Database backups and restore on blitz.cloud

blitz.cloud backs up every running database every night to separate storage, away from the servers your apps run on. The free plan keeps the last 7 nights. PostgreSQL and MariaDB can be restored to any of those nights with one button. Files your apps write to disk are not backed up yet.

What is backed up

Only databases that are running at backup time are copied.

Where the copies go

Backups are streamed to Hetzner storage that is separate from the servers running your apps, so a problem with those servers doesn't take the copies with it. They are encrypted by the backup tool (restic) before they leave the cluster.

Restoring a database

Open the database on the Databases page. Each night is listed by date, like "the night of Friday 12 September". Pick one and confirm.

A restore replaces the database with that night's copy. It does not merge. Anything written since that night is gone afterwards, and the confirmation says so before you press the button.

Redis restores are not a button yet. The copies are taken like any other, but putting one back needs the engine stopped and a file replaced. Write to hallo@blitzworks.io and we do it by hand.

Deleting a database deletes its backups

When you delete an app together with its database, every nightly copy of that database goes too. That's the one place in blitz.cloud where a click destroys data that can't be brought back, so the dialog says it in those words.

Files are not backed up yet

Folders an app keeps on disk survive restarts, but they are not copied anywhere. If your app stores uploads or a SQLite file on disk, keep your own copy of anything you can't lose. Snapshots of app files are planned.

Size

How much a database holds is measured with the first nightly copy. Until then the card says "size known after tonight's copy" instead of showing zero.