Backups

Dolt has two options for backups: remotes and backups.
Remotes
Using remotes for backups should be suitable for some use cases. Using remotes for backups only backs up to the current commit of a branch, not the working set. Pushing to a remote creates an off server copy of the branch being pushed. Frequently pushing to a remote can serve as a reasonable backup.
Configure a remote
Currently you can only add and remove remotes from the Dolt CLI. The example uses DoltHub as a remote but you can use Dolt with other remotes like filesystem, AWS S3, and GCS. I created an empty database on DoltHub and configured the appropriate read and write credentials on this host.
% dolt remote add backup https://doltremoteapi.dolthub.com/timsehn/backup-example
$ dolt remote -v
backup https://doltremoteapi.dolthub.com/timsehn/backup-example 
Backup by Pushing a Branch
mysql> use backup_example;
mysql> create table test (pk int, c1 int, primary key(pk));
mysql> insert into test values (0,0);
mysql> call dolt_commit('-am', "Created table and inserted values to be backed up");
+----------------------------------+
| hash                             |
+----------------------------------+
| slm5cql6ri8l4vd7uemvqhj6p2e2g98k |
+----------------------------------+
mysql> call dolt_push('backup', 'main');
+---------+
| success |
+---------+
| 1       |
+---------+
Using DoltHub or DoltLab as a remote provides a web UI to your backups.
DoltHub Backup Example
Backups
Dolt also has backups, accessed with the dolt backup command. These backups look more like traditional database backups. The entire state of the database, including uncommitted changes on all branches, are copied to another location.
Create a backup
To create a backup you first configure a backup using syntax similar to the remote syntax.
$ mkdir -p /Users/timsehn/liquidata/dolt/backups/backup-example
$ dolt backup add local-backup file:///Users/timsehn/liquidata/dolt/backups/backup-example
$ dolt backup sync local-backup
Uploaded 3.1 kB of 3.1 kB @ 0 B/s.
$ 
Sync a backup from SQL
mysql> use backup_example;
mysql> insert into test values (1,1);
mysql> call dolt_backup('sync', 'local-backup');
+---------+
| success |
+---------+
| 1       |
+---------+
Restore from a backup
The backup command called with the restore option looks a lot like the dolt clone command.
$ dolt backup restore file:///Users/timsehn/liquidata/dolt/backups/backup-example backup-restore
Downloaded 14 chunks, 3.5 kB @ 0 B/s.
​
$ cd backup-restore/
backup-restore $ dolt sql -q "select * from test"
+----+----+
| pk | c1 |
+----+----+
| 0  | 0  |
| 1  | 1  |
+----+----+
Note the working set changes were also restored.
Configuration and users/grants are not backed up and restored as these are not stored in the versioned part of Dolt.

Access Management

Replication

Last modified 1mo ago

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Outline

Remotes

Configure a remote

Backup by Pushing a Branch

Backups

Create a backup

Sync a backup from SQL

Restore from a backup