---
title: "Backup & Restore"
description: "Create, schedule, and restore system backups"
source_url: https://ai-ops.com/docs/system/backup
---

# Backup & Restore

Navigate to **System > Backup** to create backups, manage backup files, and restore the system from a previous state.

> [!NOTE] Docker volume backups
> For infrastructure-level backups using Docker CLI commands (useful when Koios is not running or for host-level backup scripts), see [Backing Up Docker Volumes](https://ai-ops.com/docs/installation/backup-restore.md).

---

## Backup Tiers

Every backup is either **Config** or **Full**:

| Tier | Contents | Typical Size |
|------|----------|-------------|
| **Config** | System database (devices, tags, users, models, settings), media files, certificates, and license | 10–100 MB |
| **Full** | Everything in Config plus historical time-series data | Varies with retention settings |

Config backups complete in seconds. Full backups may take several minutes depending on how much historical data exists.

---

## Scheduled Backups

The settings section at the top of the page configures automatic backups:

| Setting | Description |
|---------|-------------|
| **Automatic Backups** | Enable or disable scheduled backups |
| **Backup Day** | Run daily, or on a specific day of the week (backups run at 2:00 AM) |
| **Backup Tier** | Config or Full |
| **Backups to Keep** | Maximum number of backup files to retain (1–50). When exceeded, the oldest backup is automatically deleted. |

Click **Save Changes** after modifying any setting.

---

## Creating a Manual Backup

1. In the **Create Backup** card, select the tier (**Config** or **Full**)
2. Click **Create Backup**
3. A progress bar appears showing the current step and completion percentage
4. When finished, the backup appears in the history table below

All other actions on the page are disabled while a backup or restore is in progress.

> [!TIP] Back up before upgrading
> Before updating Koios to a new version, create a manual backup so you have a restore point in case you need to roll back. See [Updating the Koios Version](https://ai-ops.com/docs/updates/general.md).

---

## Backup History

The history table lists all existing backups with:

| Column | Description |
|--------|-------------|
| **Filename** | The backup archive name |
| **Tier** | Config or Full |
| **Size** | Archive file size |
| **Created** | Timestamp |
| **By** | The user who created it |

Each row has two actions:
- **Download** — saves the backup file to your computer
- **Delete** — permanently removes the backup file from the server

---

## Restoring from a Backup

1. In the **Restore from Backup** card, drag and drop (or browse to select) a `.tar.gz` backup file
2. After upload, the backup's metadata is displayed — filename, tier, Koios version, and who created it
3. For **Full** backups, an optional checkbox lets you include historical time-series data in the restore. Leave it unchecked to restore only the configuration.
4. Click **Restore System**
5. A confirmation dialog warns that this will overwrite all current system data
6. Confirm to start the restore. A progress bar tracks the operation.

> [!CAUTION] Restore cannot be undone
> Restoring overwrites the system database, media files, certificates, license, and data cache. If you included time-series data, that is overwritten too. Consider creating a backup of the current system before restoring from an older one.

After a successful restore, services may restart automatically for changes to take full effect.

---

## What's Next

- [Data Retention](https://ai-ops.com/docs/system/retention.md) — configure how long historical data is kept
- [System Overview](https://ai-ops.com/docs/system/information.md) — check system status after a restore