Restoring TeamCity Data from Backup

Before restoring

You can restore backed up data into the same or a different database; from/to any of the supported databases (for example, you can restore data from a HSQL database to a PostgreSQL database, as well as restore a backup of a PostgreSQL database to a new PostgreSQL database).

A newer version of TeamCity can be used to restore the backup created with any previous TeamCity version (provided that the TeamCity version is later than 6.0).

During restoration of a large database you might want to configure database-specific settings to make the bulk data changes faster (like setting SQL Server "Recovery Model" to "Simple"). Consult your DBA for more details.

A TeamCity backup file does not contain build artifacts, so to get the server with all the same important data you need to restore from a backup file (at least settings and database) and copy the build logs and artifacts (located in < TeamCity Data Directory >/system/artifacts by default) from an old to the new Data Directory manually. The general compatibility rule of the data under system/artifacts is that files created by older TeamCity versions can be read by newer versions, but not necessarily vice versa.

When external artifacts storage is enabled, the artifacts directory of the TeamCity Data Directory contains metadata about artifacts mappings, so make sure they are restored.

See also details on the directories in the TeamCity Data Directory description.

Performing restore

Since version 2019.2, TeamCity can automatically restore the backed up data. The automatic restoration process also relies on the maintainDB utility, but performs all the necessary operations under the hood. To restore the backed up files on the first start of the TeamCity server:

1. On the TeamCity First Start step of the browser dialog, enter the path to the Data Directory and click Restore from backup.

2. Enter an absolute path to the backup directory on the TeamCity server or upload a ZIP archive with the backed up data.

3. Choose the target database. If you use an external database, configure its address and credentials.

4. Proceed with the restoration.

TeamCity will restore the data and display the maintainDB utility log. If the version of the backed up data format is earlier than the current one, TeamCity will propose to upgrade it.

Alternatively, you can use the maintainDB utility manually. This section describes only some of the maintainDB options. For the complete list of all available options, run maintainDB from the command line with no parameters. See also maintainDB startup options.

To perform restore from a backup file via maintainDB:

1. Install the TeamCity server from a tar.gz or .exe installation package. Do not start the TeamCity server.

2. Create a new empty TeamCity Data Directory.

3. Choose one of the options:

   • To restore the backup into a new external database, create and configure an empty database, configure a database.properties file with the database settings to be passed to the restore command later on and either place it into the /config subdirectory of the newly created TeamCity Data Directory or anywhere on your file system outside the TeamCity Data Directory.

   • To restore the data into the same database the backup was created from, proceed to the next step.

4. Place the required database drivers into the lib/jdbc subdirectory of the newly created TeamCity Data Directory directory.

5. Use the maintainDB utility located in the < TeamCity Home >/bin directory to run the restore command:

   a. To restore the backup into a new external database

   – if the database.properties file is in the TeamCity Data Directory:

   maintainDB.[cmd|sh] restore -A <absolute path to the newly created TeamCity Data Directory> -F <path to the TeamCity backup file> -T <config/database.properties>

   – if the database.properties file is outside the TeamCity Data Directory:

   maintainDB.[cmd|sh] restore -A <absolute path to the newly created TeamCity Data Directory> -F <path to the TeamCity backup file> -T <absolute path to the database.properties file of the target database on the file system outside data dir>

   b. To restore the data into the same database the backup was created from:

   maintainDB.[cmd|sh] restore -A <absolute path to the newly created TeamCity Data Directory> -F <path to the TeamCity backup file>

   c. To restore the backup into the internal database:

   maintainDB.[cmd|sh] restore -A <absolute path to the newly created TeamCity Data Directory> -I -F <path to the TeamCity backup file>

6. If the process completes successfully, to complete the restoration you need to copy over < TeamCity Data Directory >/system/artifacts from the old directory. The directory stores build artifacts and those are not included into the backup file.

Notes on the restore command options:

• The -A argument can be omitted if you have the TEAMCITY_DATA_PATH environment variable set.

• The -F argument can be an absolute path or a path relative to the < TeamCity Data Directory >/backup directory.

• The -T argument must point to the database.properties file created in step 3.

• If the -T argument is not specified and the database.properties file is present in the newly created <TeamCity Data Directory>/config and the backup file, the database is restored using the properties file in <TeamCity Data Directory>/config.

• By default, if no other option except -F is specified, all of the backed up scopes will be restored from the backup file. To restore only specific scopes from the backup file, use the corresponding options of the maintainDB utility: -D, -C, -U, -L, and -P.

Restoring database only

When restoring the database but preserving the more recent TeamCity Data Directory, it is important to make sure the data is consistent:

• < TeamCity Data Directory >/system/pluginData (supplementary data) should be restored as well to be consistent with the data stored in the database

• < TeamCity Data Directory >/system/caches should be cleared before the server start

Before restoring a TeamCity database to an existing server, make sure the TeamCity server is not running.

To restore a TeamCity database only from a backup file to an existing server:

1. Create and configure the database, placing the database.properties file into the config subdirectory of the TeamCity Data Directory.

2. Ensure that the required database drivers are present in the /lib/jdbc sub directory.

3. Use the maintainDB utility located in the < TeamCity Home >/bin directory (only available in TeamCity .tar.gz and .exe distributions).

4. If the supplementary data is present in the backup, delete the content of the < TeamCity Data Directory >/system/pluginData directory (consider backing it up in another location first).

5. Use the restore command (The -T argument must point to the database.properties file created in step 1):

   maintainDB.[cmd|sh] restore -A <absolute path to TeamCity Data Directory> -F <path to the TeamCity backup file> -T <path to the database.properties file of the target database> -D

6. See the maintainDB utility console output. You may have to copy the database.properties file manually if requested.

7. Delete the contents of the < TeamCity Data Directory >/system/caches directory.

Resuming restore after interruption

The restore may be interrupted due to the following reasons:

• Lack of space on the file system or in the database

• Insufficient permissions to the file system or the database

The interruption occurs when one of tables or indexes failed to be restored, which is indicated in the maintainDB utility console output.
Before resuming the restore, manually delete the incorrectly restored object from the database.

To resume the backup restore after an interruption:
Run the maintainDB utility with the restore command with the required options and the additonal --continue option: