Backup & restore decision

A decision tree that walks you step by step through what you need to do with backups (take a backup, restore, return to a specific point in time - PITR, or verify a backup) and leads you to the right commands and steps for each database.

What do you want to do?

Choose your goal. Are you taking a new backup, restoring an existing backup, returning to a specific time (just before an outage), or verifying that the backup you have is sound?

• I want to TAKE a backup
• I want to RESTORE a backup
• Return to a specific point in time (PITR)
• I want to VERIFY a backup

Which type of backup?

A logical backup (dump) is portable and suits selective restores but is slow for large data. A physical backup (file/block level) suits large databases and fast recovery. Choose according to your needs.

• Logical backup (dump / export)
• Physical / full backup

Taking a logical backup (dump)

Exports data as SQL/BSON statements. Ideal for moving across versions/platforms and restoring a single table/collection.

Taking a physical / full backup

A block/file-level copy of the datafiles. Fast for large databases and the foundation for PITR and full recovery.

Restoring a backup

Restore the most suitable backup you have to the target. First verify the backup's integrity and timestamp, then load it with the engine-appropriate command.

Returning to a specific point in time (PITR)

You want to return, with second-level precision, to just before an accidental delete/corruption. You need a full backup + the transaction logs up to that point (archived logs / WAL / binlog).

Verifying a backup

A backup is only a backup once it has been proven restorable. Test integrity and actual restorability regularly.