---
weight: 7
menu:
  docs:
    parent: victoriametrics
    weight: 7
title: vmrestore
tags:
  - metrics
aliases:
  - /vmrestore.html
  - /vmrestore/index.html
  - /vmrestore/
---
`vmrestore` restores data from backups created by [vmbackup](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/vmbackup/).

Restore process can be interrupted at any time. It is automatically resumed when restarting `vmrestore` with the same args. If file preallocation is enabled{{% available_from "v1.139.0" %}}, it resumes from the last complete file, if file preallocation is disabled via `-skipFilePreallocation` then it resumes from the interruption point mid file.

> If you'd prefer not to manage backups/restores at all, [VictoriaMetrics Cloud](https://console.victoriametrics.cloud/signUp?utm_source=website&utm_campaign=docs_vm_vmbackup_intro)
> handles backups and restores automatically without the need of extra configurations.
> See the [VictoriaMetrics Cloud documentation](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics-cloud/) to get started.

## Usage

VictoriaMetrics must be stopped during the restore process.

Run the following command to restore backup from the given `-src` into the given `-storageDataPath`:

```shellhelp
./vmrestore -src=<storageType>://<path/to/backup> -storageDataPath=<local/path/to/restore>
```

* `<storageType>://<path/to/backup>` is the path to backup made with [vmbackup](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/vmbackup/).
  `vmrestore` can restore backups from the following storage types:
  * [GCS](https://cloud.google.com/storage/). Example: `-src=gs://<bucket>/<path/to/backup>`
  * [S3](https://aws.amazon.com/s3/). Example: `-src=s3://<bucket>/<path/to/backup>`
  * [Azure Blob Storage](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/products/storage/blobs/). Example: `-src=azblob://<container>/<path/to/backup>`
  * Any S3-compatible storage such as [MinIO](https://github.com/minio/minio) or [Ceph](https://docs.ceph.com/en/pacific/radosgw/s3/).
    See [these docs](#advanced-usage) for details.
  * Local filesystem. Example: `-src=fs://</absolute/path/to/backup>`. Note that `vmbackup` prevents from storing the backup
    into the directory pointed by `-storageDataPath` command-line flag, since this directory should be managed solely by VictoriaMetrics or `vmstorage`.
* `<local/path/to/restore>` is the path to folder where data will be restored. This folder must be passed
  to VictoriaMetrics in `-storageDataPath` command-line flag after the restore process is complete.

The original `-storageDataPath` directory may contain old files. They will be substituted by the files from backup,
i.e. the end result would be similar to [rsync --delete](https://askubuntu.com/questions/476041/how-do-i-make-rsync-delete-files-that-have-been-deleted-from-the-source-folder).

## Troubleshooting

* See [how to setup credentials via environment variables](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/vmbackup/#providing-credentials-via-env-variables).
* If `vmrestore` consumes all the network bandwidth, then set `-maxBytesPerSecond` to the desired value.
* If `vmrestore` has been interrupted due to temporary error, then just restart it with the same args. It will resume the restore process.

## Advanced usage

Please, see [vmbackup docs](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/vmbackup/#advanced-usage) for examples of authentication
with different storage types.

Run `vmrestore -help` in order to see all the available options:

```sh
  -concurrency int
     The number of concurrent workers. Higher concurrency may reduce restore duration (default 10)
  -configFilePath string
     Path to file with S3 configs. Configs are loaded from default location if not set.
     See https://docs.aws.amazon.com/general/latest/gr/aws-security-credentials.html
  -configProfile string
     Profile name for S3 configs. If no set, the value of the environment variable will be loaded (AWS_PROFILE or AWS_DEFAULT_PROFILE), or if both not set, DefaultSharedConfigProfile is used
  -credsFilePath string
     Path to file with GCS or S3 credentials. Credentials are loaded from default locations if not set.
     See https://cloud.google.com/iam/docs/creating-managing-service-account-keys and https://docs.aws.amazon.com/general/latest/gr/aws-security-credentials.html
  -customS3Endpoint string
     Custom S3 endpoint for use with S3-compatible storages (e.g. MinIO). S3 is used if not set
  -deleteAllObjectVersions
     Whether to prune previous object versions when deleting an object. By default, when object storage has versioning enabled deleting the file removes only current version. This option forces removal of all previous versions. See: https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/vmbackup/#permanent-deletion-of-objects-in-s3-compatible-storages
  -enableTCP6
     Whether to enable IPv6 for listening and dialing. By default, only IPv4 TCP and UDP are used
  -envflag.enable
     Whether to enable reading flags from environment variables in addition to the command line. Command line flag values have priority over values from environment vars. Flags are read only from the command line if this flag isn't set. See https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/single-server-victoriametrics/#environment-variables for more details
  -envflag.prefix string
     Prefix for environment variables if -envflag.enable is set
  -eula
     Deprecated, please use -license or -licenseFile flags instead. By specifying this flag, you confirm that you have an enterprise license and accept the ESA https://victoriametrics.com/legal/esa/ . This flag is available only in Enterprise binaries. See https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/enterprise/
  -filestream.disableFadvise
     Whether to disable fadvise() syscall when reading large data files. The fadvise() syscall prevents from eviction of recently accessed data from OS page cache during background merges and backups. In some rare cases it is better to disable the syscall if it uses too much CPU
  -flagsAuthKey value
     Auth key for /flags endpoint. It must be passed via authKey query arg. It overrides -httpAuth.*
     Flag value can be read from the given file when using -flagsAuthKey=file:///abs/path/to/file or -flagsAuthKey=file://./relative/path/to/file . Flag value can be read from the given http/https url when using -flagsAuthKey=http://host/path or -flagsAuthKey=https://host/path
  -fs.disableMincore
     Whether to disable the mincore() syscall for checking mmap()ed files. By default, mincore() is used to detect whether mmap()ed file pages are resident in memory. Disabling mincore() may be needed on older ZFS filesystems (below 2.1.5), since it may trigger ZFS bug. See https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/10327 for details.
  -fs.disableMmap
     Whether to use pread() instead of mmap() for reading data files. By default, mmap() is used for 64-bit arches and pread() is used for 32-bit arches, since they cannot read data files bigger than 2^32 bytes in memory. mmap() is usually faster for reading small data chunks than pread()
  -fs.maxConcurrency int
     The maximum number of concurrent goroutines to work with files; smaller values may help reducing Go scheduling latency on systems with small number of CPU cores; higher values may help reducing data ingestion latency on systems with high-latency storage such as NFS or Ceph (default 64)
  -http.connTimeout duration
     Incoming connections to -httpListenAddr are closed after the configured timeout. This may help evenly spreading load among a cluster of services behind TCP-level load balancer. Zero value disables closing of incoming connections (default 2m0s)
  -http.disableCORS
     Disable CORS for all origins (*)
  -http.disableKeepAlive
     Whether to disable HTTP keep-alive for incoming connections at -httpListenAddr
  -http.disableResponseCompression
     Disable compression of HTTP responses to save CPU resources. By default, compression is enabled to save network bandwidth
  -http.header.csp string
     Value for 'Content-Security-Policy' header, recommended: "default-src 'self'"
  -http.header.frameOptions string
     Value for 'X-Frame-Options' header
  -http.header.hsts string
     Value for 'Strict-Transport-Security' header, recommended: 'max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains'
  -http.idleConnTimeout duration
     Timeout for incoming idle http connections (default 1m0s)
  -http.maxGracefulShutdownDuration duration
     The maximum duration for a graceful shutdown of the HTTP server. A highly loaded server may require increased value for a graceful shutdown (default 7s)
  -http.pathPrefix string
     An optional prefix to add to all the paths handled by http server. For example, if '-http.pathPrefix=/foo/bar' is set, then all the http requests will be handled on '/foo/bar/*' paths. This may be useful for proxied requests. See https://www.robustperception.io/using-external-urls-and-proxies-with-prometheus
  -http.shutdownDelay duration
     Optional delay before http server shutdown. During this delay, the server returns non-OK responses from /health page, so load balancers can route new requests to other servers
  -httpAuth.password value
     Password for HTTP server's Basic Auth. The authentication is disabled if -httpAuth.username is empty
     Flag value can be read from the given file when using -httpAuth.password=file:///abs/path/to/file or -httpAuth.password=file://./relative/path/to/file . Flag value can be read from the given http/https url when using -httpAuth.password=http://host/path or -httpAuth.password=https://host/path
  -httpAuth.username string
     Username for HTTP server's Basic Auth. The authentication is disabled if empty. See also -httpAuth.password
  -httpListenAddr string
     TCP address for exporting metrics at /metrics page (default ":8421")
  -internStringCacheExpireDuration duration
     The expiry duration for caches for interned strings. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_interning . See also -internStringMaxLen and -internStringDisableCache (default 6m0s)
  -internStringDisableCache
     Whether to disable caches for interned strings. This may reduce memory usage at the cost of higher CPU usage. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_interning . See also -internStringCacheExpireDuration and -internStringMaxLen
  -internStringMaxLen int
     The maximum length for strings to intern. A lower limit may save memory at the cost of higher CPU usage. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_interning . See also -internStringDisableCache and -internStringCacheExpireDuration (default 500)
  -license string
     License key for VictoriaMetrics Enterprise. See https://victoriametrics.com/products/enterprise/ . Trial Enterprise license can be obtained from https://victoriametrics.com/products/enterprise/trial/ . This flag is available only in Enterprise binaries. The license key can be also passed via file specified by -licenseFile command-line flag
  -license.forceOffline
     Whether to enable offline verification for VictoriaMetrics Enterprise license key, which has been passed either via -license or via -licenseFile command-line flag. The issued license key must support offline verification feature. Contact info@victoriametrics.com if you need offline license verification. This flag is available only in Enterprise binaries
  -licenseFile string
     Path to file with license key for VictoriaMetrics Enterprise. See https://victoriametrics.com/products/enterprise/ . Trial Enterprise license can be obtained from https://victoriametrics.com/products/enterprise/trial/ . This flag is available only in Enterprise binaries. The license key can be also passed inline via -license command-line flag
  -licenseFile.reloadInterval duration
     Interval for reloading the license file specified via -licenseFile. See https://victoriametrics.com/products/enterprise/ . This flag is available only in Enterprise binaries (default 1h0m0s)
  -loggerDisableTimestamps
     Whether to disable writing timestamps in logs
  -loggerErrorsPerSecondLimit int
     Per-second limit on the number of ERROR messages. If more than the given number of errors are emitted per second, the remaining errors are suppressed. Zero values disable the rate limit
  -loggerFormat string
     Format for logs. Possible values: default, json (default "default")
  -loggerJSONFields string
     Allows renaming fields in JSON formatted logs. Example: "ts:timestamp,msg:message" renames "ts" to "timestamp" and "msg" to "message". Supported fields: ts, level, caller, msg
  -loggerLevel string
     Minimum level of errors to log. Possible values: INFO, WARN, ERROR, FATAL, PANIC (default "INFO")
  -loggerMaxArgLen int
     The maximum length of a single logged argument. Longer arguments are replaced with 'arg_start..arg_end', where 'arg_start' and 'arg_end' is prefix and suffix of the arg with the length not exceeding -loggerMaxArgLen / 2 (default 5000)
  -loggerOutput string
     Output for the logs. Supported values: stderr, stdout (default "stderr")
  -loggerTimezone string
     Timezone to use for timestamps in logs. Timezone must be a valid IANA Time Zone. For example: America/New_York, Europe/Berlin, Etc/GMT+3 or Local (default "UTC")
  -loggerWarnsPerSecondLimit int
     Per-second limit on the number of WARN messages. If more than the given number of warns are emitted per second, then the remaining warns are suppressed. Zero values disable the rate limit
  -maxBytesPerSecond size
     The maximum download speed. There is no limit if it is set to 0
     Supports the following optional suffixes for size values: KB, MB, GB, TB, KiB, MiB, GiB, TiB (default 0)
  -memory.allowedBytes size
     Allowed size of system memory VictoriaMetrics caches may occupy. This option overrides -memory.allowedPercent if set to a non-zero value. Too low a value may increase the cache miss rate usually resulting in higher CPU and disk IO usage. Too high a value may evict too much data from the OS page cache resulting in higher disk IO usage
     Supports the following optional suffixes for size values: KB, MB, GB, TB, KiB, MiB, GiB, TiB (default 0)
  -memory.allowedPercent float
     Allowed percent of system memory VictoriaMetrics caches may occupy. See also -memory.allowedBytes. Too low a value may increase cache miss rate usually resulting in higher CPU and disk IO usage. Too high a value may evict too much data from the OS page cache which will result in higher disk IO usage (default 60)
  -metrics.exposeMetadata
     Whether to expose TYPE and HELP metadata at the /metrics page, which is exposed at -httpListenAddr . The metadata may be needed when the /metrics page is consumed by systems, which require this information. For example, Managed Prometheus in Google Cloud - https://cloud.google.com/stackdriver/docs/managed-prometheus/troubleshooting#missing-metric-type
  -metricsAuthKey value
     Auth key for /metrics endpoint. It must be passed via authKey query arg. It overrides -httpAuth.*
     Flag value can be read from the given file when using -metricsAuthKey=file:///abs/path/to/file or -metricsAuthKey=file://./relative/path/to/file . Flag value can be read from the given http/https url when using -metricsAuthKey=http://host/path or -metricsAuthKey=https://host/path
  -mtls array
     Whether to require valid client certificate for https requests to the corresponding -httpListenAddr . This flag works only if -tls flag is set. See also -mtlsCAFile . This flag is available only in Enterprise binaries. See https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/enterprise/
     Supports array of values separated by comma or specified via multiple flags.
     Empty values are set to false.
  -mtlsCAFile array
     Optional path to TLS Root CA for verifying client certificates at the corresponding -httpListenAddr when -mtls is enabled. By default the host system TLS Root CA is used for client certificate verification. This flag is available only in Enterprise binaries. See https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/enterprise/
     Supports an array of values separated by comma or specified via multiple flags.
     Each array item can contain comma inside single-quoted or double-quoted string, {}, [] and () braces.
  -pprofAuthKey value
     Auth key for /debug/pprof/* endpoints. It must be passed via authKey query arg. It overrides -httpAuth.*
     Flag value can be read from the given file when using -pprofAuthKey=file:///abs/path/to/file or -pprofAuthKey=file://./relative/path/to/file . Flag value can be read from the given http/https url when using -pprofAuthKey=http://host/path or -pprofAuthKey=https://host/path
  -pushmetrics.disableCompression
     Whether to disable request body compression when pushing metrics to every -pushmetrics.url
  -pushmetrics.extraLabel array
     Optional labels to add to metrics pushed to every -pushmetrics.url . For example, -pushmetrics.extraLabel='instance="foo"' adds instance="foo" label to all the metrics pushed to every -pushmetrics.url
     Supports an array of values separated by comma or specified via multiple flags.
     Each array item can contain comma inside single-quoted or double-quoted string, {}, [] and () braces.
  -pushmetrics.header array
     Optional HTTP request header to send to every -pushmetrics.url . For example, -pushmetrics.header='Authorization: Basic foobar' adds 'Authorization: Basic foobar' header to every request to every -pushmetrics.url
     Supports an array of values separated by comma or specified via multiple flags.
     Each array item can contain comma inside single-quoted or double-quoted string, {}, [] and () braces.
  -pushmetrics.interval duration
     Interval for pushing metrics to every -pushmetrics.url (default 10s)
  -pushmetrics.url array
     Optional URL to push metrics exposed at /metrics page. See https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/single-server-victoriametrics/#push-metrics . By default, metrics exposed at /metrics page aren't pushed to any remote storage
     Supports an array of values separated by comma or specified via multiple flags.
     Each array item can contain comma inside single-quoted or double-quoted string, {}, [] and () braces.
  -s3ForcePathStyle
     Prefixing endpoint with bucket name when set false, true by default. (default true)
  -s3SSEKMSKeyId string
     SSE KMS Key ID for use with S3-compatible storages.
  -s3StorageClass string
     The Storage Class applied to objects uploaded to AWS S3. Supported values are: GLACIER, DEEP_ARCHIVE, GLACIER_IR, INTELLIGENT_TIERING, ONEZONE_IA, OUTPOSTS, REDUCED_REDUNDANCY, STANDARD, STANDARD_IA.
     See https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonS3/latest/userguide/storage-class-intro.html
  -s3TLSInsecureSkipVerify
     Whether to skip TLS verification when connecting to the S3 endpoint.
  -skipBackupCompleteCheck
     Whether to skip checking for 'backup complete' file in -src. This may be useful for restoring from old backups, which were created without 'backup complete' file
  -src string
     Source path with backup on the remote storage. Example: gs://bucket/path/to/backup, s3://bucket/path/to/backup, azblob://container/path/to/backup or fs:///path/to/local/backup
     Note: If custom S3 endpoint is used, URL should contain only name of the bucket, while hostname of S3 server must be specified via the -customS3Endpoint command-line flag.
  -storageDataPath string
     Destination path where backup must be restored. VictoriaMetrics must be stopped when restoring from backup. -storageDataPath dir can be non-empty. In this case the contents of -storageDataPath dir is synchronized with -src contents, i.e. it works like 'rsync --delete' (default "victoria-metrics-data")
  -tls array
     Whether to enable TLS for incoming HTTP requests at the given -httpListenAddr (aka https). -tlsCertFile and -tlsKeyFile must be set if -tls is set. See also -mtls
     Supports array of values separated by comma or specified via multiple flags.
     Empty values are set to false.
  -tlsAutocertCacheDir string
     Directory to store TLS certificates issued via Let's Encrypt. Certificates are lost on restarts if this flag isn't set. This flag is available only in Enterprise binaries. See https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/enterprise/
  -tlsAutocertEmail string
     Contact email for the issued Let's Encrypt TLS certificates. See also -tlsAutocertHosts and -tlsAutocertCacheDir . This flag is available only in Enterprise binaries. See https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/enterprise/
  -tlsAutocertHosts array
     Optional hostnames for automatic issuing of Let's Encrypt TLS certificates. These hostnames must be reachable at -httpListenAddr . The -httpListenAddr must listen tcp port 443 . The -tlsAutocertHosts overrides -tlsCertFile and -tlsKeyFile . See also -tlsAutocertEmail and -tlsAutocertCacheDir . This flag is available only in Enterprise binaries. See https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/enterprise/
     Supports an array of values separated by comma or specified via multiple flags.
     Each array item can contain comma inside single-quoted or double-quoted string, {}, [] and () braces.
  -tlsCertFile array
     Path to file with TLS certificate for the corresponding -httpListenAddr if -tls is set. Prefer ECDSA certs instead of RSA certs as RSA certs are slower. The provided certificate file is automatically re-read every second, so it can be dynamically updated. See also -tlsAutocertHosts
     Supports an array of values separated by comma or specified via multiple flags.
     Each array item can contain comma inside single-quoted or double-quoted string, {}, [] and () braces.
  -tlsCipherSuites array
     Optional list of TLS cipher suites for incoming requests over HTTPS if -tls is set. See the list of supported cipher suites at https://pkg.go.dev/crypto/tls#pkg-constants
     Supports an array of values separated by comma or specified via multiple flags.
     Each array item can contain comma inside single-quoted or double-quoted string, {}, [] and () braces.
  -tlsKeyFile array
     Path to file with TLS key for the corresponding -httpListenAddr if -tls is set. The provided key file is automatically re-read every second, so it can be dynamically updated. See also -tlsAutocertHosts
     Supports an array of values separated by comma or specified via multiple flags.
     Each array item can contain comma inside single-quoted or double-quoted string, {}, [] and () braces.
  -tlsMinVersion array
     Optional minimum TLS version to use for the corresponding -httpListenAddr if -tls is set. Supported values: TLS10, TLS11, TLS12, TLS13
     Supports an array of values separated by comma or specified via multiple flags.
     Each array item can contain comma inside single-quoted or double-quoted string, {}, [] and () braces.
  -version
     Show VictoriaMetrics version
```

## How to build from sources

It is recommended to use the [binary releases](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/releases/latest) - see `vmutils-*` archives there.

### Development build

1. [Install Go](https://golang.org/doc/install).
1. Run `make vmrestore` from the root folder of [the repository](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics).
   It builds `vmrestore` binary and places it into the `bin` folder.

### Production build

1. [Install docker](https://docs.docker.com/install/).
1. Run `make vmrestore-prod` from the root folder of [the repository](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics).
   It builds `vmrestore-prod` binary and puts it into the `bin` folder.

### Building docker images

Run `make package-vmrestore`. It builds `victoriametrics/vmrestore:<PKG_TAG>` docker image locally.
`<PKG_TAG>` is auto-generated image tag, which depends on source code in the repository.
The `<PKG_TAG>` may be manually set via `PKG_TAG=foobar make package-vmrestore`.

The base docker image is [alpine](https://hub.docker.com/_/alpine) but it is possible to use any other base image by setting it via `<ROOT_IMAGE>` environment variable. For example, the following command builds the image on top of [scratch](https://hub.docker.com/_/scratch) image:

```sh
ROOT_IMAGE=scratch make package-vmrestore
```
