Guide
Backups
Layerbase Cloud backs up your databases automatically on paid plans, and you can take your own backup at any time. This page covers the automatic schedule, how branches differ, taking and naming a manual backup, downloading a backup, and restoring one. Restore overwrites your current data, so read the restore section before you use it.
Automatic backups
Automatic backups run on paid plans (Solo and above). On those plans, Layerbase takes a per-database dump every 12 hours while the database is running, plus one final dump whenever a database goes to sleep. On a dedicated server the schedule tightens to every hour, since the hardware is yours alone. That schedule is adjustable per database on a dedicated server from the database's Settings tab: hourly, every 6 hours, every 12 hours, or daily. If nothing has changed since the last backup, that run is skipped, so you do not accumulate identical copies. New databases show no backups until the first automatic run or your first manual backup. Branches are the one exception and are covered below.
The Free tier is manual-only: it includes 1 manual backup slot that you fill with Backup Now, but no scheduled dumps. Solo keeps 3 manual backups with 7-day retention on scheduled backups, and Pro keeps 10 manual backups with 30-day retention. Upgrade any time to turn on the automatic schedule.
Branches
Branches are not backed up automatically by default. A branch starts as a copy of a database that already has its own backups, so backing up both would store the same data twice, and preview branches are usually short-lived. You can still take a manual backup of any branch at any time with Backup Now.
If a branch holds work you want protected on its own, open its Backups tab and turn on Automatic backups. From then on that branch is treated like any other database on your plan: the same schedule and the same retention.
Sleeping databases
A database that goes to sleep is backed up on its way down, so the work you did before it went idle is captured rather than waiting for a schedule it can no longer be part of. Per-database dumps need the database to be awake, so they pause for as long as it sleeps and resume once something wakes it.
Full volume snapshots also run every 6 hours across all databases as a safety net, so a sleeping or stopped database stays protected either way. You can see both the per-database and volume-snapshot status on the Backup Status panel in your account.
Taking a backup on demand
Open a database and find the Backups panel. Click Backup Now to capture the current state. You can give the backup an optional name (up to 64 characters) to make it easy to find later, for example before a risky migration. If you leave the name blank, the backup is labeled by its timestamp.
The database must be running to take a manual backup. If it is hibernated or stopped, the button is disabled; connect to it or start it first. Each backup in the list shows whether it was created automatically or manually, along with its size.
Manual backups occupy a fixed number of slots per database, set by your plan (1 on Free, 3 on Solo, 10 on Pro). Unlike scheduled backups, they are never rotated out automatically - a manual backup is something you asked for, so Layerbase does not decide on its own that you are finished with it.
When every slot is full, Backup Now offers to replace the oldest one instead of refusing. Replacing takes the new backup first and removes the old copy only after the new one has finished, so there is never a point where you have no backup. When a single backup is being replaced, the prompt names it; if your database is over its slot count, which can happen after a plan change, the prompt says how many of the oldest manual backups will be removed instead. Scheduled backups and the safety copies Layerbase takes on its own, such as before a migration or before a database is deleted, are never spent this way.
Deleting a backup
You can delete a manual backup you no longer want from the Backups panel, which frees its slot. Two things are deliberately not deletable. Automatic backups are managed for you and roll off on your plan's retention schedule instead. And the last remaining backup of a database can never be deleted, whatever created it: take a newer one first, and the old one becomes deletable. The control stays visible either way and explains which rule applies.
Renaming a backup
Click a backup's name to rename it in place (up to 64 characters). This is a label only. It does not change the backup's contents or timestamp, and it helps you keep track of which snapshot is which.
Downloading a backup
Use the download icon on any backup in the list to save that dump to your machine. This gives you an offline copy you can keep, inspect, or import elsewhere.
There is also a whole-database Export on the database page, which produces a fresh dump of the current state rather than a stored backup. Export keeps working even on a locked database, so it is the way to get your data out after a plan downgrade. For large Performance-engine databases, an export can take a few minutes, so leave the tab open while it runs.
Restoring from a backup
Restore replays a chosen backup back into the live database. Pick a backup, click Restore, and confirm. The database must be running to restore, the same as taking a backup.
Restore overwrites your current data. Whatever is in the database now is replaced by the contents of the backup, and this cannot be undone. If you are not certain, take a fresh Backup Now first so you can return to the current state, then restore the older one.
Backups restore to the moment a dump was taken. Point-in-time restore replays the write-ahead log to recover an always-on PostgreSQL and FerretDB database to an arbitrary timestamp as a new database. It is included on the Pro plan.
Retention
Backups follow your database through its lifecycle. Archiving a Free database keeps its data and backups; only the live address is removed until you restore it. When a database is deleted, Layerbase secures a final backup first and refuses the delete if that backup cannot be captured, so your last copy is never dropped silently. The database lifecycle page has the full retention rules, including the 90-day free-tier offload, which always keeps your most-recent backup for download.