Backup and restore

A Porto backup is a portable archive (compressed tar with one JSONL file per table and the uploaded files, still encrypted): the same format for SQLite and PostgreSQL, so a backup taken on one database restores on the other. Raw sensor readings are not included.

Taking a backup

porto backup --out /data/porto-2026-11-10.porto-backup

With Docker:

docker compose -f deploy/docker-compose.yml exec porto /porto backup --out /data/porto-$(date +%F).porto-backup

The file lands in the data volume: copy it off the server (another disk, another site). Schedule the backup from the host’s cron or a systemd timer.

The backup does not contain the key

Documents, IBANs, provider keys and files are encrypted with PORTO_SECRET_KEY. Keep the key with the backups, in a safe place: a backup without its key cannot be read.

Restoring

1. Prepare an installation with the same Porto version as the backup and the same PORTO_SECRET_KEY.

2. Restore:

   porto restore --in porto-2026-11-10.porto-backup          # on an empty database
   porto restore --in porto-2026-11-10.porto-backup --force  # wipe the database first

3. Start the server and sign in again: sessions are not included.

Restore refuses a database that already holds data (without --force) and an archive whose schema version differs from the database. To bring a backup to a newer version, restore it with its own version, then update (Updates).

Desktop app

The desktop app takes backups in the same format by itself: one a day, one at every close, manual ones and one before every restore. It keeps 14 daily and 5 close backups; manual ones are never deleted. Restore starts from the panel. See Desktop app.