Database-level backup and restore

Learn how to use the pvault-dump and pvault-restore command-line utilities

pg_dump and psql are command-line utilities that enable you to backup and restore PostgreSQL databases. Vault uses these utilities in pvault-dump and pvault-restore to enable you to back up and restore your Vault.

Both pvault-dump and pvault-restore are bundled with every Vault image and can be accessed using Docker run commands, as follows:

alias pvault-dump="docker run -i --entrypoint pvault-dump -v \$(pwd):/pwd -w /pwd [image]"

alias pvault-restore="docker run -i --entrypoint pvault-restore -v \$(pwd):/pwd -w /pwd [image]"

pvault-dump

The pvault-dump utility wraps pg_dump and is used to create a backup of Vault. It creates a file that contains the instructions required to recreate the Vault. The backup file is compressed to save space and includes the schema and the data.

Syntax:

pvault-dump [connection string] > [output file]

To connect to a PostgreSQL database, you need to provide a connection string that includes the following parameters:

• addr: the IP address or hostname of the server where the PostgreSQL database is running.
• port: the port number on which the PostgreSQL server is listening.
• dbname: the name of the database you want to connect to.
• user: the username used to authenticate to the database.
• password: the password associated with the user account.

Key/Value notation

Syntax:

host=%s port=%d dbname=%s user=%s password=%s

Example:

pvault-dump addr=<DB hostname> port=5432 dbname=mydb user=myuser password=mypassword > backup.gz

PostgreSQL URL notation

The connection string also supports PostgreSQL URL syntax:

postgresql://$user:$password@$addr:$port/$dbname

Example:

pvault-dump postgresql://$user:$password@$addr:$port/$dbname > backup.gz

Defaults

Where a parameter is not given in the connection string, the following default values are used:

• addr: host.docker.internal
• port: 5432
• dbname: pvault
• user: pvault
• password: pvault

pvault-restore

The pvault-restore utility uses psql to restore a backup from the Vault created by pvault-dump. It replaces the original database with the contents of the backup file.

Syntax:

pvault-restore [connection string] < [file name]

Example:

pvault-restore addr=<DB hostname> port=5432 dbname=pvault user=pvault password=pvault < backup.gz

note

After pg-restore restart all of your Vault instances

caution

Ensure that the container is running and that the parameters match the settings in the container.