Backup, export and restore

The data in your AuraDB instance can be backed up, exported, and restored using snapshots.

A snapshot is a copy of the data in an instance at a specific point in time.

The Snapshots tab within an AuraDB instance shows a list of available snapshots.

To access the Snapshots tab:

  1. Navigate to the Neo4j Aura Console in your browser.

  2. Select the instance you want to access.

  3. Select the Snapshots tab.

Only the latest snapshot is available for Free instances. Snapshots are available for 7 days for Professional instances, 30 days for Business Critical instances, and 60 days for AuraDB Virtual Dedicated Cloud instances.

Snapshot types

Scheduled

AuraDB Professional AuraDB Virtual Dedicated Cloud

A Scheduled snapshot is a snapshot that is automatically triggered when you first create an instance, when changes to the underlying system occur (for example, a new patch release), and at a cadence depending on your plan type.

Scheduled snapshots are run automatically once a day for Professional instances and once an hour for Business Critical and Enterprise instances.

For AuraDB Virtual Dedicated Cloud database instances running Neo4j v4.x, from day 0 to 7 scheduled snapshots run automatically once every 6 hours. From day 8 to 60, snapshots run once a day.

On demand

An On Demand snapshot is a snapshot that you manually trigger by selecting Take snapshot from the Snapshots tab of an instance.

Snapshot actions

Restore

Restoring a snapshot overwrites the data in your instance, replacing it with the data contained in the snapshot.

You can restore data in your instance to a previous snapshot by selecting Restore next to the snapshot you want to restore.

Restoring a snapshot requires you to confirm the action by typing RESTORE and selecting Restore.

Export and create

By selecting the ellipses (…​) button next to an existing snapshot, you can:

  • Export - Download the instance as .dump file, allowing you to store a local copy and work on your data offline.

  • Create instance from snapshot - Create a new AuraDB instance using the data from the snapshot.

The ability to Export or Create an instance from a Scheduled Virtual Dedicated Cloud snapshot is limited to 14 days.

Additionally, for Virtual Dedicated Cloud instances running Neo4j version 5, the ability to export or create an instance from a Scheduled snapshot is limited to the first full snapshot, taken once per day.

Use the toggle Show exportable only on top of the list of snapshots to filter by whether a snapshot is exportable or not.