Try to meet several review comments

doc/raketasks/backup_restore.md

@@ -273,15 +273,16 @@ sudo -u git -H bundle exec rake gitlab:backup:create SKIP=db,uploads RAILS_ENV=p
 
 ### Skipping tar creation
 
-The last part of backup creation is generation of a tar file with all
-the parts in. In some cases (e.g. if the backup is picked up by other
-backup software) that might be wasted or even directly harmful, you can
-skip this step by adding `tar` to the `SKIP` environment variable.
+The last part of creating a backup is generation of a `.tar` file containing
+all the parts. In some cases (for example, if the backup is picked up by other
+backup software) creating a `.tar` file might be wasted effort or even directly
+harmful, so you can skip this step by adding `tar` to the `SKIP` environment
+variable.
 
-This will leave the files and directories containing the backup in the
-directory used for the intermediate files, and thus the will be
-overwritten when a new backup is created, i.e. you can't have more than
-one backup on the system, so you should make sure it's copied elsewhere.
+Including `tar` in the `SKIP` variable will leave the files and directories
+containing the backup in the directory used for the intermediate files. These
+files will be overwritten when a new backup is created, so you should make sure
+it's copied elsewhere, because you can only have one backup on the system.
 
 For Omnibus GitLab packages:
 
@@ -289,9 +290,6 @@ For Omnibus GitLab packages:
 sudo gitlab-backup create SKIP=tar
 ```
 
-NOTE: **Note**
-For GitLab 12.1 and earlier, use `gitlab-rake gitlab:backup:create`.
-
 For installations from source:
 
 ```shell
@@ -685,8 +683,9 @@ lose access to your GitLab server.
 
 You may also want to restore any TLS keys, certificates, or [SSH host keys](https://superuser.com/questions/532040/copy-ssh-keys-from-one-server-to-another-server/532079#532079).
 
-If an untarred backup (like the ones made with `SKIP=tar`) is found, and
-no backup is chosen with `BACKUP=<timestamp>`, the untarred is used.
+Starting with GitLab12.9 if an untarred backup (like the ones made with
+`SKIP=tar`) is found, and no backup is chosen with `BACKUP=<timestamp>`, the
+untarred backup is used.
 
 Depending on your case, you might want to run the restore command with one or
 more of the following options:

lib/backup/manager.rb

@@ -24,9 +24,6 @@ module Backup
     end
 
     def pack
-      # Make sure there is a connection
-      ActiveRecord::Base.connection.reconnect!
-
       Dir.chdir(backup_path) do
         # create archive
         progress.print "Creating backup archive: #{tar_file} ... "
@@ -113,9 +110,10 @@ module Backup
     # rubocop: disable Metrics/AbcSize
     def unpack
       cleanup_required = true
+
       Dir.chdir(backup_path) do
         if ENV['BACKUP'].present?
-          # User has indicated which backup he/she wants restored
+          # User has indicated which backup to restore
           tar_file = File.basename(ENV['BACKUP']) + FILE_NAME_SUFFIX
 
           unless File.exist?(tar_file)

lib/tasks/gitlab/backup.rake

@@ -19,13 +19,13 @@ namespace :gitlab do
       backup = Backup::Manager.new(progress)
       backup.write_info
 
-      if !(ENV['SKIP'] && ENV['SKIP'].include?('tar'))
+      if ENV['SKIP'] && ENV['SKIP'].include?('tar')
+        backup.upload
+      else
         backup.pack
         backup.upload
         backup.cleanup
         backup.remove_old
-      else
-        backup.upload
       end
 
       progress.puts "Warning: Your gitlab.rb and gitlab-secrets.json files contain sensitive data \n" \