arcli backup

Arc writes backups to the directory in backup.local_path on the server itself (there is no remote target and no incremental mode; backup.enabled = false turns the feature off). arcli backup drives that over /api/v1/backup. Every subcommand needs an admin token.

Quick reference

arcli backup create --wait
arcli backup list
arcli backup show backup-20260908-000537-3969cf1d
arcli backup status
arcli backup restore backup-20260908-000537-3969cf1d --wait
arcli backup delete backup-20260908-000537-3969cf1d

create

$ arcli backup create --wait
Backup backup-20260908-000537-3969cf1d started; waiting...
Backup backup-20260908-000537-3969cf1d completed: 2 files, 1.7 KiB

The server accepts the request and returns immediately; arcli prints the id at once and, with --wait, polls status until the operation finishes (progress to stderr, --wait-timeout default 2h). Ids are backup-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS-<8 hex>. A backup includes the data files plus the metadata database and the server config file; --no-metadata and --no-config leave those out. Create, restore and delete share one slot on the server: a second operation while one runs is refused.

list, show, status

$ arcli backup show backup-20260908-000537-3969cf1d
backup id:   backup-20260908-000537-3969cf1d
created:     2026-09-08T00:05:37Z
type:        full (server dev)
contents:    2 files, 1.7 KiB, metadata true, config false

┌──────────┬─────────────┬───────┬─────────┐
│ DATABASE │ MEASUREMENT │ FILES │  SIZE   │
├──────────┼─────────────┼───────┼─────────┤
│ metrics  │ cpu         │ 1     │ 687 B   │
│ metrics  │ mem         │ 1     │ 1.0 KiB │
└──────────┴─────────────┴───────┴─────────┘

list is newest first and shows what the manifest says; it cannot tell an interrupted backup from a complete one, so show the one you plan to restore: it reports skipped files. status shows the last operation (or idle) with files and bytes done, and is what --wait polls.

restore

$ arcli backup restore backup-20260908-003222-1f611f94 --wait --yes
Restore of backup-20260908-003222-1f611f94 started; waiting...
Restore of backup-20260908-003222-1f611f94 completed: 4 files, 3.7 KiB written
Metadata/config are staged in the server's metadata directory (.pending-restore) and applied at the next server start; data files are already overwritten. Restart the server to complete the restore.

Data files from the backup are written over the server's storage unconditionally; files at the same paths are replaced. Run it on a quiescent server: stop writers and compaction first. Metadata is staged and applied on the next server start; --data-only skips it, --with-config also restores the config file. arcli prompts unless --yes. In a cluster the manifest of the other nodes is not updated by a restore.

delete

Removes the backup directory on the server. Prompts unless --yes.

All subcommands take the connection flags.