Backup Strategies

Overview

Dokploy provides comprehensive backup capabilities for databases, volumes, and complete application stacks. Automate backups to external storage destinations and ensure business continuity with proven disaster recovery strategies.

Automated Backups

Schedule automatic backups with cron expressions

Multiple Destinations

S3-compatible storage, local, and remote servers

Easy Restore

Quick restoration from any backup point

Backup Types

Dokploy supports different backup strategies:

Database Backups
Volume Backups
Full Stack Backups

Automated database dumps:

PostgreSQL: pg_dump
MySQL/MariaDB: mysqldump
MongoDB: mongodump
Redis: BGSAVE and RDB snapshots

Recommended frequency: Daily or hourly for critical data

Configuring Database Backups

Via Dashboard

Navigate to Database

Go to your database (PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, MariaDB, or Redis)

Open Backup Settings

Click on the Backups tab

Configure Schedule

enabled

boolean

required

Enable automated backups

schedule

string

required

Cron expression for backup frequencyExamples:

0 2 * * * - Daily at 2 AM
0 */6 * * * - Every 6 hours
0 0 * * 0 - Weekly on Sunday

destinationId

string

required

Select backup destination (S3, local, etc.)

retentionDays

number

default:"30"

Number of days to keep backups

Test Backup

Click Run Backup Now to test the configuration

Via API

Create Backup Configuration

curl -X POST https://your-dokploy-instance.com/api/backup.create \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "databaseType": "postgres",
    "databaseId": "postgres-id",
    "schedule": "0 2 * * *",
    "destinationId": "s3-destination-id",
    "retentionDays": 30
  }'

Trigger Manual Backup

curl -X POST https://your-dokploy-instance.com/api/backup.run \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "backupId": "backup-id"
  }'

Backup Destinations

S3-Compatible Storage

Supports AWS S3, MinIO, DigitalOcean Spaces, Backblaze B2, and more:

Add Destination

Navigate to Settings → Backup Destinations → Add Destination

Configure S3

name

string

required

Friendly name for the destination

type

string

required

Select “S3”

endpoint

string

required

S3 endpoint URL (e.g., s3.amazonaws.com)

region

string

required

AWS region (e.g., us-east-1)

bucket

string

required

Bucket name

accessKeyId

string

required

AWS Access Key ID

secretAccessKey

string

required

AWS Secret Access Key

Test Connection

Click Test Connection to verify credentials

Provider Examples

AWS S3

{
  "endpoint": "https://s3.amazonaws.com",
  "region": "us-east-1",
  "bucket": "dokploy-backups",
  "accessKeyId": "AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE",
  "secretAccessKey": "wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY"
}

DigitalOcean Spaces

{
  "endpoint": "https://nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com",
  "region": "nyc3",
  "bucket": "my-backups",
  "accessKeyId": "DO00...",
  "secretAccessKey": "..."
}

MinIO (Self-Hosted)

{
  "endpoint": "https://minio.example.com",
  "region": "us-east-1",
  "bucket": "backups",
  "accessKeyId": "minioadmin",
  "secretAccessKey": "minioadmin"
}

Local Storage

Store backups on the Dokploy server:

type: local
path: /var/dokploy/backups

Local backups don’t protect against server failure. Always use remote storage for production.

Remote Server (SFTP)

Backup to a remote server via SFTP:

{
  "type": "sftp",
  "host": "backup-server.example.com",
  "port": 22,
  "username": "backup-user",
  "privateKey": "...",
  "path": "/backups/dokploy"
}

Database-Specific Backup Methods

PostgreSQL

Manual Backup

# Full database dump
docker exec postgres pg_dump -U postgres database_name > backup.sql

# Compressed backup
docker exec postgres pg_dump -U postgres -Fc database_name > backup.dump

# All databases
docker exec postgres pg_dumpall -U postgres > all_databases.sql

Restore PostgreSQL

# From SQL dump
docker exec -i postgres psql -U postgres database_name < backup.sql

# From compressed dump
docker exec -i postgres pg_restore -U postgres -d database_name backup.dump

MySQL/MariaDB

Manual Backup

# Single database
docker exec mysql mysqldump -u root -p database_name > backup.sql

# All databases
docker exec mysql mysqldump -u root -p --all-databases > all_databases.sql

# With compression
docker exec mysql mysqldump -u root -p database_name | gzip > backup.sql.gz

Restore MySQL/MariaDB

# From SQL dump
docker exec -i mysql mysql -u root -p database_name < backup.sql

# From compressed dump
gunzip < backup.sql.gz | docker exec -i mysql mysql -u root -p database_name

MongoDB

Manual Backup

# Dump database
docker exec mongo mongodump --username root --password pass --authenticationDatabase admin --out /backup

# Compressed archive
docker exec mongo mongodump --username root --password pass --authenticationDatabase admin --archive=/backup/backup.archive --gzip

Restore MongoDB

# Restore from dump
docker exec mongo mongorestore --username root --password pass --authenticationDatabase admin /backup

# From archive
docker exec mongo mongorestore --username root --password pass --authenticationDatabase admin --archive=/backup/backup.archive --gzip

Redis

Manual Backup

# Trigger background save
docker exec redis redis-cli BGSAVE

# Copy RDB file
docker cp redis:/data/dump.rdb ./redis_backup.rdb

Restore Redis

# Stop Redis
docker stop redis

# Replace RDB file
docker cp redis_backup.rdb redis:/data/dump.rdb

# Start Redis
docker start redis

Volume Backups

Backup Docker Volumes

Manual Volume Backup

# Create volume backup
docker run --rm \
  -v volume_name:/source:ro \
  -v $(pwd):/backup \
  alpine tar czf /backup/volume_backup.tar.gz -C /source .

Via Dokploy API

Create Volume Backup

curl -X POST https://your-dokploy-instance.com/api/volumeBackups.create \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "volumeName": "app_data",
    "destinationId": "s3-destination-id",
    "schedule": "0 3 * * *"
  }'

Backup Retention Policies

Configure how long backups are kept:

Time-Based
Count-Based
Grandfather-Father-Son

Keep backups for a specific duration:

{
  "retentionDays": 30,
  "retentionWeeks": 12,
  "retentionMonths": 12
}

Keep a specific number of backups:

{
  "keepDaily": 7,
  "keepWeekly": 4,
  "keepMonthly": 12
}

Restoring from Backups

Database Restore

Access Backup

Download backup from storage destination

Stop Application

Temporarily stop applications using the database

Restore Data

Use database-specific restore commands (see above)

Verify

Check data integrity and application functionality

Resume

Start applications

Via Dokploy Dashboard

Navigate to Database → Backups
Find the backup to restore
Click Restore
Confirm the action
Monitor restoration progress

Disaster Recovery

Complete System Recovery

Reinstall Dokploy

Install Dokploy on a new server:

curl -sSL https://dokploy.com/install.sh | sh

Restore Configuration

Import your projects, applications, and environment variables

Restore Databases

Restore database backups from external storage

Restore Volumes

Restore volume backups for application data

Deploy Applications

Redeploy all applications

Update DNS

Point domains to the new server

Recovery Time Objective (RTO)

Plan for acceptable downtime:

Critical systems: < 1 hour
Production systems: < 4 hours
Development systems: < 24 hours

Recovery Point Objective (RPO)

Acceptable data loss:

Financial data: < 1 hour (hourly backups)
User data: < 24 hours (daily backups)
Logs/metrics: < 1 week (weekly backups)

Backup Best Practices

Follow the 3-2-1 Rule

3 copies of your data
2 different storage types (e.g., local + cloud)
1 off-site backup

Test Backups Regularly

Schedule quarterly restore tests
Verify backup integrity
Document restore procedures
Time the restore process

Encrypt Sensitive Backups

# Encrypt before upload
gpg --encrypt --recipient [email protected] backup.sql

# Decrypt for restore
gpg --decrypt backup.sql.gpg > backup.sql

Monitor Backup Jobs

Set up alerts for failed backups
Review backup logs weekly
Track backup size growth
Monitor storage costs

Document Everything

Maintain documentation for:

Backup schedules
Storage credentials
Restore procedures
Contact information
RTO/RPO targets

Monitoring Backups

Track backup health:

Get Backup Status

curl https://your-dokploy-instance.com/api/backup.all \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Response includes:

Last backup time
Backup size
Success/failure status
Next scheduled backup
Storage destination

Troubleshooting

Backup fails with 'permission denied'

Verify storage credentials
Check S3 bucket permissions
Ensure IAM policy allows PutObject
Test credentials manually with AWS CLI

Backup takes too long

Consider incremental backups
Compress before upload
Use faster storage destination
Schedule during low-traffic hours
Check database size and optimize

Out of storage space

Adjust retention policies
Enable compression
Archive old backups to cheaper storage
Review backup frequency

Restore fails

Verify backup file integrity
Check database version compatibility
Ensure sufficient disk space
Review restore logs for errors

Next Steps

Database Backups

Detailed database backup configuration

Volumes & Storage

Manage persistent volumes

Monitoring

Monitor backup job status

Security

Secure your backups

Overview

Getting Started

Core Concepts

Deployments

Databases

Monitoring & Observability

Advanced Features

Configuration

CLI & Automation

Community & Support

​Overview

Automated Backups

Multiple Destinations

Easy Restore

​Backup Types

​Configuring Database Backups

​Via Dashboard

​Via API

​Backup Destinations

​S3-Compatible Storage

​Provider Examples

​Local Storage

​Remote Server (SFTP)

​Database-Specific Backup Methods

​PostgreSQL

​MySQL/MariaDB

​MongoDB

​Redis

​Volume Backups

​Backup Docker Volumes

​Via Dokploy API

​Backup Retention Policies

​Restoring from Backups

​Database Restore

​Via Dokploy Dashboard

​Disaster Recovery

​Complete System Recovery

​Recovery Time Objective (RTO)

​Recovery Point Objective (RPO)

​Backup Best Practices

​Monitoring Backups

​Troubleshooting

​Next Steps

Database Backups

Volumes & Storage

Monitoring

Security

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

Backup Types

Configuring Database Backups

Via Dashboard

Via API

Backup Destinations

S3-Compatible Storage

Provider Examples

Local Storage

Remote Server (SFTP)

Database-Specific Backup Methods

PostgreSQL

MySQL/MariaDB

MongoDB

Redis

Volume Backups

Backup Docker Volumes

Via Dokploy API

Backup Retention Policies

Restoring from Backups

Database Restore

Via Dokploy Dashboard

Disaster Recovery

Complete System Recovery

Recovery Time Objective (RTO)

Recovery Point Objective (RPO)

Backup Best Practices

Monitoring Backups

Troubleshooting

Next Steps