Backups

Ensuring the safety and security of your CARTO Self-Hosted version is crucial. Regular backups of your external database and configuration files are essential to protect your data and settings from unexpected failures, data corruption, or system crashes.

The CARTO platform only requires the configuration files of an existing installation and the contents of the metadata database to be completely restored, so that's why it's highly recommended to use an external database for self-hosted deployments.

By including these elements in your backup strategy, you not only safeguard your data but also ensure a seamless recovery process. This ensures that in case of any disruptions, your CARTO Self-Hosted installation can be fully restored to its operational state, minimizing downtime and potential data loss.

It's possible to obtain a backup of the Self-Hosted configuration with the following command:

Orchestrated container deployment

kubectl kots get config -n <namespace> --decrypt

Single VM deployment

Run a shell in your CARTO Self-Hosted installation:

sudo ./carto shell

Install Kots CLI:

curl https://kots.io/install | sudo bash

And obtain the actual config:

kubectl kots get config -n kotsadm --decrypt

Restore an existing backup

The process of restoring a CARTO Self-Hosted backup involves reinstalling CARTO with the same settings as before and ensuring that the external database, where your data is stored, is still operational and accessible to the new installation. This way, you can recreate your CARTO environment in a state identical to when the backup was created.

To restore an existing backup, you'll just have to perform a new Self-Hosted deployment using your existing license and configure the new installation with the config saved in your last backup.

Please note that sensitive information such as the PostgreSQL and Redis passwords, stored within backups, cannot be directly accessed or retrieved from the backup files.