Backups and restore
Backups and restore
A service's Backups tab gathers the safety copies of its data: triggered by hand, scheduled, and restorable from the same list.
Two kinds of backup
| Type | What is copied | Available when |
|---|---|---|
| Dump | The contents of the database, exported in its engine's format | The service is a managed database |
| Snapshot | The whole volume, copied block by block | The service has a persistent volume |
The dump is the more flexible one: it can be read back, inspected, restored partially if needed. A snapshot cannot be sliced up, but it captures everything the volume holds, a CMS's files included, not just a database.
Run a backup now
Backups tab → Dump or Snapshot button. The row appears right away as "running" and turns to "successful" once the copy is done. A backup that stays running indefinitely is an incident: report it with a ticket.
Schedule
The Automatic backup block in that same tab:
| Setting | Detail |
|---|---|
| Enabled | Master switch |
| Frequency | Daily or weekly |
| Hour (UTC) | Trigger hour, from 0 to 23. Mind the offset from your own timezone |
| Keep | Number of backups retained (1 to 60); beyond that, the oldest is deleted |
Scheduling only covers managed databases: it produces dumps. Volume snapshots stay manual.
Turn it on as soon as you go to production. It is the only thing that recovers from an accidental deletion, and the moment you think of it is rarely the moment you need it.
Restore
Dumps are restored from the list with the Restore action. Restoring replaces the affected data of the service with the backup's: a confirmation is asked, take it seriously. Volume snapshots cannot be restored from the interface yet: contact support.
The reflex that saves regrets: run a manual backup just before restoring an older one. If the restored version isn't the one you thought, you can go back.
Where backups live
Backups are stored on a volume dedicated to the project, separate from your services' own. There is no copy outside our infrastructure: export anything vital yourself.
Deleting a backup from the list removes it from the list. Deleting a service also removes its backups: export what you want to keep first.