Backups: code versions, restore points and copies
Briks keeps several kinds of copies of a project, each for a different job. This page explains what each one holds, how to download it, and how to put things back when a change goes wrong.
Three kinds of backup
| What | Where you find it | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Code versions | Settings, Backups, Code | Every published version of the site. Put one back on the live site, or download its code on a paid plan. |
| Database history and restore points | Database, Settings, Backups | Take the whole database back to a named moment, or to any minute its history reaches. |
| Nightly copies of the database | Settings, Backups, Database | A file of the whole database made every night and kept for 30 days, for you to download. Paid plans only. |
The code and the database are separate. Restoring a code version never touches the database, and restoring the database never changes the code. If one change went wrong in both, restore each of them.
Code versions
Every publish is kept as a version. The table lists them newest first with Version, Saved, What (the words of the request that made it) and Made by, which is the person who asked or Briks when the studio did it on its own. The version on the site carries a Live tag.
Put an earlier version back on the live site
Find the version
Where: Settings, Backups, Code
Read down the What column for the change you want to go back to, and note its number.
Press Restore
Where: Settings, Backups, Code
Press Restore on its row. The dialog says: It goes back on the live site exactly as it was published. The versions after it stay saved, so you can come back.
Confirm
Where: Restore dialog
Press Restore version followed by its number. You're taken back to the studio while it goes live. Nothing is rebuilt and nothing is charged.
Restoring needs edit rights, so Editors, Admins and Owners can do it. It is locked while an A/B test is running. The same versions, with undo and redo, are in the studio too: see Versions, undo and redo.
On a paid plan, Download on any row gives that version's code as a .zip. It holds the files written for your site, not the shared building blocks every Briks site runs on, so it won't run on its own. More about that in Your site's code.
Database restore points and history
The database keeps its own history, so it can go back to any minute within it. A restore point is a named moment in that history that is easy to find again. Briks marks one before the studio changes how the database is made up (adding a field, say) and before every restore, and you can save your own at any time.
The Backups group opens with a sentence saying how far back the history reaches, down to the earliest minute you can choose. Restore points older than that drop off the list, since they can no longer be used. Each one is labelled with when it was made and how:
| Label | Made when |
|---|---|
| saved by hand | Someone pressed Save now. |
| saved before a restore | Just before the database was taken back to another moment, so the restore itself can be undone. |
| saved before the studio changed the database | Just before a build changed how the database is made up. |
Save a restore point
Press Save now
Where: Database, Settings, Backups
Find Save a restore point and press Save now.
Name it
Where: Save dialog
Give it a name you will recognise later, up to 80 characters, such as
Before the spring menu. The name is optional; without one it is called Saved by hand.Save
Where: Save dialog
Press Save. You see: Restore point saved.
Take the database back
Choose the moment
Where: Database, Settings, Backups
Press Restore beside a restore point. Or, under Go back to another moment, pick a date and time in your own time zone (at least a minute ago) and press Restore beside it.
Keep today's records first
Where: Restore dialog
On a paid plan the dialog offers Download .zip under First, keep the records as they are now. Take it if there is any chance you will want something from today.
Confirm
Where: Restore dialog
Type the project's name and press Restore. The whole database goes back to that moment, collections and the site's accounts alike, and what changed since is replaced.
Check the site
Where: Database, Settings
You see: Restored. The moment before was saved as a restore point, so this can be undone. The published site catches up within a few minutes.
Nightly copies
A nightly copy is a file of the whole database, made every night and kept for 30 days. It is off by default and comes with a paid plan: switching it on and downloading a copy both need one. Copies count towards your plan's storage.
Switch nightly copies on
Open the database settings
Where: Database, Settings
Scroll to the Backups group.
Turn on Nightly copy
Where: Backups group
Switch Nightly copy on. Editors, Admins and Owners can do this. Switching it off works on any plan.
Wait for the first one
Where: Settings, Backups, Database
Under Nightly copies the list says No copies yet and: The first is made tonight.
Copies are listed by day, newest first, with their size. Press Download beside the day you want. Anyone who can see the project can download one on a paid plan. The same page lists the database's latest restore points and a Database settings button that takes you to where restores happen.
A copy holds the whole database (every collection, its records and the accounts the site keeps) as one compressed file ending in .sql.gz. It is meant for a developer or a database tool to open. If you want something for a spreadsheet, use the CSV download in the Database tab's settings instead.
Files in storage
The Storage view in Backups doesn't hold copies of your stored files at the moment. To keep your own copy, open the project's Storage tab, choose Settings, and use Download as a .zip: one folder, or every file, up to 10,000 files and 2 GB at a time. For more than that, download folder by folder.
Worked example: a café's menu change
The café keeps its menu as records. Before replacing forty dishes for autumn, the owner opens the Database tab's settings, presses Save now and names the point
Before the autumn menu.
Restore point saved.
The gluten free notes have vanished from half the dishes. The owner presses Restore beside Before the autumn menu, downloads the .zip when it is offered, types the café's project name and confirms.
The menu records are back as they were. The two prices changed since then went back too, so the owner sets them again by hand.
Nothing about the design changed, because the code wasn't restored. The live menu caught up a few minutes later.
How far back can I take the database?
As far as its history reaches. The Backups group in the Database tab's settings names the earliest minute.
Will restoring the database undo my design changes?
No. Code versions and the database are restored separately.
Can I restore from a nightly copy?
Not in the studio. Nightly copies are for downloading. Use restore points or a moment in the history to go back.
Why is the Nightly copy switch greyed out?
Either your plan is Free, where switching it on isn't available, or your role is Viewer. An Owner of the workspace can move to a paid plan in Billing.