Backups & Storage

Elestio provides three backup tiers and two storage extension types (volumes and snapshots).

Local Backups (Application-Level)

Application-consistent backups are stored on the service VM itself. Created using pre/post-backup scripts specific to each template.

# List local backups
elestio backups local-list <vmID>

# Create a local backup now
elestio backups local-take <vmID>

# Restore from a local backup
elestio backups local-restore <vmID> /opt/app-backups/backup.zst

# Delete a local backup
elestio backups local-delete <vmID> /opt/app-backups/backup.zst

Remote Backups (Elestio Managed)

Backups are stored in Elestio's managed storage infrastructure, separate from the VM.

# List remote backups
elestio backups remote-list <vmID>

# Take a remote backup now
elestio backups remote-take <vmID>

# Restore from a remote backup
elestio backups remote-restore <vmID> <snapshot-name>

# Enable automatic remote backups (daily)
elestio backups auto-enable <vmID>

# Disable automatic remote backups
elestio backups auto-disable <vmID>

S3 External Backups

Store backups in your own S3-compatible bucket (AWS S3, MinIO, Backblaze B2, etc.).

# Test S3 connectivity before enabling
elestio s3-backup verify <vmID> \
  --key ACCESS_KEY \
  --secret SECRET_KEY \
  --bucket my-backups \
  --endpoint s3.amazonaws.com

# Enable S3 backups
elestio s3-backup enable <vmID> \
  --key ACCESS_KEY \
  --secret SECRET_KEY \
  --bucket my-backups \
  --endpoint s3.amazonaws.com

# Take an S3 backup now
elestio s3-backup take <vmID>

# List S3 backups
elestio s3-backup list <vmID>

# Restore from S3
elestio s3-backup restore <vmID> <backup-key>

# Delete an S3 backup
elestio s3-backup delete <vmID> <backup-key>

# Disable S3 backups
elestio s3-backup disable <vmID>

Snapshots (Provider-Level)

Point-in-time disk snapshots. Support varies by provider. Hetzner has full snapshot support; Netcup has limited support.

# List all snapshots
elestio snapshots list <vmID>

# Create a manual snapshot
elestio snapshots take <vmID>

# Restore a snapshot (use 0 for the most recent)
elestio snapshots restore <vmID> <snapshotId>
elestio snapshots restore <vmID> 0

# Delete a snapshot
elestio snapshots delete <vmID> <snapshotId>

# Enable automatic snapshots
elestio snapshots auto-enable <vmID>

# Disable automatic snapshots
elestio snapshots auto-disable <vmID>

Volumes (Block Storage)

Persistent storage volumes that can be attached to services. Hetzner provides full volume operations; other providers may have limited or no support.

# List all volumes in a project
elestio volumes

# Create a standalone volume
elestio volumes create --name my-volume --size 20

# List volumes attached to a service
elestio volumes service-list <vmID>

# Create and attach a volume to a service
elestio volumes service-create <vmID> --name app-data --size 50

# Resize a volume
elestio volumes resize <vmID> <volumeID> --size 100

# Detach a volume from a service
elestio volumes detach <vmID> <volumeID>

# Delete a volume
elestio volumes delete <vmID> <volumeID>

# Protect a volume from accidental deletion
elestio volumes protect <vmID> <volumeID>

Recommended Backup Strategy

Enable all three for production services:

# Enable auto remote backups
elestio backups auto-enable <vmID>

# Enable S3 backups
elestio s3-backup enable <vmID> --key X --secret Y --bucket Z --endpoint S

# Enable auto snapshots (Hetzner only)
elestio snapshots auto-enable <vmID>