backup_gitlab.md

---
stage: Systems
group: Geo
info: To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/product/ux/technical-writing/#assignments
---

# Back up GitLab

DETAILS:
**Tier:** Free, Premium, Ultimate
**Offering:** Self-managed

The exact procedure for backing up GitLab depends on many factors. Your particular deployment's usage and configuration determine what kind of data exists, where it is located, and how much there is. These factors influence your options for how to perform a back up, how to store it, and how to restore it.

## Simple back up procedure

As a rough guideline, if you are using a [1k reference architecture](../reference_architectures/1k_users.md) with less than 100 GB of data, then follow these steps:

1. Run the [backup command](#backup-command).
1. Back up [object storage](#object-storage), if applicable.
1. Manually back up [configuration files](#storing-configuration-files).

## Scaling backups

As the volume of GitLab data grows, the [backup command](#backup-command) takes longer to execute. [Backup options](#backup-options) such as [back up Git repositories concurrently](#back-up-git-repositories-concurrently) and [incremental repository backups](#incremental-repository-backups) can help to reduce execution time. At some point, the backup command becomes impractical by itself. For example, it can take 24 hours or more.

In some cases, architecture changes may be warranted to allow backups to scale. If you are using a GitLab reference architecture, see [Back up and restore large reference architectures](backup_large_reference_architectures.md).

For more information, see [alternative backup strategies](#alternative-backup-strategies).

## What data needs to be backed up?

- [PostgreSQL databases](#postgresql-databases)
- [Git repositories](#git-repositories)
- [Blobs](#blobs)
- [Container registry](#container-registry)
- [Configuration files](#storing-configuration-files)
- [Other data](#other-data)

### PostgreSQL databases

In the simplest case, GitLab has one PostgreSQL database in one PostgreSQL server on the same VM as all other GitLab services. But depending on configuration, GitLab may use multiple PostgreSQL databases in multiple PostgreSQL servers.

In general, this data is the single source of truth for most user-generated content in the Web interface, such as issue and merge request content, comments, permissions, and credentials.

PostgreSQL also holds some cached data like HTML-rendered Markdown, and by default, merge request diffs.
However, merge request diffs can also be configured to be offloaded to the file system or object storage, see [Blobs](#blobs).

Gitaly Cluster's Praefect service uses a PostgreSQL database as a single source of truth to manage its Gitaly nodes.

A common PostgreSQL utility, [`pg_dump`](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/app-pgdump.html), produces a backup file which can be used to restore a PostgreSQL database. The [backup command](#backup-command) uses this utility under the hood.

Unfortunately, the larger the database, the longer it takes `pg_dump` to execute. Depending on your situation, the duration becomes impractical at some point (days, for example). If your database is over 100 GB, `pg_dump`, and by extension the [backup command](#backup-command), is likely not usable. For more information, see [alternative backup strategies](#alternative-backup-strategies).

### Git repositories

A GitLab instance can have one or more repository shards. Each shard is a Gitaly instance or Gitaly Cluster that
is responsible for allowing access and operations on the locally stored Git repositories. Gitaly can run
on a machine:

- With a single disk.
- With multiple disks mounted as a single mount-point (like with a RAID array).
- Using LVM.

Each project can have up to 3 different repositories:

- A project repository, where the source code is stored.
- A wiki repository, where the wiki content is stored.
- A design repository, where design artifacts are indexed (assets are actually in LFS).

They all live in the same shard and share the same base name with a `-wiki` and `-design` suffix
for Wiki and Design Repository cases.

Personal and project snippets, and group wiki content, are stored in Git repositories.

Project forks are deduplicated in live a GitLab site using pool repositories.

The [backup command](#backup-command) produces a Git bundle for each repository and tars them all up. This duplicates pool repository data into every fork. In [our testing](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/396343), 100 GB of Git repositories took a little over 2 hours to back up and upload to S3. At around 400 GB of Git data, the backup command is likely not viable for regular backups. For more information, see [alternative backup strategies](#alternative-backup-strategies).

### Blobs

GitLab stores blobs (or files) such as issue attachments or LFS objects into either:

- The file system in a specific location.
- An [Object Storage](../object_storage.md) solution. Object Storage solutions can be:
  - Cloud based like Amazon S3 and Google Cloud Storage.
  - Hosted by you (like MinIO).
  - A Storage Appliance that exposes an Object Storage-compatible API.

#### Object storage

The [backup command](#backup-command) doesn't back up blobs that aren't stored on the file system. If you're using [object storage](../object_storage.md), be sure to enable backups with your object storage provider. For example, see:

- [Amazon S3 backups](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/aws-backup/latest/devguide/s3-backups.html)
- [Google Cloud Storage Transfer Service](https://cloud.google.com/storage-transfer-service) and [Google Cloud Storage Object Versioning](https://cloud.google.com/storage/docs/object-versioning)

### Container registry

[GitLab container registry](../packages/container_registry.md) storage can be configured in either:

- The file system in a specific location.
- An [Object Storage](../object_storage.md) solution. Object Storage solutions can be:
  - Cloud based like Amazon S3 and Google Cloud Storage.
  - Hosted by you (like MinIO).
  - A Storage Appliance that exposes an Object Storage-compatible API.

The backup command does not back up registry data when they are stored in Object Storage.

### Storing configuration files

WARNING:
The [backup Rake task](#back-up-gitlab) GitLab provides does _not_ store your configuration files. The primary reason for this is that your database contains items including encrypted information for two-factor authentication and the CI/CD _secure variables_. Storing encrypted information in the same location as its key defeats the purpose of using encryption in the first place. For example, the secrets file contains your database encryption key. If you lose it, then the GitLab application will not be able to decrypt any encrypted values in the database.

WARNING:
The secrets file may change after upgrades.

You should back up the configuration directory. At the very **minimum**, you must back up:

::Tabs

:::TabTitle Linux package

- `/etc/gitlab/gitlab-secrets.json`
- `/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb`

For more information, see [Backup and restore Linux package (Omnibus) configuration](https://docs.gitlab.com/omnibus/settings/backups.html#backup-and-restore-omnibus-gitlab-configuration).

:::TabTitle Self-compiled

- `/home/git/gitlab/config/secrets.yml`
- `/home/git/gitlab/config/gitlab.yml`

:::TabTitle Docker

- Back up the volume where the configuration files are stored. If you created
  the GitLab container according to the documentation, it should be in the
  `/srv/gitlab/config` directory.

:::TabTitle GitLab Helm chart

- Follow the [Back up the secrets](https://docs.gitlab.com/charts/backup-restore/backup.html#back-up-the-secrets)
  instructions.

::EndTabs

You may also want to back up any TLS keys and certificates (`/etc/gitlab/ssl`, `/etc/gitlab/trusted-certs`), and your
[SSH host keys](https://superuser.com/questions/532040/copy-ssh-keys-from-one-server-to-another-server/532079#532079)
to avoid man-in-the-middle attack warnings if you have to perform a full machine restore.

In the unlikely event that the secrets file is lost, see
[When the secrets file is lost](../../administration/backup_restore/troubleshooting_backup_gitlab.md#when-the-secrets-file-is-lost).

### Other data

GitLab uses Redis both as a cache store and to hold persistent data for our background jobs system, Sidekiq. The provided [backup command](#backup-command) does _not_ back up Redis data. This means that in order to take a consistent backup with the [backup command](#backup-command), there must be no pending or running background jobs. It is possible to [manually back up Redis](https://redis.io/docs/latest/operate/oss_and_stack/management/persistence/#backing-up-redis-data).

Elasticsearch is an optional database for advanced search. It can improve search
in both source-code level, and user generated content in issues, merge requests, and discussions. The [backup command](#backup-command) does _not_ back up Elasticsearch data. Elasticsearch data can be regenerated from PostgreSQL data after a restore. It is possible to [manually back up Elasticsearch](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/snapshot-restore.html).

## Command-line interface

GitLab provides a command-line interface to back up your entire instance,
including:

- Database
- Attachments
- Git repositories data
- CI/CD job output logs
- CI/CD job artifacts
- LFS objects
- Terraform states
- Container registry images
- GitLab Pages content
- Packages
- Snippets
- [Group wikis](../../user/project/wiki/group.md)
- Project-level Secure Files ([introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/121142) in GitLab 16.1)
- External merge request diffs ([introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/154914) in GitLab 17.1)

Backups do not include:

- [Mattermost data](../../integration/mattermost/index.md#back-up-gitlab-mattermost)
- Redis (and thus Sidekiq jobs)
- [Object storage](#object-storage) on Linux package (Omnibus) / Docker / Self-compiled installations
- [Global server hooks](../server_hooks.md#create-global-server-hooks-for-all-repositories)
- [File hooks](../file_hooks.md)

WARNING:
GitLab does not back up any configuration files (`/etc/gitlab`), TLS keys and certificates, or system
files. You are highly advised to read about [storing configuration files](#storing-configuration-files).

### Requirements

To be able to back up and restore, ensure that Rsync is installed on your
system. If you installed GitLab:

- Using the Linux package, Rsync is already installed.
- Using self-compiled, check if `rsync` is installed. If Rsync is not installed, install it. For example:

  ```shell
  # Debian/Ubuntu
  sudo apt-get install rsync

  # RHEL/CentOS
  sudo yum install rsync
  ```

### Backup command

WARNING:
The backup command does not back up items in [object storage](#object-storage) on Linux package (Omnibus) / Docker / Self-compiled installations.

WARNING:
The backup command requires [additional parameters](#back-up-and-restore-for-installations-using-pgbouncer) when
your installation is using PgBouncer, for either performance reasons or when using it with a Patroni cluster.

WARNING:
Before GitLab 15.5.0, the backup command doesn't verify if another backup is already running, as described in
[issue 362593](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/362593). We strongly recommend
you make sure that all backups are complete before starting a new one.

NOTE:
You can only restore a backup to **exactly the same version and type (CE/EE)**
of GitLab on which it was created.

::Tabs

:::TabTitle Linux package (Omnibus)

```shell
sudo gitlab-backup create
```

:::TabTitle Helm chart (Kubernetes)

Run the backup task by using `kubectl` to run the `backup-utility` script on the GitLab toolbox pod. For more details, see the [charts backup documentation](https://docs.gitlab.com/charts/backup-restore/backup.html).

:::TabTitle Docker

Run the backup from the host.

```shell
docker exec -t <container name> gitlab-backup create
```

:::TabTitle Self-compiled

```shell
sudo -u git -H bundle exec rake gitlab:backup:create RAILS_ENV=production
```

::EndTabs

If your GitLab deployment has multiple nodes, you need to pick a node for running the backup command. You must ensure that the designated node:

- is persistent, and not subject to auto-scaling.
- has the GitLab Rails application already installed. If Puma or Sidekiq is running, then Rails is installed.
- has sufficient storage and memory to produce the backup file.

Example output:

```plaintext
Dumping database tables:
- Dumping table events... [DONE]
- Dumping table issues... [DONE]
- Dumping table keys... [DONE]
- Dumping table merge_requests... [DONE]
- Dumping table milestones... [DONE]
- Dumping table namespaces... [DONE]
- Dumping table notes... [DONE]
- Dumping table projects... [DONE]
- Dumping table protected_branches... [DONE]
- Dumping table schema_migrations... [DONE]
- Dumping table services... [DONE]
- Dumping table snippets... [DONE]
- Dumping table taggings... [DONE]
- Dumping table tags... [DONE]
- Dumping table users... [DONE]
- Dumping table users_projects... [DONE]
- Dumping table web_hooks... [DONE]
- Dumping table wikis... [DONE]
Dumping repositories:
- Dumping repository abcd... [DONE]
Creating backup archive: <backup-id>_gitlab_backup.tar [DONE]
Deleting tmp directories...[DONE]
Deleting old backups... [SKIPPING]
```

For detailed information about the backup process, see [Backup archive process](backup_archive_process.md).

### Backup options

The command-line tool GitLab provides to back up your instance can accept more
options.

#### Backup strategy option

The default backup strategy is to essentially stream data from the respective
data locations to the backup using the Linux command `tar` and `gzip`. This works
fine in most cases, but can cause problems when data is rapidly changing.

When data changes while `tar` is reading it, the error `file changed as we read it`
may occur, and causes the backup process to fail. In that case, you can use
the backup strategy called `copy`. The strategy copies data files
to a temporary location before calling `tar` and `gzip`, avoiding the error.

A side-effect is that the backup process takes up to an additional 1X disk
space. The process does its best to clean up the temporary files at each stage
so the problem doesn't compound, but it could be a considerable change for large
installations.

To use the `copy` strategy instead of the default streaming strategy, specify
`STRATEGY=copy` in the Rake task command. For example:

```shell
sudo gitlab-backup create STRATEGY=copy
```

#### Backup filename

WARNING:
If you use a custom backup filename, you can't
[limit the lifetime of the backups](#limit-backup-lifetime-for-local-files-prune-old-backups).

Backup files are created with filenames according to [specific defaults](backup_archive_process.md#backup-id). However, you can
override the `<backup-id>` portion of the filename by setting the `BACKUP`
environment variable. For example:

```shell
sudo gitlab-backup create BACKUP=dump
```

The resulting file is named `dump_gitlab_backup.tar`. This is useful for
systems that make use of rsync and incremental backups, and results in
considerably faster transfer speeds.

#### Backup compression

By default, Gzip fast compression is applied during backup of:

- [PostgreSQL database](#postgresql-databases) dumps.
- [blobs](#blobs), for example uploads, job artifacts, external merge request diffs.

The default command is `gzip -c -1`. You can override this command with `COMPRESS_CMD`. Similarly, you can override the decompression command with `DECOMPRESS_CMD`.

Caveats:

- The compression command is used in a pipeline, so your custom command must output to `stdout`.
- If you specify a command that is not packaged with GitLab, then you must install it yourself.
- The resultant filenames will still end in `.gz`.
- The default decompression command, used during restore, is `gzip -cd`. Therefore if you override the compression command to use a format that cannot be decompressed by `gzip -cd`, you must override the decompression command during restore.
- [Do not place environment variables after the backup command](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/433227). For example, `gitlab-backup create COMPRESS_CMD="pigz -c --best"` doesn't work as intended.

##### Default compression: Gzip with fastest method

```shell
gitlab-backup create
```

##### Gzip with slowest method

```shell
COMPRESS_CMD="gzip -c --best" gitlab-backup create
```

If `gzip` was used for backup, then restore does not require any options:

```shell
gitlab-backup restore
```

##### No compression

If your backup destination has built-in automatic compression, then you may wish to skip compression.

The `tee` command pipes `stdin` to `stdout`.

```shell
COMPRESS_CMD=tee gitlab-backup create
```

And on restore:

```shell
DECOMPRESS_CMD=tee gitlab-backup restore
```

##### Parallel compression with `pigz`

WARNING:
While we support using `COMPRESS_CMD` and `DECOMPRESS_CMD` to override the default Gzip compression library, we only test the default Gzip library with default options on a routine basis. You are responsible for testing and validating the viability of your backups. We strongly recommend this as best practice in general for backups, whether overriding the compression command or not. If you encounter issues with another compression library, you should revert back to the default. Troubleshooting and fixing errors with alternative libraries are a lower priority for GitLab.

NOTE:
`pigz` is not included in the GitLab Linux package. You must install it yourself.

An example of compressing backups with `pigz` using 4 processes:

```shell
COMPRESS_CMD="pigz --compress --stdout --fast --processes=4" sudo gitlab-backup create
```

Because `pigz` compresses to the `gzip` format, it is not required to use `pigz` to decompress backups which were compressed by `pigz`. However, it can still have a performance benefit over `gzip`. An example of decompressing backups with `pigz`:

```shell
DECOMPRESS_CMD="pigz --decompress --stdout" sudo gitlab-backup restore
```

##### Parallel compression with `zstd`

WARNING:
While we support using `COMPRESS_CMD` and `DECOMPRESS_CMD` to override the default Gzip compression library, we only test the default Gzip library with default options on a routine basis. You are responsible for testing and validating the viability of your backups. We strongly recommend this as best practice in general for backups, whether overriding the compression command or not. If you encounter issues with another compression library, you should revert back to the default. Troubleshooting and fixing errors with alternative libraries are a lower priority for GitLab.

NOTE:
`zstd` is not included in the GitLab Linux package. You must install it yourself.

An example of compressing backups with `zstd` using 4 threads:

```shell
COMPRESS_CMD="zstd --compress --stdout --fast --threads=4" sudo gitlab-backup create
```

An example of decompressing backups with `zstd`:

```shell
DECOMPRESS_CMD="zstd --decompress --stdout" sudo gitlab-backup restore
```

#### Confirm archive can be transferred

To ensure the generated archive is transferable by rsync, you can set the `GZIP_RSYNCABLE=yes`
option. This sets the `--rsyncable` option to `gzip`, which is useful only in
combination with setting [the Backup filename option](#backup-filename).

The `--rsyncable` option in `gzip` isn't guaranteed to be available
on all distributions. To verify that it's available in your distribution, run
`gzip --help` or consult the man pages.

```shell
sudo gitlab-backup create BACKUP=dump GZIP_RSYNCABLE=yes
```

#### Excluding specific data from the backup

Depending on your installation type, slightly different components can be skipped on backup creation.

::Tabs

:::TabTitle Linux package (Omnibus) / Docker / Self-compiled

<!-- source: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/blob/d693aa7f894c7306a0d20ab6d138a7b95785f2ff/lib/backup/manager.rb#L117-133 -->

- `db` (database)
- `repositories` (Git repositories data, including wikis)
- `uploads` (attachments)
- `builds` (CI job output logs)
- `artifacts` (CI job artifacts)
- `pages` (Pages content)
- `lfs` (LFS objects)
- `terraform_state` (Terraform states)
- `registry` (Container registry images)
- `packages` (Packages)
- `ci_secure_files` (Project-level secure files)
- `external_diffs` (External merge request diffs)

:::TabTitle Helm chart (Kubernetes)

<!-- source: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/build/CNG/-/blob/068e146db915efcd875414e04403410b71a2e70c/gitlab-toolbox/scripts/bin/backup-utility#L19 -->

- `db` (database)
- `repositories` (Git repositories data, including wikis)
- `uploads` (attachments)
- `artifacts` (CI job artifacts and output logs)
- `pages` (Pages content)
- `lfs` (LFS objects)
- `terraform_state` (Terraform states)
- `registry` (Container registry images)
- `packages` (Package registry)
- `ci_secure_files` (Project-level Secure Files)
- `external_diffs` (Merge request diffs)

::EndTabs

::Tabs

:::TabTitle Linux package (Omnibus)

```shell
sudo gitlab-backup create SKIP=db,uploads
```

:::TabTitle Helm chart (Kubernetes)

See [Skipping components](https://docs.gitlab.com/charts/backup-restore/backup.html#skipping-components) in charts backup documentation.

:::TabTitle Self-compiled

```shell
sudo -u git -H bundle exec rake gitlab:backup:create SKIP=db,uploads RAILS_ENV=production
```

::EndTabs

`SKIP=` is also used to:

- [Skip creation of the tar file](#skipping-tar-creation) (`SKIP=tar`).
- [Skip uploading the backup to remote storage](#skip-uploading-backups-to-remote-storage) (`SKIP=remote`).

#### Skipping tar creation

NOTE:
It is not possible to skip the tar creation when using [object storage](#upload-backups-to-a-remote-cloud-storage) for backups.

The last part of creating a backup is generation of a `.tar` file containing all the parts. In some cases, creating a `.tar` file might be wasted effort or even directly harmful, so you can skip this step by adding `tar` to the `SKIP` environment variable. Example use-cases:

- When the backup is picked up by other backup software.
- To speed up incremental backups by avoiding having to extract the backup every time. (In this case, `PREVIOUS_BACKUP` and `BACKUP` must not be specified, otherwise the specified backup is extracted, but no `.tar` file is generated at the end.)

Adding `tar` to the `SKIP` variable leaves the files and directories containing the
backup in the directory used for the intermediate files. These files are
overwritten when a new backup is created, so you should make sure they are copied
elsewhere, because you can only have one backup on the system.

::Tabs

:::TabTitle Linux package (Omnibus)

```shell
sudo gitlab-backup create SKIP=tar
```

:::TabTitle Self-compiled

```shell
sudo -u git -H bundle exec rake gitlab:backup:create SKIP=tar RAILS_ENV=production
```

::EndTabs

#### Create server-side repository backups

> - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitaly/-/issues/4941) in `gitlab-backup` in GitLab 16.3.
> - Server-side support in `gitlab-backup` for restoring a specified backup instead of the latest backup [introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/132188) in GitLab 16.6.
> - Server-side support in `gitlab-backup` for creating incremental backups [introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitaly/-/merge_requests/6475) in GitLab 16.6.
> - Server-side support in `backup-utility` [introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/438393) in GitLab 17.0.

Instead of storing large repository backups in the backup archive, repository
backups can be configured so that the Gitaly node that hosts each repository is
responsible for creating the backup and streaming it to object storage. This
helps reduce the network resources required to create and restore a backup.

1. [Configure a server-side backup destination in Gitaly](../gitaly/configure_gitaly.md#configure-server-side-backups).
1. Create a back up using the repositories server-side option. See the following examples.

::Tabs

:::TabTitle Linux package (Omnibus)

```shell
sudo gitlab-backup create REPOSITORIES_SERVER_SIDE=true
```

:::TabTitle Self-compiled

```shell
sudo -u git -H bundle exec rake gitlab:backup:create REPOSITORIES_SERVER_SIDE=true
```

:::TabTitle Helm chart (Kubernetes)

```shell
kubectl exec <Toolbox pod name> -it -- backup-utility --repositories-server-side
```

When you are using [cron-based backups](https://docs.gitlab.com/charts/backup-restore/backup.html#cron-based-backup),
add the `--repositories-server-side` flag to the extra arguments.

::EndTabs

#### Back up Git repositories concurrently

When using [multiple repository storages](../repository_storage_paths.md),
repositories can be backed up or restored concurrently to help fully use CPU time. The
following variables are available to modify the default behavior of the Rake
task:

- `GITLAB_BACKUP_MAX_CONCURRENCY`: The maximum number of projects to back up at
  the same time. Defaults to the number of logical CPUs.
- `GITLAB_BACKUP_MAX_STORAGE_CONCURRENCY`: The maximum number of projects to
  back up at the same time on each storage. This allows the repository backups
  to be spread across storages. Defaults to `2`.

For example, with 4 repository storages:

::Tabs

:::TabTitle Linux package (Omnibus)

```shell
sudo gitlab-backup create GITLAB_BACKUP_MAX_CONCURRENCY=4 GITLAB_BACKUP_MAX_STORAGE_CONCURRENCY=1
```

:::TabTitle Self-compiled

```shell
sudo -u git -H bundle exec rake gitlab:backup:create GITLAB_BACKUP_MAX_CONCURRENCY=4 GITLAB_BACKUP_MAX_STORAGE_CONCURRENCY=1
```

:::TabTitle Helm chart (Kubernetes)

```yaml
toolbox:
#...
    extra: {}
    extraEnv:
      GITLAB_BACKUP_MAX_CONCURRENCY: 4
      GITLAB_BACKUP_MAX_STORAGE_CONCURRENCY: 1

```

::EndTabs

#### Incremental repository backups

> - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/351383) in GitLab 14.10 [with a flag](../../administration/feature_flags.md) named `incremental_repository_backup`. Disabled by default.
> - [Generally available](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/355945) in GitLab 15.3. Feature flag `incremental_repository_backup` removed.
> - Server-side support for creating incremental backups [introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitaly/-/issues/5461) in GitLab 16.6.

NOTE:
Only repositories support incremental backups. Therefore, if you use `INCREMENTAL=yes`, the task
creates a self-contained backup tar archive. This is because all subtasks except repositories are
still creating full backups (they overwrite the existing full backup).
See [issue 19256](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/19256) for a feature request to
support incremental backups for all subtasks.

Incremental repository backups can be faster than full repository backups because they only pack changes since the last backup into the backup bundle for each repository.
The incremental backup archives are not linked to each other: each archive is a self-contained backup of the instance. There must be an existing backup
to create an incremental backup from.

Use the `PREVIOUS_BACKUP=<backup-id>` option to choose the backup to use. By default, a backup file is created
as documented in the [Backup ID](backup_archive_process.md#backup-id) section. You can override the `<backup-id>` portion of the filename by setting the
[`BACKUP` environment variable](#backup-filename).

To create an incremental backup, run:

```shell
sudo gitlab-backup create INCREMENTAL=yes PREVIOUS_BACKUP=<backup-id>
```

To create an [untarred](#skipping-tar-creation) incremental backup from a tarred backup, use `SKIP=tar`:

```shell
sudo gitlab-backup create INCREMENTAL=yes SKIP=tar
```

#### Back up specific repository storages

> - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/86896) in GitLab 15.0.

When using [multiple repository storages](../repository_storage_paths.md),
repositories from specific repository storages can be backed up separately
using the `REPOSITORIES_STORAGES` option. The option accepts a comma-separated list of
storage names.

For example:

::Tabs

:::TabTitle Linux package (Omnibus)

```shell
sudo gitlab-backup create REPOSITORIES_STORAGES=storage1,storage2
```

:::TabTitle Self-compiled

```shell
sudo -u git -H bundle exec rake gitlab:backup:create REPOSITORIES_STORAGES=storage1,storage2
```

::EndTabs

#### Back up specific repositories

> - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/88094) in GitLab 15.1.
> - [Skipping specific repositories added](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/121865) in GitLab 16.1.

You can back up specific repositories using the `REPOSITORIES_PATHS` option.
Similarly, you can use `SKIP_REPOSITORIES_PATHS` to skip certain repositories.
Both options accept a comma-separated list of project or group paths. If you
specify a group path, all repositories in all projects in the group and
descendent groups are included or skipped, depending on which option you used.

For example, to back up all repositories for all projects in **Group A** (`group-a`), the repository for **Project C** in **Group B** (`group-b/project-c`),
and skip the **Project D** in **Group A** (`group-a/project-d`):

::Tabs

:::TabTitle Linux package (Omnibus)

```shell
sudo gitlab-backup create REPOSITORIES_PATHS=group-a,group-b/project-c SKIP_REPOSITORIES_PATHS=group-a/project-d
```

:::TabTitle Self-compiled

```shell
sudo -u git -H bundle exec rake gitlab:backup:create REPOSITORIES_PATHS=group-a,group-b/project-c SKIP_REPOSITORIES_PATHS=group-a/project-d
```

:::TabTitle Helm chart (Kubernetes)

```shell
REPOSITORIES_PATHS=group-a SKIP_REPOSITORIES_PATHS=group-a/project_a2 backup-utility --skip db,registry,uploads,artifacts,lfs,packages,external_diffs,terraform_state,ci_secure_files,pages
```

::EndTabs

#### Upload backups to a remote (cloud) storage

NOTE:
It is not possible to [skip the tar creation](#skipping-tar-creation) when using object storage for backups.

You can let the backup script upload (using the [Fog library](https://fog.io/))
the `.tar` file it creates. In the following example, we use Amazon S3 for
storage, but Fog also lets you use [other storage providers](https://fog.io/storage/).
GitLab also [imports cloud drivers](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/blob/da46c9655962df7d49caef0e2b9f6bbe88462a02/Gemfile#L113)
for AWS, Google, and Aliyun. A local driver is
[also available](#upload-to-locally-mounted-shares).

[Read more about using object storage with GitLab](../object_storage.md).

##### Using Amazon S3

For Linux package (Omnibus):

1. Add the following to `/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb`:

   ```ruby
   gitlab_rails['backup_upload_connection'] = {
     'provider' => 'AWS',
     'region' => 'eu-west-1',
     'aws_access_key_id' => 'AKIAKIAKI',
     'aws_secret_access_key' => 'secret123'
     # If using an IAM Profile, don't configure aws_access_key_id & aws_secret_access_key
     # 'use_iam_profile' => true
   }
   gitlab_rails['backup_upload_remote_directory'] = 'my.s3.bucket'
   # Consider using multipart uploads when file size reaches 100MB. Enter a number in bytes.
   # gitlab_rails['backup_multipart_chunk_size'] = 104857600
   ```

1. [Reconfigure GitLab](../restart_gitlab.md#reconfigure-a-linux-package-installation)
   for the changes to take effect

##### S3 Encrypted Buckets

AWS supports these [modes for server side encryption](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonS3/latest/userguide/serv-side-encryption.html):

- Amazon S3-Managed Keys (SSE-S3)
- Customer Master Keys (CMKs) Stored in AWS Key Management Service (SSE-KMS)
- Customer-Provided Keys (SSE-C)

Use your mode of choice with GitLab. Each mode has similar, but slightly
different, configuration methods.

###### SSE-S3

To enable SSE-S3, in the backup storage options set the `server_side_encryption`
field to `AES256`. For example, in the Linux package (Omnibus):

```ruby
gitlab_rails['backup_upload_storage_options'] = {
  'server_side_encryption' => 'AES256'
}
```

###### SSE-KMS

To enable SSE-KMS, you need the
[KMS key via its Amazon Resource Name (ARN) in the `arn:aws:kms:region:acct-id:key/key-id` format](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonS3/latest/userguide/UsingKMSEncryption.html).
Under the `backup_upload_storage_options` configuration setting, set:

- `server_side_encryption` to `aws:kms`.
- `server_side_encryption_kms_key_id` to the ARN of the key.

For example, in the Linux package (Omnibus):

```ruby
gitlab_rails['backup_upload_storage_options'] = {
  'server_side_encryption' => 'aws:kms',
  'server_side_encryption_kms_key_id' => 'arn:aws:<YOUR KMS KEY ID>:'
}
```

###### SSE-C

SSE-C requires you to set these encryption options:

- `backup_encryption`: AES256.
- `backup_encryption_key`: Unencoded, 32-byte (256 bits) key. The upload fails if this isn't exactly 32 bytes.

For example, in the Linux package (Omnibus):

```ruby
gitlab_rails['backup_encryption'] = 'AES256'
gitlab_rails['backup_encryption_key'] = '<YOUR 32-BYTE KEY HERE>'
```

If the key contains binary characters and cannot be encoded in UTF-8,
instead, specify the key with the `GITLAB_BACKUP_ENCRYPTION_KEY` environment variable.
For example:

```ruby
gitlab_rails['env'] = { 'GITLAB_BACKUP_ENCRYPTION_KEY' => "\xDE\xAD\xBE\xEF" * 8 }
```

##### Digital Ocean Spaces

This example can be used for a bucket in Amsterdam (AMS3):

1. Add the following to `/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb`:

   ```ruby
   gitlab_rails['backup_upload_connection'] = {
     'provider' => 'AWS',
     'region' => 'ams3',
     'aws_access_key_id' => 'AKIAKIAKI',
     'aws_secret_access_key' => 'secret123',
     'endpoint'              => 'https://ams3.digitaloceanspaces.com'
   }
   gitlab_rails['backup_upload_remote_directory'] = 'my.s3.bucket'
   ```

1. [Reconfigure GitLab](../restart_gitlab.md#reconfigure-a-linux-package-installation)
   for the changes to take effect

If you see a `400 Bad Request` error message when using Digital Ocean Spaces,
the cause may be the use of backup encryption. Because Digital Ocean Spaces
doesn't support encryption, remove or comment the line that contains
`gitlab_rails['backup_encryption']`.

##### Other S3 Providers

Not all S3 providers are fully compatible with the Fog library. For example,
if you see a `411 Length Required` error message after attempting to upload,
you may need to downgrade the `aws_signature_version` value from the default
value to `2`, [due to this issue](https://github.com/fog/fog-aws/issues/428).

For self-compiled installations:

1. Edit `home/git/gitlab/config/gitlab.yml`:

   ```yaml
     backup:
       # snip
       upload:
         # Fog storage connection settings, see https://fog.io/storage/ .
         connection:
           provider: AWS
           region: eu-west-1
           aws_access_key_id: AKIAKIAKI
           aws_secret_access_key: 'secret123'
           # If using an IAM Profile, leave aws_access_key_id & aws_secret_access_key empty
           # ie. aws_access_key_id: ''
           # use_iam_profile: 'true'
         # The remote 'directory' to store your backups. For S3, this would be the bucket name.
         remote_directory: 'my.s3.bucket'
         # Specifies Amazon S3 storage class to use for backups, this is optional
         # storage_class: 'STANDARD'
         #
         # Turns on AWS Server-Side Encryption with Amazon Customer-Provided Encryption Keys for backups, this is optional
         #   'encryption' must be set in order for this to have any effect.
         #   'encryption_key' should be set to the 256-bit encryption key for Amazon S3 to use to encrypt or decrypt.
         #   To avoid storing the key on disk, the key can also be specified via the `GITLAB_BACKUP_ENCRYPTION_KEY` your data.
         # encryption: 'AES256'
         # encryption_key: '<key>'
         #
         #
         # Turns on AWS Server-Side Encryption with Amazon S3-Managed keys (optional)
         # https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonS3/latest/userguide/serv-side-encryption.html
         # For SSE-S3, set 'server_side_encryption' to 'AES256'.
         # For SS3-KMS, set 'server_side_encryption' to 'aws:kms'. Set
         # 'server_side_encryption_kms_key_id' to the ARN of customer master key.
         # storage_options:
         #   server_side_encryption: 'aws:kms'
         #   server_side_encryption_kms_key_id: 'arn:aws:kms:YOUR-KEY-ID-HERE'
   ```

1. [Restart GitLab](../restart_gitlab.md#self-compiled-installations)
   for the changes to take effect

If you're uploading your backups to S3, you should create a new
IAM user with restricted access rights. To give the upload user access only for
uploading backups create the following IAM profile, replacing `my.s3.bucket`
with the name of your bucket:

```json
{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Sid": "Stmt1412062044000",
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "s3:AbortMultipartUpload",
        "s3:GetBucketAcl",
        "s3:GetBucketLocation",
        "s3:GetObject",
        "s3:GetObjectAcl",
        "s3:ListBucketMultipartUploads",
        "s3:PutObject",
        "s3:PutObjectAcl"
      ],
      "Resource": [
        "arn:aws:s3:::my.s3.bucket/*"
      ]
    },
    {
      "Sid": "Stmt1412062097000",
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "s3:GetBucketLocation",
        "s3:ListAllMyBuckets"
      ],
      "Resource": [
        "*"
      ]
    },
    {
      "Sid": "Stmt1412062128000",
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "s3:ListBucket"
      ],
      "Resource": [
        "arn:aws:s3:::my.s3.bucket"
      ]
    }
  ]
}
```

##### Using Google Cloud Storage

To use Google Cloud Storage to save backups, you must first create an
access key from the Google console:

1. Go to the [Google storage settings page](https://console.cloud.google.com/storage/settings).
1. Select **Interoperability**, and then create an access key.
1. Make note of the **Access Key** and **Secret** and replace them in the
   following configurations.
1. In the buckets advanced settings ensure the Access Control option
   **Set object-level and bucket-level permissions** is selected.
1. Ensure you have already created a bucket.

For the Linux package (Omnibus):

1. Edit `/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb`:

   ```ruby
   gitlab_rails['backup_upload_connection'] = {
     'provider' => 'Google',
     'google_storage_access_key_id' => 'Access Key',
     'google_storage_secret_access_key' => 'Secret',

     ## If you have CNAME buckets (foo.example.com), you might run into SSL issues
     ## when uploading backups ("hostname foo.example.com.storage.googleapis.com
     ## does not match the server certificate"). In that case, uncomment the following
     ## setting. See: https://github.com/fog/fog/issues/2834
     #'path_style' => true
   }
   gitlab_rails['backup_upload_remote_directory'] = 'my.google.bucket'
   ```

1. [Reconfigure GitLab](../restart_gitlab.md#reconfigure-a-linux-package-installation)
   for the changes to take effect

For self-compiled installations:

1. Edit `home/git/gitlab/config/gitlab.yml`:

   ```yaml
     backup:
       upload:
         connection:
           provider: 'Google'
           google_storage_access_key_id: 'Access Key'
           google_storage_secret_access_key: 'Secret'
         remote_directory: 'my.google.bucket'
   ```

1. [Restart GitLab](../restart_gitlab.md#self-compiled-installations)
   for the changes to take effect

##### Using Azure Blob storage

::Tabs

:::TabTitle Linux package (Omnibus)