Restore a backup

After a backup is created, you can create a restore for that backup, which initiates the restoration of some portion of the contents of that backup into a target cluster. This target cluster might be different from the cluster where the backup was originally created.

When a backup is restored, the Kubernetes resources are recreated in the target cluster. After the resources are created, actual restoration of workload functionality is subject to the regular cluster reconciliation process. For example, pods are scheduled to nodes and then started on those nodes.

Create a restore

To get the permissions that you need to create a Restore, ask your Project IAM Admin to grant you the Backup Creator (backup-creator) role. Manually restore a backup using the GDC console or the API.

Console

  1. Sign in to the GDC console.
  2. In the navigation menu, click Backup for Clusters.
  3. Select a project.
  4. Click the Backups tab.
  5. In the list of backups, find the backup to restore and click Restore.
  6. Choose a restore plan from the list of plans that apply to this backup.
  7. Enter a name and an optional description for the restore.
  8. Click Restore.

API

Create a ManualRestoreRequest custom resource to perform restores from existing RestorePlans. Specify the Backup that you want to restore, the name of the Restore that you want to create, and the RestorePlan that matches the BackupPlan of the Backup. Here's an example of a ManualRestoreRequest:

apiVersion: backup.gdc.goog/v1
kind: ManualRestoreRequest
metadata:
  name: manualrestorerequest-sample
  namespace: default
spec:
  restoreName: "test-manual-restore"
  restorePlanName: "restoreplan-sample"
  backupName: "temp-backup"
  description: "restores test clusters"

This example includes the following values:

Value Description
backupName The name of the Backup to restore.
description User-provided description of why the Restore is being created. This description is inherited by the created Restore.
restoreName The name of the Restore to create.
restorePlanName The name of the RestorePlan that this restore uses.

After initiating a ManualRestoreRequest, a Restore custom resource is generated.

Restore from an imported backup

You can restore a backup from another backup that was completed in a different cluster. For example, if the original cluster is inactive or you want to clone an existing cluster.

First, create a backup repository in the target cluster that points to the storage location used by the source cluster. If the repository is actively being used by the source cluster in ReadWrite mode, you must specify the ImportPolicy as ReadOnly. For more information, see Backup repository import policies.

After the backup repository is created and the backups are successfully imported, the repository backup resources are present in the target cluster. You can then schedule a restore in the target cluster by referencing an imported backup.

View a restore

View a list of restores using the GDC console or kubectl.

Console

  1. Sign in to the GDC console.
  2. In the navigation menu, click Backup for Clusters.
  3. Click Select project to select an organization or project depending on your role:
  4. Backup Admin: Select an organization to see all of the restores in an organization or select a project to see all of the restores in a project.
  5. Backup Creator: Select a project to see all of the restores in a project.
  6. Click the Restores tab.
  7. Click a restore in the list to view its details.

kubectl

View the status of a Restore in the default namespace:

kubectl get restores

Here's an example of the output:

NAME                   STATE
restore-sample         Succeeded

View Restores in all namespaces:

kubectl get restores -A

View Restores in a specific namespace:

kubectl get restores -n NAMESPACE

Replace NAMESPACE with the namespace containing the restores.

Delete a restore

Unlike backups, deleting a restore does not require issuing a request. Restores are deleted by deleting the resource directly from the Kubernetes API server. This action also cleans up any associated restore artifacts from object storage.

Delete a restore:

kubectl delete restores RESTORE_NAME

Replace RESTORE_NAME with the name of the restore.