') == 'PersistentVolumeClaim':
+        spec = item.get('spec') or {}
+        spec.pop('volumeName', None)
+
+    return item
+
+
+def main():
+    if len(sys.argv) != 3:
+        print(f"usage: {sys.argv[0]} <in.yaml> <out.yaml>", file=sys.stderr)
+        sys.exit(1)
+
+    with open(sys.argv[1]) as f:
+        doc = yaml.safe_load(f)
+
+    if doc is None:
+        items = []
+    elif doc.get('kind') == 'List':
+        items = [sanitize_item(i) for i in doc.get('items', [])]
+    else:
+        items = [sanitize_item(doc)]
+
+    with open(sys.argv[2], 'w') as f:
+        yaml.safe_dump_all(items, f, default_flow_style=False)
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    main()
diff --git a/backup/backup-k8s-apps.sh b/backup/backup-k8s-apps.sh
index 93acb00..68e2d1a 100755
--- a/backup/backup-k8s-apps.sh
+++ b/backup/backup-k8s-apps.sh
@@ -306,6 +306,19 @@ for app in $ALL_APPS; do
         && { echo "✅"; rm -f "$APP_DIR/manifests.err"; } \
         || { echo "⚠️  FAILED (see manifests.err)"; ERRORS+=("$app:manifests:$(tr '\n' ' ' < "$APP_DIR/manifests.err" | cut -c1-200)"); }
 
+    # ---- 1b. PVC specs — NOT covered by the manifests capture above, and
+    #          needed to provision a namespace from scratch on a fresh/DR
+    #          cluster (restore-k8s-apps.sh assumes the PVC already exists;
+    #          this is what actually creates it there). Same label selector
+    #          as the manifests capture, so this stays in lockstep with
+    #          whatever PVCs are actually labeled as ours — no separate
+    #          per-app name table to keep in sync. ----
+    echo -n "   💾 PVC specs ... "
+    kubectl get pvc -n "$ns" -l owner=ameni-boukattaya -o yaml \
+        > "$APP_DIR/pvc.yaml" 2>"$APP_DIR/pvc.err" \
+        && { echo "✅"; rm -f "$APP_DIR/pvc.err"; } \
+        || { echo "⚠️  FAILED (see pvc.err)"; ERRORS+=("$app:pvc_spec:$(tr '\n' ' ' < "$APP_DIR/pvc.err" | cut -c1-200)"); }
+
     # ---- 2. Secret (plaintext, encryption-at-rest deferred) ----
     echo -n "   🔑 Secret ($secret_name) ... "
     kubectl get secret "$secret_name" -n "$ns" -o yaml \