Stay organized with collections
Save and categorize content based on your preferences.
This page provides instructions on how to create an on-demand manual backup of a Harbor instance in Google Distributed Cloud (GDC) air-gapped.
Manual backups create a backup of a Harbor instance at a specific point in time. You can create manual backups outside of the schedule defined by a backup plan. However, you must create a backup plan to create a manual backup, as manual backups inherit attributes from backup plans.
Before you begin
To create a manual backup, you must have access to the following:
The necessary identity and access roles:
Harbor Instance Admin: has full access to manage Harbor instances in a project. Ask your Organization IAM Admin to grant you the Harbor Instance Admin (harbor-instance-admin) role.
Secret Admin: required for operating in the GDC console. Ask your Organization IAM Admin to grant you the Secret Admin (secret-admin) role.
An existing backup plan. The manual backup inherits the attributes of
this backup plan. For more information, see
Create a backup plan.
Create a manual backup
Create a manual backup in the GDC console or the API.
Console
Sign in to the GDC console.
In the navigation menu, click Backup for harbor instance.
Click Backup plans.
Click the name of the backup plan in the table for which to
create the manual backup for.
Click saveStart a backup.
In the Backup name field, enter a name for the backup.
Optional: In the Backup description field, enter a description to
distinguish this backup from others.
Optional: To automatically delete backups after a certain number of
days, follow these steps:
Select the Enable automatic backup deletion checkbox.
In the Delete backupsafter field, set the number of
days for which to retain the backup. Once the number of days is
reached, the backup is automatically deleted.
Click Create. The backup appears in the backup table.
BACKUP_NAME: the name of the backup being created.
INSTANCE_NAMESPACE: the namespace containing
the Harbor instance. The backup must be in the same namespace as the
Harbor instance.
BACKUP_PLAN_NAME: the reference for the backup
plan. The backup configuration is inherited from the backup plan, including
the backup repository to store and which Harbor Instance to backup.
RETAIN_DAYS: the number of days the backups
persist in the backup repository for. The retention policy in the backup
plan is overridden. For more information, Create a backup
plan.
BACKUP_DESCPRITON: a text description of the backup.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Hard to understand","hardToUnderstand","thumb-down"],["Incorrect information or sample code","incorrectInformationOrSampleCode","thumb-down"],["Missing the information/samples I need","missingTheInformationSamplesINeed","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-29 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eThis guide outlines the process for creating an on-demand manual backup of a Harbor instance within Google Distributed Cloud (GDC) air-gapped environments.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eManual backups capture the state of a Harbor instance at a specific time, but require a pre-existing backup plan from which they inherit their attributes.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eYou need the Harbor Instance Admin and Secret Admin roles to create manual backups.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eManual backups can be initiated via the GDC console or the API, with options to set a custom name, description, and automatic deletion policy.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eDuring the backup creation process, the Harbor instance is temporarily set to read-only mode, preventing new artifacts from being pushed to the repository.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["# Create a manual backup\n\nThis page provides instructions on how to create an on-demand manual backup of a Harbor instance in Google Distributed Cloud (GDC) air-gapped.\n\nManual backups create a backup of a Harbor instance at a specific point in time. You can create manual backups outside of the schedule defined by a backup plan. However, you must create a backup plan to create a manual backup, as manual backups inherit attributes from backup plans.\n\nBefore you begin\n----------------\n\nTo create a manual backup, you must have access to the following:\n\n- The necessary identity and access roles:\n\n - Harbor Instance Admin: has full access to manage Harbor instances in a project. Ask your Organization IAM Admin to grant you the Harbor Instance Admin (`harbor-instance-admin`) role.\n - Secret Admin: required for operating in the GDC console. Ask your Organization IAM Admin to grant you the Secret Admin (`secret-admin`) role.\n- An existing backup plan. The manual backup inherits the attributes of\n this backup plan. For more information, see\n [Create a backup plan](/distributed-cloud/hosted/docs/latest/gdch/platform-application/pa-ao-operations/harbor-backup/create-backup-plan-harbor).\n\nCreate a manual backup\n----------------------\n\nCreate a manual backup in the GDC console or the API. \n\n### Console\n\n1. Sign in to the GDC console.\n2. In the navigation menu, click **Backup for harbor instance**.\n3. Click **Backup plans**.\n4. Click the name of the backup plan in the table for which to create the manual backup for.\n5. Click save**Start a backup**.\n\n | **Note:** During the backup process, the Harbor instance is temporarily switched to read-only mode. In read-only mode, the instance can't push new artifacts to the repository.\n6. In the **Backup name** field, enter a name for the backup.\n\n7. Optional: In the **Backup description** field, enter a description to\n distinguish this backup from others.\n\n8. Optional: To automatically delete backups after a certain number of\n days, follow these steps:\n\n 1. Select the **Enable automatic backup deletion** checkbox.\n 2. In the **Delete backups** **after** field, set the number of days for which to retain the backup. Once the number of days is reached, the backup is automatically deleted.\n9. Click **Create**. The backup appears in the backup table.\n\n### API\n\n apiVersion: artifactregistry.gdc.goog/v1\n kind: HarborInstanceBackup\n metadata:\n name: \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"devsite-syntax-l devsite-syntax-l-Scalar devsite-syntax-l-Scalar-Plain\"\u003eBACKUP_NAME\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/var\u003e\n namespace: \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"devsite-syntax-l devsite-syntax-l-Scalar devsite-syntax-l-Scalar-Plain\"\u003eINSTANCE_NAMESPACE\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/var\u003e\n spec:\n backupPlanName: \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"devsite-syntax-l devsite-syntax-l-Scalar devsite-syntax-l-Scalar-Plain\"\u003eBACKUP_PLAN_NAME\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/var\u003e\n manual: true\n retainDays: \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"devsite-syntax-l devsite-syntax-l-Scalar devsite-syntax-l-Scalar-Plain\"\u003eRETAIN_DAYS\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/var\u003e\n description: \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"devsite-syntax-l devsite-syntax-l-Scalar devsite-syntax-l-Scalar-Plain\"\u003eBACKUP_DESCPRITON\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/var\u003e\n\nReplace the following:\n\n- \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eBACKUP_NAME\u003c/var\u003e: the name of the backup being created.\n- \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eINSTANCE_NAMESPACE\u003c/var\u003e: the namespace containing the Harbor instance. The backup must be in the same namespace as the Harbor instance.\n- \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eBACKUP_PLAN_NAME\u003c/var\u003e: the reference for the backup plan. The backup configuration is inherited from the backup plan, including the backup repository to store and which Harbor Instance to backup.\n- \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eRETAIN_DAYS\u003c/var\u003e: the number of days the backups persist in the backup repository for. The retention policy in the backup plan is overridden. For more information, [Create a backup\n plan](/distributed-cloud/hosted/docs/latest/gdch/platform-application/pa-ao-operations/harbor-backup/create-backup-plan-harbor).\n- \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eBACKUP_DESCPRITON\u003c/var\u003e: a text description of the backup.\n\nWhat's next\n-----------\n\n- [Manage a backup](/distributed-cloud/hosted/docs/latest/gdch/platform-application/pa-ao-operations/harbor-backup/manage-backup-harbor)"]]