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Restoring data is the most critical function of any backup system. Zerobyte provides multiple ways to access and restore your backed-up data from repository snapshots.

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Understanding Snapshots

Each backup creates a snapshot - a point-in-time copy of your data. Snapshots are:
  • Immutable: Cannot be modified after creation
  • Deduplicated: Only stores changed data
  • Encrypted: Protected with repository password
  • Compressed: Optimized for storage efficiency

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Snapshot Information

Each snapshot contains:
  • Snapshot ID: Unique identifier
  • Timestamp: When the backup was created
  • Paths: Directories that were backed up
  • Size: Amount of data in the snapshot
  • Duration: How long the backup took
  • Tags: Custom labels for organization
  • Hostname: Server that created the backup

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Browsing Snapshots

1

Navigate to Repository

Click Repositories in the sidebar and select a repository.
2

View Snapshots

Click the Snapshots tab to see all available snapshots in chronological order.
3

Select a Snapshot

Click on a snapshot to view its details and browse its contents.
4

Browse Files

Navigate through directories just like a regular file browser. You can:
  • View file and directory names
  • See file sizes and modification times
  • Navigate into subdirectories
  • Search for specific files

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Filtering Snapshots

Filter snapshots by:
  • Backup Schedule: Show only snapshots from a specific backup job
  • Tags: Filter by custom tags
  • Date Range: Find snapshots within a time period
  • Hostname: Filter by the server that created them

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Restoration Methods

Zerobyte offers three ways to restore data:

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1. Download Individual Files

Best for recovering a few specific files.
1

Browse to File

Navigate through the snapshot to find the file you need.
2

Download

Click the download icon next to the file to download it to your local computer.
Use cases:
  • Recovering accidentally deleted files
  • Retrieving old versions of documents
  • Extracting individual configuration files

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2. Download Directory as Archive

Download entire directories as compressed archives.
1

Navigate to Directory

Browse to the directory you want to restore.
2

Download as TAR

Click the download icon on a directory to download it as a .tar archive.
3

Extract Archive

Extract the archive on your local system or target server.
Use cases:
  • Restoring entire project directories
  • Recovering folder hierarchies
  • Migrating data to a new system

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3. Restore to Volume

Restore snapshots directly back to the original volume or a different location.
1

Select Snapshot

Navigate to the snapshot you want to restore from.
2

Click Restore

Click the Restore Snapshot button.
3

Configure Restore Options

  • Target Path: Where to restore (defaults to original location)
  • Include Patterns: Restore only specific files (optional)
  • Exclude Patterns: Skip certain files during restore (optional)
  • Overwrite Mode: How to handle existing files
  • Delete Extra Files: Remove files not in the snapshot
4

Start Restore

Click Start Restore to begin the restoration process.
5

Monitor Progress

Watch the real-time progress indicator showing files restored and data transferred.
Use cases:
  • Complete disaster recovery
  • Restoring entire servers
  • Rolling back to a previous state

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Restore Configuration Options

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Target Path

Specify where to restore files:
  • Original Location: Restore to the same path as the backup
  • Custom Path: Restore to a different directory
Example: 
Original: /data/documents
Custom Target: /data/documents-restored
Restore to a different location first to review files before overwriting the original data.

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Include Patterns

Restore only files matching specific patterns. Examples: 
/documents/reports/**
**/*.pdf
/config.yaml

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Exclude Patterns

Skip files during restore. Examples: 
**/*.log
**/*.tmp
**/cache/**

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Overwrite Mode

Controls how existing files are handled:
  • Always: Overwrite all existing files
  • If Changed: Only overwrite if content differs
  • If Newer: Only overwrite if snapshot version is newer
  • Never: Skip files that already exist
Comparison:
ModeExisting FileSnapshot FileAction
AlwaysAnyAnyOverwrite
If ChangedSame contentAnySkip
If ChangedDifferentAnyOverwrite
If NewerOlderNewerOverwrite
If NewerNewerOlderSkip
NeverExistsAnySkip

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Delete Extra Files

Enable this option to remove files that exist in the target but not in the snapshot. This makes the target directory exactly match the snapshot.
Dangerous: This will permanently delete files. Only use when performing a complete restore to a known state.

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Restore Examples

Scenario: User accidentally deleted an important document.Steps:
  1. Find a snapshot from before the deletion
  2. Browse to the file location
  3. Download the file
  4. Copy it back to the original location
Scenario: Restore only database files from a backup.Configuration:
Include Patterns:
**/*.sql
**/*.db
**/*.sqlite

Target Path: /restored-databases
Overwrite Mode: Always
Scenario: Server failed, need to restore everything.Steps:
  1. Set up new server with Zerobyte
  2. Configure the same repository
  3. Find the most recent snapshot
  4. Restore to original paths
  5. Set overwrite mode to “Always”
  6. Enable “Delete Extra Files”
  7. Execute restore
Scenario: Compare backup version with current files.Configuration:
Target Path: /data-comparison
Overwrite Mode: Never
Delete Extra Files: Disabled
This restores files to a separate location for comparison.
Scenario: Restore only documents, skip media files.Configuration:
Include Patterns:
/documents/**

Exclude Patterns:
**/*.mp4
**/*.mp3
**/*.jpg

Overwrite Mode: If Changed

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Snapshot Management

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Deleting Snapshots

Manually remove specific snapshots:
1

Select Snapshots

In the snapshots list, select one or more snapshots to delete.
2

Delete

Click Delete Selected and confirm the action.
3

Prune Repository

After deleting snapshots, space isn’t immediately freed. The data is removed during the next retention cleanup or manual prune operation.
Deleted snapshots cannot be recovered. Always verify you’re deleting the correct snapshots.

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Tagging Snapshots

Organize snapshots with custom tags:
1

Select Snapshots

Choose one or more snapshots to tag.
2

Tag Action

Click Tag Snapshots and choose:
  • Add Tags: Add new tags while keeping existing ones
  • Remove Tags: Remove specific tags
  • Set Tags: Replace all tags with a new set
3

Apply

Enter tag names and confirm the operation.
Example tags: 
pre-upgrade
tested
production
monthly-archive

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Refreshing Snapshots

If snapshots were added outside of Zerobyte (e.g., via CLI), refresh the cache:
  1. Navigate to repository details
  2. Click Refresh Snapshots
  3. Zerobyte re-scans the repository for all snapshots

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Advanced Restore Scenarios

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Cross-Repository Restore

Restore from one repository to a volume backed up to a different repository:
  1. Ensure both repositories use the same password
  2. Use mirror functionality or manually copy snapshots
  3. Restore from the mirrored snapshot

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Point-in-Time Recovery

Restore data to a specific moment:
  1. Identify the timestamp you want to restore to
  2. Find the snapshot created closest to (but before) that time
  3. Restore from that snapshot
Frequent backups (e.g., hourly) provide more granular point-in-time recovery options.

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Restore to Different System

  1. Set up Zerobyte on the target system
  2. Configure the same repository with the same password
  3. Browse and restore snapshots
  4. Adjust file paths as needed for the new system

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Restoring from CLI

For advanced users, you can restore directly using Restic: 
# Access the container
docker exec -it zerobyte sh

# Set repository environment variables
export RESTIC_REPOSITORY="/path/to/repo"
export RESTIC_PASSWORD="your-repo-password"

# List snapshots
restic snapshots

# Restore specific snapshot
restic restore abc12345 --target /restore-location

# Restore specific files
restic restore abc12345 --target /restore-location --include /path/to/file
CLI restoration is useful for automation, scripting, or when the web interface is unavailable.

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Verification and Testing

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Regular Restore Tests

Test your backups regularly to ensure they work when needed:
1

Schedule Monthly Tests

Choose a random snapshot each month to test.
2

Restore to Test Location

Restore to a separate directory to avoid affecting production data.
3

Verify Data Integrity

  • Check file contents
  • Verify file permissions
  • Confirm timestamps are correct
  • Test application functionality with restored data
4

Document Results

Keep records of successful restore tests for compliance and confidence.

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Snapshot Integrity Check

Use the repository Check function to verify backup integrity:
  1. Navigate to repository details
  2. Run Doctor operation
  3. Review check results for errors

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Troubleshooting

  • Verify you’re looking in the correct repository
  • Check date range filters
  • Click Refresh Snapshots to update the cache
  • Verify the backup actually completed successfully
  • Ensure Zerobyte has write access to the target directory
  • Check filesystem permissions on the destination
  • For volume restores, verify the volume is mounted
  • Run repository integrity check
  • Try restoring from a different snapshot
  • Check for storage issues in the repository backend
  • Verify network stability during restore
  • Check network bandwidth to the repository
  • Consider using download bandwidth limits
  • Restore smaller subsets of files instead of entire snapshots
  • For cloud repositories, check for throttling
  • Verify repository password is correct
  • For existing repositories, ensure you’re using the original password
  • Check for repository corruption (run Doctor)

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Best Practices

Schedule monthly restore tests to verify backup integrity and ensure you know the restore process.
Write down step-by-step restore instructions specific to your environment for disaster scenarios.
When possible, restore to a test environment to verify data before restoring to production.
Store repository passwords in a secure location separate from the backup system itself.
Stay connected during restores to handle any errors immediately.
Know how long restores take for different data sizes to set appropriate recovery time expectations.

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Next Steps

Configure Notifications

Set up alerts for backup success and failures

Retention Policies

Learn more about managing snapshot lifecycle

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