--- title: "Backup and restore overview" description: "Compare Aerospike backup and restore tools: ABS, absctl, and legacy asbackup/asrestore utilities." --- # Backup and restore overview > For the complete documentation index see: [llms.txt](https://aerospike.com/docs/llms.txt) > > All documentation pages available in markdown. Aerospike provides several tools for backing up and restoring data in your database clusters. ## Available tools | Tool | Description | Best for | | --- | --- | --- | | [Aerospike Backup Service (ABS)](#aerospike-backup-service) | REST API service for scheduled backups | Automated backup routines, continuous incremental backups, enterprise environments | | [Aerospike Backup Control (absctl)](#aerospike-backup-control) | Go-based CLI tool for on-demand backup and restore operations | Ad-hoc backups and restores, scripted jobs | | [asbackup / asrestore (Legacy)](#legacy-tools) | C-based CLI tools | Legacy systems, Aerospike Database versions before 5.7.0 | ### Aerospike Backup Service Aerospike Backup Service (ABS) runs as a standalone service and provides REST API endpoints for backup and restore operations. ABS is ideal for automated backup routines with configurable schedules and policies. Key features: - Scheduled backups: Configure full and incremental backup schedules - Multiple backup policies: Define different retention periods, compression settings, and storage locations - REST API to trigger backups on demand - Monitoring integration - Works with Aerospike Kubernetes Operator (AKO) For installation and configuration, see [Aerospike Backup Service](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/tools/backup-and-restore/backup-service). ### Aerospike Backup Control Aerospike Backup Control (`absctl`) is a Go-based command-line tool for backup and restore operations. Use `absctl backup` to create backups and `absctl restore` to restore or validate backups. Key features: - Native support for AWS S3, Google Cloud Storage, and Azure Blob Storage, including storage classes and access tiers - Zone-aware backups to minimize cross-datacenter traffic - Configurable JSON log output for integration with monitoring systems - YAML configuration files for repeatable backup operations For installation and usage, see: - [Install Aerospike Backup Control (absctl)](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/tools/backup-and-restore/absctl/install) - [Backup (`absctl backup`)](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/tools/backup-and-restore/absctl/backup) - [Restore (`absctl restore`)](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/tools/backup-and-restore/absctl/restore) ### Legacy tools The legacy `asbackup` and `asrestore` tools are C-based command-line utilities used for: - Aerospike Database versions before 5.7.0 - Existing automation scripts not yet migrated to the newer tools ::: note The legacy tools are deprecated. For new deployments, use `absctl` (the `backup` and `restore` subcommands). See [Migration from legacy tools](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/tools/backup-and-restore/legacy-migration) for upgrade instructions. ::: ## Architecture ### Backup file format All Aerospike backup tools use the `.asb` file format, which stores: - Record data (keys, bins, metadata) - Secondary index definitions - User-defined function (UDF) modules Backups created with any Aerospike backup tool can be restored with any compatible restore tool. ASB protocol version 3.2 supports expression-based secondary indexes. When backing up to a directory, metadata (UDFs and secondary indexes) is stored in separate `metadata_*.asb` files. When using `--output-file`, all data is written to a single file. ### Full and incremental backups Full backups create a complete copy of all data. Incremental backups copy only the data that changed since the most recent full or incremental backup. For example, if you create a full backup at 2:00 PM and an incremental backup at 2:30 PM, the incremental backup contains only records modified between 2:00 and 2:30 PM. When you restore from the 3:00 PM backup, the restore process combines the full backup data with all subsequent incremental changes. ::: note A backup timestamp refers to when the backup _started_, not when it finished. ::: ### Compression and encryption All backup tools support ZSTD compression and AES-128 or AES-256 encryption. When restoring compressed or encrypted backups, you must specify the same compression and encryption settings that were used to create the backup. ### Cloud storage support | Provider | ABS | absctl | Legacy asbackup/asrestore | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | AWS S3 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | | Google Cloud Storage | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | | Azure Blob Storage | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | | Local storage | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | `absctl backup` and `absctl restore` both support storage classes and access tiers: - AWS S3: Use `--s3-storage-class` to specify `STANDARD`, `GLACIER`, `DEEP_ARCHIVE`, and other storage classes - Azure: Use `--azure-access-tier` to specify `Hot`, `Cool`, `Cold`, or `Archive` tiers - Restore from archive: Both `absctl restore` and ABS can restore files from archived storage tiers ## Frequently asked questions ### Which tool should I use? #### Use Aerospike Backup Service when: - You need automated scheduled backups - You want to manage multiple backup policies through a REST API - You’re running Aerospike Database on Kubernetes with AKO - You need continuous incremental backups with managed retention #### Use absctl when: - You need ad-hoc or scripted backup and restore operations - You need zone-aware backups with rack filtering (with `absctl backup`) - You’re migrating from existing backup workflows using the legacy tools #### Use legacy tools (asbackup/asrestore) only when: - You’re running Aerospike Database versions before 5.7.0 - You have existing automation that hasn’t been migrated ### How is Aerospike Backup Service different from absctl? ABS runs as a separate service that listens for REST API requests to trigger backup and restore operations. `absctl` runs as a CLI command (for example, `absctl backup` or `absctl restore`) and exits when the operation completes. Backups made with ABS can be restored with `absctl restore`, and backups made with `absctl backup` can be restored with ABS. Both backup solutions use the same Go-based backup library. ### Can I back up in-memory and on-disk namespaces? Yes. Aerospike Backup Service (ABS), `absctl backup`, and the legacy `asbackup` tool can back up Aerospike namespaces regardless of whether the source namespace uses in-memory or device-backed storage. These tools back up records and metadata from the namespace through Aerospike backup operations. Backup support depends on the namespace and the backup configuration, not on the storage device. ### What happens when a backup doesn’t finish before another starts? In Aerospike Backup Service: - Full backups cannot overlap. If a scheduled full backup is due to start but the previous one is still running, the scheduled backup is skipped. Full backups always take priority over incremental backups. - Incremental backups are skipped by default if any other backup is running. Set [`concurrent-incremental`](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/tools/backup-and-restore/backup-service/config#backup-policies.POLICY_NAME.concurrent-incremental) to `true` to allow overlapping incremental backups. - Incremental backups do not run until at least one full backup has completed successfully. For `absctl backup` and legacy `asbackup`: - These tools do not manage scheduled backup routines. Each command starts a single backup operation and runs until it completes, fails, or is interrupted. - If a backup is interrupted, the supported recovery path is to resume it from a state file with `--continue`. - By default, neither tool writes to a non-empty directory or overwrites an existing backup file. ### Can multiple backup routines run simultaneously? Yes, multiple backup routines can run in parallel in ABS. You can back up different namespaces from the same cluster using separate routines with different schedules. To manage resource utilization, configure `aerospike-clusters.CLUSTER_NAME.max-parallel-scans` to limit the number of read threads operating on a single cluster. ### Are backups from the different CLI tool versions compatible with each other? Yes. Backups created with the legacy `asbackup` tool can be restored with `absctl restore` or ABS. Backups created with `absctl backup` can be restored with tools that understand the ASB format. The backup file format (`.asb`) is unchanged, though new features like expression-based secondary indexes use ASB protocol version 3.2. ### What privileges are required for backup and restore? For backup: `read` privileges or higher. For restore: The required privileges depend on the namespace contents: - Basic records: `read-write` - User-defined functions: `udf-admin` (Database 6.0.0 and later) or `data-admin` - Secondary indexes: `sindex-admin` (Database 6.0.0 and later) or `data-admin` See [Configuring access control](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/manage/security/rbac/#privileges) for more information. ## Related topics - [Backup (`absctl backup`)](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/tools/backup-and-restore/absctl/backup) - [Restore (`absctl restore`)](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/tools/backup-and-restore/absctl/restore) - [Aerospike Backup Service](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/tools/backup-and-restore/backup-service) - [Migration from legacy tools](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/tools/backup-and-restore/legacy-migration) - [Legacy asbackup](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/tools/backup-and-restore/asbackup) - [Legacy asrestore](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/tools/backup-and-restore/asrestore)