Backups
A backup is a single archive of your portal: its database (pages, blocks, queries, data sources, themes, users, groups, and settings) and the files the portal keeps on its own server, such as the login pages. You can take a backup and restore from one on the Backups page.
The Backups page is in the Admin Console under Advanced > Backups. Only admins can see it.
The backups list
Each row is one backup, newest first:
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Created | When the backup was taken, with the archive's file name underneath. |
| Portal | The Portal version that took the backup. Unknown means the backup does not record a version. |
| Size | The size of the archive. |
A badge next to the page heading shows whether the portal is Live, or whether a Backup in progress or Restore in progress is running. Only one backup or restore can run at a time, so Create Backup and every Restore button are disabled while one is running.
Backups taken before Portal 1.21.0 are not listed. See Backups from earlier versions.
Take a backup
- Click Create Backup.
- Click Create backup to confirm.
The portal stays online while the backup runs, and everyone can keep working. Depending on the amount of data, it can take several minutes. The new backup appears in the list when it finishes, and a message confirms it.
Backups are kept until someone deletes them from the server; the page has no delete button. Each backup is a full copy of the portal, so check the free disk space on the server if you take them often.
Restore a backup
Restoring puts the whole portal back to how it was when the backup was taken. Every change made since then is replaced, including users and settings.
- Find the backup in the list and click Restore.
- Read the confirmation, which names the date the portal will go back to, and click Restore.
- Stay on the page. It reloads on its own once the portal is back, and you may need to log in again.
While the restore runs, the portal is unavailable for about a minute and everyone using it is disconnected. Other users see a Portal is under maintenance page, which reopens the portal on its own when it is back.
If the restore fails
Portal loads the backup into a separate database first and switches to it only at the end. If anything goes wrong before the switch, the live database is left unchanged, and the portal comes back as it was before the restore. A message shows why the restore failed.
Before stopping anything, Portal also checks that the archive matches the checksum recorded when the backup was taken. A damaged or replaced archive is refused.
Backups from a different Portal version
A backup can be restored only onto the same major and minor Portal version that took it. For example, a backup from 1.21.0 can be restored onto 1.21.2, but not onto 1.22.0. If the versions do not match, Portal shows a Version mismatch warning. You can click Restore anyway, but the restored database may not match what the running version expects, and parts of the portal may not work.
Backups from earlier versions
Backups taken before Portal 1.21.0 do not record their Portal version, so they are not shown on the Backups page. On self-managed installations, the 1.21.0 upgrade moves them into the backups folder on the server, where they can still be restored from the command line. See the 1.21.0 upgrade guide.
Backups and the Portal MCP Server
An AI assistant connected through the Portal MCP Server can take a backup and list backups, but only when you ask it to. It cannot restore one. To undo a single change rather than the whole portal, ask the assistant to undo that change instead.