> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.certgovernance.app/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Backup & Restore

> Schedule automatic backups, download on-demand, and restore your CertForge data.

<Note>
  Backup and restore are available to **platform superusers** on self-hosted deployments. Cloud-hosted accounts are backed up automatically by CertForge — contact support to request a restore.
</Note>

CertForge stores all data in PostgreSQL. The backup tool produces a full compressed database dump that includes organizations, users, certificates, audit log, billing history, CA material, and all settings.

## Scheduled backups

The easiest way to protect your data is to let CertForge back itself up automatically.

1. Log in as a superuser and go to **Admin → System Health**.
2. Scroll to **Backup Schedule**.
3. Check **Enable scheduled backups**.
4. Choose a schedule — **Hourly**, **Daily**, or **Weekly**.
5. Set **Keep last N backups** (default: 7). Older files are pruned automatically after each backup.
6. Optionally set a custom **Backup directory** (defaults to `{data_path}/backups/`).
7. Click **Save Schedule**.

CertForge checks every hour whether a backup is due and runs one automatically when the interval has elapsed.

## On-demand backups

Two options are available under **Admin → System Health → Database**:

| Action           | What it does                                                                                |
| ---------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Download Now** | Runs a live backup and sends the file directly to your browser. Nothing is written to disk. |
| **Save to Disk** | Writes a backup to the configured backup directory and applies the retention policy.        |

## Backup history

Every backup — scheduled or manual, success or failure — is recorded in the **Audit Log** with the timestamp, actor, file name, and size. Restore events are also logged.

To view backup history: go to **Admin → Audit Log** and search for `backup`.

## Saved backups

**Admin → System Health → Saved Backups** lists all backup files currently on disk. For each file you can:

* **Download** — save the file to your local machine
* **Restore** — restore the database from this file (requires typing `RESTORE` to confirm)
* **Delete** — remove the file from disk (the audit log entry is retained)

## Restore

<Warning>
  Restoring overwrites all current data. Schedule a maintenance window and inform your users before proceeding.
</Warning>

### From a saved backup

1. Go to **Admin → System Health → Saved Backups**.
2. Click **↺ Restore** next to the file you want.
3. Type `RESTORE` in the confirmation field and click the button.
4. **Restart the service** when prompted — this reloads in-memory state from the restored database.

### From an uploaded file

Use this to restore from a backup file you downloaded previously, or from a backup taken on a different server.

1. Go to **Admin → System Health → Restore from Upload**.
2. Select the `.sql.gz` backup file from your local machine.
3. Type `RESTORE` in the confirmation field and submit.
4. **Restart the service** after completion.

## After a restore

After any restore, restart the CertForge service. This is required to clear cached state — settings, trust context, and active sessions are held in memory and will reflect the pre-restore state until the process restarts.

Users will be signed out and will need to log in again after the restart.

## Backup file format

Backup files are named `certforge-YYYY-MM-DDTHHMMSSZ.sql.gz` — plain SQL, gzip compressed. They include `DROP TABLE IF EXISTS` statements so they can be restored cleanly without manual cleanup.

You can inspect any backup without restoring it:

```bash theme={null}
# Verify the file is intact
gzip -t certforge-2026-05-22T150405Z.sql.gz && echo "OK"

# Preview the SQL
zcat certforge-2026-05-22T150405Z.sql.gz | head -30
```