Kubeblocks Restore

Restore KubeBlocks Database Clusters

Overview

KubeBlocks supports restoring database clusters from backups. A restore always creates a new cluster from an existing backup — it does not modify the original cluster in-place. This design is intentional: by creating a new cluster, you can verify the restored data before switching traffic, and the original cluster remains available as a fallback.

Two restore modes are available:

• Full restore: Restore from a completed full backup to get the exact state at backup time. Use this when you need to recover from a catastrophic failure, clone a cluster for testing, or roll back after a failed upgrade.
• PITR (Point-in-Time Recovery): Restore to any specific timestamp between a full backup and the latest continuous backup. Essential for recovering from accidental data corruption (e.g., a wrong DELETE or DROP TABLE) where you need to rewind to the moment just before the mistake.

Official docs: https://kubeblocks.io/docs/preview/user_docs/handle-an-exception/recovery

Pre-Check

Before proceeding, verify the cluster is healthy and no other operation is running:

# Cluster must be Running (if restoring to supplement an existing cluster)
kubectl get cluster <cluster-name> -n <namespace> -o jsonpath='{.status.phase}'

# No pending OpsRequests
kubectl get opsrequest -n <namespace> -l app.kubernetes.io/instance=<cluster-name> --field-selector=status.phase!=Succeed

If the cluster is not Running or has a pending OpsRequest, wait for it to complete before proceeding.

Verify backups are available for restore:

kubectl get backup -n <namespace>

Workflow

- [ ] Step 1: List available backups
- [ ] Step 2: Create a new cluster with restore annotation or OpsRequest
- [ ] Step 3: Verify restored cluster

Step 1: List Available Backups

kubectl get backup -n <ns>

Example output:

NAME                  POLICY                              METHOD         STATUS      AGE
mycluster-full        mycluster-mysql-backup-policy        xtrabackup    Completed   2d
mycluster-continuous  mycluster-mysql-backup-policy        archive-binlog Running     2d

Check backup details for restore information:

kubectl describe backup <backup-name> -n <ns>

For PITR, note the time range available from the continuous backup's status.

Step 2: Restore

Option A: Full Restore via Cluster Annotation

Create a new Cluster CR with the restore annotation. The new cluster spec should match the original cluster's configuration (same component types, resource requests, etc.):

apiVersion: apps.kubeblocks.io/v1
kind: Cluster
metadata:
  name: <new-cluster>
  namespace: <ns>
  annotations:
    kubeblocks.io/restore-from-backup: '{"<component>":{"name":"<backup-name>","namespace":"<ns>","volumeRestorePolicy":"Parallel"}}'
spec:
  # ... same spec as original cluster ...

The volumeRestorePolicy options:

• Parallel — restore all volumes simultaneously (faster)
• Serial — restore volumes one at a time

Before applying, validate with dry-run:

kubectl apply -f restored-cluster.yaml --dry-run=server

If dry-run reports errors, fix the YAML before proceeding.

Apply it:

kubectl apply -f restored-cluster.yaml
kubectl get cluster <new-cluster> -n <ns> -w

Success condition: .status.phase = Running | Typical: 2-5min | If stuck >10min: kubectl describe cluster <new-cluster> -n <ns>

Option B: Full Restore via OpsRequest

apiVersion: operations.kubeblocks.io/v1alpha1
kind: OpsRequest
metadata:
  name: <new-cluster>-restore-ops
  namespace: <ns>
spec:
  clusterName: <new-cluster>
  type: Restore
  restore:
    backupName: <backup-name>
    backupNamespace: <ns>

Before applying, validate with dry-run:

kubectl apply -f restore-ops.yaml --dry-run=server

If dry-run reports errors, fix the YAML before proceeding.

Apply it:

kubectl apply -f restore-ops.yaml
kubectl get ops <new-cluster>-restore-ops -n <ns> -w

Success condition: .status.phase = Succeed | Typical: 2-5min | If stuck >10min: kubectl describe ops <new-cluster>-restore-ops -n <ns>

Option C: PITR Restore (Point-in-Time Recovery)

PITR requires both a completed full backup and a running continuous backup (archive-binlog for MySQL, wal-archive for PostgreSQL).

Use the annotation method with an additional restoreTime field:

apiVersion: apps.kubeblocks.io/v1
kind: Cluster
metadata:
  name: <new-cluster>
  namespace: <ns>
  annotations:
    kubeblocks.io/restore-from-backup: '{"<component>":{"name":"<continuous-backup>","namespace":"<ns>","volumeRestorePolicy":"Parallel","restoreTime":"2025-01-01T12:00:00Z"}}'
spec:
  # ... same spec as original cluster ...

Key points for PITR:

• name should reference the continuous backup (not the full backup)
• restoreTime must be in RFC 3339 format (UTC): YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ
• The restore time must fall within the range covered by the full + continuous backups

Finding the Valid PITR Time Range

kubectl describe backup <continuous-backup-name> -n <ns>

Look for status.timeRange which shows the recoverable time window.

Step 3: Verify Restored Cluster

# Watch cluster status
kubectl get cluster <new-cluster> -n <ns> -w

Success condition: .status.phase = Running | Typical: 2-5min | If stuck >10min: kubectl describe cluster <new-cluster> -n <ns>

# Check pods are running
kubectl get pods -n <ns> -l app.kubernetes.io/instance=<new-cluster>

The cluster status should transition to Running. Verify data integrity by connecting to the database:

# Get connection credentials
kubectl get secrets -n <ns> <new-cluster>-<component>-account-root -o jsonpath='{.data.password}' | base64 -d

Troubleshooting

Restore stuck in Creating:

• Check backup status is Completed (for full) or Running (for continuous)
• Verify BackupRepo is accessible: kubectl get backuprepo
• Check restore job logs: kubectl get pods -n <ns> -l app.kubernetes.io/name=restore

PITR restore fails:

• Ensure both full and continuous backups exist
• Verify the restoreTime is within the valid time range
• Confirm the continuous backup is still running

New cluster spec mismatch:

• The restored cluster spec should match the original (same component definitions, storage size)
• Storage size in the new cluster must be >= the original backup's data size

Additional Reference

For addon-specific restore behaviors (MySQL/PostgreSQL/Redis/MongoDB), PITR time range calculation details, the full restore annotation schema, and volume restore policy comparison, see reference.md.

For general agent safety conventions (dry-run, status confirmation, production protection), see safety-patterns.md.